Inspiration

I don’t know what it is about Easter time and the fact that I’m sitting in my kitchen in Dorset FREEZING. What happened to the balmy spring? Hello?!?

Well anyway it is that time of year. I start dreaming of Italy, and of heat.

Just in case you’re in a similar frame of mind this weekend, you might like to get in touch with my friend Valentina who tells me she still has a few spare weeks at her lovely farmhouse in the most perfect part of Tuscany (near Gaiole-in-Chianti, just north of Siena) between 2nd June and 20th July.  A few photos below, from years gone by, and you can find out more on her website here.

I think I’ve stayed with Val every year for the last, hmm, ten years now. And over those years we’ve made various tweaks and changes to the house. But what I love about it is that it still has the totally-cool and no-longer-seen-in-House-and-Garden-Magazine-look: classic Brit holiday home from the 1970s (but now with nicer towels). Tuscan holiday house before they were bought out by noisy Germans or too-rich Swiss (sorry, I really don’t mean to typecast), or before they were made so beautiful by such tasteful souls that you don’t know where to sit. This is a look you cannot make up. Check out those beautiful blue Habitat chairs in the dining room, for instance. Heaven on a plate.

Happy dreams! Or, in fact, reality (if you like).