Long lasting white winter days - February 2018

February 2018 went into the books as a real winter month. We had so much snow it seems it was never going to stop. We had had some snow the year before and normally we should expect a few weeks of winterweather up in the Appenines, but nothing serious.

We were in for a surprise and a challenging one. But first we made a trip to Bologna to visit the largest exposition of Italian products: https://www.eatalyworld.it/en/. I will be very honest: I enjoyed spending the day with good friends, and am happy to know more about the production of Parmesan cheese and with the fun we had while tasting it all. The displays of all the traditional Italian products are beautiful, the restaurants serve amazing food, the production labs visible through windows all around and one can even take part in a workshop to make your own pasta. But at the end of the day I prefer the small local shops and restaurants in any town in Italy, that produce and serve at 0 km above this overwhelming experience, but if you only have limited time, it sure is worth a visit.

Recipes on display to try at home

Production of mozzarella.

Mortadella preparation

Sugarflower display

Free bikes to cross through the huge food halls 

Indoor beach ambiance

Art on display

Indoor seafood restaurant

And then winter arrived. Not the first time this winter the forecast announced snow....we are prepared, food in the cellar, wood and pellets in the shed, warm clothes still in the wardrobe. Within a day the world turns totally white with wet, thick snow. We all fear for the trees that are sighing under the heavy load. Having fun finding a little bit of color left in this monochrome world.

Off course ordinary life goes on. Birthdays have to be celebrated. Fortunately we can get down the road with our sturdy old Suzuki to toast to a fruitful new year in Susie's life.
The studio is taking more and more shape and I find my long desired white leather sofa at a crazily low price. Having patience until it would show up paid off 🙏😄, although I had to sit on it and 'defend' it as 'mine'on the 'as-is' platform, while I sent Susie off to find someone to help us out and other potential buyers were looking at it. I tried to cover the pricetag while pretending to sit comfortably....and bless them, they all walked away 😛 . Unbelievable but true I had to convince the employee to help us out that this couch could be taken apart. Ikea's as-is policy is that you take it home as it is and it is up to you how you do it. Fine with me, I asked for a tool and there I was, sitting on the floor unscrewing the parts. In Italy apparently that is quite an uncommon sight, a woman on the floor taking apart a sofa...considering all the people (mostly men) standing around watching!!

That evening we have to make do with candles. Electricity lines, which all run above ground in our area, have snapped under the heavy snow. Thanks to Ikea we have shiploads of different shapes of candles. Even with just candle light Lex manages to put together a wonderful meal, and what's more romantic than dining by this subtle light. Nevertheless we hope the power will come back on soon. With just a fire place in one room the house will cool off very quickly.

In the next few days our son Joren arrives with two good friends, for a mix of carpentry, fun, holiday time. Before we know the hill behind our home turns into a snowboarding hill. The dogs go crazy while they find leftovers of the wolves dinner. I feel priviliged with these young men, who, in return for board and food put together the flooring in my studio loft in just an afternoon. The weather turns from winter holiday ideal conditions into foggy almost claustrophobic circumstances, just around the corner. When the sun comes out, shirts are being pulled off, snow men made, barbecue taken out of the shed......lifes' beautiful moments! Next day foggy, almost claustrophobic, nevertheless tempting to go out and play. 

February went down in the books as a real winter months. The snow melted away quickly once the sun came out, albeit only for a few days. Boris and Lola enjoy their treasures that had been buried in snow, cleaning their teeth on bones of deer legs. It remained cold, icy cold. The opening of the beautifully refurbished Ponte degli Archiroli was celebrated as the Italians do with food (the famous polenta and bolognese made by the Alpini) and wine in earcuffs, gloves and thick wintercoats.
The warm side of cold winterweather: there is always a good reason to sit around the fireplace with friends, while the smell of roasted chicken is to die for, or create taste vegetable pies. And there is always that one day with blue sky, that we have started to enjoy even more since the studio has sliding doors facing south. When there is just too much cool wind to sit outside, we retire inside the studio, on the new couch, open the door and voilà, our private solarium is a fact.

The next day the world is turning beautiful postcard white again, although I have to admit that we were ready for spring. Little did we know.....we were in for a long haul which lasted for a few weeks into early March and had us more or less snowed in. We could not believe our eyes when it kept snowing for two days in a row and woke up one morning to more than a meter thick white blanket. The dogs had a ball, we not so much. Unfortunately I made a bad step and hurt my back. I ended up looking at the snowy landscape from my bed. It was the first time in three years in Italy I doubted our choice. I never imagined winters could be this harsh. A 'refreshing' wake-up call to our needs in these circumstances: lots of firewood, a good stack of dried food and a freezer full of goodies, water, wine ;-), patience, snow shoes (I bought them immediately as soon as I could after the snow had melted) and a great sense of humour. We managed for the most part.

Here we go again.......

No pun intended ;-)

The walnut tree in front of our house.