Quote of the week No. 48

"It is at the edge of a petal that love waits."

- William Carlos Williams

Driftwood

After the storms of recent weeks, the modest shingle beach at Carmine Inferiore, which we call our own, is piled high with driftwood. One particular tree-trunk has been tied to the shore. It still bucks and canters with the waves - a sea-horse offering magical rides to little imaginations, and a plethora of textures to young photographers...

Photograph by AJ, aged 6½.

Quote of the week No. 47

Beside the footpath, Savognin.

"I think it annoys God if you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice." 

- Alice Walker, The Colour Purple.

Window

Parc Ela, Grigioni.

What I did on my holidays No.7

Watched the mountainside melt away in a sudden storm, leaving only a rippling, jagged edge of Norway spruce visible amid the roiling fog. 

What I did on my holidays No.6

Marvelled once more at the brilliance of the person who saw that Savognin's enormous car park was crammed to bursting in the ski season but became a deserted wasteland in the summer, and suggested filling it with meltwater from the River Surses, adding a couple of kid-sized rafts, three pedaloes, some non-endangered wildlife, four barbecues, a kiosk, a playground and a pile of sand.

Must have been a mother.

What I did on my holidays No.5

Discovered exactly how wonderful it is to spend a few days alone with my daughter, including allowing her to instruct me in her favourite occupation of collecting wildflowers and arranging them. 

Happy birthday, B-B. What a fascinating little person you've become in only 5 years.

What I did on my holidays No.4

Renewed my acquaintance with Grigioni's heart-expanding sky, breathed its clean air and relished the fresh produce of its wide, steep landscape.

What I did on my holidays No.3

Introduced my daughter to things cold, wet and slimy...

... in the form of a juvenile Alpine salamander an Alpine newt (see comments).

No room for squeamish girlies in Carmine Superiore.

What I did on my holidays No.2

Raided the cellar for a bottle of crémant de Bourgogne, and settled myself on the terrace to enjoy the evening light show over Piz Toissa (2657m).

What I did on my holidays No.1

Six hours hiking at between 1200m and 2000m in and around Val d'Err, Grigioni, with local pharmacist and herbalist Astrid Thurner, learning about hundreds of species of Alpine plants: the culinary, the medicinal, the terribly rare and the breathtakingly beautiful. 

Thanks to Ruth for really making my day by translating into English from the Swiss-German when my Latin binomials deserted me, and for joining me in spontaneous, delighted laughter at the sheer exuberance of Nature at her creative best.

Smiling Madonna

Basilica San Vittore,

Verbania Intra.