Welcome and Benvenuto to all my Lovely Followers around the World,
Before I start, I must apologise. I have spent most of the weekend watching the Rugby World Cup, instead of writing to you. So I trust you can forgive me for making this blog a little shorter than usual as it is already lunchtime on Sunday! What a great match yesterday, England played incredibly well, the poor All Blacks couldn’t even get a look in. So today’s match between Wales and South Africa was rather an anti-climax. Anyway, now we know that the final next weekend will be England vs South Africa. Make sure you diary date to watch it! Foto UK Telegraph
Ooops, sorry, just realised that I have been waxing lyrical about Rugby and you have tuned in to read about Tuscany. To make up for this I am posting some gorgeous fotos of the autumn colour that currently surrounds us and hope that you can enjoy it as much as we are. The vineyards develop lines of colour due to the planting of different grape varieties in one field. This results in the gorgeous range of colours including yellow, gold, bronze and red. Driving through the hills this morning we were able to enjoy some autumn canvases that are difficult to photograph and need to be seen here to really appreciate. Sorry about that. But here are some lovely shots.
I must also mention that the local farmers are very busy with the olive harvest and brightly coloured nets are spread out under the trees. The harvest started over a week ago, and whilst this year may be a little less productive due to the nasty fly again, the oil should be very nice indeed. We also have some lovely productive pomegranate bushes. I’m never quite sure how best to use the fruits, but I I’m sure you will come up with some ideas. Drop me a line at june.finnigan@virgin.net or leave a message below.
Well, must dash off to lunch, but will add a little more to this blog when I return. OK, I’m back and ready to tidy this blog and get it off to you. But before I go I thought you might like to enjoy this bottle of Sticciano’s Cantastorie Rosso with me, which my man and I had with lunch at C’era una Volta Ristorante. Ooops sorry, we finished it off. Oh well, perhaps next time!
Have a great week and do visit my website at My Site
Salute June x
All Fotos, unless otherwise marked, J Finnigan.
Sometimes a little sadness cannot be avoided, but at the same time a smile can come out of such occasions. On October 12 we said addio to that very funny Italian actor from Naples, Carlo Croccolo, a face never to be forgotten. He was 92. Carlo worked alongside the likes of Toto and many other famous Italian actors. What most of us did not realise was that he was a prolific Interpreter and dubber. He actually interpreted 118 films and was the dubbed voice behind some very famous people including Laurel and Hardy! He also wrote and directed three films of his own! He also worked in the theatre and on TV most recently playing the fisherman Totonno in the series ‘Capri’ as recent as 2010. I loved his character and it’s worth revisiting some of his old comedy films from the 50’s like ’47 dead talking’ with Toto.
Meanwhile, if you are walking through Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, staring down at your phone, you might bump into a Very Big Book. Yes, that’s what I said, a very big book! It is actually an instillation celebrating Zanichelli’s new amazing updated ‘Vocabularly of the Italian Language.’ A must for every Italian speaker or student of the language. Well that’s started my Christmas present list off then! 
Then, if you keep walking, and it also happens to be the evening, you can follow the smell of roasting Italian chestnuts. By this time I hope your phone will be put back in your pocket! There are lots of opportunities to join organised trips to find your own chestnuts in the Tuscan countryside. And, organised is better as there are a lot of hunters about carrying guns; at least one local hunter gets killed or badly injured every season! Foto BeautifulItaly.
But enough of that, back to my adored world of Italian fashion! Hand made Italian shoes and boots. Just that sentence alone makes one drool. My man has hand made shoes with his name inscribed inside. He once had to take a shoe off in a UK bank to prove who he was, as he had left his identification behind! It worked! Anyway, his first shoes he bought in Arezzo, but they were made in Florence. However, there is a factory near Arezzo called Soldini Scarpe, which you may like to visit if you are in the area. This advert reminded me. Don’t you just love the woman’s hair colour in the picture? 
What else did I want to tell you? Oh yes, how could I forget, Italian made Pasta of course! In the paper the other day, was a very revealing article on the making and exporting of Italian pasta. I knew that a lot of the stuff was made, but was amazed to find that 58% of production of spaghetti and macaroni is exported and worth 2.4 billion euros a year! Mind you, I know from experience that the quality here is the highest in the world. Even we gluten free diners can enjoy delicous Italian made pastas at home and in the ristorante. My last pasta dish was tagliatelle with fresh porcini; just wonderful. Porcini is being collected locally in the woods, I just adore this time of year. Not long before White Truffles (tartufo bianco) will be served at ‘C’era una Volta’, our favourite ristorante in Lucardo.
“look at this lot, all crushed under car tires and ignored!” My man, having been a champion player in his youth, is bemoaning the fact that hundreds of conkers are going to waste in the Piazza in Fiano, which is also a car park. There are several big Horse Chestnut trees growing around the edge of the Piazza that are looked after quite well and pruned when needed. They also provide shade for villagers during the summer months so that they can sit outside and enjoy village life. But, O Dio, the poor conkers are left to be crushed by the cars! My man decided to check this disaster out with Rossella at La Dispensa, our local alimentare and coffee bar. ‘No’ she replied in very good English, ‘We have never heard of conkers!’ My man was visibly upset by this. How could generations of children never have picked up the conkers, selecting the best, threading the old shoe lace through and leaving them to dry in the sun? He decided to rectify this and between us we threaded up two conkers and took them in this morning. Rossella and her handsome young amore, Alessio, thought this hilarious. So we showed them how to play, rather restricted by all the breakables around us and here is a foto. You have to look closely for the conkers, but I think my man will have started a whole new craze in Tuscany! Foto J Finnigan
Meanwhile, yesterday evening was the big celebration party for having won the beautiful hand-made Calambur banner. The banner was apparently made by a disabled person, I will try to find out more. If you want to see how the Italians celebrate, here is the village crammed into the Old Cinema, enjoying a feast of home-made food and gallons of wine. Foto Rione ‘Le Fonte’ Fiano, Facebook page.
Earlier in the day I managed to capture one of the villagers and got him to pose in the bar next to the banner. Let me introdude you to the very handsome Massimo Maccari, who always has a smile on his face and readily posed for his picture. Sorry ladies, I have to tell you that he is happily married and the father of two children, but I promise to find you a Hunk of the Month for October soon. Foto J Finnigan
On a quieter note, I do love Italian men’s classical clothes. Other than my man, very few men can wear beautiful tailored outfits and still look sexy. I know, here I am a bit of a Rock Chick, black is my signature colour, but I do like to be seen with a man who can really wear his clothes well. My man, being ex-military and having a naturaly tall balanced frame, finds it impossible to look scruffy. Clothes hang on him like he is made for them. The alternative to being like my Englishman is to be born Italian, as male models here just have that subtle edge. Don’t you agree? 
Then I noticed something quite different for we ladies (I prefer to say girlies, but you know how it is). This outfit from Fracomina is strikingly different, a subtle designer edge to the jeans and matching cuffs, very clever. And, the jaunty little cap to set it off! I would order this but just need to slim down a bit first…… 
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