| :: July 2020 :: |
| Views from our runs. The mountains are bald/no snow but the air is clean and the views are clear. July 2020 We needed to bury Tuttle and wanted to put him in our family spot / plot in the woods. I guess it is ending up as the Leonetti family people / pet memorial plot. We dug up the stones around Omar's tree - the wild pigs had made a mess of them over the last few years - and rebuilt the circle. Joe found and schlepped a huge stone up and made a little bench. We found another huge stone for Baci - we have his ashes and the next time Zaven is here we will have a little memorial. And then baby Tuttle - we had him in the freezer and Zaven wrote him a letter, which we weren't allowed to read, but were requested to place in his grave. Omar's Tree Serole, Italia 5 July 2020 |
| Beach day! Love Noli & Club Vittoria We love Erika & Franca - it's so nice to feel at home We will be back for Ferragosto - 14 & 15 August and my birthday weekend, yahoo! 4 July 2020 |
| Serole. My favorite place. The house is done and we have lovely new neighbors. Evening fires and the fireflies are abundant this year - bouncing magically through the cortile while we are sitting around the fire, eating peanuts and drinking G&T's. A perfect spot to do yoga. Long runs with beautiful views. Just a short trip down to the beach - Noli. (New) Fast internet. Life is GOOD. Except that it is horsefly season...but that will pass. Joe had to go back to DE - a few bits and bobs to finish and show the house to potential new tenants. Serole, Italy July 2020 Views from the mat. Does it get any better?! The sun hadn't reached the church yoga spot yet, but it was still amazing. Wildflowers and butterflies and views for days. |
| Our new neighbors! Elena, Italian & Eric, South African ( both at home in England for the last ~ 15 years) and their parents and little Mathilda- Matty (I love her - I am trying to win her over with potato chips). They bought a huge and beautiful old house right next to us - we can wave at each other from our windows. Fast (& fab) friends. Elena is a yoga and pilates instructor. We have so much in common with them. I love how the universe conspires. |
| Pretty perfect office space. We had beds in this loft but usually it is just Joe and I here so we converted it to an office. There is still a fold out couch so if we do have more guests than the library loft or pull out couch can accomodate we are covered. |
| One of my all time favorite mornings. Ever. Walk. Views. Deer. Yoga. Meditation. Wildflowers. So wonderful to be able to do this before starting work. Serole, Italy 9 July 2020 |
| It started with needing a parking place. And then it turned into our fourth house purchase. Our retirement home / bed and breakfast / animal sanctuary / Leonetti safe house/ comune. Where our kids can come live (I wish) and work. We will buy it outright and have 13 years, at least, before retirement to make it fabulous. Huge garden and eventually a lovely stone terrace with a fire-pit and pool, space for my goats (to be named Clementine & Sassafrass) and chickens and garden with a fig tree and a tiny vineyard. Our goal is to be self sustained and contained. Each of the four bedrooms will be en suite so we can bed and breakfast for extra income. I am calling it Biznonna (great grandma) because we have always known it as that - Marisa, our dear old neighbor, this was her great grandmother's house. It is directly across our cortile. We can stay at our comfortable house, walk 3 meters and work to our heart's content and come back to comfort. 20 July 2020 Brallo, Italy |
| Wine tasting with Elena & Eric in the Asti province - we usually head toward Alba. This was amazing. Mostly Barbera's but also a new varietal - very special Ruche' the grape only grows in this area. Monferrato, Asti 18 July |
| A weekend of local treks around Serole. Saturday a 20 kilometer trek from Roccaverano to Momboldone to Brallo. Gads what a schlep - we ran out of water, but ended up in Roccaverano for some cool white wine and views... so worth it. 25 & 26 July Brallo, Italy |
| And after about 30 kilometers (because we had ran in the morning) we had aperitivo at Bar Bramante in Roccaverono |
| This was a lovely hike to Laghi Lavagnina The lake is not amazing but the river that runs into it is. Beautiful mountain run off, Joe went skinny dipping. 26 July |
| Lovely evenings in the cortile. Fires & fireflies |
| Congratulations Zaven Grey Leonetti! Bachelor's degree in Visual Design, NABA, Graduate with Honors Milano, Italia 29 luglio 2020 Wearing the traditional corona del oro (fresh leaf crown) His advisor said that he was impressed from the first drawing he had seen from Zaven and knows he has a great future in animation. We are so proud of how hard he worked and works, daily, to be better and always improve his skills. We have watched him evolve and continue to see the results. And we can't wait to see what the future holds for our boy. Sad to have missed Avalon - we had planned on having him celebrate with us. 2020 is a nightmare. But very grateful to have seen him in December - God knows when we will see each other again. |
