Junefinnigan's Weblog

Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World

OK, let’s get it over with.  I know that many of you have seen enough snow to last a lifetime and have been dreaming about soaking up the Tuscan Sun.  Unfortunately, here in our little bit of Chianti we were not to escape the same deluge of awful weather and it is hard to believe that our view from here just over a week ago looked and felt like Siberia!  Now it is much warmer and raining, spring flowers are bursting through and when the first tourists start arriving at the beginning of April, they will find it difficult to imagine how cold and bleak it was in early March.  Foto J Finnigan

Anyway, onwards and upwards and to remember just how lucky we are to have the Italian lifestyle of morning coffee and pastries and of course, beautiful handbags.  ‘What has handbags got to do with lifestyle?’ I hear you ask.  Well, everything actually.  Without a beautiful Italian handbag over one’s arm or shoulder, a person would be improperly dressed, even in the local caffè bar!

What else?  Ah yes, I guess I must mention the Italian General Election, held last Sunday, and predictably resulting in confusion.   As usual the locals shrug and say, in Italian of course, ‘nothing will change’.  However, we do expect the new coalition, when it is eventually formed, to be looking towards leaving the European Union.  An interesting time, so watch this space!

 Luigi Di Maio, the Italian 5-Star Movement’s leader, poses with party founder Beppe Grillo, right, in Rome, Monday, March 5, 2018. With the anti-establishment 5-Stars the highest vote-getter of any single party, the results confirmed the defeat of the two main political forces that have dominated Italian politics for decades – Forza Italia and the center-left Democrats – and the surging of populist and right-wing, euroskeptic forces that have burst onto the European scene. (Alessandro Di Meo/ANSA via AP)ALESSANDRO DI MEO

OK, and so to Italian Fashion.  In my last blog I promised to only post Italian fashion worn by happy models.  So here for your delight, and mine too, is a beautiful outfit in my perfect colours.  The great thing about the internet is that most of the designers can be accessed and purchased on-line these days.  As much as I like to go to gorgeous Italian designer shops, time is of the essence.  So for this beautiful outfit visit Dixie (pronounced Dixieh) at Dixie Fashion Florence

 Dio, what to say, what to do about Italian Rugby?  Our great team here in Italy has managed to lose six consecutive matches in the Six Nations.  Sadly, the only newspaper foto was squeezed into the bottom right of La Nazione sporting pages and hardly noticeable.  I do wonder if the lack of investment into the sport here makes a difference.  Italy is so orientated towards Football (Calcio) and the children are encouraged to join local teams at an early age.  Another interesting fact is that the schools here do not have their own sports fields;  Children have to go to outside clubs in the evenings or at the weekend.  Siena has a great rugby club where our grandson is playing with the under 18’s.  However, the facilities are pretty dire and, for strength reasons, they have recently merged with Arrezzo, which has not proved too successful.  But the players remain ever enthusiastic!

Don’t worry, I have not forgotten my hunk of the month.  However, having decided to choose the great Sicilian detective, Montalbano, I was devastated to read that he actually gets married in his most recent series!  No, I know that should not preclude him as Hunk of the Month, I was just a little bit shaken, that’s all.  In fact, even my own heroine, Joanna Wilde, gets married in my latest book ‘The Italian Connection,’ which will not preclude her from continuing to have exciting new adventures!

The Trilogy – The Continuing Adventures of Joanna Wilde.