Spring is here. But it isn’t spring in my Alpine wonderland of Valle d’Aosta, Italy. Instead I’m watching the world come to life in the mountains where I was born, in Asheville, North Carolina. A little more than a year ago, I moved back to the US. Gianluca followed about six months later. It was […]
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Autumn Harvest in the Alps
The seasons are changing. My garden is preparing itself for a long winter’s sleep, fresh snow has dusted the glacier capped Alps, and the cows have returned from the mountaintop pastures. Also, it is really cold. I realized the other day that I wear a winter coat eight months out of the year. Eight. Months. […]
Spring in the Alps and a Tasty Springtime Snack!
Oh, I love spring! Winter in the Alps is hard, long, and cold. This week winter has officially come to an end. Yes, I know that for the rest of the northern hemisphere it ended nearly a month ago, but in my neck of the woods official dates regarding seasons don’t mean much. This week […]
A Vending Machine Tour of Valle d’Aosta
Yesterday we had friends from Piemonte visit us for the day, so we took them on a personalized tour of my own making of the region. A vending machine tour. Because Aosta has some pretty spectacular vending machines. You’ve already heard about my dairy farmer neighbors with the raw milk vending machine. That was our […]
Why I’ve been MIA….my soap business!
Sorry that I’ve been away! There are many wonderful things to write about, but I haven’t had a spare moment. In a nutshell, I’ve finally started up my handmade soap and natural body care business here in Italy! It is called ‘Fleur de Lune’, and it’s going even better than I anticipated. Unfortunately, I can’t […]
The Story of Genepy the Alpine Bunny
Because it is Easter, I think it is time everyone knows the story of Genepy the Alpine Bunny. She is our household Easter bunny, so this post is in honor of her. Within the first week or so of when I first moved to Italy in October 2009, I decided it was high time to […]
It’s been a while….
Wow, it sure has been a long time since I have posted! Sorry about that. You know when so much happens that you just can’t write about it? That is what has been going on. Just about every day I think, ‘I need to blog about this!’ but it doesn’t happen. Partially because I’ve had […]
Wine, Music, and Cheese IN A CAVE
This is my Italy. Music & wine in strange locations. There is a fabulous thing in Italy, really and truly magnificent. It’s called ‘Cantine Aperte.’ It translates into English as ‘open cantine.’ Generally, you pay a small amount as entrance (5-8 euros, depending on the event), they give you a glass, and you get […]
Quart Cheese Festival
It is high time I wrote about the Quart Cheese Festival! It is always the same day every year, August 14, conveniently timed to be the day before day of national holiday, so that all participants can recover from their overdose of cheese and indulgence of wine. It is in the Alpine village of Quart […]
Appalachia in the Alps
‘Baby girl, don’t worry, we are going home,’ I whispered to Genepy, the bunny. You see, I was driving the car on the second most curvy road in the mountainous region where I live, Valle d’Aosta. Which means that it is so curvy that when you come around the bend you just about run into […]
