Artnotes: Ahhhh

 House on the hill  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas 16 x 24"   40 x 60 cm

 ​Pear Tree  Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/linen   24 x 20"  60 x 50cm

 ​​Oleander   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/linen 12 x 12   30 x 30cm  

Artnotes:  Ahhh

 

We are back in Rocca Malatina, Italy, our new home.   We spent a short time here before our recent two months in Paris and the USA.  

It was a fabulous trip, with many art shows and sales.  We met wonderful new people and renewed friendships with old friends.  It made me realize that life is really about connecting with people, loving and feeling loved.  We spent afternoons on the front porch of Hemlock Lodge (aka Hemlock Gallery, with paintings floor to ceiling) “chewing the fat” and having many laughs.    Then, a jump in the lake.

It is 26C degrees (79 F) and humid at 9 AM in Rocca Malatina.  This is about the coolest it has been since our arrival on Thursday evening.  Much of the time is hovers around 100.  It is very difficult to sleep.

Our landlady and other friends here assure us it is unusual for it to be so hot, so long.  I hope it is just a fluke, but meanwhile I consider turning a wine tub in the basement into a swimming pool.  Maybe we should sleep in the basement.  I went down there – too many spiders.  And those wine barrels must have been built in place, they won’t fit through the door.   Maybe I’ll buy a sprinkler.

Harika lies beneath the tree out front.  We received a warm reception at the coffee shop upon our arrival for “machiatti” yesterday.   They are now serving “cremosas”, a sort of soft serve in Pistachio or Coffee flavor.   Ludovico, the gardener, rushed down the hill to say hello on Friday – his dog had four puppies while we were away.  Our landlady stopped by and invited us for Sunday dinner.  We will see Gary and friends soon.

Being soooo hot, we decided to enjoy the air conditioned car.  We drove toward Monte Cimone, a peak of some 7500 feet.  On the way, we spotted people bathing in a river.  Harika ran down into the water at once, wading in to the gunnels, taking a long drink.  Without bathing suits, I could only go in as deep as my dress, hiked up, would allow.   Little fish nibbled my toes.   Ahhh.