A Grand Lady of the Field

The weather has changed, and the days are really getting short here in central Italy...

I'm looking forward to the upcoming time change, just so we can take morning walks with some sunlight.

Last week, the weather was nicer and the sun was just warm enough. On one day, we drove down into the fields below town. There is a favorite old ruin there that Johnny wanted to paint, and the dirt roads were dry.

I call these old ruins "Ladies of the Field", and have written about several of them in the past. I like to explore while Johnny works.

I've never gotten close to this beauty, because it's always been surrounded by brambles. Also, it's way out in the middle of an actual working field, and I don't cross into those. 

On this day, the area hadn't yet been plowed for the season, so I had my chance to get as close as possible. Yay!

I would love to know the story behind this one.
I must ask around.

I was able to follow a wild boar trail to get closer, then I just started tromping through the weeds. You can see the massive amount of brambles all along the outside here. There wasn't a single spot that I could get through to poke around inside, but I did do a full "walk around".

Lots of nice old detail here.

The roof is caved in at several points, and I could see the open sky.

A lovely arch, and a fig tree growing inside the ruin.
Classic ruin!

It's quite a large old building, and I assume it was important with that tower.

I was being super careful, as there were lots of spots with obvious wild boar activity. I could see where they had made tunnels through the brambles, and there are probably lots of them living inside. 

I kept my distance, making loud noises and just staying aware. 

Right now there are so may wild creatures around, and I don't need to get into a tangle with any of them, thank you very much.

This is the back side..or at least the back side from
where Johnny was painting.

I'm a fan of the color combination...the brick and sky.

More detail...

On the far corner of the ruin, I found this oak(?) tree growing right out of the foundation of the building. I was mesmerized, and took a bunch of pictures...

This was the only spot I could get close...

Just amazing that it hasn't yet taken down that corner!

Rounding the far corner...

I noticed these old metal plant holing rings still attached, sort of!

She's a real beauty.

I took the last shots, and tromped back to see what Mr. J was up to. He was still working at it...

What a nice spot to work.

 

For me, it was another small but mighty adventure. 

I like my solo time here. It gives me room to breathe.

I did a post on the painting blog featuring this painting session...you can check that out here.