A new start on an old theme....picking up the thread again ;-)

I am going to look back at 2018 to continue the stories of the year before. Our third year in Marradi, Italy. 

As is quite normal in the middle of the winter in this part of Italy the weather turns grey and wet. It took a little bit of adjustment because it was so beautiful and relatively warm around Christmas. The good things of having our companion dogs is that we have to go out anyway and it makes the effects of this  time of year much easier to take. The air is clean so a good walk into the fields is fun and relaxing.

Walking the dogs on a grey day

With refreshed heads we study the designs for a staircase in my studio that Joren has put together for us. I feel very grateful for having a son with skills that he can help us out with and his ways don't stop  to amaze me. Figuring out this staircase is tricky because the space is not really large and I wish to keep as much area open to work in. At the same time if we do it right, I could even use the stairs in my photographs.......

Of course nothing happens in our home without a good coffee, in this case a macchiato in one of the handmade cute cups that Joren gave me as one of the Xmas presents the boys treated me crazy with this time. Some beautiful serving bowls and last but not least.....two tickets to a concert of Norah Jones in Amsterdam!!! In Paradiso! In the 70s this was hippy paradise.....it must have been in the previous century I was there last.....Tears were running down my cheeks, so overwhelmed.

After overcoming the aftermath of New Year's Eve and fighting a cold we have our first meeting to give form to the idea of setting up a photography contest rooted in Marradi. The first steps are being made to come up with something out of the ordinary: combining poetry and photography. The Marradi roots will be the poet Dino Campana, by some considered not important, by others a hero!
Sure is that we have a cultural center in our tiny village where anything Campana is being studied, exhibited and celebrated throughout the year (http://www.dinocampana.it). We pay a visit to the center to check out the potential exhibition area.

The staircase adorned with poetry of Dino Campana

What better way to celebrate the founding of the board of MarradImmagine, in which I have been invited to take place as secretary and member of the jury, with a dinner in one of the nearby restaurants that we love for their wonderful Romagnolo (province of Romagna) food: Trattoria Santa Eufemia a 12 km da Marradi verso Faenza.

We are still in the first week of January so it is no surprise to get a visit from La Befana, who surprises Lex with onions and garlic because he drinks wine like water (how does she know we wonder?) and Gianni with 'caramelle'. Apparently he is the good kid in town ;-)