Junefinnigan's Weblog

Benvenuto to all my Loyal and New Followers

Male and female European Bee Eaters
Photo National Geographic

“My nose must be the fittest part of me, because it keeps on running!”  My man is trying to keep his sense of humour as he grabs another tissue.  The beautiful Acacia trees are dripping with blossom at the moment,  but  this does not help those with a tendency to pollen allergies or those with bunged up noses like my man.  There must be thousands of these trees growing wild in our area, and what with the heavily blossomed lilac and horse-chestnut trees, its like walking or driving through heavily scented temples.  However, pollen problems are forgotten as we watch a flock of gorgeous  Bee Eaters winging their way across the valley towards us.

Milko outside his Cartolibreria showing my books for sale!
Photo J Finnigan

The other day, my man opened a new packet of Marigold gloves, to do the washing up.  Yes, we have a dish-washer, but it conked out after I put the wrong salt in.  The gloves were pink, which he does not mind as his view on life is that real men can wear any colour.  What he was not happy about was that the packet had two right hand gloves.  “Jesus Christ” he cursed, “We’ll have to go back to Milko’s and change them.”  My hands are not so sensitive; I never wear rubber gloves, so I offered to do the washing up.  Now you may remember that Milko runs the cartolibreria in our local village of Fiano and he has a lot more than just books and postcards.  Outside the door are rows of washing liquids, floor cleaners, mops, brushes and rucksacks.  “When we returned the gloves the next day, my man asked him if he had any boxes of left hand gloves, which really confused the poor sensitive man.  But then he laughed when he was shown the two right gloves and put an order in for some more.  It is rare to get what you want locally on the same day.  This particularly applies to the farmacia (chemist) where they only order one item of everything, everyday.  But you can be certain that the following day your order will be there.

My man went to visit his mother in Somerset last Thursday, so did not fly back until Sunday morning.  However, it was perfect weather and timing to enjoy an aperitivo in the Piazza and then on to lunch at C’era Una Volta in Lucardo.  This ristorante is very good for families as the kids love the fritters and pastas.  Our grandchildren can attest to that.  However, we have been invited to go to a newly opened vegetarian restaurant near San Casciano called Villa del Roseta tomorrow night, which will be interesting as we are always on the look out for new places to go.  I’ll let you know.

Last Sunday week, we see Montespertoli’s local octogenarian ‘Mafia Man’ leaning on his walking stick, his beige overcoat hiding probable armoury and staring down at the minions that were either bowing to him or picking up coins that he may have thrown casually to the ground.  He pulls his wide brimmed black hat down over his dark sunglassed eyes, and looks thoroughly bored.  Gone are his younger days when the women would rush to his side, just to be seen with him, now its just the local peasants that hang onto his coat tails.  He would make a brilliant extra in an Italian film.  The sun is hiding behind threatening clouds and we decide to head off to lunch.

Silvio prepares to go undercover
Photo Reuters

Meanwhile, the dashing Silvio Berlusconi, who has never met a mafia man in his life, forges on.  He has been scrubbing his fingernails as he is about to start his community work at an old people’s nursing home.  This was his choice of venue, after being sentenced for fraud.  Right now, all the female inmates and some of the men, will be having their blue rinses touched up and face packs slapped on.  We wish them well, and its a chance for Silvio to see how the rest of his generation lives……

Well, must forge on with ‘The Bolivian Connection’ and then back to the office tomorrow.

I  hope you all had a great bank holiday weekend.

Amore June xx

PS  Don’t forget to check out my Amazon author page at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan