Welcome and Benveuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World,
Well, the rain is thundering down on our Tuscan country home. We also had storm force winds yesterday and more are expected. It’s difficult weather because we are having to deal with high humidity too. A digger driver spent the whole of last week digging drainage channels in the valley below us; it’s amazing how canny the Tuscan contadini (country folk/farmers) can be about the weather. Do you consult your local country folk or fishermen/women on the weather forecast?
Meanwhile, we are thick with tourists. No obvious English or American yet, but we don’t really want to encourage them! Covid remains a worry here, although our area on the edge of Chianti has been only slightly affected, it’s the visitors that are the problem. Many are not bothering to wear masks and those that come to the restaurent wearing them, take them off at the table, which is fine, then go brain dead and get up to go to the loo or take fotos without putting them back on again! My man has to restrain me from shouting! But hey ho! This did not stop me from enjoying the first Giant Porcini Cap of the season, grilled over Paolo’s open fire! Wonderful!
Anyway, life eeez good, life eeez now!. We met up with our beautiful daughter and granddaughter at Jam Caffe in Certaldo for coffee in the week and my man had his favourite pastry, Pastina Arancia. Our granddaughter (15) was telling us that her return to school is likely to be on a part-time basis, the rest of the time studing on-line. Her last term was all on-line and she did very well without the nomal distractions of friends. Tuscany has so far provided excellent schooling this way, but obviously the face to face social interaction is important too.
Our Grandson (nearly 20) has just signed up with a South East Rugby Club in England for the coming season. At the moment, the club is only training on Thursdays, but he is very glad to be there. He was desperate to play English Rugby after having played in both Italy and France. As most of you know, Rugby in Italy has much room for improvement including proper investment into facilities and pitches. We are delighted for him!
Back here in our Tuscan country garden, Phil the pheasant is looking so much better and we have been reliably informed by a friend in the know, that his dissapearance and bedraggled return is because the males need to recover from the mating season and moult at the same time. Thank you Hilary for that snippit of knowledge! And, we have another resident, found by my man, curled up tightly in our entrance hall in a nook in the stone steps. A young skinny viper and whilst immature, we don’t really want him inside the house! So he was gently swept out the door and has taken up residence under an earthenware pot outside. foto Animalia.bio
Meanwhile, I’ve been sorting out my music repertoire and am ordering more backing tracks, but this time in the correct key for my voice. Also, we have ordered some better lighting for the Sound Studio from IKEA and whilst I was online, I thought I may as well order more bookshelves, a bathroom cabinet, two bedside tables and more lamps. I know, naughty indulgences! Deliveries here are now fairly reliable if you live in Tuscany and there’s nothing like a bit of shopping therapy to brighten the day! Some of the pricing is also amazing. We bought this great non-intrusive floor lamp a few weeks ago, for just 15 Euros on-line at IKEA.it! What do you think?
Well, I think we will pop out to Paolo’s for lunch again today. I had a funny moment yesterday, forgetting that I had planned to go out to eat! My man came to find me and could not believe that I had forgotten. But he’s always happy to eat a home, bless him.
So, time to get the fotos added and do an edit. I do hope you enjoy my waffling, I blame it on the heat and humidity.
Have a great week and do drop me a line, I love to hear from you. Visit my website at http://www.junefinnigan.website
Salute June x
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. Anyway, we have our giant spider guarding the gate; just in case.
Now the tourists will have found ninety percent of shops, bars and restaurants closed on both the Sunday and Monday. This includes our usual haunt La Dispensa in Fiano as Fabio, Sandra and Rossella have taken a well deserved two-day break. The Italians like their festa days and most will have gone off to the seaside or mountains. But if you know where to go it’s not a problem. On both days we dropped down to Certaldo and Jam Caffe where you will find the best pastries in the region and of course very good coffee. The weather is beautiful at the moment so you can enjoy sitting outside on the big terrace. We like to be inside looking out.
On the subject of coffee, which the Italians serve up so much better than anywhere else in the world, on Saturday I spotted this advert for illy coffee. Yes, I know, the hunky guy in the advert did draw me in. But look at his face; which look do you like? Clever advertising this; Classico, Intenso (intense) & Forte (strong). I must say I do rather like the Intenso look; that hint of danger in the eyes….. Sorry, where was I? Oh, yes, I was about to mention that I do buy the tins of illy classico coffee. I like the tins, they look great on the sideboard and the coffee is seriously good too!
On Saturday morning, the Mercato in Certaldo was heaving. We stocked up with fruit, veg and Cheese, but our lovely plant lady had not turned up again. I asked one of the neighbouring market holders and was told she had not been there for months. But the good news is, I suddenly remembered a flower kiosk at the top of the hill next to the old cemetery, where our old friend Simon Moody rests in peace, bless him. The kiosk was busy, but to my delight I found lot’s of plants for sale as well as flowers. I bought quite a few, but will need more, so will go back next weekend. I’ll send you some fotos of the finished pots next time.
OK, what else. obviously the National news has not been too good this last week, what with the Notre Dame fire. Here in Italy we have a Joint Deputy Prime Minister who likes to dress up in various uniforms, depending on where he is appearing, so it was inevitable that one of our Italian cartoonists would come up with this cartoon of Matteo Salvini. We quickly move on….
Meanwhile, the various Leonardo exhibitions and festas continue and for a change I will mention Prato, which is a rather attractive town between Florence and Pistoia, where there is an Ingenuity & Textile Exhibition going on at Il Museo del Tessuto. I’ve always been fascinated by machines, big and small. I love steam trains and the workings of clocks and watches. In fact anything that is not dependant on electricity or technology. Prato is also good for historical buildings and excellent restaurants! 
I would be impossible to start the day and feel balanced, if one had not gone for morning coffee here in our little bit of Chianti. Now I had reason to go to Certaldo yesterday (Saturday) so we made a beeline for Jam Caffe for our early morning fix. And, what a beautiful day it was, glorious sunshine and cheerful chatty Italians. Foto J Finnigan. The Chef at Jam Caffe is called Andrea, and is a brilliant cook and all round lovely guy. They bake all their own pastries, so you can be assured of really fresh and delicious pastini. I am so lucky to have persuaded Andrea to do a finger buffet for my Concert Party on the 22nd June. Rock on!
At the weekend, and assuming the weather is good, we do like to pop over to Montespertoli for aperitivi. Foto J Finnigan. The town will shortly be hosting the annual Wine festival, which is really worth going to, however, I should warn you that historically it tends to rain a lot during the two weeks of festivities! You can also book a Horse and Wagon excursion, which will take you on a wine tasting tour! The dates are 26th may to 3rd June; enjoy. For more info visit the town’s 
And on the subject of wine, did you know that one hundred and sixty-two thousand tourists visit Italy every year and consume seventy-three thousand bottles of Vino Rosso (red wine)? The bulk of these visitors are American, German and French. Well, I wonder how they come up with those figures, but anyway, that’s a lot! Then there’s also the Brits that are increasing in numbers each year, bless them! Foto La Repubblica
Now on a completely different subject, although you may want a glass of the red stuff after you read this, Silvio Burlesconi is back! I mean really back. I heard a whisper that the courts have allowed Silvio to run for local government again! Well, something dramatic needs to happen, we still have no government as such, as the two leaders of the largest majority holders cannot agree to work together! Luigi Di Maio, leader of the 5* Movement has confirmed that he has no desire to become Prime Minister and quoted “I’m very satisfied, we brought to our government the program that is.” He said on Facebook, underlining that the prime minister will be “a person who must be a friend of the people.” Stop Press – I’ve just been told that a new Prime Minister has been selected – watch this space! Could this be Silvio, I wonder? But I also heard that he, Silvio, has to appear in court on 1st June on more corruption charges. Hey ho, I doubt if that will deter him, such is the way of things in Italy! Foto La Repubblica.
Well, it’s April first, yes really and the sun is shining. This morning we drove down to Certaldo for coffee as, quite rightly, La Dispensa in Fiano is taking a couple of days off for an Easter break. Jam Caffe, our favourite bar in Certaldo, was heaving with big family groups, several of which had returned home for the Pasqua (Easter) celebrations. Few Italians can bear to be away from Mama’s or Nonna’s Easter lunch and the traditional gathering of clans. In this picture, the caffe looks quiet, but behind me the bar was chocker! My man waxed lyrical over his pastry, which was freshly baked on the premises, as we met and greeted old friends. What a pleasant start to the day! Foto J Finnigan.
Looking back to Good Friday, we were invited over to our daughter’s lovely home between San Gimignano and Volterra, for a delicious lunch. The desert was my man’s absolute favourite, Strawberry Pavlova and the remaining strawberries were dipped in chocolate! Fortunately our daughter and granddaughter like to cook, so we were extremely happy to be treated. They live in untamed woodland with a view to the distant sea, such a lovely spot to live in. Grazie la Famiglia xx Foto J Finnigan.
Meanwhile, earlier in the week, we were enjoying our morning coffee in Fiano and I found some really nice fashion in La Repubblica for you to enjoy. All made in Italy, of course, and with a wonderful air of Spring about them. For the clothes visit Oltre’s 
It has been a strange time here in Tuscany, the trees are only just in bud and a number of young trees have not survived the terrible unseasonal cold we have suffered over the last couple of months. But the forecast is looking good now, so time to think about the Spring wardrobe at last! I’m going to look through my things tomorrow! For the shoes go to 
Once you have sorted out your Spring wardrobe, you may wish to pop over to Florence for a great Artisan Exhibition. There is nothing like viewing or buying products with the ‘Made in Italy’ label or sticker, so this is something you should try not to miss. This annual, traditional exhibition has been running since 1978 and is to be found in the 16th Century fortress, Fortezza da Basso, in the heart of Florence close to the railway/bus station. There is lots of parking in the area too, but I would always recommend taking a train or bus in if you can. Why not stay in Certaldo and travel from here, we could go together! You have plenty of time to plan for this, as it starts on 21st April. For lots more information go to 
Back at our lovely home, a converted monastery farmhouse, my man has been stacking the latest wood delivery. He also brought in a pile for our inglenook. “Look at this!” He said indicating the most peculiar shaped log. I stared and gasped. “It’s a dinosaur’s foot fossil!” I squealed. “Don’t be daft,” he sighed. “It’s obviously the bottom of a tree, with some of its roots still attached.” “No, no, it’s a fossil with a tree wrapped around it!” I argue. My man goes off to do more useful things. To burn or not to burn? That is the question. What do you think? Foto J Finnigan.
Back again in the coffee bar in Fiano last weekend, I read about the sad loss of a hugely popular TV celebrity, Fabrizio Frizzi. At only sixty, he has left our screens forever, having hosted numerous TV quiz shows; he was always around doing something entertaining. His funeral attracted thousands of fans and many celebrities too. Addio Fabrizio. Article by Di Piero Degli Antoni.
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