Ricerca in Mugello? Si, per favore!

I've been meeting up with my new colleagues here in the Mugello region to visit historic mills around the valley this week. I am helping to research and consult on the possibility of a project which will revitalize one of the mills, maybe in a way that uses heritage grains. The project is still taking shape, but it is wonderful to be surrounded by a group of motivated and smart Italians who care about their region so much. Marta Landi in particular is from Borgo San Lorenzo, and her family goes back many generations here. She recently earned her Masters degree in Agronomy.

Today, I start with my drawing of the old grist mill in Sant'Agata (both pen and ink and colored version using Copic markers).

And some images of us in the archives at Lucco yesterday with Marcello, who is helping us gather information for the project:

The beautiful grounds of the former regional hospital, which is now being adaptively reused...

And then we went back into the larger town of Borgo San Lorenzo to the Biblioteca Comunale:

And found a map of regional mills over the last century; just what we were looking for. More research to come, soon!