San Severino - Campania's Matera

It was a beautiful sunny morning, so we grabbed our cameras, jumped in the car & headed south
for San Severino.

Perched precariously above the Mingardo river,
this 'borgo medievale' dates back to the
10th century and thrived on trade with Bulgaria.
The first sight of it (in the photo above)
took our breath away.

The hamlet began to be abandoned at the end
of the 19th century, when the railway was built in the valley below, but some homes remained occupied until 1977, although the state of disrepair
gives the appearance of having been
abandoned long before that.

We stopped for a coffee in a bar in
'modern' San Severino before
discovering that the footpath up to
the borgo was barricaded &
off limits to the public.
But hey, we're English, and we didn't
understand the signs, did we?
So we climbed up, exploring the ruins
and admiring the views.....

And what we found when we reached the 

end of Via Croce just totally blew me away....

Now Is The Winter Of Our Content

Yes, I know Spring is in the air, somewhere,
but we've had 48 hours of galeforce winds
with windchill factors of up to -10°
(or should that be down to?),
and cloudy skies, so it has still felt like Winter.

Anyway, let's get down to the subject of this blog, which is to talk about our
'stufa di pellet' (wood pellet burning stove).

When we were having Il Sogno finished to our specification, we were quoted €10k
to have a stove & radiators installed;
as wall space for placing furniture was at a premium, we decided not to go with that option, and had an open fireplace instead.
And while we found a log fire to be a very romantic option on more than one occasion, it really didn't warm up much of the house.

So, last October, we finally had a stufa fitted, with pipes in the loft vented to
each of the bedrooms & the bathroom -
if only we'd been told that this was
an option back in October 2010, we'd
have felt a lot warmer those first two
cruel winters!

The stufa may look like an oversized microwave, but it has made a vast difference this winter, and Il Sogno has
been the cosiest she's ever been.

Being Nanali

I went back to the UK during half term week, 

to help out with looking after our grandchildren -
my chance to be 'Nanali' for a week.

A was at Nursery for the first 2 days,
so I only had M to entertain
until Friday.

Practising our 'trout pout'

It was a week filled with lots of walks,
either to the park or to see Great Grandad;
a visit to the cinema to see Paddington -
M sat on my knee the whole way through -
lots of splashing at bathtime,
and lots of bedtime stories
(the best part of the day for me - I was
always disappointed when our
children outgrew a story at bedtime).

But most of all, it involved lots of cuddles
with my 2 favourite 'little people'....
and that's what I miss most when
I'm back home

Enjoying 'Nana Day'

Rest In Peace Helle

Helle & son Thor in her shop, Outdoor 45

We thought it was strange when Sven & Helle

didn't come over from Denmark to stay at the Old House on 

Leila's Mountain last October - they always came for a few days 

before the November rains began. At the end of the month

Sven e-mailed to let us know that Helle had

been diagnosed with cancer in August & 

was undergoing treatment. 

Although they were both shocked, 

Sven sounded pretty positive that the treatment would work.

Unfortunately, it didn't; Helle passed away yesterday morning.

And we have to say 'goodbye' to one of the most beautiful, 

positive, enthusiastic & energetic women we have ever met.

Rest In Peace Helle, it was a pleasure to know you.

February Brings The Snow

February is the cruellest month.

It brings the bitterly cold north wind and,

quite often, snow - as it did on Monday.

The first snow to fall on Il Sogno this winter....

First snowfall

Admittedly, the first snowfall wasn't much, but in the afternoon, 

whilst we were visiting our friends Paola & Attilio, it started again.

Snow in Cenito

As we drove home, we could see that Leila's Mountain

had a coating of the white stuff

Winter coat

And on Tuesday morning, the view was clear enough

to see the snow sitting above the Amalfi coast

once more

Snow on 'Il Molare'

Buona Domenica!

My latest addiction is Instagram -

posting a 'Buongiorno' photo each morning

has become part of my daily routine.

Coming up with new ideas for

photos is a bit of a challenge, and

I've always been one for a mental challenge.

This morning I was feeling a bit of 

'photographer's block' (if there is such a thing)

as I trawled through photos on my Smartphone.

Then, inspiration struck - and out came the

Rosary beads.

I very rarely use them, but they were

blessed by Pope John Paul II back in 1994, 

when my composer friend Alison had an

audience with him.

So what better pic for a Sunday? 

Buona Domenica!

Farewell 2014, Hello 2015

There's a quote I saw on the Internet a while back,
'Don't look back, you're not going that way'.
So I'm not going to,
although 2014 does hold some fantastic memories.

But here's looking forward to 2015,
and hoping it proves to be an amazing year,
not just for me & hubby and our family
in the UK, but for all of my friends,
both the 'real' ones and the ones
I've made thanks to the Internet.

Happy New Year!

With apologies for there being no pic with this blog - I'm posting from my phone & it won't let me load one - sort it out, please,  Blogger!