Junefinnigan's Weblog

Benvenuti to all my lovely Loyal and New Followers

The man’s vintage binoculars at the ready.
Photo J Finnigan

It is early evening, Ferragosta and the rain is managing to hold off for all those revellers who want to go out and celebrate the start of the annual two-week holiday.  The silence is deafening and my man and I grip our aperitivi feeling somewhat stunned by the lack of activity in the fields around us.  This happens every year of course, but the countryside, villages and towns have a strange eerie feel about them, as if aliens have sucked ninety percent of the population off the surface of the earth.  Car parks are empty, shops are shut and the only company we have are a sprinkling of tourists wandering around like zombies.  Then my man says, “Hey look at this, you’ll need to come this side of the tree!”  He hands me his vintage binoculars that weigh a ton and points towards the wooden structure that has been slowly built over the last few weeks, carefully hidden from view at the top of a vineyard and out of sight of the road, to avoid the planning permission I expect.  There must be at least fifty people there in brightly coloured clothes, but all standing around not knowing what to do.  “There will be a great view through the valley from there.” I say.  “perhaps there’s a band arriving and we’ll have some music wafting across in a minute.”  But no, within ten minutes they all troop back up the hill towards the road and disappear.  Now this is the kind of thing that has us analysing the reason why.  Perhaps it was part of a tourist trip and they had been walked there to look at the view?  Perhaps it was the last remaining locals who have come out for a jolly and then decided that the structure wasn’t big enough to accommodate all the trestle tables they had brought with them!  We will never know, but I am now determined to sneak down that path and take a look at this mysterious structure over the next few days!

The wonderful Hibiscus which survives all weathers.
Photo J Finnigan

The orchard and valley below our villa under grey skies.
Photo J Finnigan

Well, the talk in the bar this morning, Sunday, was all about the Bruto Tempo, the bad weather.  We had more heavy rain overnight, but thank god it is now cooler and less humid.  My man and I are now determined to take a day off this week and do things in the garden.  You may think that we are swanning around here in our lovely villa on the edge of the Chianti Hills, but you would be wrong.  I am either writing or running our UK company and he has a heavy workload for UK clients.  Yes, thanks to technology, we could be anywhere in Europe and function perfectly well, but we chose Italy.  It was the lifestyle and language that attracted us here, and we are very glad we came.  But where was I, oh yes, planning a day off to do some gardening, which for me is very therapeutic.  Despite the recent intense weather some of our plants are actually revelling in it.  We also think that some of the grass seed we threw down randomly on our sparse weedy lawn, may have rooted!

Tuscan sunflowers after the rain.

Now when the sky is grey and it is reasonably bright, the light really brings out the colours in the countryside.  This is one of the uplifting things that keep the smile on one’s face when the sun is hiding.  This time of year there are huge fields of Sunflowers right next to the road, looking like rows of little yellow people whose faces follow the sun from east to west during the day; beautiful.  The orchard, olive grove and valley below us is really bright green, and it is easy to pick out all the variant shades and shapes.  Of course, this area is an artist’s dream and I really must get my easel out again.

Talking of artists, I am looking forward to meeting half a dozen who are coming to visit me in October.  I have organised the sister-in-law to come and make sure all the pots are prettied up.  I think I’ll ask her to position my easel to make it look as if I am actively painting too!

Oh, just a quick mention of the new handbag you saw in my blog last week.  I have just found the maker’s card tucked in an inside pocket, so you really must visit her site http://www.marymccartybags.com as they are to die for.

Well, I must go and make myself beautiful and take my man out to Sunday lunch.  Maybe somewhere new this time.  Watch this space.

Salute June x

PS Don’t forget to visit my author site at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan

My Father, The Assassin. Book one in the series.

‘The Bolivian Connection’ Book two in the series.