Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for April, 2016

Benvenuti to all my lovely Loyal and New Followers

Il Liberazione Parade. foto J Finnigan

Il Liberazione Parade in Certaldo.
foto J Finnigan

Today, Monday, is a festa (holiday) in celebration of Il Liberazione, that is when the Germans surrendered at the end of the Second World War.  But we are unable to stop work due to the backlog and I really want to get this blog to you!

I could write a whole book about last week and call it ‘Moving House in Tuscany and Keeping One’s Sense of Humour’.  It would have all the ingredients including mystery, adventure, success and failure.  We have a saying here for many things and it is ‘Only in Italy.’

Only in Italy do you have to report your change of address directly to the town commune offices by appointment.  Then only in Italy, when your commune man goes on his computer will he find that your wonderful new, yet very old,  home does not exist!   So our commune man rings his colleague Uri who wants us to identify where it is on the map.  He asks if it has a big oak tree outside the main gate and is it close to a certain agriturismo property? We say yes.  OK, Uri happily tells our man that our new address was changed to something completely different five years ago!

Acacia Trees below our new garden. foto J Finnigan

Acacia Trees below our new garden.
foto J Finnigan

Acacia blossom after the rain. Foto J Finnigan

Acacia blossom after the rain. Foto J Finnigan

Now, just to add spice to this, our commune man also pointed out that I must change my UK driving licence to an Italian one.  You cannot own a car here unless you have an Italian licence.   In anticipation of being told this, I had already made an appointment at the local ACI office to get it changed this coming Tuesday and I told him so.   “Well, I will renew your Identity Card when you bring me your new driving licence.” He announced.  Only in Italy

So anyway, enough of that!  The Acacia trees are full of blossom and it has rained heavily for the last forty-eight hours watering the parched vineyards and olive groves, so the countryside smells and looks fabulous.

Farty Barty "I'm just popping back up tp the old house, see you in a few days.."

Farty Barty “I’m just popping back up to the old house, see you in a few days..”

Oh yes, I should mention that five days ago Farty Barty the cat went AWOL and almost certainly had gone back to our old house again, just up the track.  He has disappeared for that long before when the girlies were on heat, but this is different and I have found myself getting rather too stressed about it.  So this morning and for the third time since we have moved, we go back with the cat cage, but there was no sign of him.  We sadly drive home both silently thinking that it would be purrfect if he were to return to the new house of his own accord.  And would you believe it, there he was, as bold as brass, waiting on the outside doormat to be let in!!  As I write, he is curled up at my feet, so today we have a happy ending.

Have a great week and many happy endings of your own.

salute June x

PS  do visit my author site at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan

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

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

'The Bolivian Connection' Book two in the series.

‘The Bolivian Connection’ Book two in the series.

Read Full Post »

Benvenuto to all my lovely Loyal and New Followers,

The big ancient Oak Tree garding our gate. foto J.Finnigan

The big ancient Oak Tree guarding our gate.
foto J.Finnigan

Wild life fresco on the sitting room wall. foto P Finnigan

Wild life fresco on the sitting room wall.
foto P Finnigan

Our lovely new home is called ‘Querceto’ and this is hardly surprising because it means Oak Tree.  Not only is the gate guarded by a massive oak tree, but the house itself is full of old oak beams.  Our landlord is also a bit of an artist and as soon as you walk into the sitting room you find the most beautiful fresco of the local wildlife including a Cinghiale (wild boar), deer and pheasant.  Turn around and there is a massive inglenook fireplace with Oak leaves and the house name painted over it.

The house name and oak leaves above the Inglenook. foto J Finnigan

The house name and oak leaves above the Inglenook.
foto J Finnigan

The house itself is very quirky and is divided into two apartments, so we have lots of room for friends and family to come and stay.  We took both the apartments because we want to have the place entirely to ourselves, including the gorgeous wooded garden.  I know, very indulgent indeed, but we love it.  It is built on the side of a hill and opens up inside like the Tardis!

The house from the lower terrace. foto J Finnigan

The house from the lower terrace.
foto J Finnigan

The place is also perfect for our annual rock concert garden parties and if you are in Tuscany on 25th June and would like an invite send and email to june.finnigan@virgin.net.

Now with the move out-of-the-way, we are waiting for Farty Barty the cat to settle in.  After three days he went off for four days and I found him back at the old villa!  It’s only a twenty-minute walk from here and he knows his way around pretty well.  He has been back here for two days and nights, then went out this morning into the countryside.  We wait with bated breath!

The excitement of the week was the arrival of the plumber to put our new gas cooker in.  He was very jolly and set the cooker in position, then announced that he would be back on Tuesday to link it to the gas supply!  So we are forced to go to the restaurant to eat!  There is a limit to how many tasteless microwaved jacket potatoes one can eat!  Tomorrow we are whizzing over to IKEA to get freestanding sideboards as we are not too keen on fitted kitchens.  So hopefully by next weekend we will have a working kitchen.  Mind you, it’s a good excuse for eating out, well you know what I’m like!

The lower terrace and view. foto J Finnigan

The lower terrace and view.
foto J Finnigan

Nevertheless life is blissful, despite all the boxes and dust.  Down on the lower terrace we are able to enjoy our evening aperitivi and watch the sunsets, which we could not see at the old place.  We have heard the first cuckoo and saw a hoopie in the garden today.  We even have a pond with croaking toads and the weather has been glorious.

Well, enough of that.  I’m off back to the little villa to hand over the keys, then we can really get on with our new life at ‘Querceto.’

Have a great week and I’ll bring you up to date with the local news next weekend.

Salute June x

PS Do visit my author site at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan

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

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

'The Bolivian Connection' Book two in the series.

‘The Bolivian Connection’ Book two in the series.

Read Full Post »