SUMMER BREEZE

heatwave.

white lace curtains blowing in the gentle breeze,

carrying the scent of the sea.

the owner with her floaty red hair

& stories of her grandmother.

she & her sister were identical twins 

who when they reached the age of 102

became the oldest identical twins in the world at the time,

& newspapers came over to write.  

stories of the most alluring white villa in the neighbourhood

with a glass veranda overlooking the sea

that now stands empty & deserted.

the owners of this lovingly restored manor just a stone's throw away

are doing everything in their power to save it. 

i will watch that space

& have enormous respect for those who take these old houses

& breathe new life into them. 

all pictures were taken at Kvarnbo Gästhem

on the Åland Islands this summer.

x

ITALY STORIES II, TUSCANY

for the first week,

we stayed bang smack in the countryside,

a handsome row of cypresses leading to our home away from home.

Asciano was the closest town,

Siena a short drive away,

so that's where we began our explorations.

something inviting about the simplicity of the church in Asciano, I thought.

we'd seen Siena already before.

it's where many years ago,

my husband blurted out

'if we ever have a daughter,

we should call her Sienna.' 

now we got to show our daughter Sienna

her namesake city for the first time.

Siena basking in an evening glow.

our base was pretty lovely with its antique beds

& cool white sheets.

Patti Smith's Devotion and a glass of chilled white wine

was the perfect riposo recipe.

more to come...

x

HELLO SEPTEMBER

"Italy Stories, a beginning"

have been staring in the face over the last few weeks.

There's plenty more on those lines to share right here,

but things have been, well, a bit hectic.

Hectic but serene at the same time.

You see, 

a huge project fell through,

a project that I was already stressed about during the summer holidays,

and this turn came as a relief I have to say. 

Plenty of better things were waiting around the corner,

a number of smaller gigs that happened to fall around the same time.

Much nicer ones than the one I was sort of dreading.

And I've learned something in the process,

something of trust,

swearing under my breath not to say 'yes' to the wrong things

the next time round,

even in a moment of despair.

And although it's been mad busy,

there's been a sense of new things on the horizon,

an autumm, which awaits like a journal,

the first pages leaving a little breathless,

but beyond, pages inviting in their exquisite promise of unknown opportunities.

This weekend I've also said my goodbyes.

The workspace I've had the pleasure of winding my way to

on and off over the last few years

awaits its new, wonderful tenants. 

A creative couple I admire so brought in their cardboard boxes,

a huge painting wrapped up and leaning against those windows I loved so,

as I left my key on the table & closed that door for the last time. 

Although the goodbyes are bittersweet,

I know this is how it's meant to be. 

The roses might be nearly gone,

but there are plenty of flowers in this season.

A little odd in their beauty sometimes

& wonderful all the same. 

Treasures in the shadows
waiting for us to take notice.

x

ITALY STORIES, A BEGINNING

not quite knowing where to begin,

I'll begin at the beginning.

a simple, one-night stopover just outside Rome

after flying in in the afternoon

with the plan to carry on to Tuscany the next day. 

Bracciano was the name of the town 

we ignorantly knew nothing about.

we found ourselves in the middle of textures,

a balmy evening slowly transforming itself into a velvety night,

little dark-haired girls in floaty dresses

& tiny boys with their deep brown eyes twirling with their bikes on the piazza. 

nearly three heat-drenched weeks

stretching ahead of us...

and the first of our changing nests to curl into at night.

x

SUMMER'S WISHES

in between tackling the laundry

& folding summer dresses into neat piles

ready to be slipped inside my suitcase,

i wanted to pop here briefly.  

i've been off for a few days now,

and although still at home,

simply a rest from all the humdrum of late

has painted new horizons inside the head...

we are off to italy for a few weeks,

& so curious to see 

what Tuscan & Umbrian stories await,

ones to also share with you when the time comes.

so for now,

a sweet summer to you,

whatever you are doing.

x

MIDSUMMER

four hours in the car,

goodbye work bits & bobs

and city dust.

time for a midsummer breather.

moments in mum's gardens

& little excursions

dips in a lake,

any time of the day...

a forest walk,

& late night sauna.

a week to go before the actual holidays

& this little trip did so much good

in quenching stress levels

in face of all that's left do

before truly letting loose. 

x

COUNTRY AIR

we drove out of town today.

popped to a second hand market

held in a former railway station building,

then carried on to a farm.

had a staring contest with the cutest highland cows

(although we did wonder whether they even saw anything 

from under their fringes :)),

stroked a cat

that sounded like a sewing machine

with all that purring,

admired some horses & sheep from afar. 

had a coffee & flicked through Danish interior magazine candy

in an old barn that's now a lifestyle shop cum café.

returned home with our lungs full of country air,

ready for some rest.

x