Junefinnigan's Weblog

Benvenuti to all my Loyal and New Followers

Mimosa blossom in mid-January!
foto P Finnigan

Very cold here, but bright sunshine and amazingly the Mimosa tree is already in blossom.  The Mimosa flowers are very sought after on La Festa Delle Donne, which does not normally arrive until the first weekend in March.  So we have a dilemma.  The beautiful yellow flowers are already out and they will definitely not survive until March, when bunches are cut and given to all one’s favourite female family members and friends.  Yes, I know, its much the same all over Europe, a long drawn out Autumn and then a sudden turn to cold weather when plants and trees have already been fooled into believing it is spring already!

Certaldo’s history of slow food.
La Nazione

Down in Certaldo, where we are more often to be found having our coffee, I read an article in the paper about Certaldo’s history and slow food.  The area does produce its own seasonal fruit and veg, cheeses and meats.  The most well-known veg is the Red Certaldo Onion.  A delicious sweet onion that is often turned into marmalade or bottled in olive oil.  I use them for everything, including frying in butter and piling into baked potatoes. Mmmmm.

Made in Italy – mens fashion article.
La Nazione

Also in the paper, there was an article on men’s fashion, ‘Made in Italy.’  Now the Italians much prefer to buy Italian.  Bright peel off stickers will be found on ready-made clothes, sporting the green, white and red of the Italian flag.  This does not necessarily mean you are paying more for the privilege as, unfortunately, Italian clothing workers are not paid high wages.  Of course these days, a lot of migrants are also being paid to do it.  But the quality of Italian clothes remains high.  Unlike, for example, Marks & Spencer in the UK, who I used to depend on for good lingerie; the finishing on knickers is awful and needless to say, produced in India or Pakistan.

The James Bond Archive Book
foto J Finnigan

But enough of that.  You may remember it was my man’s birthday last week and I bought him, amongst other things, The James Bond Archive Book.  It’s immensely heavy, but beautifully put together and covers all the films in pictures and print right up to Skyfall.  Yes, OK, I confess I do love the Bond films and perhaps I wanted it too, well just a little….  The Italians also love James Bond, and the gorgeous Daniel is often in the news.

Silvio at a recent 95th birthday.
La Nazione

A huge percentage of Italian women, and a sprinkling of men, are still having imaginary affairs with their own star Silvio Berlusconi.  Putting aside the politics, he was once a singer of ballads by the way, at the age of seventy-nine he still has charisma, perfect hair and a perma-tan.  The fact that he is short and rotund, does not seem to matter!  Of late he has been regularly back in the news and here he is attending a ninety-fifth birthday party.  Yes, another foto opportunity.

Farty Barty in his terracotta pot on windowsill.
Photo P Finnigan

Well, here in my studio, the work is piling up.  No, I am not swanning around like Farty Barty the cat, I am currently busy writing a Cyber Crime Thriller for a client, my third ‘Joanna Wilde’ novel titled ‘The Bolivian Connection’ and putting in several days work each week with my company.  But ‘life eeeez good, life eeeez now’ as the Italians like to say, in Italian of course.

OK, time to get this post edited then off to ‘C’era Una Volta for lunch.

Have a great week, do drop me a line and visit my author site at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan

Salute June x

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

‘The Bolivian Connection’ Book two in the series.