Italy 2014 Day Eight

 

Oh Day 8, the last one in Orvieto. Sunny. Bird calls echoing past the ancient stones worked into building blocks, through open windows and shutters. Real shutters. Working shutters. Not like here...

 

The beauty, the great beauty of being from Oklahoma is that we are one of the last settled places with moderate temperature on the earth. Certainly one of the last in America. Statehood established in 1907, we really have few buildings older than 125 years. No mountains. No ocean view.

People are our landscape and we have honed a lovely smiling populace.

But...when you travel, everything has texture and age. It is a most fortunate perspective...

Last day in the studio, we took it outside to the convent garden for sketching.

I tried. Of course I took on way too much. 

Next time I will just focus on a single urn.

Its just fine, photography is my sketchbook...

 

Alisa and I were determined to take in the last quarter of Orvieto.

We walked again to the east end near the train station and veered north.

 

At the Fortezza Albornoz, looking northward. Pozza Di San Patrizio is a well dug as part of the rebuild of the fortress in 1527. Oh how I wish we had attempted to go in to see the spiral staircase that descends its 173 foot depth. This is one of the things you want to 'go back' for. But I know how rarely I travel, 23 years since I had been to Europe, so will I pass this way again?

One must assume not.

One must get all you can while you are there.

I wish I had gone in a few more buildings...

Walking back toward city center we passed this lovely church, Chiesa Di S. Domenico, a 13th century church built by Dominican friars, later made into a female academy by Mussolini.

Italy makes historical dead guys come alive...

Just another lovely residence in Orvieto...

A pastry shop. Meringues.  Meringues....

And then, then we decided we had to watch the last Orvietan sunset from a terrace at the convent.

We sneak our bottle of wine from the refrigerator

narrowly escaping the sensible shoe steps of Sister Giovanna.

A destroyed cork does still access wine...

We take chairs from my room up the hallway and staircase,

though a door and find ourselves on the terrace. 

 

The sunset,

the Grek wine,

the smell of burning olive branches remaining from harvest.

Divinity...

Photo courtesy of Kristi and Beel Steiner...

 

Then we are caught, that terrace was on full display of the hallway.

 

A best moment, stolen, giggling, wobbly wine and dusk...

 

to be continued...

A View

When we are in Texas this is my view.

I always pray a simple "thank you."

Lake Alone Three

I slept until 8:30. The sun streams straight in and I awaken under the covers to 
Spencer's head flopping on the bed to get me up, ready for his morning routine.

Make the bed. I always make the bed. I can't get into an unmade bed. I take 
pleasure in a made bed.

Coffee on the porch. It's is clear and lovely. That fall crisp in the air. Early 
for that. It ought to be 103 today but it is only supposed to be 90. Oh to hold 
on to this.  Spencer poking around. Birds making the best of the tilted broken 
feeder. Hummingbird fighting for the nectar and nobody winning. 

This feels like heaven. It does. I am in love with my lucky life. 

Also it smells so good.

Ate fruit loops with soy milk. 

Thoughts on soy milk. First, I am looking for the phytoestrogens. Second, I am 
reducing my dependence on cows. I am  not a vegetarian. Did that for six years. 
Had a hamburger, life was transformed. I never loved meat and I will only eat 
meat I love and enjoy. I try not to be wasteful of animal products. 

Therefore soy milk.

I went for a walk. A short one, just over 2 miles but it was fast and involved a 
hill. We call this a mountain in Oklahoma but I will ever to it as a hill for 
the purposes of not being offensive to readers in a altitude or attitude higher 
than that of mine in Oklahoma.

Spent a little time on a float on the water.

Spencer kept an eye on that dog in the water. 

I changed  and made lunch. It was an attempt to replicate the vegetarian Mexican 
Gumbo at Qdoba. It's one of the best fast food things you can buy. Also they 
serve China Mist jasmine iced tea. I have this meal at Qdoba once a week. Mine 
was transcendent. Lots of cilantro. I am sorry if you don't like cilantro. I am 
to understand certain people find it tastes soapy. I am so glad I am not once of 
those people. It is citrus to me and I cannot consume enough of it. 

Cleared up the kitchen and thought in lieu if beading I might nap. But then I 
didn't sleep. Not sure why, loaded up on black beans and guacamole as I was. 
Watched the Sex in the City shows on involving Jack Burger. I didn't like 
that season. SJP played a caricature of Carrie Bradshaw. I don't find her to be 
a good actress anyway but she was awful then. I had another cupcake then passed out. 

When I awakened it was nearly six. This nap I felt guilty about. Sleeping until 
dinner time feels wrong.

Penance was two hours of beading while I watched The Visioners. Odd. Slow but 
made a great point about the homogenizing of society and the loss of creative 
vision.

Spencer needed a cart ride and it was nearly sundown. We went to the gate at the 
pasture. And this is what I love about God. I can stand in the same place and 
take the same picture of the same sun over and over again. And over and over 
again my breath is taken away. And I whisperer the prayer "thank you."

All in order again, it was dinner, reading, sleep.

Thank you...a whispered prayer.

Lake Alone Two

Day One continued.

 

An hour. I slept an hour. After about 5 sleepless nights I refuse to feel
guilty. I got (mostly) over the shame of the nap while grieving for my mother.
Grief is a cold trek over a mountain alone only to find another mountain.
It's exhausting. Now I seem to just nap for the pleasure of lying down and
drifting away to wake up and find more day left.

Started another bracelet. My goal is to have three done for the late October
Glitter Market. I only do one show a year now. These bead woven bracelets take
about 9 hours to complete. There is a pleasant repetition in the work. I had a
bead situation this morning though and had to drive into town to get more options.
Thank you Walmart. They have quite a few cute things now. Upping their game. It
must be difficult to compete with the fresh forward buyers of Target. I feel no
sorrow for them of course.

Beading and watching that delicious Michele Williams in My Week With Marilyn.
She is such a good actress. I feel in love with her in Broke Back Mountain. I hope
she sticks with it. I think she will have an epic career given the right
opportunities. An Oscar might help.

Then Bowtie pesto pasta with artichokes. I poured myself a glass of wine. It had
gone bad . Poured it out. Oh well. Dinner on the porch. The birds were coming
around. But so did the squirrels and a naughty one broke one of the feeders.

To my favorite spot at the farm gate. Sunset across the pasture. I have taken
this picture hundreds of times. I can never edit it down to one. I am greedy
with sunsets.

Knitting. TV. Bed. Slept all the night...

Magpie Still

It's been a while since I've posted any flea market finds. Since my husband is collecting so much old stuff, I have found that I have been more interested in other things (i.e. make-up) but...

In September 2011 I did find this basket, book, dictionary...

And my husband brought these home to me.

They are enormous ledgers and yes you can covet them and wish me ill.

 Well, please don't, come to think of it. I have to take care of this boy...

This month Sparkle and I went out to our little shop for a date.

I have not known how to announce this but Sparkle's sweet husband died rather quickly just before Christmas. She is left to deal with her own world turned upside down while watching this grief tear through their nine year old daughter's life...She is very brave and wrote a beautiful post about her fresh grief. It would be special if you gave her some love. I feel wrong to slide this information in on this very seemingly happy post, but that is exactly how his death struck.

Here is a sunset for him.

On a lighter note which I have been so eager to seek, here is a video of cosmetic favorites that is long and will be the longest video I make. I learned a lesson.

But that's what we are here for. Some are not so hard. Others, well, other lessons take the support of many for decades on end...

September Snapshot: West Over the Water Three

September Snapshot: West Over the Water Two

September Snapshot: West Over the Water One

September Snapshot: Prairie Page Three

September Snapshot: The Other Side of Sunset

September Snapshot: Sunset on the Pasture

Sunset for Memory

Kim's sister-in-law Memory died after an exhausting, devasting illness.

I just wanted to honor that loss.