A wren's nest part 2 Do you remember the nest on the stick of my garden umbrella? Well, now it seems that the lady wren has decided to live in it! She's probably waiting the birth of her baby birds :) Here she is!

A wren's nest This morning I have found this strange pile of leaves on the stick of the garden umbrella. At first sight I couldn't understand well what it was, only after I realized that it was a bird nest so I decide to watch better: it is made up by leaves, little branches and... yes, some hair of my dogs! Presumably, it was built by a wren because of its small dimensions. The nest appears still empty: who knows if the owner will decide to put some eggs inside! :)

Summertime The heat in summertime is common in the meditarranean regions but then, when it arrives, we use to complain about it like it was the most singular event that we have never seen in our life :D To be honest this hot weather is not so normal in June and often I think: if it is now so hot what can we expect for July or august? The morning gentle fresh breeze is what I can appreciate more in the daytime and usually, at that time, I use to take care of my little plants in the garden: they are so lovely!

Summertime The heat in summertime is common in the meditarranean regions but then, when it arrives, we use to complain about it like it was the most singular event that we have never seen in our life :D To be honest this hot weather is not so normal in June and often I think: if it is now so hot what can we expect for July or August? The morning gentle fresh breeze is what I can appreciate more in the daytime so usually, at that time, I take care of my little plants in the garden: they are so lovely!

Sandro Botticelli - life and works Sandro Botticelli was born in Florence in 1445 in Ognissanti neighborhood. His real name was Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi. He came from a family of florentine merchants and his father worked as a tanner. He had been showing interest in art since he was young and soon he was apprentice to the filippo Lippi’s workshop until 1466. The next year he was apprentice to the Andrea Verrocchio workshop. The first orders arrived from the Medici family and in that period he realized his most famous masterpieces: “Primavera” (Spring) “Nascita di Venere (Venus birth) and “Pallade e il Centauro”. In the 1481 he left for Rome to make some wall paintings for the Cappella Sistina median walls working on commission for Lorenzo il Magnifico. He rejected the perspective. His style was almost similar to the one of the middle age and he passed over the style rules of the renaissance. The element of religiosity is shown in all of his works. He died in Florence in 1510 at the age of 65.

Life on Mars I have found this news and I have tried to translate, please someone check the use of the verbs ;) Footprint of life on the ground of Mars. New mathematical confirmations are arrived on the footprint detected in the 70s by the spacecraft Viking. The analysis has been conducted on some ground samples from Mars and these new results reopen the controversy on the reliability of the measurements. The study has been led by the Keck School (CA) with the collaboration of the University of Siena (Italy) and has been published on “The International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences”. The mathematical analysis seems to confirm that one of four experiments, carried out at that time, had identified a some biological activity.

How the ideas born? I have found a presentation of an interesting book which explains how the inventions born. The book is written by Jonah Lehrer and the title is “ Imagine: How creativity works”. At first the author talks about “little inventions that have changed the world”: for example in 600’s (17th century) the three most revolutionary inventions were the press, the muslin and the gunpowder. Then he supports the argument that only the curiosity, nonconformism and “impatience” against all forms of old rules which trap the imagination, are the rights ingredients to get a creative imagination. Lehrer quotes David Hume: innovation is at first “a new way to recombine” things already known… What do you think about that?

For those of you who love art :) The Venaria Reale Royal Palace Gallery. At the Venaria Reale Royal Palace (Turin, Italy) since April 5th it will be possible to visit an exhibition of 130 paintings of famous artists like Guido Reni, Anton Van Dyck and flemish and dutch masters. The exhibition has been named “I Quadri del Re” (the paintings of the kings). These masterpieces were harvested by the Prince Eugenio Count of Soissons who was cousin of the King Vittorio Amedeo II and great warlord of the Imperial Army. After his death the collection was bought from the King Carlo Emanuele III of Savoia to be shown in 1741 at the Royal Palace in Turin and, after that, at the Sabaudia Gallery. Today these masterpieces of the Italian and the European painting, owned by prestigious sabaudian collections, adorn again the walls of the Venaria Royal Palace along the artistic pathway “Teatro di Storia e Magnificenza” (The Theatre of History and Magnificence). The Venaria Royal Palace has been declared UNESCO World Heritage Site and it has been reopened since October 2007 after a restoration lasted eight years. I have found the website available in Italian and in English (INFO: www.lavenaria.it - tel. +39 011 4992333).

Easter Monday Easter Monday was a day almost sunny here. The countryside was fantastic even if little clouds covered sometimes the sun. I love walking in the countryside, talking with friends and listen to the birds tweeting and the flowers spreading their scent. I think Easter time is a good chance to stay with relatives and friends. Most of people both adults and children love chocolate but I don't eat much chocolate so I prefer to watch the Easter eggs than eat them :) anyway I prefer the dark chocolate to the milk chocolate... And you? What is your favourite chocolate? ;) Happy Easter to all