IT'S A WHITE CHRISTMAS

 What a beautiful way to wake up on Christmas morning...

A wonderful jog followed by a San Diego Rancho's inspired breakfast with the family.

A quick Christmas photo with the Sullivans.

(Check back soon for more Christmas photos)

Back in the USA...

~Spending time in Virginia~

We took a short road trip from Syracuse to visit Nate's good buddy in Virginia.

 Hiking in Shenandoah National Park 

Visiting with baby Grace

 While in Virginia we got to see a few friends we haven't seen in a while.

Olives & Slacklines

Olive oil that has been pressed only days earlier has become one of our favorite things. It is so fresh, so spicy.  It is like no oil I have ever had before.  Here are a few photos of us on a sunny day assisting with the olive harvest.

A group shot while on a hike. At the top of the waterfall, is an overhanging branch
with ice sickles that are just starting to melt in the morning sun.
Below and to the left is a picture of some frozen vegetation.

Above is a bottle of biodynamic sparkling Rosato.

 Our friends came over for lunch and brought one of

their rare, delicious bottles. Only 34 bottles made.

                                                                                        It was amazing!

Oh yeah, we are slacklining! Lately with the frost I can only
get in short sessions before I can no longer feel my toes.

Sun, Water and Fire

 Well, winter has finally set in here in Tuscany, we have been receiving morning 

frosts and the other day a small amount of snow flakes fell. We are hoping for some 

snow that sticks, as this place would be even more magical covered in snow. 

Since the sun rises so late we are up to see the sunrise, almost daily.  The sky is 

filled with beautiful colors of pinks, red, orange and yellow. 

A good view of our house.

A natural spring!
Nate and I went on a hike along a beautiful stream
and decided to keep going to see if we could find
the source. We did. The water bubbles right up
from the ground. Wow, nature is so magical.

A new waterfall just a short hike away.

Monteriggioni~A small, adorable fully walled city

An evening bonfire.

Siena Vs. Roma Calcio Match

AC Siena~Associazione Calcio Siena 

Nate showing off his new scarf with the Duomo in background.
Go Siena!

The kickoff. Roma in red and Siena in white and black.
The man in red with the bald head (#4) is Michael Bradley, the first player from the USA
to play in the Italian Serie A.

This small professional football stadium holds just over 15,000 people and was built in 1923.

Roma ended up winning 3-1. It was a fun game to watch and since the
stadium is so small, every seat has a great view.

A Recent Rain Storm

 A couple days ago it poured rain all day and night. We woke up the morning after the storm 

and went on a walk to check out the effects.  The pictures below represent 

a small part of what we saw.  There were waterfalls along the hillsides where there 

are normally not even streams and the normal calm creek was fiercely rushing.

This is the road to get out of our property.  The bridge was overtaken by the
powerful stream and we were flooded in for the day.  It's okay because we don't
have anywhere else we would rather be.

Nate and Tom with "Chocolate Falls".

Our favorite waterfall just a 5 minute walk from our front door.

 Two days after the storm a beautiful rainbow shown over our home. Beautiful!

Gelato all the time.
Even for breakfast!

Thanksgiving in Italy

~Happy Thanksgiving~

We created our own turkey trot through the tuscan hills.
It was a beautiful morning with a slight chill, perfect for running.

Before our Run...

After our run...

Breakfast: Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Tea

Italian Thanksgiving Lunch

 We celebrated Thanksgiving with about 80 people through an international studies 

program out of Siena, Italy. There was a great mixture of people and all the traditional foods.

It was a wonderful evening. 

The three of us at our Thanksgiving dinner 

Dessert:  Pumpkin pie, apple crisp and gelato!

November 17th-A Sunny Day

At the end of the day, I realized Nate and I had taken 115 pictures all in one day

AND we didn't even leave our property. 

It was a beautiful sunny day...

This is our wonderful breakfast spot,
it overlooks a valley full of
vineyards and forest.
We took a pot of tea outside to
bask in the sunlight, write letters
and journal.

                Then we went on a hike.

We have had rainy days followed by really sunny days, 

I think the flowers think it is spring. Wildflowers are

popping up all over. It is really amazing because we have

fall colors mixing with spring flower colors. WoW!

Then we stopped by the stream to listen to some of natures music.

This is the cold plunge pool.

The cats here are great. This one is Blackie and she went on the whole hike with us. 

After the hike it was definitely time for lunch.

Kale, butternut squash, quinoa, tofu and salad.

Nate harvesting the cauliflower right from 

our garden for dinner. 

Teaching our Brazilian friend, Fernando, to make a lattice top for our apple pie.

The finished product. Oh yah, soooo good!

Sitting down for dinner.
A couple bottles of Biodynamic local wine, fresh salad, mixed
vegetable cauliflower curry and of course the apple pie.

A wonderful day spent with wonderful people,
exploring and enjoying nature.