The Seasons

Where to start...  We have had family and friends here now on and off for the last month, which mostly has been wonderful, yet tiring.  The hardest person to deal with is the Man who just likes his home quiet and simple, with a houseful of guests and many kids this made him grumpy!!!!!  However, when the house is back to normal he says he misses the company and bussle!!! Can't win really.  We have just said to goodbye to the Aussies and will see them again in two weeks, the time went to fast for me but one really joyful things was watching two little girls make a deep and happy bond, two 5 year olds who couldn't be more different in their personalities just clicked it was magical.Also seeing cousins slip into each others lives so easily as if they see them all the time.

Today has been about planning the autumn, we made a Christmas box of films, stories and music and set aside to gradually fill over the next few months.  The kids made cake, spent hours making knights and footballers out of tin foil and card, we watched the Waltons (fab), and I pottered around plotting autumn harvesting, thinking of woolly socks and mittens, still blistering hot here though.  

Back to work in the morning and something that we feel we need to make part of our lives is structure, not rigid rules but a gentle sequence throughout our week, as we are tired and unorganised at the moment.  So we really are going back to basics:  Bath nights, cleaning day/laundry and baking day, monday morning coffee to discuss our work, meals at 7pm bed at 8.30 for the kids etc etc

Hope to upload photos soon but have to use another pc to do this - very annoying.  xx

Angels & Demons

I am sure we must all have them, those nasty little devils that sneak into our thoughts and wreck our concentration, disturb our peace of mind or generally play havoc with our sense of wellbeing, but mine have been on a total destruct mission lately.  My demons mostly appear in the forms of low self worth, zero self esteem, lack of trust, feeling I am not good enough (mother, writer, wife etc) but sometimes they jump up and bite me on the bum and make me feel really bad.  Last week my nasty old demon of 'panic' appeared, the horrible gremlin that attacks me on high bits of road, in busy streets and on long bridges, I literally feel as if the road is crumbling beneath me and that I am falling and am going to die. Totally daft and very upsetting, I haven't felt this way for 2 years now,  then here it was back again, so on reflection I feel I was exhausted that day, thinking of too many things and now allowing time for relaxation, reflection and me-time.

So now I am back to putting my life in order, time for work, time for kids, time for my man and time for me, I am going to carefully balance where my energy is spent and gently re-shift the priorities back to health, love, happiness, nature etc.

Grounding myself physically and emotionally, I have been worried about not feeling secure in this house as it is so expensive but am always scared of upheaval, however, now does feel the time to move on (locally) nearer school and Siena which we all love.  So we have been looking at areas we would like to live in, discussing options and now feeling more positive about things.

I am working every other day now for the rest of the summer, in order to enjoy time with the kids and we have family here on Thursday so a busy few weeks in store.  Today the sun is bright, the flowers thirsty, my daughter has made bread which is rising on the table in the garden, I have a lovely bottle of Chianti set aside for supper time (a gift from Nonna), and a little gluten free cake for pudding, so a gentle evening ahead x

Honey and Rosemary bread, figs from the garden

 

Birthday icecream in Siena

Sunny Siena

Poor Daddy

In the swing

I am enjoying blogging again... for now at least.  As I am so exhausted from work, heat and garden this blog is giving me a little space to breathe again.  Last night I made an un-shopping list a la Alice in Wonderland.  Rather than focus on what we needed to buy I listed what we had left then adapted recipes to suit the ingredients - well kind of.  My cooking skills vary from 'wow' that was delicious to pretty poor similar to 'Rhia' from the 1970's sitcom Butterflies so we will have to see how next week pans out as I have included within my recipe lists 2 family picnics as it is my birthday on Friday!

I am also trying to adopt and less worryfull attitude as I have been plagued by nightmares and sleepless nights lately, trying hard to be calm and not getting stressed with money and health issues.

 

For now though here are some summer shots....

Summer in Italy

The beach, warm mornings, sleeping outside on the trampoline, washing dry within minutes, bread rising on the table in the garden, the insects drowning out the birdsong, football with friends, playing cards with Grandma, supper outside, picnic lunches, castles and kingdoms, a sense of calm (sometimes), afternoon sleeps, coffee in Siena, swimming, diving and sunshine.  Salads and fruit, simple food but the best, tomato plants on the up, beans, peppers, aubergines all struggling in the heat, pumpkins gone wild, kittens growing up, old dog slowing down.  Time to relax watching life unfold.  No money, very little work, but one fantastic future .... Namaste x

 

  

New blog

Just to let you know I have now started another blog for my garden design business at Bella Terra Garden Design.  I plan to update both my personal blog and the work blog weekly now one of our computer’s is letting me add images etc.  On the new blog I plan to include English and Tuscan garden ideas and a country gardener’s diary.

For now though I have to fly as the vegetable patch is dying of thirst.

photos?? Fingers crossed

I hope with fingers crossed that these images now upload, we spend 1/2 our time with a camera or laptop that fail to communicate. Lets see........

Long time, no blog

Well, still no lovely pictures to share, not yet anyway as laptop being a pain in the rear but I promise to go down to the cantina and update the blog from my office sometime soon. All is well, the feeling in the house is that of tireness and calm(ish). AA has finished school for the summer and is at Rugby camp in the day, TT still at school until the end of June. Each day we are driving to the other side of Siena for the camp - part pain, part fun as exploring new routes and landmarks on the way. Tonight a storm is brewing and I pray for rain as the Horto is wilting, wilting, wilting. Planted young plants on Sunday inc: tomatos, peppers, aubergines, mange tout and they need more water. The hose is heavy and it takes at least and hour to do the whole garden, also water is scarce. A quick update: Health, now taking immune suppressents to try and calm the Bechets syndrome. Hate having to but feel the time has come to go mainstream on the health front but will keep up all the homeopathic and natural remedies too. Kids, happy but tired... trying to pursuade them a siesta is a good thing and that helping each other is actually also good. AA pushing the boundaries with attitude and reluctance to do anything useful, but he is growing up fast. TT about to take little wheels off her bike and go solo like the big girls! Garden, going mad in the heat and the dry.. Horto now underway after DH had incident with antique rotovator machine...dont't ask. Flower garden and roses also looking lovely. The mulching is so cool feeding and protecting the plants, thank you Jean for all the plants and advice. Pumpkins struggling why? Home, very dusty, untidy and somewhat out of control rather like my mind and hair! Just picked the last of the cherries and will do jam this week. Lots of soup in the freezer and bread rolls rising. Have made a study corner for AA with desk and shelves and plans for tree house are in the makings. Work, up & down, sideways and inbetween. Sadly were taken advantage of by con artist client, we did the work, she never paid and never will - now the police are on her case... Not nice but I believe for every 'cow' there is in the world there are 100's of good people to make up for the bad ones. Possible new projects in the wings and G has a meeting tomorrow for a job here in Italy, so all in all things are on the up. Life, I feel positive but tired, so am being soooo careful with myself not to get stressed, exhausted, out of tune, etc I am meditating for at least 1/2 a day and trying to prioritise and not procrastinate with work, home-stuff, contacting friends etc. Also listening to my body, heart, mind, nature etc and really gently letting my intuition guide me in every way. Loving the sunsets, early mornings, wild flowers, fruit and sounds of summer - insects, bee-eaters, laughing kids, swimming, eating outside, night jars etc xxx Ah presto