and away I go...

to Houston!

The skies may still be heavy with rain clouds 

but we'll be stitching away 

with bright happy colors inside the walls of  

Chandail!

'Blossom'
a Kimberly design©

Catching up...

My whole reason for traveling to Germany!
Our little bird turned one!

This is what drew me to Firenze!
Il Duomo
This massive piece of architecture
overwhelms the buildings approaching it.

Whitney catching me, catching Il Duomo.
Our apartment was this close, of course,
the gelato was that close too!

We three, probably not our best picture but the backdrop is WOW!
This was after a magnificent day of touring the Chianti region.
Several wineries later ... we were back in Firenze
a top this hill looking over the city.
The day of touring could not have been possible
without friends that came down  for the day.
Can't thank them enough!
What memories we have from this day. 

Shelby, Whitney, Emma, & Nikesh
What great friends to come and chauffeur us
all over Tuscany's Chianti Region!

The sky was that blue!

Border designs anyone ...
I'm told this was built with no scaffolding!

As my creative right brain took in this shot,
my left was telling me that if one suffered claustrophobia ...
 it would be hard to live here. Good thing I don't!

So much beauty to take in.

They call this the gateway to the Chianti Region. 
You can just barely see the vineyard fields off in the distance.
Greve in Chianti is a town and commune in the province of Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
[just imagine addressing that envelope]

The BIG dream ...
a secluded villa in Tuscany ...
can you just imagine retreats here ... 

Solatione Vineyard
I was so in awe.
Hope I have this correct, the name means 'lots of sun'.

Solatione Vineyard
Tiny little grapes on the vines at this point.
The owners of this golden spot were so welcoming.
We just showed up with no appointment.
Whitney remembered this amazing vineyard from
a previous trip to the region.
A quick search found the address to be less than fifteen minutes
away and off we went on another adventure. 

The first bridge you see in the distance is Ponte Vecchio.
Which I was cutely corrected on how to pronounce.
Just forget that 'h'.
I decided I would fit in nicely only if I could make
myself up speak in the center of almost every word
that comes out of your mouth in Italian.
We had a sweet young couple sitting at the next
table one evening for dinner.
The young man had me in a fit of laughter telling me how Americans say Ferrari so wrong.
They were great entertainment for Emma that evening too.
Wonderful memories made.

Wiped out.
We'll definitely have to do this all again in the future
at an age that she'll remember every wonderful detail.
Love you sweet little bird.
Thank you for being such a good little explorer
with Mimi and Mama!