Burano

After a day in candy coloured Burano, Julian was happy to get back to Ventitan Red and Naples Yellow.

Venice 2

It rained, it snowed, little doggy got wet...



And then the sun came back. In Taj mahal shaped blobs at first...



What are you lookin' at? said the Venetian.



At the butterflies, I said.

Happy Thanksgiving;

Venice is Empty

Where have all the tourists gone? I haven't seen Venice like this since my first professional gig twenty five years ago, which was a month in La Serenissima with Claudio Abbado and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.......

Cadmium Red

Babu hates Manon and Manon hates Babu. Babu, sensibly, has taken to living in Julians studio, but there are dangers. Yesterday Babu came down to have her dinner with a bright red paw. I was on the phone to my brother in Bangkok. 'Babu's hurt' I shouted up. 'Can you come and see her?' Julian came down. 'This is gonna take two of us' he mouthed. 'can I call you back' I said. Babu had by now spread a great dollop of cadmium red (highly poisonous) from her paw to her fluffy white tum and she looked like something out of the killing fields. We tried our best to clean her up with baby oil newly delivered from the UK and soap suds, but of course she licked most of it up. Here she is checking out a new set of strings sent, very kindly, by a collector of Julian's - Janet..... But you'll have to wait for the book for THAT story....!

Meanwhile, do we Hope or do we Despair?

Let's hope.

cutting the vines

Just outside the house the vines have been cut. The cello is snugly in its case. TV series have been downloaded. I am applying for a job (yes a small job but perhaps an exciting one), Julian has been here looking at this mountain for too long and we are planning our yearly painting/writing trip to Venice. Life is tough, as always.

Green Tomato Chutney

The green tomato chutney with Julian's special improvised recipe is all bottled up and waiting for its Postcard From Provence Christmas label. We tested it out with Corsican Ewe's cheese, a banon sec goat's cheese, and an organic camembert accompanied by the last garden salad. Yum.

Meanwhile the world waits with bated breath for a glimpse of hope. Here are "Tobias Wolf and others on the Bush legacy.