A little bit of what I liked about 'An Italian Education' by Tim Parks

I recently read a little book about an Englishman in Italy, and his family .. and this is what I wrote about it:

link to 'framenti e pensieri sparsi'

A Visit to Altavilla

This is from our last little visit to Alta Villa, where we stayed the night, did drawing, dancing, running, playing, had supper, watched the moon, and Mauri worked in the fields!

Here are the pictures with some little stories:

This is one view from the house, showing the mountains and the sea.. beautiful!

Babacino decided to have a rare little sleep in the day, perhaps the fresh air of the countryside is sleep inducing! and so we decided to do some little drawings, using the chair made of recycled things, by Mauri. And of course we have our personal body guard, Frida!

and here are the 3 little drawings I did just quickly while Babacino was sleeping. My hands are a bit rusty, but at least we have started again! One day Babacino will have LOTS of crayons, and things for his hands to  play and make things with and because he will be in a sunny beautiful colorful country, then I hope he might like to make very colorful bright things. That's my theory, coming from Africa and England.

This is the first one I did... it doesn't look like him as such, but when he is sleeping his eyes look very big, so here you can see the big sleeping eyes of Babacino!

and here is a picture of the mountains and the sea at sunset with Babacino's hands, sort of, in a bit of a rush before he wakes up.

This one I actually did inside a bit later when he had ANOTHER short little sleep. he looks so peaceful and cute and small when he sleeps. Sometimes he wriggles and both is legs go up into the sky while he sleeps! 

While we were doing operation DRAW-SLEEP, Mauri was working in the fields, here you can see him building a wall, and burning things on his fire.

during the day we went to visit Mauri and have some tea in the fields, and here is Babacino saying hello to Papi!

Now it is night time, and Mauri is returning home from the fields. The fire will just burn and by the morning it will be little wisps of smoke. Working in the fields is very hard work and so Mauri will be VERY hungry, just like Babacino after 3 or 4 hours of growing! 

And now it is supper time, and the Chef of Tarling Street has made some delicious yummy pasta, and we also had some 'sfincione' I think, which is one of the most divine things you can eat in Sicily. One day soon I will write a blog about the culinary delights of Sicily, where you can find the best best food in the world!!

After supper it is lovely to walk out into the moon light and to be able to stand with your feet on the land. Babacino loves being in the moonlight and luckily the evenings are not yet cold so Babacino can come outside.

And here he is with Papi!

Of course, there are always lots of hugs and kisses for Babacino, even under the moonlight!

Babacino also likes to think about his day and reflect, he looks like quite a grown up boy here

And the next day it is time for more sunshine and playing. Here is Babacino all ready to rock and roll!

And finally, whilst I was out running in the morning, Babacino and Mauri were playing. Playing, Dancing, Singing, and even working in the fields. This is a picture of dancing and singing!

then later it was home time.... soon we'll be writing another story of a day in the life of Babacino, Mauri and Me!!  Grazie Raggazzie!

A new day in the life of Babacino is about to begin!

This is the trailer:
Everything is ready: One cute baby with blanket, 2 passports and tickets, one ergo baby carrier annnnnd a new toy, and, no more sleeps! 
Guess where we are going tomorrow??? 
A new day in the life of Babacino is about to begin!!

A Day in the Life of Babacino, 9 weeks and 1 day old!

This is a story of one day in the life of Babacino, which so happens to be today, Saturday the 31st of August. Gabriel aka Babacino is 9 weeks and 1 day old. Normally,we have his daddy - Maurizio Crispi - with us but he is in Italy, so we are making this partly for him! 

Soon we are going to Italy as well, but for now, we are having fun in London! 

"No one tells us this secret: Putting our babies first expands us and makes us more deeply human. It's what grows us up. I recommend it" Peggy O'Mara

aaaaaand....now click on the link!

A Day in the Life of Babacino 

A Story about a Tiger

This we made when Gabriel was 5 weeks and 2 days!

A Story about a Tiger

Importantly Conversing with the Dignitary Lady Bird

The Little Elephant and the Kite

Peter and the Wolf, with the Cat and the Bird

the mountain night time walk with the ladybirds

Here is the drawing when I first drew it on the 21st of June 13 

 

Here it is again, but I've changed it, as you can see, and it's in a little frame - today is the 23rd of June. Sometimes that happens with drawings.

The Beetle Child visits the Lady Birds

The meeting with the Giant Bird

More of the World of Beetle in June!

Running along with the little Elephant that never forgets!

These are two story books, the pages are made of linen and the pictures feel like hand made woodcuts or lino cuts printed onto the pages, you can feel the little bits of earth and things in the paper, and sometimes the writing hasn't entirely stuck onto the page, because the paper is not perfect. Holding these books is like walking in old old sand in the hot sun. This is sort of what is written on the back of the books to explain the stories: The first one is called: "Catch that Crocodile" (sort of), and then on the back it goes like this: One day, the greengrocer Fanguni finds a crocodile in a ditch. "Catch that crocodile!" scream the inhabitants of the town, terrified. But who will do it? Probin the policeman with his stick? Or Dr. Dutta our champion? Bhayanak Singh will know, and send him away? or is it the crocodile who is is more clever? But then comes a doubt more than justified: Who says that a crocodile must be captured? -------------- The second one is called: "The Elephant that never forgets" and then on the back it says: A Small elephant was lost and alone in the jungle, when a herd of buffalo go to him and take him with them. And now, will he be an elephant or a buffalo? -------------- And here is a little drawing from tonight, which is called: "Running along with the little elephant" and is sort of derived from the Elephant story book but also other things, linked to Beetle and life at the moment in June!

and then I re-drew the drawing a little bit, and it's in a red frame, for brightness. it's still not quite representational of the real life picture, but it is sort of.. (and for some reason the scan has the picture the right way around this time!)

'Being' in June 2013..

The day of Crayon Organising, and then there is a Little Beetle, and here is his world!

a drawing and a certain story time

around and around A tree

a type of dreaming

about the tree today and these dolls