From a Tuscan Hillside: February 2016

Friday, February 26, 2016

It's Springing

Another Early Spring

Should we be worried?
Or just accept it, together with Emily Dickinson?

The Big Kitchen at the Pitti Palace

A Kitchen for Kings

Before the guided tour to the newly-renovated Medicean Cucinone or Big Kitchen started, there was time to explore the Royal Apartments of the Pitti Palace.

the divine right to luxury

The Royal Apartments are perfect examples of the much-money-little-taste syndrome: magnificent workmanship and raw materials, to be sure, in the brocades, the gilt mouldings around doors and windows, the damask wall coverings, the tassels and fringes and folderols, but the final effect is heavy and ostentatious in the extreme. Buone cose di pessimo gusto as the poet Guido Gozzano wrote.

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Situated on a hillside, Le Ripe in Chianti has an orchard with heritage fruit trees, an organic vegetable garden, a row of 18 olives, wild figs, wild grapes, dozens of lavender bushes, a medieval hortus conclusus,a shrubbery, English roses and drifts of bulbs, all requiring labour and love but giving much pleasure in return.

The farm buildings, once home, stable, sty and byre, now renovated, host our friends and family. The cottage, a former barn, and two apartments in the main building, once stable and stall, are rented to guests who come by the week or longer. For more information on staying at Le Ripe, see our rental website.

A MesSy FaMily having MaSses of FUn

These are the navenchas (adventures) of the Savage family: Sadie Savage, her Sensitive New Age Grandma Angie, her parental units Delia and Phil and her snotty-nosed, squabbling twin brothers Peas and Mash, who get into some a-m-a-zing scrapes, plus last but not least: Toddy the bounding Irish wolfhound and Splendour the splendid cat.
From chocolate cake disasters to Komodo dragons and liquorice allsorts, pogo sticks to paragliding cats, a night at the opera to ice-cream bashing, the Savages are good value for money: there is chaos and confusion for everyone in SaVAgE DAyS.

FOR MESSY KIDS FROM AGE 8

The diary of an Australian Milkmaid, 1882-1889

Em Munro writes her diary in late 19th century colonial Australia, a time and place rife with contradictions. Ordinary settlers struggle to make ends meet in a tough environment where the squatter class has claimed the best land. And the Indigenous Australians who thrived for tens of thousands of years on that land are dispossessed and crushed. Woman’s place is in the home but women’s suffrage is in the air; dreams of independence vie with romantic fantasies; new loyalties compete with old: life choices need to be made.
Em is passionate but trapped in a provincial world with little stimulus and less scope for advancement. Her diary recounts her family’s story, her daily life but also her dilemmas and dreams and eventually her ‘getting of wisdom’.

Threepenny Tales 2

Lily of Lonestorm is another whimsical Tall Tale for readers from age six. Lily's courageous search for her parents unfolds on her island in the Windy Western Ocean and on board the miraculous Seraphina, a ship with Special Potentiality. In the company of a most unusual band of pirates, a surly goat, some bad-tempered fowl and her best friend, rascally Rags, Lily braves Adventures on the high seas and explores uncharted territories, never losing Hope, Wonder and her love of Home.

FOR STORY LOVERS FROM AGE 6

Threepenny Tales 1

The Adventures of Barnaby Twickins is a whimsical Tall Tale for all readers from age six up. Barnaby's jaunty, often tongue-in-cheek story takes place in a 17th or maybe 18th century fantasy world of lace and cauliflowers, clogs and fripperies. Our Hero is a merry, plucky Boy who dreams of becoming a Clown and entertaining the World. Readers will enjoy meeting Barnaby's assorted surprising Companions, as well as sharing his Adventures with their dash of Romance and twist of Absurdity.

FOR STORY LOVERS FROM AGE 6

Shakespeare's Childhood Story

Little is known of Shakespeare's childhood and youth. Will's Way imagines how young William's family, his childhood experiences in Warwickshire in the 1570s and his particular moment in history may have inspired and motivated the man and writer he became.
In addition, the novel contains a literary treasure hunt: over 160 quotations from Shakespeare's works have been put in the mouths of its characters. The reader is invited to spot the quotations and identify their sources which are to be found at the end of the book.

Friday, February 26, 2016

It's Springing

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

The Big Kitchen at the Pitti Palace