Pontremoli, 10 – 12 April 2026
Pontremoli is an ancient, once venerable place near the intersection of Liguria, Tuscany, and Emilia Romagna. It was just a...
val Grana, 7 March 2026 (l’ultima ciaspolata)
With spring coming on fast in Mondovì, we went in search of some snow for one last ciaspolata (a walk...
Padua, 19-21 February 2026
We traveled by train to Padua, in the Veneto region east of Piemonte. It was an easy trip on high-speed...
marmellata, 22 January 2026
A friend mistakenly bought eight kilos of bitter oranges instead of sweet ones. Being a working woman with no time...
11 December 2025 – festival of the fat ox
Every December since about 1473 the fattest ox in Piemonte wins recognition at the fiera del bue grasso in Carrù.
December 2014
I started keeping a notebook in early February 2014. Nothing fancy, just a thing I found in the school/office supply...
November was wet
November was wet; we lost a few working days due to bad weather. Heavy rain damaged the temporary road we...
Momentum
By the end of October the project gathered momentum; sometimes it was hard to believe work had begun just one...
Pouring Concrete
The men who made our house are referred to as either operai (manual laborers) or artigiani (skilled craftsmen). Having watched...
Excavations
Excavations began immediately after demolition. Bulldozers quarried out truckloads of grey and yellow clay soil, leaving a great pit due...