Let’s start here

I didn’t know what title to choose for my first piece; after trying out a couple, I went for this one – simple and straightforward.

Those two really tanned people in the photo are us – Gianluca and Silvia (that’s me). I looked for a photo where we looked almost cool 🙂 The sea and the sun work wonders.

A few months ago, Gianluca decided to add this blog to the website, but I hadn’t set foot on it until now – partly because most of my thoughts come to me at night before I fall asleep (if I manage to fall asleep), and partly because I always tell myself: “What do other people care?!”…

Anyway, I’ve finally decided to write; it’ll certainly be therapeutic for me – perhaps the thousand thoughts swirling round in my head at night will fade away.

So let’s start here….

My name is Silvia and I turned 46 a few weeks ago – 46, yes, 46… I always wonder where the last 30 years have gone.

I’ve always been – or at least for as long as I can remember – a keen recycler and a bit of a hoarder too; yes, because basically you have to hoard a bit in order to recycle.

When I was little and used to visit my aunt and uncle, I always managed to come home with something (much to my mum’s delight) – ribbons, little boxes, the tulle that wrapped the sugared almonds in the wedding favours, paper bags, parcel bows….

We have consistently recycled packing flakes and wrapping paper throughout this time, as well as newspapers, paper leaflets and a whole host of other items.

At first – or perhaps even now – people smile at this: I’m the one who wraps presents in newspaper. Yes, I’ve been doing it for 30 years and I’ll carry on doing it.

My aunt and uncle (whom I’ve always regarded as my second parents) both did manual work: he was a tiler (whose hobbies included gardening, carpentry and working with concrete) and she was a seamstress (a brilliant seamstress in my eyes); she sewed silk dresses with such ease that even today I still wonder how she managed it.

When they were still alive (sadly, they both passed away seven years ago, within a few months of one another) we always used to joke that my uncle would leave me the workshop where he did his DIY with all his bits and bobs, and my aunt her trusty Pfaff sewing machine from the 1970s.

Now, every time I sew in her old room, using her sewing machine and her threads, I always think of her; it feels as if I’ve gone back in time, as if I’ve returned to those fantastic 80s.

Speaking of sewing machines, as part of my phase where I’m painting and refurbishing whatever I can get my hands on, I’ve decided to give the cabinet a fresh coat of black paint too.

A couple of coats of cementite, a couple of coats of blackboard paint and a couple of coats of matt resin have made it perfect :-).

See you soon, Silvia