Junefinnigan's Weblog

Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World

Extract from my Easter Weekend blog 2019.  ‘Yes, it’s that time of year again, Easter Weekend and the Tourists have poured in from every part of the globe.  Cars and mini-buses are cruising past our Old Monastery Farmhouse with big-eyed faces staring out of the windows.  Then there are the walkers.  As we are surrounded by agriturismo places to stay, it’s normal to hear the sound of footsteps on the gravel track and wondrous voices in many different languages.  But, we don’t mind, as this weekend heralds the run up to summer and it’s a pleasure to see and hear visitors enjoying themselves.’  

Easter Saturday 2020 – Who’d have thought that one year on, the above would be so strange to read, as we have been on lockdown now for a month and it’s amazing how one can get used to it.  We have set up a nice place to sit at the front of the house under a big brolly, as the sun is hot and I need to be in the shade looking out.  It has been so quiet that if a vehicle does roll past it’s usually agricultural, but it still has my man and I looking at each other with a frown on our faces.  My man usually says “Whose that on our track?”  Of course it’s not really ‘our track’ it just goes past our front gate.  It’s a gravel track, which is perfectly normal in this region, but is now kicking up dust due to the dry weather.  We also see the occasional blue light of the Carabiniere cruising past looking for Lockdown law breakers and believe me, they mean business!

Back to today.  We had a postal delivery this morning from the commune di Certaldo, which contained four face masks!  I must say I was impressed.  Earlier this morning I was in our local village of Fiano, waiting in a short queue of six for groceries and everyone was wearing a mask.  The queue swelled to about twenty before I went in and as is the way in Italy, a big circular queue was formed on both sides of the road, keeping a careful distance from each other but close enough for everyone to chat and greet friends.  We always know who will go in before us, it’s the same in the doctor’s surgery.  Rossella, my lovely friend who served me this morning, gave us an expensive bottle of Prosecco as a Easter (Pasqua) gift.  It’s wonderful to be looked after so well; my shopping is also carried to the car!  I wish I could hug her.  Breaking News – we have been informed that the lockdown will continue until 3rd May, not unexpected.

Easter Sunday – Anyway, this will be the first Easter Sunday lunch without our daughter and family for some years.  But we have arranged a video call for midday.  My man and I went out for coffee again, or rather did a circuit of the garden and stopped off at our front door for coffee.  Everything is a rich green, despite the lack of rain and smells wonderful as my man did a lot of strimming yesterday.  The climbing red English rose is close to bursting it’s buds and the European Oak has revealed it’s catkins!  We heard the first cuckoo and think we saw the first swallow.  Apparently the swallows hit turbulent weather over Greece last week so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Lots of geraniums have survived the winter under covers, they look a bit straggly, but we cannot replace them until the lock-down ends.  Still, some are in flower already.  Oh, and the Florentine Irises are blooming, and the ancient Oak Tree, which guards our gate, is once more leafed up!  So nature carries on regardless; we are so lucky.

I must say that I have been very impressed with the way technology has brought all the delights of Easter onto our computer and TV screens.  Church Services (if it is your thing) family get togethers and drinks with friends!  We tend to treat the Easter Weekend as a few days holiday, as we work with the UK system, our clients being mainly based there.  Here in Italy, most food shops will be closed today and tomorrow as normal.  But it is a very strange time…..

Meanwhile, if you want to visit the original Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci you can do a virtual tour by visiting Leonardo

Well, must dash off.  The family are about to arrive on Skype and I must  put some lipstick on.  Oh, and set the scene for my man and I to do our bit on screen.

Easter Monday –  Did some tidying of the garden pots this morning and watched Andrea Bocelli’s video on You Tube, recorded live in the empty Duomo in Milan.  If you want to feel the real emotion that exists here, watch it on  youtube

Meanwhile, back in our beautiful garden, which we have always appreciated, even more so now, an early morning arrival was a young fox.  Hard to tell if male or female, but very friendly and inquisitive.

From my dressing room window I saw it slinking toward the shrub where I think Phil the Pheasant’s hens are hiding out.  I threw a stone, which is a pretty one I collected from the garden some years ago; it bounced off the fence and rolled onto the lawn.  Instead of running off, the little fox rushed over and grabbed it in its mouth, then started playing with it like a puppy.  I said ‘Buon Giorno’ and it sat down and gazed up at me, obviously fascinated.  My man managed to get a foto, if a little out of focus, but you can see how young it was.  Beautiful.  So, we are not short of visitors!

So, today will be the last of the sunny weather as we are forecast rain.  But that’s OK because we need it.  Our landlord, lives half an hour away and due to the Lockdown has not been able to come and strim the outer reaches of the garden.  So my man is attempting to go that extra ‘mile’ and do some of this for him.  Yesterday, exhausted, he fell asleep in a deckchair with his cowboy hat over his face!  He woke up feeling dizzy from sleeping in the hot sun!  Bless him.

Well, we have no plans today, so I will cook us a nice lunch to make up for the cold offering from yesterday.  We actually had Caprese (buffalo mozzarella and sliced tomatoes accompanied by Fetunta (toast rubbed with garlic and drizzled with extra virgin)  Now we love this, but my man grumbled that it was Easter day and he had hoped for a nice veggie roast.  So I will cook that today!

Have a really good week and please stay home.  We are now on lockdown until 3 May, it will be alright.

Salute and stay safe, Amore June x

PS Have you read my books yet?  Now’s a good time!  my site