Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Over the River and Through the Woods (really!)

Partial view of the orchard and entrance to the boschetto (little forest) behind my Grandmother's house. The river is just beside the property - actually there are two: the Vipacco and the Isonzo.

Our nephew Felipe showing off freshly picked walnuts and playing photographer.

Our nephew Thiago and his father Martin, with a view of the house in the background.

Proudly displaying the massive basket of figs I picked. I managed to eat all of these in about 4 days!

Portrait of the Vida Difícil.

My sister-in-law Andrea searching for hazelnuts.

Somehow I managed to convince Thiago that it wasn't, in fact, a good idea to take the lawnmower for a spin.

Rico examining the engine of the 1938 Fiat my Grammy gave to us grandkids to restore.

Martin checks out the convertible top. Everything in the car is in remarkably good condition.

Words fail me to describe how much my Grammy likes Rico. Seriously!

The Fiat is a one-family car. My great-great-grandmother was the original owner, and we still have the car papers in her name. Quite the legacy, ?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a lovely home and family. I am very jealous of the figs...grew up with a fig tree in Louisiana, and adore them. It looks like you had a wonderful vacation.

Anonymous said...

Wow! How beautiful! It's great that you have such a close connection to Italy. I would love to hear your mother's story about how she settled in New Mexico, then the Bay area. Was she born and raised in Italy?

Such fascinating stories you have Ali!

Ali Ambrosio said...

~Southern Goddess - When I was a freshman in Economics, our professor used cheesecake to illustrate the law of diminishing marginal returns: the 34th piece of cheesecake is never as good as the 1st! However, with figs, I kept waiting for my diminishing marginal returns to kick in...and they never did, at least not to the point where I got sick of the figs. I think it would take at least a month of intense fig-eating!

~Anonymous - It was my grandmother who came to the US originally, but she then moved back to Italy in recent years. My mom was born in the US. My grandmother is 1/2 Swiss and 1/2 Italian, and with a very interesting story. So is my mom's, but hers is not that of an immigrant/expat. :)

Raúl said...

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judy in ky said...

You look gorgeous in that photo with the figs. Is that where your relatives told you that you didn't look as good as at your wedding? I don't agree at all. You were like a movie star at your wedding, in lovely gown and make-up. Even movie stars don't look like that in everyday life! I hope you aren't still down on yourself. I don't think you have a reason to be.