Easter is a time of rebirth. A time to shed the heavy layers of winter physically, mentally and spiritually and open ourselves up to the new light and life of spring. For many around the world, Easter is celebrated for it’s religious significance – the death of Christ and his rise again on the third day. Three days which span the breadth of human emotion, from the grief of his death to the joy of his rebirth. Easter in Paciano Here in Italy, Easter is as important as Christmas.  I think it’s a time when the theme of rebirth, both in religion and in our natural world come together. Spring ..read more

We are one week into 2022. A year we hope will return some normalcy to our pandemic-weary lives. A year we wish, hope and pray will be full of new and exciting possibilities. Finally. After last year’s frustrating and ever-changing Covid rules and regulations and so many stops and starts – do I book that flight or not? dare to take that twice postponed holiday? – I’m guessing few of us are sorry to see 2021 fade away in the rear-view mirror. Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com We are ready – to put an end to cancellations, isolation, separation and fear. To live freely, abundantly and without re ..read more

Love. I’ve given a lot of thought to this four-letter word over the past 14 months. It’s been more than a year since we first heard of Covid-19 and our vocabulary grew to include words like ‘lockdown’, ‘quarantine’ and ‘social distancing’.   Photo by Gustavo Fring on Pexels.com For much of the world, the light at the end of our long, dark tunnel is near. And for others like me and my husband Piero, we continue to wait for the life-saving vaccine – and to long for family we haven’t seen in almost two years.  For us, it is not over. Since the pandemic began, we have been sidelined tho ..read more

I used to be a bit of a fashionista. Not of the Milan Fashion Week runway variety but put together in a way that was trendy but not too over-the-top. In my previous life, long before living in rural Italy and years before I was a television writer and director, I co-hosted Canada’s first entertainment television show, Metro Café. Aside from hanging out with celebrities and drinking champagne at countless movie premieres, the biggest perk of the job was the gorgeous clothes I got to wear. Every week, I worked with a stylist from a boutique designer shop in Vancouver and selected the outfits I ..read more

What’s the first word that comes to mind when I say, ‘Italy’? Food of course. Italian cuisine is one of the most popular in the world. And with good reason. From pasta to pizza to cheese, prosciutto, and cannoli, every region of Italy offers up its own unique specialties. And they are all mouth-wateringly delicious. Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.comItalians love food Italians are obsessed with food. They talk about it on planes, trains, in cars, on the street, in the piazza…everywhere. The most common question asked by an Italian when visiting a neighboring town or city is where they can man ..read more

The Countdown I hear the clock ticking. All day. Given all the clocks in our house are digital, the ticking is in my head. I’m obsessed with time today. It is December 31st and there is at this moment, 12 hours and 24 minutes left of this year. Our annus horribilis – as Queen Elizabeth II so famously referred to her year of turmoil in 1992 – is almost over. And with it, we collectively hope for an end to the death and destruction of life as we know it as we close the door – or rather slam the door – on 2020. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Covid came creeping into our lives in the early months ..read more

I stand at my stone kitchen sink overlooking the olive grove and oak and chestnut forest tucked deep in the ravine and see colored lights twinkling in the early winter dusk.  I lean closer and raise a sudsy hand to adjust my glasses for a better look. I see them clearly now. Christmas lights. Hung in haphazard Charlie Brown-fashion across my distant neighbor’s terrace.   Then I sigh. It is less then one week before Christmas and we, like our neighbors, are doing our best to get into the Christmas spirit at our new home in the Umbrian countryside.   Our first Christmas in ou ..read more

Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation… Kahlil Gibran September is one of my favorite months in central Italy. The days remain warm, the evenings deliciously soft and cool. Vibrant green olives, abundant in the groves are now on the final leg of their journey towards October’s harvest. The air is sweet, rich with the scent of baked earth and rosemary. This is the month of the vendemmia when the grapes, lush and heavy on the vine, are harvested and transformed into one of Italy’s greatest treasures, vino rosso. It’s also the month of Panicale’s annual ..read more

As the long days of our Italian summer pass in a steamy, hectic haze, I note it has been a while since I connected with you all. Apologies. As many of you know, we started the long awaited renovation of our new house the day lockdown lifted in early May. I foolishly thought I’d be able to handle all the renovation tasks while blogging about our progress. Wrong. You might think we should be well versed on renovating in Italy, given this is our second time on the reno merry-go-round, but life in the time of Covid means nothing is as it once was. This includes what’s involved in organizing and o ..read more

freedom /ˈfriːdəm/ “the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. Similar: liberty, liberation, release Freedom. I’ve given a lot of thought to that word in the almost 70 days of one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. In those days and months, the world changed – some say permanently – and we have changed along with it. We’ve shifted our priorities, stretched our imaginations and altered the way we perceive the world around us.   Life in lockdown Like most of us, I’ve watched the lives of friends, family, strangers and celebrities unfold on social media. It’s been the only way we’ve be ..read more