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Posts Tagged ‘Fiano’

Glorious Sunshine, Dissapearing Olive Groves, A Right Corker and Siena Cake in Beautiful Tuscany

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Ciao and Welcome to all my Loyal and new followers,

“I hadn’t got rid of the last one and now I’ve caught another one!”  My man is hunched in the passenger seat of the car, having just been collected by my good self from Certaldo Station.  The poor thing had just flown back to Pisa from London and an English cold virus had got him again .  “I already had some antibiotics, now I’ll have to go back and see Flavio again for some more.”  His face was as long as could be.  “Don’t worry, lovely man,” I smiled, “the forecast is for a sunny weekend, you’ll be as right as rain by Monday!”  “Humph.” He groaned.

Freshly harvested oranges and lemons. Photo P Finnigan

Freshly harvested oranges and lemons.
Photo P Finnigan

Farty Barty on the frame over the orange grove wondering what the fuss is all about. Photo P Finnigan

Farty Barty on the frame over the orange grove wondering what the fuss is all about.
Photo P Finnigan

By the end of a lovely warm sunny Sunday, he was cheerfully enjoying an aperitivo in glorious sunshine, having also had lunch outside on the upper terrace earlier on.  “Ah this is the life.” He sighed.  And he was quite right.  Just when we were beginning to think that the cold damp weather was here forever, the hot mediterranean sun broke through, bathing us in that all important vitamin D.  In the garden, much work was needed, in particular the ground was covered in dead leaves including the big floppy fig leaves that make a plopping sound as they hit the ground.  Alessandro, the local contadino, who looks after the land below the house, arrived unexpectedly and started violently pruning the fruit trees.  My man was rather annoyed, as he had planned to do this himself, and he is very experienced at it.  The workers also cut down the beautiful row of Firethorn, which bordered our garden with the orchard, unfortunately we were out having our morning coffee when this happened!  I guess it will all grow back again.  The good news, however, is that our view has been dramatically opened out and this morning the man is really happy as he has found a mature lemon tree in full fruit, in what we had thought was only an orange grove!

Back in the countryside we are seeing whole olive trees being cut down.  This follows the disastrous olive harvest due to blight and insects.  Lets hope that new saplings will be planted to replace them.  On the other hand, the grape harvest was really good.  My man went down to our friend and vineyard owner with all our empty Chianti bottles for refills.  My man liked to do the corking with a hand-operated corking machine, but this time he was impressed to find that this was now automated!  There was a new narrow metal conveyor belt on which the empty bottles traveled along and when they reached a certain point, a cork was automatically punched in.  He just had to wait at the end, take off the corked bottles and put them in a box!  Then horror of horrors, he had a box under each arm and spotted our friend’s Smart Phone traveling along the conveyor and could only shout a warning.  The thing only just escaped being corked!

Siena Cake Photo J Finnigan

Siena Cake
Photo J Finnigan

Last weekend, I bought my first annual piece of Siena Cake.  Now this is a close as I can get to the taste of a typical English Christmas Cake.  It is made with figs, nuts and chocolate powder, and some other secret ingredients, crushed under a press.  All cooks have their own recipes, however, this one was purchased at Osteria La Gramola, in Tavernelle who use the original one from Siena.  Now some of you clever foodies out there will probably put me right, or at least explain the other ingredients.  Speaking of which, and I’m sure she won’t mind my mentioning it, my good neighbour and celebrity cook, Judy Witts Francini, knows everything there is to know about Tuscan cooking.  You should visit her website and go along to one of her residential cooking classes, or at least buy her books.  Fantastic!  Visit http://www.divinacucina.com

Well, I think enough said for now.  I’ll endeavour to bring you some good news about Silvio Berlusconi next week.

Amore June x

PS Here is the direct link for an ideal Christmas present.

 

 

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Rain, Grey Skies, a Sunny Granddaughter and Red Wine Pasta in Beautiful Tuscany

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 17, 2014| 1 Comment »

Benvenuti to all my Lovely Loyal and New Followers

The main reason for moving to Italy was to learn the language.  We also thought that the weather might be a little warmer, brighter and dryer.  Whilst the latter was a secondary issue, right now we are beginning to wonder if the Roman Gods are being unkind to us.  Looking out of the double windows opposite my desk, it could well be a view of English grey skies, and the sound of wheels splashing past the villa sound so wet and chilly.  These days our Italian friends in the cafe bar in Fiano, talk as much about the ‘brutto Tempo’ (bad weather) as we brits did in the local pub after work in England.  This is not a complaint, just an observation, well actually I am complaining, let’s be honest.  However, I have just bought a lovely new pair of soft leather boots from Gabor and my beloved waxed coat has come out of the wardrobe.  These may not sound important to you, but to little old me, these are two of the perks of winter.

Farty Barty refuses to leave his nice warm chair. Phot J Finnigan

Farty Barty refuses to leave his nice warm chair.
Photo J Finnigan

Meanwhile, Tuscany is still struggling with serious flooding and landslides.  We are desperately waiting for the rain to stop and allow some of the poor homeless people to get back to repairing and rebuilding their homes.  Our little bit of Chianti has so far suffered much less than some areas; may that continue.  Farty Barty the cat, remains in his comfy kitchen chair and refuses to go out at night……that says a lot.

Gluten free pasta and white truffles photo J Finnigan

Gluten free pasta and white truffles
photo J Finnigan

But then all turned bright and sunny on the weekend, metaphorically speaking, when our beautiful nine, nearly ten-year old granddaughter came to stay for two nights.  Absolutely no work or writing got done, we were forced to just relax and enjoy ourselves in her delightful company.  We went out to lunch twice.  Firstly to Ristorante Montalbino for, yes again, white truffle pasta.  It is a tiny family run place where they specialise in fungi and it’s really good.  Then on Sunday we went back to La Gramola in Tavernelle, where we had the most delicious Red Wine Pici with cheese and pepper.  This is home-made spaghetti infused with red wine, so comes out a sort of ruddy colour.  It’s really delicious tossed in pecorino cheese and pepper.  Then I had pears that had been poached in Vin Santo, a wine liqueur made from grapes that have been left to wither on the vine, or so I’m told!

The game of Pick'Up'Sticks Photo J Finnigan

The game of Pick’Up’Sticks
Photo J Finnigan

Back at the villa we played the games of ‘Sorry’ and ‘Pick’up’Sticks’.   We also had a fun time, by having a book each, and reading the first full line of each page one after the other.  This can be hilarious, however, our poor granddaughter had a John Le Carre book in her hands and he tends to write very long sentences.  We were very impressed to find that her reading of difficult English words was brilliant.  She is English, but when you consider that she has only been educated in an Italian school, speaks fluent Italian, and generally reads a lot of Italian books, so brava to her.

Well, I hope that you will not mind if I cut this post a little short.  I have a busy workload today and must knuckle down.

Have a great week and don’t forget to visit my author page at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan

Salute June x

 

 

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Festa per Il Nuovo Vino e Pane Olio and Lots More in Beautiful Tuscany

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Benvenuti to all my Lovely Loyal and New Followers

Now, you will have heard me say that the Italians will always find an excuse for a Festa, which often involves everyone stopping work for the day.  However, this last weekend was well deserved as we celebrated La Festa per Il Nuova Vino e Pane Olio (The Festival for the New Wine and Olive Bread).  This was hosted in the hilltop village of Montespertoli where the festivities included walking, running and bike racing.  The locals do like to drink their Chianti young.  This is interesting isn’t it, as traditionally, at least in the UK we have always gone for much older labels.  Many families give a watered down version to the children.  We quite like a new or young Chianti, but still prefer last years or the year before.  We are fortunate to be able to buy our wine from a local vineyard very cheaply indeed.  Now the owner is a friend, however, it is possible to get a pretty good price from many vineyards if you take your own bottles along and cork them yourself.  It’s all about who you know and if you have neighbouring vineyard owners to befriend!

The Autumn view from here. Photo J Finnigan

The Autumn view from here.
Photo J Finnigan

You may have heard in the news about the terrible floods and landslides over the last week.  Carrara was very badly hit and the locals have stormed the commune offices, as the blame is being put directly in the local authority’s lap.  Disasters like this have happened in the past, however, the lesson does not seemed to have been learnt and flood defences have not been properly catered for.  Tuscany is a province prone to landslips, main roads collapsing and flooding.  If you were to check out the history of any area, there will be something to scare you off!  So, if you fall in love with a particular place it is best to accept it warts and all.  We live in a stunningly beautiful part of Chianti, however, we are perched only two hundred yards from the edge of crumbling inland cliffs!  A local once told us not to worry as our house had not moved for over two hundred years.  Before that it was in the hamlet further up the hill!

The old Mine Workings Photo P Finnigan

The old Mine Workings
Photo P Finnigan

Our beautiful daughter and family are in the process of moving to a lovely old house between Siena and Volterra.  It sits by itself, perched above old mine workings that are now in ruins and with views of the mountains and sea on the west coast of Tuscany.  We went over to help with curtain making and things last Saturday, and were told the story of the famous mine owner who originally owned the land and house, and how his disgusted employees threw him down the well below the house after a dispute!  Ooh, creepy….

I am getting on really well with my novel ‘The Bolivian Connection,’ where things are a little tense, as my heroine Joanna awaits the result of sending off a female Interpol agent, disguised as herself, to flush out an assassin who is trying to kill her!  I can tell you, my blood pressure has gone up over the last couple of days whilst I have been writing the current chapter, it’s all very nerve-racking…..

I love to start the day with a delicious cafe latte and watch the world go by at  Laura’s bar/allimentare in Fiano, it sets me up for the day.  Sig Rotund has been missing for a couple of weeks and we have discovered that he is convalescing at home after an operation.   We wish him well and will keep the sporting pages warm for him.  I went to Laura’s at seven o’clock this morning for coffee, as I had dropped my man off at Certaldo station to get the early train to Pisa airport.  Laura had already been ‘a piede’ (on her feet) for four hours.  She opens at six in the morning, but arrives much earlier for the bread and pastry deliveries.  At seven, the customers are very different to the nine o’clock crowd.  It is busier with workers who start early and the mothers with older children who will be taking the school buses to media school.  School generally starts between eight and eight thirty.  We have a primary school in Fiano which takes children up to age ten, otherwise, they are bussed to various towns at least a half hour away.

he all important wood fire and aperitivo. Photo J Finnigan

The all important wood fire and aperitivo.
Photo J Finnigan

As I write this blog, thunder is rolling and lightning is flashing across the hills.  This means that the electricity might go at any minute, which is usual here, and I should save everything and go off-line.  I’ll update you on the gorgeous Silvio Berlusconi next time!  In the meantime I shall look forward to the log fire and aperitivo this evening.

Have a great week and do drop me a line at june.finnigan@virgin.net, or leave me a message below.  I will respond!

Salute June x

PS Don’t forget to visit my author page at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan

 

 

 

 

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Day of the Dead, Autumn, Man and Cat, Log Fires and the Seaside in Beautiful Tuscany

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 3, 2014| 3 Comments »

Benvenuti to all my Lovely Loyal and New Followers

Only in Italy will you find half the population celebrating the dead, visiting the cemetries, cars parked for miles down the road and then dressing up to look like them in the evening.  Failing that, it’s an excuse to have a two-day festa and dress in amazing costumes, sometimes not even related to Halloween!  The fancy dress themes ranged from animals to cartoon characters.  The lovely Benedetta from Fiano has promised to let me have pictures of her own costume to show you.  So watch this space.

Autmn colour in the vineyards below the villa Photo P Finnigan

Autumn colour in the vineyards below the villa
Photo P Finnigan

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The man and Farty Barty do the crossword. Photo J Finnigan

Back in the land of the sane, well almost, we have finally accepted that Autumn is here.  The countryside is looking glorious, however, there is no denying that, now the last olives have been picked, it is time to start tucking in with the log fire and warmed Chianti.  Despite this, the lunchtimes are still proving to be lovely and sunny.  Grab a warm spot out of the wind and it’s really nice.  Yesterday, the man and Farty Barty the cat spread themselves across the outside table and enjoyed doing a crossword together, which they had earlier found amongst old newspapers put aside for the fire.  Meanwhile I managed another chapter of ‘The Bolivian Connection’ and so Sunday turned out to be a very good day indeed.

Soaking up the sea air. Photo P Finnigan

Soaking up the sun and sea air.
Photo P Finnigan

Last Thursday we took the day off and drove down to the coast and Castiglione della Pescaia.  We usually try to go down in October when the tourists have gone, yet is still nice enough to stroll in the gorgeous yellow sand and around the beautiful harbour.  We had lunch in a tried and tested restaurant, however, next time we’ll take a picnic and sit on the beach.  There were several very brown people still sunbathing as we walked past in our winter jackets!  Die hards…  I spent my childhood on the beach at Exmouth in Devon and have always been drawn to the sea.  There’s something about the ocean, the smell of the clear water and the swaying seaweed just below the surface.  The low Autumn sun made it difficult to get any really good pictures of the beach, which was a lovely fine yellow sand, so perhaps we’ll go at the end of September next time.  But it was lovely.  I would love to hear from any of you who live on the Tuscan coast.  We adore Chianti, however, if we could be persuaded to a region near the coast that offers similar rolling hills, vineyards and olives, and not too touristy, we may be tempted.

The charismatic Silvio Berlusconi

The charismatic Silvio Berlusconi

Meanwhile, back in the land of the super rich, Silvio Berlusconi reigns supreme at AC Milan.  Having sold Mario Balotelli to Liverpool, describing him as a bad apple, he watched his side lose 2-0 to Palermo.  He told his players to stop playing like the Liverpool striker and get themselves inside the box.  Meanwhile, SB is doing his best to be constantly ‘on’ the box.  “Love me, love my club!”

Well, enough of that.  It’s probably the last day to enjoy lunch in the garden this week, as rain is forecast for the next few days.  So, time to prepare lunch, then soak up some much-needed vitamin D with an aperitivo.

Have a really good week and see you next time.

Salute June x

ps Visit my author site at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan

 

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Halloween, An English Virus, Courgette Flowers and Olive Picking, in Beautiful Tuscany

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Benvenuti to all my Loyal and New Followers

Benedetta, at Laura’s Bar/Alimentare in our local village of Fiano, is very excited about her preparations for Halloween.  Every year, she and her husband go to a street festa near Empoli dressed in Halloween costumes.  This year the theme is birds and animals;  Benadetta is going as an ornimental chicken, you know the one with a big feathery white ball on top of its head!  She will have professional looking face makeup on and has promised to send me pictures so that you can all see what she will look like on Friday!

After coffee in the bar, my man and I were sat in Doctore Flavio’s waiting room and the conversation was all about the lack of police presence in the village.  The row of ladies opposite us were very worried, because the nearest police station was in Certaldo, twenty minutes away.   Fiano is not exactly a sleepy village, however, it is not large enough to have its own police station.  It does boast two bars, two grocery shops, a butchers, chemist, haberdashery/bookshop, pizzeria, cash point (the bank closed years ago) and a post office.  So the need for at least one officer  was agreed, what with all the strange immigrants about.  They went quiet then and looked at us.  I suggested to my man that I could cheer them up with a rock song, but he held me down in my chair and whispered firmly, “No!”

We were visiting our good friend and doctor, who prefers to talk about rock music than medical matters, because my man has not been able to shake off a virus brought back from England a couple of weeks ago.  Either that, or he had picked up another one.  On the drive into Fiano earlier he had complained that if the weather had to be cold, it would be much more fun if there was snow on the ground, so that he could try out the four-wheel drive to greater effect.  I said that it was not that cold and the sun was still hot, in fact warm enough to have lunch in the garden.  “I think it freezing.” He groaned.  “We may have to light a fire this evening and get the winter quilts out.”  His face was very long.

Courgette flowers in the Saturday Market in Certaldo. Photo J Finnigan

Courgette flowers in the Saturday Market in Certaldo.
Photo J Finnigan

Meanwhile, down in Certaldo’s Saturday market I spotted this lovely sunny basket of courgette flowers, a popular dish here in Tuscany, either in deep-fried batter or in risottos.

Pingpong neighbours catching olives

Our neighbours catch the olives on a difficult corner.       Photo J Finnigan

Back in the countryside, the olive picking has been in full swing all week.  Green, white and orange nets have been spread out under the trees and the harvesters raised voices could be heard trying to out do each other in volume.  To the uninitiated, it often sounds as if the Italians are arguing.  They are in fact all talking at the same time and getting louder as the conversation evolves, trying to  be heard over and above their neighbour.  Try as I may, despite being here for a number of years, I cannot understand how the Italians manage to actually hear each other, but they do, and they never stop to breathe!  It’s also fascinating how the subject is almost always about food.  Anyway, we are looking forward to some Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil from the trees below the villa.  Mmmmm!

Silvio in the news. Photo J Finnigan

Silvio in the news.
Photo J Finnigan

Oh yes, I promised you an update on Silvio Berlusconi.  Last week I mentioned that I was reading his biography.  Well, I have to say that I was very disappointed in the writer’s effort and it was obvious he had just pulled out information already existing in various newspapers and Wikipedia.  However, Silvio has been having a better week regarding media coverage and was even interviewed on Chanel Five!  You may already know that he is still the leader of the political party, Forza Italia and has been having some arguments with the Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.  A big surprise to us all is that SB is currently promoting the legalisation of Civil Unions between gays, but not same-sex marriages.  He is holding up Germany as a model for his plan.  It wasn’t so long ago that he was quoted as saying “Better to be passionate about a beautiful girl than to be gay.”

Well, enough of that.  I must crack on with the day job for the next few days and then a long weekend  writing ‘The Bolivian Connection.’

I hope you are having a stunning week and do drop me a line.

Salute June x

ps You can visit my author page at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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English Park Benches, Expletives, Chilli Peppers, Fungi and Cobwebs in Beautiful Tuscany

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Benvenuti to all my Loyal and New Followers

English Park Benches on our upper terrace. Photo P Finnigan

English Park Benches on our upper terrace.
Photo P Finnigan

People who come to visit us for the first time, always ask where we got our lovely wooden benches that are carefully positioned to enjoy our panoramic view.  Well, they are a pair that we bought in England back in the 1980’s and they have moved with us to every home we have lived in.  So, ten years ago, they came with us to Italy and my man lovingly oils them every year and patches up bits of rotting wood with Sugru and other things.  The bottom of the legs are vulnerable to damp so we keep them standing on small round and very hard pine cones.  It would be a very sad day if we were to lose one of these treasures.

Now I try not to talk about bad Italian drivers too often, as it is much the most common thing to mention, and sometimes boring.  However, on Saturday morning my man drove us down to the market in Certaldo, which is thirty minutes in total there and back.  Within minutes of starting out my man started to groan, then the expletives started.  Now we rarely use the F word but this day it was warranted.  I made a note every time my man shouted out to other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists on that journey, not that anyone could hear him from inside the car.  OK, here we go.  “What the f…; that cyclist didn’t even look!”  “What the hell is that fecking idiot doing?” “Does that plonker have a death wish?” “Am I an fecking car, or what?” “Go on, back out why don’t you, I’m only a bloody car coming down the road!”  “Get your dog on the inside, you idiot!” “Take your fecking time, why don’t you?”  (to two women gossiping in the middle of the road and ignoring my man), “Look at that idiot, he’s right up his bottom!” “Oh, you’re turning right are you?  What’s wrong with using your fecking indicator?” I may have missed a few.  Needless to say, my man did not enjoy his drive, however, the coffee and pastry at Cafe Solferino in Certaldo was worth it!  The smile was soon back on his face.

Inedible fungi in our garden. Phot P Finnigan

Inedible fungi in our garden.
Photo P Finnigan

Last week was very wet, however, this brought forth some beautiful fungi in the garden and of course lots of Porcini are in the markets and veg shops.  White truffles are still being found and the other day we spotted two truffle hunters and their dogs.  Why, we asked ourselves, are they wearing camouflage clothes?  Can the truffles see them coming without this gear on?  The other thing is, there are shooters about, so wouldn’t it make sense to wear the same bright orange jackets the shooters wear, to avoid getting shot?  But then I’m just a simple English girlie with, what I consider to be, a little common sense.  But the Italians are very strange in the way they take risks, every year hunters get shot and killed, but hey ho!

Hot Chilli Peppers drying on Paolo's balcony. Photo P Finnigan

Hot Chilli Peppers drying on Paolo’s balcony.
Photo P Finnigan

Back at ‘C’era una Volta’ ristorante, Paolo  sold my man a small truffle (Tartufo) as he wants to take it to England today for a friend.  It is now packed inside dry risotto rice in a sealed glass jar, which is also encased in bubble wrap.  It’s not just protecting the truffle, it’s also trying to prevent the incredible pungent smell from creeping out into his suitcase!  On Paolo’s balcony, where you can dine if the weather’s right, he has also been drying the most beautiful hot chilli peppers that he has grown in his own veg patch (Orto).  Mmmmm.

A jewelled cobweb in the early morning mist. Photo P Finnigan

A jewelled cobweb in the early morning mist.
Photo P Finnigan

Over the weekend, we have woken to a view of thick fog after the earlier rains and subsequent sunshine.  As you know, we always go out for coffee in the early morning and yesterday spotted some wonderful spiders’ webs glowing in the fog, with tiny jewels of water droplets hanging off.

Now what next?  Ah yes, you are probably waiting to hear about Silvio Berlusconi’s latest exploits.  Well, I have to tell you that I have just started reading his biography, so things are a little historical at present.  Don’t sound so shocked, he is an historical figure, you know!  Give me one more week and I’ll report, not only some fascinating snippets from the past, but also a complete up date.

So, for now.  I wish you a great week and see you soon.  Don’t forget to drop me a line or visit http://www.amazon.com/junefinnigan/author

Salute June x

 

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Big Fat Juicy Grapes, a Tornado, a Job for Life and Never Ending Queues in Beautiful Tuscany

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Welcome to all my Lovely Loyal and New Followers

Big fat juicy grapes from a neighbouring vineyard. Photo J Finnigan

Big fat juicy grapes from a neighbouring vineyard.
Photo J Finnigan

Most of you will know that by the end of September, the bulk of the grape harvest will have been completed.  It seems to have been particularly frenetic over the last two weeks with tractors and trailers roaring past our little villa, empty and rattling one way, then smelling wonderful with a big load of fat purple grapes on the way back.  Like some crazy person, I have been dashing out trying to get a photo, but they are gone too quickly!  Finally, I was on the way back from coffee and there was a parked trailer waiting for a tractor.  Whoopee, I screeched to a halt and took the photo, with the sound of the tractor arriving full pelt down the track behind me, in a thick cloud of dust!

The Museum st San Marco in Florence after the storm. Photo The Florentine

The Museum st San Marco in Florence after the storm.
Photo The Florentine

Florence and a large part of the valley around the city, was hit by a ferocious tornado just over a week ago, and whilst you may have heard about this and that the city was ankle-deep in hail stones, some the size of golf balls,  you will not have realised just how devastating this was for the crop farmers in the region.  Whole vineyards were destroyed, buildings badly damaged and the estimated cost is several millions of euros.

Getting work is difficult enough in Italy, however, the Italians are very good at creating ‘jobs for life’ in the most devious ways.  We have a local man who drives a little truck loaded with a shovel, broom and little else.  Now, he is employed by the local commune to keep the gutters free by the side of a B road and he is out in all weathers.  We have a lot of water running off these hills and it is important to keep the roads flood free.  Our man shovels the mud and silt from the gutter and throws it back up the hill from whence it came.  Yes, you’ve worked it out, it quickly washes down again as soon as it rains!  So here is a job for life.  By the time he’s worked his way from one end of the steep curving road to the other, he needs to start all over again.  Nevertheless, he is a popular character and locals often stop and chat, no doubt recognising a kindred spirit!

Lovely wild yellow daisies by the side of the road near our villa. Photo J Finnigan

Lovely wild yellow daisies by the side of the road near our villa.
Photo J Finnigan

I have recently had a letter from the USL in Certaldo, that is the local Health Centre, telling me that I will not automatically get a discount on health services and medicines unless I go and put my plastic health card (Tessera Sanitaria) in a new machine to register.  So I go and there is a massive queue.  I get to the machine and it asks for my password; I did not know I had one.  So I get in the other queue of people who are also confused by the request for a password, and wait for nearly an hour for the single lady at the desk to be free.  By then, I still have at least ten people in front of me, so I give up and go with four other frustrated ladies for a prosecco in the local bar.  Only in Italia…..

Nearly finished the Chianti and onto the Crema di Limoncello at C'era una Volta Restuarant. Photo J Finnigan

Nearly finished the Chianti and onto the Crema di Limoncello at C’era una Volta restaurant.
Photo J Finnigan

Meanwhile, life continues at a gentle pace in our local village of Fiano.  Lots of grey-headed tourists are wandering around, September is a popular time for the oldies, and I hand out my author cards to several English and Americans visiting Laura’s cafe bar/alimentare.  My man thinks I should keep a box of books in the car and sell them directly to the tourists and sign them.  Perhaps he’s right.  There is no way I can tell if my book has been bought on-line by someone who had my card.  Over coffee, I note that I have new photos arrived on Facebook.  “Do you have a Facebook account now, some family photos have been posted?”  I ask my man, who is deep into Il Nazione newspaper. “No, but that’s alright, I know what they look like.” He returns to his paper. I sigh.

Last night, one of our favourite restaurants C’era Una Volta, was very busy with a mix of Italian, German and Swiss.  We met another really nice couple from Germany, Helta and Harold.  If you guys are reading this, we hope you are enjoying your holiday.  Today, Sunday, we are ringing the changes and heading off for San Vivaldo near Montaione, as we have heard about an interesting restaurant called Il Focolare, which will be having vegan fest in October and is in the grounds of a historic monastery.  We have vegan friends, so it would be nice to take them somewhere where they can relax and enjoy their food.  It is not difficult to eat vegetarian in the area, but vegan dishes are harder to find.  So we are off to check it out first.

Silvio at AC Milan Photo Antonio Calanni/Associated Press

Silvio at AC Milan
Photo Antonio Calanni/Associated Press

I’ve just checked on the gorgeous Silvio Berlusconi, and it seems he is back in the news.  However, he spends much of his time visiting his football team, AC Milan by helicopter, where he has been photographed a lot with the players.  This is outside the four hours a week he spends doing social work at a hospital for those suffering from dementia.  I’m surprised he remembers to turn up.  Apparently, he recently met up with his rival, the prime minister Renzie, but I can’t find anything interesting to say about that.  I expect his little dog Dudu would be able to tell us a few interesting facts, perhaps I’ll give the mutt a call.

So, its back to the real world, an aperitivo on the upper terrace, gazing at the sunset lighting up the few clouds in the sky, going for coffee in the mornings and greeting the locals, doing the odd bit of work and writing my current novel.  Life can be hard at times.

Have a really good week and don’t forget to read ‘My Father, The Assassin’ before I publish the sequel ‘The Bolivian Connection’ later this year.

Salute June x

Visit http://www.amazon.uk or http://www.amazon.eu or http://www.amazon.com

 

 

 

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The Vendemmia begins, a nasty Virus, Dogs in Restuarants and pumping Gas in Beautiful Tuscany

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2014| 2 Comments »

Benvenuto to all my New and Loyal followers

Small sweet grapes from our lower terrace. Photo P Finnigan

Small sweet grapes from our lower terrace.
Photo P Finnigan

As you all know, September is grape harvest time here in Tuscany and its called the Vendemmia.  So, September through to October things get busy here, old rattling tractors and trailers trundle past our little villa, shaking the foundations and generally making one hell of a racket.  You thought it would be quiet and restful here didn’t you?  Well in some respects it is, but when the Vendemmia gets going, the only thing one can do is to open a bottle of last years harvest and drink it.  It depends on the grape as to exactly when they are picked and is also somewhat influenced by the weather.  A few valleys away, our good friend the celebrity musician Sting has invited people to pay him to help harvest his grapes!  Now there’s a clever thing.  Use your celebrity status to get the vineyards full of workers, pocket some cash and drink the proceeds.  I wonder if anyone would like to pay me to do my garden and clean the villa?  Any offers?  It was when I splashed some vino on a blouse and my man said,  “Just be careful, I may have to hand wash that!” I realised that we really should get a domestic again.  We had a good one around three years ago, but her visa ran out and she had to go back to Romania…..

Back at our favourite coffee bar/alimentary in Fiano, Laura and Benedetta have returned from their two-week holiday, so we are no longer out on a limb, trying to make executive decisions as to where to go for coffee.  Last Sunday morning, things were busy there, everyone in their weekend outfits, one man drinking dry martini in his espresso, another delivering an old Singer sewing machine next door and one with a dog, which ran around hoovering up all the crumbs dropped by certain Italians speaking with their mouths full.    We popped into C’era Una Volta in Luccardo for lunch, where Gianluca was in good form telling us the story about the local butcher who supplements his delivery income, by helping out the postman.  Thinking back, the TV personality Postman Pat did this, but in reverse.  Taking chickens and groceries from one postal customer to another;  I’m sure you’ll remember that!  A chap came in with a really nice scruffy dog and he was welcomed with a bowl of water and the dog had one too.  Now we are very happy to have well-behaved dogs in restaurants, however, we are aware that a lot of people don’t agree with this.  I say, if you do not want to be in a restaurant with dogs, for whatever reason, you should check with the restaurant first, as to whether they accept dogs.   If yes, go somewhere else.  What’s your view?

By Monday my poor man was feeling ill.  “I’m so tired, I can hardly stay awake and my neck hurts.” He groaned.  So we popped in to see Flavio our dottore and he checked him over.  Heart normal, pulse and pressure normal, not sleeping well, had stopped drinking wine again, was possibly stressed as next week he was back to London for a few days, on the other hand, he might have got a virus.  So some adjustment of pills, a natural herbal solution to help him sleep and me going into the spare bed for three nights to give him space.  He did not take the sleeping remedy, however, he did sleep a lot better without my snoring and tossing and turning.  Thank god he is now better and he took me out on a date last night, for dinner!  I have also crept back into our double bed.

Farty Barty pretending not to be after the cheese. Photo J Finnigan

Farty Barty pretending not to be after the cheese.
Photo J Finnigan

Last Tuesday night we had a horrendous storm.  When this happens you can guarantee that the pump bringing the gas into the villa will stop.  We need the gas for hot water, so the following morning it’s hand pumping time until the boiler starts again!  Only in Italy…..  Last night, Saturday, we finally had a lovely calm evening in the garden.  No wind, a beautiful moonscape, the sound of crickets chirping merrily away and toads chattering down in the valley below us.  It was so nice, we did not want to go in, so it was a quick cheese and tomato on toast on laps. Farty Barty came to join us, having smelt the cheese of course.

Silvio Berlusconi's facebook picture.

Silvio Berlusconi’s facebook picture.

Oh, must not forget the our friend Silvio; I wonder what he’s been up to, I’ll go and check.  O no, no news anywhere.  Is he still on holiday?   Mmm maybe by his own swimming pool, as I don’t think he has his passport back yet.  I’ve even checked his Facebook page and no updates since 13 August!  Golly, what are we to do, the Italian newspapers are pretty boring without him.  But never mind, here is his Facebook photo for you all to drool over, well maybe……

I am very much on a deadline to finish the first draft of ‘The Bolivian Connection’ by the end of September, so its juggling company commitments with writing.  My heroine, Joanna, has just had a glorious romp with Dominic and is about to execute a very cunning and dangerous plan……. My plan is to be published in plenty of time for Christmas, so make sure you read ‘My Father, The Assassin’ first as the current novel follows on from there.

Well, enough of that.  Time to do other things, which is a shame, because I love writing to you all and even better I love to hear from you.  So do drop me a line and don’t forget to visit my author page at http://www.amazon.com/junefinnigan/author.

Have a really good week, June x

 

 

 

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Abandoned towns and villages, Grandchildren and a visiting Badger in Beautiful Tuscany

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Benvenuto to all my lovely followers

Grapes ready for harvesting photo P Finnigan

Grapes ready for harvesting
photo P Finnigan

Here in Italy we are celebrating Ferragosta.  This is the day, originally set as a holiday by Emperor Agusto in Ancient Rome, that ninety percent of Italians take a holiday leaving the tourists to traipse around wondering why the shops are all shut in the middle of August!  It is also a celebration of the grape harvest and these beautiful fruits are what keep the Italians and other residents like ourselves, in fine fettle for the rest of the year with a glass of Chianti in hand.  But I have to say, despite ten years in beautiful Tuscany, we will never adjust to the fact that few Italian shopkeepers, restauranteurs and caffè bar owners stay open on this day or for the following two weeks.  Other European countries tend to cash in on the visiting tourists, not the Italians, unless it is the centre of Florence or San Gimingiano, the latter’s towers shining in the sunlight in our distant view from the villa.  So, we have also wound down a little, it just makes sense at this time of year and nobody seems to be answering their phones in the UK where the bulk of our clients are.  Yesterday, my man was a little depressed having not achieved what he wanted to achieve over the phone.   However, today his spirits were lifted when the lovely young lady at Bar Solferino in Certaldo, rang her mother at the local pasticceria for more sweet pastries, as they had sold out and she wanted my man to enjoy one. Bless her…

The last two weeks saw the arrival of our beautiful grandchildren.  They came separately, the grandson first for three nights, he is nearly fourteen and getting really tall.  He is off to Blundells School in England in September to follow his chosen sporting career, professional rugby.  Looking at the size of his feet, he will fit in perfectly.  We are very proud of course.   Then the following week, our nine an a half-year old granddaughter arrived for three nights, as equally gorgeous as her brother and demonstrated just how intelligent she is by doing all sorts of mathematical equations!  She also takes after her granny (me) as she loves science fiction and fantasy.  We were visited one evening by a big Brock Badger who was after the fallen figs in our orchard.  Fantastic….

Tuscan Badger Foraging

Tuscan Badger Foraging

Last Wednesday we returned her to our daughter and met at an amazing house, which our daughter wanted us to see, down a long dirt track through woodland then opening into an incredible view to the west coast.  The previous tenants had let the steep garden and land run down, and the American owner is desperate for our daughter to find a tenant.  The inside of the farmhouse has been renovated, whilst the outside is very rustic.  I have to say, if I was fitter, I would love to take it on.

A week ago, our lovely vegan Bavarian friends came for drinks.  We all lead very busy lives and it was the first get together since the spring.  The previous day, my man and I went to Terra Viva, a great vegetarian shop in Poggibonsi.  My not being the greatest cook, unlike the majority of you, I was delighted to find really tasty shrink wrapped fast food, made out of tofu and soya.  My favourite was curry and pineapple burgers!  Needless to say, our vegan friends were very impressed, however, I did confess to having bought everything, otherwise they would have wanted the recipe!

La Goloso Pasticceria & Bar in Tavernelle Photo J Finnigan

La Goloso Pasticceria & Bar in Tavernelle
Photo J Finnigan

Our favourite aperitivo. Martini Rosso & Prosecco Photo J Finnigan

Our favourite aperitivo. Martini Rosso & Prosecco
Photo J Finnigan

On 10th August, Laura closed her bar/alimentare for a ten-day vacanza.  We can hardly blame her, she normally opens at six thirty in the morning and works through until after lunch.  But this is a dilemma for us because we do not like the other bar in Fiano.  So its uphill to Tavernelle where my man likes to visit La Galosa Pasticceria & Bar as they bake their own delicious pastries.  I have now managed to get them to make me the perfect caffè latte by adding more coffee. (Piu caffè)  Whilst your Espresso caffè normale varies little in the bars, the caffè lattes do.  I like mine without froth, hot and strong.  Otherwise, we drop down to Certaldo and visit Caffe Solferino, where we went this morning.  Another bar is Bar Italia, we love the people there, but it is a bit of a squeeze in the tiny seating area.

Our local village of Fiano will today be enjoying a festive evening in the gardens of the Castello, however, it does look like rain so we may give this a miss and take a cocktail on our upper terrace and watch the lights come on across the valley.  Life is hard…..

Well, I am sure the wealthy, not guilty Silvio is also enjoying a few vinos next to his swimming pool with his twenty something girlie and little dog DooDoo.  So I will not disturb him today and send you a full update next weekend.

Have a great one.

Amore June x

PS  I am working hard on the second book in my trilogy called ‘The Bolivian Connection’ which should be published in plenty of time for Christmas.  So, if you have not already done so, don’t forget to read ‘My Father, The Assassin’ first!  visit http://www.amazon.co.uk or com or eu.

 

 

 

 

 

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A Kitchen Disaster, Choosing the Right Car and Men in Flannelet Shorts in Beautiful Tuscany

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 4, 2014| 4 Comments »

Benvenuto to all my Loyal and New Followers

Never, ever decide to take a day off and do something that you just should avoid!  Last Saturday I decided to have a really relaxing day without work or writing.  What did I do?  I decided to cook……nothing difficult, all things I have done before with my eyes closed, then disaster struck!  The first thing to go wrong was tipping the steamed cauliflower into a baking dish which was far too small, the florets bounced over the work surface and two landed on the floor!  “Dammit” I cursed and stepped back onto the third one that had cunningly escaped my attention!  I skidded across the floor towards the Tardis (my big new fridge) and grabbed the handle.  The door slowly swung open with me hanging on for dear life and praying that the thing would hold my weight!  Meanwhile, by feet are scrabbling around trying to get a foot hold.  Somehow, I remained upright and the Tardis held firm.  Then I had to clean up the mess and hit my head on the hot oven door, which I had previously opened, and the potatoes on the baking tray inside, rolled slowly forward onto the inside of the horizontal door!  By now I am F…ing and blinding and I was sure my man would come down from his study any minute!  Meanwhile the plums from the garden that my man had lovingly collected, because he was looking forward to a nice creamy desert, got forgotten whilst I recovered on the kitchen chair with a large glass of Pinot Grigio.  A little later I told my man all about it and he shrugged, “Your taking a day off to relax and then cook, was a contradiction in terms, you should have known better….”  So no sympathy there then.

Paolo at C'era una Volta restuarant with fresh Zucchini flowers

Paolo at C’era una Volta restaurant with fresh Zucchini flowers

Our first Passion Fruit

Our first Passion Fruit photo P Finnigan

So, may I ask you a huge favour.  Please, please invite me to yours for some lovingly prepared home cooking, I can’t remember what it tastes like.  On the other hand you may not want to cater for someone who does not eat meat, fish, eggs or gluten…..I know its difficult.  The other thing is, I do like loud rock music and after a couple of glasses of vino will probably start head banging.  I also do bad impressions of Devonshire farmers and recite the same limerick wherever I go.   If you think you can cater for all these factors, you are my gift from heaven, however, I do understand if you would rather give it a miss.  I’ll just keep frequenting our wonderful local restaurants, like C’era Una Volta.  Oooh, nearly forgot, we have three passion fruits in the garden and the grapes have turned a gorgeous shade of purple!  So at least we can pick and eat fruit from the garden…..

Regarding the latter, we went to Montalbino for lunch today, with our lovely daughter and the family, as she has recently enjoyed her birthday.  There is only one little restaurant in Montalbino, which is a tiny hamlet between Montespertoli and Certaldo, here in Tuscany of course.  You may want to check it out as they specialise in Fungi, particularly truffles(tartufo) and porcini.  Our thirteen year old grandson has come home with us for a couple of nights, which is great, and I can hear him and granddad guffawing in the sitting room as they watch a hilarious ‘Black Books’ DVD.

Meanwhile, my man and I take our regular trip into Fiano for coffee in the mornings, and after really bad rain for days on end, the track is pretty bad and we thank ourselves for the foresight in choosing a high four-wheel drive car.  “What a good thing I didn’t buy that low Maserati or Lamborghini,” my man commented in a dead-pan voice.  At Laura’s bar/alimentare on a Saturday morning the Italian men like to get into track suits, or worse, flannelette T-shirt and matching shorts.  Floppy flannelette shorts are seriously unflattering, but then we have to remember that we live amongst country folk; this is not Milan.

Flannelette shorts photo J Finnigan

Flannelette shorts
photo J Finnigan

Well, enough of that.  What has our handsome hero Silvio Berlusconi been up to?  O dio, the latest sensation is that SB probably paid ‘Ruby the Heartstealer’  between five and seven million euros during the Bunga Bunga period.  He still maintains that he only paid her fifty-seven thousand euros to ensure that she did not fall into a world of prostitution.  That poor girl, life can be full of disappointments, she probably expected a lot more…..

Well, I must go and join the men downstairs.  As of tomorrow it is head down as I have a deadline of 31 August for finishing my latest novel, ‘The Bolivian Connection’.  I have left my heroine Joanna Wilde, at a soiree and at least 80% of the guests are cold-blooded assassins!  Time to rescue her….

Have a good week.

Salute June x

PS Have you read ‘My Father, The Assassin’?  If yes I would really appreciate it if you were to pop back to Amazon and leave a review.  Grazie Mille. x

 

 

 

 

 

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