Farmhouse near CastelVetro Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 13 x 18" 33 x 46cm
Early Winter Morning Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 13 x 18" 33 x 46cm
Cherry Tree Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/panel 11 x 14" 27 x 35 cm
Chickens under skinny tree Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 13 x 18" 33 x 46cm
Artnotes: Smells Good
It has been a beautiful week in Rocca Malatina. The sun is shining, and every morning there is a soft white near-frost cover on the grass. It is cold, but still above freezing. I can smell everything.
I know smells are supposed to be stronger in the summer, but it is this time of year I could always smell the chocolate shop in our neighborhood in Paris. Maybe bad smells are stronger in summer, but give me a damp October day and I can almost tell you, eyes closed, where I am standing.
Here, Harika runs around in circles, spurred by these cool temperatures, stirring up the spicy scent of mint which is as thick as the grass in our yard. The neighbors (sadly) cut down their towering spruce and our house filled with the pine-y aroma; days later I still detect its lingering perfume outside. I picked scores of apples from our trees – laying some in for the winter in the basement, and making apple crumble just for fun. The house smells wonderful.
Friends brought us quince, that aromatic fruit which lends itself to jelly. Blair loves them, odd-ball as they are, and he wants to sit and smell them. He is painting quince as we speak.
I painted a lot this week, enjoying the sunshine. Shadows are longer, the sun no longer shining directly overhead. I miss our luncheons on the deck, but there is a coziness to being indoors. We got our chimney cleaned, something people here found astounding. It had perhaps never been cleaned in the history of the house. The chimney sweep wanted to know the last time the fireplace was used.
The fireplace is in our kitchen, where I am eager to roast a whole salmon, or lamb chops. I can roast vegetables and keep our kitchen warm with the fire.
The Cream Puff has been in the shop, getting its heater fixed (mercifully, under warrantee). On the one hand, I am thrilled to be free of a car; on the other hand, I miss getting around. If I win the lottery, I will buy a big luxury car (a Rolls-royce, or Bentley, maybe) and have a driver for Blair, Harika and I , who will loll in the big leather (smells good) back seat.
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