My two scouts.

Where we live

Yesterday Giovanni and I cleaned the leaves from the path down to the
back gate and the patios in the woods so I thought to take a few
pictures of the property in winter. It has been dry and cold here now
for weeks, not a fun winter.

Bomb Shelter

At the edge of our property and partially under it there is a World
War II bomb shelter. Some time ago I found the entrance and have been
wanting to go in and take some pictures. So finally today Giovanni
and I went in; it was a bit of an adventure.

Gnocchi Con La Ricotta Fresca

Gnocchi made with fresh ricotta, this is from the Cucina Bellunese cookbook.  It's so good and so easy to make I feel obligated to share it.  You need:

500 grams of fresh ricotta
150 g of flour
2 eggs
12 sage leaves
100 g butter
50 g grana padano, (parmigiana cheese)
salt

Combine/mix well the ricotta, flour, eggs and a bit of salt, then let it rest in the fridge for half an hour

Boil some water make large gnocchi using two table spoons and drop them into the water, when they rise up they are done.

Put the butter and sage leaves in a frying pan and cook tell the butter starts to turn brown.  Take out the leaves and pour the butter over the gnocchi.  Serve with lots of fresh grana grated over the top.  You can also put the sage leaves on the plates and season with more salt and some pepper if you like.  It's also good if you don't have the sage, just do the butter.

Next time I make it I'll take a picture.

Camper Parking

We park in places like this often as they are free. This is in
Bresannone which is near Bolzano. I like the sign at the entrance
which says campers only cars will be towed away. These parking areas
don't look so inviting, but they are not a destination, just a place
to park with a close walk into town. The thing is that sometimes the
camper is kind of like being in an apartment attached to others, you
have your own little environment mostly inside and especially in the
Winter. From here we had a short walk into the nice little town all
decorated with Christmas lights and the little temporay huts for the
Christmas market which was still going on.

Photovoltaic on the Camper

The panel 230 watts was too big put anywhere but up front.. 

The solar control unit that is compatible with the original electrical control box.  It all fits under the passenger seat. 

No exposed wires

The tempered glass on one of the panels on our photovoltaic plant got
shattered. So it had to be replaced but it still woks just fine. I
painted over the glass with two coats of liquid plastic which sort of
glued all the glass pieces togerther and put a protective layer over
it all. Then I installed it on the roof of our camper. It was a fun
project requiring some new skills and a lot of thinking to decide
where to put the wires, how to attach it to the roof and so on. It
will make us much more self sufficient on our next long trip.

Hemingway

This is from an auction at Christies some years ago. 

HEMINGWAY, ERNEST. Green Hills of Africa. New York: Scribners, 1953. 8vo, original cloth; dust jacket, panels defective. PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed by Hemingway on front free endpaper: "To Lou Jennings best always from his friend Ernest Hemingway." Additionally inscribed by Mary Hemingway on half-title: "and fun and fruitful enterprize, I hope Mary Hemingway," dated Sep. 8th 1955 on front free endpaper, below Hemingway's inscription -- [With:] 3 photographs, showing Hemingway posing with a large marlin. (4)

Ernest Hemingway

Some pictures of my grandfather Lou Jennings with Ernest Hemingway, they are mostly from Cuba during the filming of the Old Man and the Sea.

He is there somewhere.  This is Hemingways boat which has been preserved in Cuba

This picture is from Peru where they went to catch the big Marlin for the movie.

That is Lou next to Hemingway and I believe Mary Hemingway and then the others I'm not sure.  Maybe they are other members of the film crew.

With Mary Hemingway

Pizza

My home made pizza. I cook the dough a bit first then put the stuff
on it and then back in the oven.

Karate

Giovanni thinks he has finally found his sport.  He placed first and second with the two teams he was on his first time out.

American Design

Do you live outside the US and wish there was someone who could help you with a project involving your living spaces that understood your desires, need for functional spaces, ideas about how kitchens and bathrooms should work, and just in general the way you would like to live.  If so why not contact me, I have over 30 years of experience designing homes for the rich, the middle class and the poor.  Even though I am in Italy most of the time I continue to do projects in the US and together with my wife who is an Italian architect we have done projects in the Czech Republic, Mexico and Switzerland as well as Italy.  Most of the work we have done in these various countries is done over the internet so we can easily work with you even though we may not be able to meet face to face.

What is a Luxury

Well after 6 years living in Italy, I went out this morning and bought a clothes dryer.  Luisa is not that happy about it.  She thinks the cost of running it is too much and told me it is quite a luxury.   Of course we had one in California and she never questioned it.

Birtday party at McDonalds