Due to good friends, good fortune, and hardworking colleagues, Gary and Leslie are sometimes house-sitters in Tuscany.
The house is in the Val d’Orchia, an area designated by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site for the beauty of its landscape and architecture.
The house is rambling and rustic. It was a sharecroppers’ farmhouse. It was built with rooms upstairs for an extended family and space on the ground floor for animals and agricultural implements and produce. It has been fixed up, but not gussied up. The kitchen and living are now downstairs where there is a wood stove and fireplace. There are six bedrooms upstairs where there is no heat.
Last month, we closed the shop and, as a company benefit, all the makers and their families went. It was an adventure, an education, and a fine time.
Warmed by the fire, we gave thanks for the confidence and support of our patrons who got us there.
