Under the Tuscan Sun

In June 1995, the author reflects on the four years since she began restoring Bramasole, an abandoned Tuscan house near Cortona, Italy. Since 1990, when this journey began, she has kept a blue book to record notes on local agriculture, menus, and cultural discoveries, using it to chart her renewal alongside the property’s. She observes Francesco Falco, the property’s caretaker, propagating grapevines by layering them, seeing it as a demonstration of how life can renew itself. While workers clear the terraces, a laborer named Domenico helps open the land. An old man approaches and explains that soldiers shot his 17-year-old brother, a suspected Partisan, on the property during World War II. Later, she finds blue cornflowers growing near the site.

The house and terraces transform from abandonment to vitality through steady work. The blue book becomes a record of outward and inward change, while the grapevines and layers of land reveal the depth of history under her feet. She states that her aim is to recreate these experiences and share the pleasures of Tuscan daily life.