by Valerie | Sep 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
We’d celebrated 30 years at the Casa del Mulino with a rousing party and fantastic fireworks. Now it’s 40 years and the next generation is taking over. Now’s the chance to invite close friends who have enriched all these years, to thank them and celebrate. It’s a... by Valerie | Aug 19, 2014 | art, Italy, museums, people, travel
We climbed up the side of a hill, and it was hot. Rock tombs this time, not tumuli like the ones we had seen at Tarquinia. Then, in the Etruscan necropolis near Pitigliano, we came upon the temple front carved out of tufa, columns only stumps sticking out of the... by Valerie | Aug 11, 2014 | Uncategorized
A frivolous subject, but after having enjoyed one specially made for me, I feel inspired to celebrate the demise of what I, in my culinary ignorance, considered to be normal. I thought that most families who could afford it had a two-course meal once a day. Something... by Valerie | Aug 3, 2014 | museums, people, poetry, writing a novel
It’s not often that I’m alone and have time to spare – a great luxury. I was in London and thought I would see an exhibition. None of the ones I hadn’t seen attracted me, so I decided to wander through the National Portrait Gallery. Some time ago I asked my friend... by Valerie | Jul 31, 2014 | art, General interest, history, travel
Rain from a grey Italian sky has brought me inside from gardening; it has put me in mind of what we humans do to the earth’s surface. Or non-humans, for that matter. A few years ago I was a ‘hanger-on’ at a conference in Paris. It was on the 18th-century architect...
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