Florals for Mother’s Day, in homage to that very special woman

Pierotucci is offering you a visual homage to that very special lady, mixing some of Mom’s favorite things.  Here we offer you a bouquet of Italian leather handbags for the heart of Tuscany.  Best wishes – and Happy days!

The Hum of Summer Lavendar in Tuscany

I don’t know if I am being a bit whisical or if I am spot on (as my English colleague would say), but I love to sit and watch my lavender plants when a little breeze makes them sway back and forth.

I put the lavender in because they told me it would help keep the mosquitoes away…but what they failed to mention is that it attracts every other kind of flying insect known to woman (at least here in Tuscany).

My lavender bushes are filled with industrious bees (of varying sizes), colorful butterflies and moths that look like miniture humingbirds. And everytime the wind blows thru and moves the flowers the entire flying community hovers and hums a bit more intensly.

The rich sweet smell, the hum and buzz and the soft lavender color will always be associated in my mind with a summer in Tuscany, much like these new FORTUNTA Designer Handbags from Pierotucci.  The unique printed motif on the lavendar colored leather makes these bags stand out in a crowd.

Each limited edition has been paired with contrasting colored accents like the soft color of beige above and the stark contrast of classic black below. Of course, you can’t miss the tic tac toe box with it’s indication of the limited edition numbering or the signature “pepperincino” adding a bright splash of color on this soft pastel hue.

Check out the entire collection of FORTUNATA designer tote bags online to appreciate the many different colors and designs there are!

Everything is coming up roses in Tuscany

It is springtime in Tuscany and all you need is a drop of sun and the roses are in bloom everywhere!  It almost seems that roses are as proficuo as weeds in some areas.  It is in my nature to be generally super curious and I will find myself asking tons of questions when I find a reliable source and then I tuck these pieces of info into my brain.  I found most of my American friends and family, when they come to visit,  indulge me and listen to these stories and facts – many of them are probably wondering how it is I can remember all of these curiousities but I had the hardest time remembering how to do algerbra or spell anything with more than two vowels in it. And I am about to share with you one of these interesting little facts.

As it turns out both Tuscan vineyards and I share a common like :  Roses.   Anyone who has visited Tuscany might have noticed that at the beginning of each row in the vineyards there can occassionally be found a rose bush.  This is especially true for the older vineyards – like those located around my house.  Some might have thought that is was a gesture of beauty, but I can assure you that the Tuscan farmer has no time for adding a bit of beauty when it comes to something as serious as his veggie garden or vineyard.

When I first started gardening in Tuscany, planted flowers all a long my fence.  I was continuously under the scrutiny of my neighbors – the older they were the more curious as to what the American girl was up too.  Bruno,  as old as they get and with a face that never cracked a smile, shook his head and gave me a look bordering on disgust he said:  ”boh, fiori?”  Of course, don’t they look good?.  ”boh (a Tuscan way of saying I don’t know) non si può mangiare fiori” –  you can’t eat those flowers so, I was just wasting my time.

But not all flower are a waste of time, for example fried fiori di zucca (fried zucchini flowers – need I say more?) and roses.  Yes, back on the topic at hand.  Apparently roses were traditionally planted at the end of the rows in vineyards because they are delicate – more so than the vines.  In this way, if the flowers or the bushes started to show signs of bugs or diease the farmer would be alerted before the problem could attach the vineyards.  The rose bush above is one of my favorites, nestled underneath a olive tree pushes out blooms from May to November non stop – and not scrawny blossoms but long stem red roses!

Not all roses are found in or around the vineyards, like this silver plated Nomination bracelet with a rose motif, this one can be found on line at Pierotucci.com  And let’s just say that the younger generation of Italians are just as fond of planting flowers and roses as they are of planting tomatoes and zucchini plants.

This bush with is spectacular yellow and pink blossoms stands taller than me!  I love the idea of it protecting all of these vineyards.  Of course today – it is more for show than utility because there are lots of other ways to keep an eye on the health of a vineyard.  However, I love it that some farmers still go out of their way to protect these reminants of cultural history.

This pole actually has two different kinds of roses – one is what I would call a wild rose – that the white one crawling up high.  Then there is the romantic white and pink rose – similar to this pink gold rose and silver bracelet from the ROSES collection from Nomination.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures I took of the vineyard and roses surrounding my home in Tuscany.

Wild violets in my front yard

I always thought of violets as the ones you see in the florist shop with the thick fuzzy leaves yet I had to change my mind when I moved into my Chianti home about 4 years ago.  One spring day while soaking up the sun, my neighbor invited me into her tiny little plot of land, saying how she hated to cut the lawn,  though I couldn’t figure why it looked awful…until I saw the carpet of green and purple – wild violets.  Wow! – I was ohhhing and ahhhhing, when she looked at me and said “you have them too.”

It is one of those things that sometimes you get so used to seeing something that it doesn’t even register.  Four years ago there were little patches in my front yard and  now (because they spread with an incredible deftness) they are decorating my entire corner.  This afternoon DH walk out to soak up a little sun and he says, where did these come from  (what did I tell you – they were there all the time but you only see what you want to see).  With a little smile (yes I could say it was a smile with a smudge of superiority in it) I nodded and said they were always here.

I wanted to show you all – but my camera just didn’t capture the delicateness and tenderness of the flowers so  I had to borrow an image – but I swear those that you see in my front yard look just like the photo – except that they are everywhere!  It’s gorgeous and selvatico (wild) at the same time.

Not only is viola (purple) Florence’s city color – but it is also the color of our soccer team which, may the gods help us, needs to start winning!  (FORZA VIOLA – which means go purple team!)

And keeping in with the theme of purple, here are two bags in nappa leather featured in this heart warming color:

Italian leather messenger bag, in puple colored nappa

and if you need something just a little bigger to carry around your stuff:

Italian Leather Handbag style satchel ion purple colored nappa