The new website has launched ...
And we are on Twitter and Facebook. Places are selling. It's so exciting.
The newsletter is still coming, I had to wait for my fabulous graphic designer and the marketing guru to ride to the rescue, in terms of logo design and site building.
More to follow on them in the weeks ahead, as they are superb. Speedy, efficient, inspired, talented ...
Come wandering in Genoa, Italy.
You saw the food, and now for some of the people ...
Happy 50th to the beautiful Jayne, captured with Steve, that big old love of her life by some paparazzi-like creature let loose with their camera.
Forgive me if I fail to write coherently about the food at yesterday's 50th birthday party but I think the photograph at the end of the post goes some way to explaining why I fail ...
It was things like the fact that I don't like the idea of veal but ohmygoodness, it tastes like THAT!??
Jayne hosted the most exquisite party, invited a whole lot of lovely people, and made sure glasses were kept full of champagne while tempting our tummies with the most divine nibbles.
And I picked up a camera not my own and took photographs to my heart's content. I drank champagne, again ... Why yes, I was that woman who formerly claimed she didn't like champagne, who has shamelessly consumed 'quite some' (as the Belgian bloke has been known to say) these last 48 hours.
It appears I have seen the light with regard to good champagne.
Mmmm, and so it turns out a recipe for surviving a 29 celsius weekend here in Antwerp involves some champagne, much good food, and more than a few excellent people.
Normal service shall resume here tomorrow.
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I were able to simply concentrate on one thing ... on just one of those wild and beautiful ideas that I have.
Perhaps it would be about me just going to Genova to work on my book. Or if I stayed home and only worked on the photography workshops. I wonder how it would be if I was a one-idea kind of woman.
Or if I just did the housework and cared for my family, deep-cleaning this quirky old Belgian house once a month, studying new recipes then cooking then, and taking the time to be sure my family was happy.
And maybe I would have that dog I dream about too.
If I didn't enjoy meeting new people as I do ... or love exploring other countries so much, then that distraction-factor would be so much smaller and that much more manageable. Perhaps.
But I am seem to be one of those people, genuinely deeply curious about almost everything. I love photography, writing and people. I love new people but old friends too. I love family, and I love those messy new ideas that bubble up and spill all over the place.
I tried staying in and working one rainy day back in Genova but the balcony beckoned and instead my camera and I attempted to capture some of the beauty just outside the glass doors.
I miss that apartment and yet, at the same time, I am glad to be home.
There was a BBQ last night, a reunion with some of Gert's university friends. They were gracious and kindly allowed me into their circle. The reunion was held in a beautiful location someplace in Belgium. We were outside under this sail-like canopy that kept us dry while a Fiordland-New-Zealand-style tempest rumbled and crackled and downpoured around us. It was a truly superb evening.
We hit 29 celsius yesterday ... summer is here. The garden is luscious, between the heat and the rain, everything out there is celebrating by growing madly.
And today there's a 50th someplace in the city. I should get ready but meanwhile ... another of the series of photographs taken from that balcony high up on Via Malta, one rainy day back in beautiful Genova.
We wandered out into our small pocket-sized garden after dinner and read until 10pm. It's been hot here. We have summer. It's for sure now.
There's even talk of 31 celsius at the weekend. We have a BBQ to attend, a birthday party too. Oh, and the monthly expedition for supplies.
But anyway, the garden ...
Note of caution, based on what I read in Gert's mind ... if you want peace and tranquility, best not take a photographer.
You can't visit Genova, in Italy, and not taste the pesto. It's the home of pesto.
Well, if you have an allergy, okay ... you could miss the pesto but otherwise, you will taste of the most sublime pesto ever made while visiting that ancient Italian city.
They know what they're doing there. You can taste the difference.
