Oh my.

I have this terrible habit...whenever I am in a place that is incredibly magical and enchanting to me I don't pick up my camera. It's like I want to respect the place and keep all that I have seen completely to myself, almost as if it were a gift. And yesterday I experienced something that nearly brought me to tears...I got the chance to visit a sheep farm that produces cheese for the area as well as all the fancy restaurants in Florence. Seems rather normal. It wasn't. This isn't a big commercial operation. This is a family business. There are a total of 10 people in the whole operation that are not family members. There are 3 houses divided between the family (involving uncles, aunts, cousins, sisters, brothers, etc) and they all live together.

Sibilla, the daughter of the owners, gave us a tour and hosted the cheese tasting. She was born on the dining room table of the house we had the cheese tasting in...her mother says that this is why Sibilla has such a hunger for all things food related.

This is the one picture I took. It was during the tasting. In the family courtyard surrounded by flowers.

Please follow this link and read the history of the Fattoria Corzano e Paterno...it is amazing. And maybe you'll see why I only paid half attention to what Sibilla was saying while my eyes wandered trying to spot a young, single, male family member.