Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World,
Now, we have lived here in our beautiful bit of Tuscany for sixteen years and other than the country sinking below the waves, I will certainly spend the rest of my life living in Italy. So what, you may ask, has got me so rankled? Well, we are asked to complete two Attestazione di Iscrizione Anagrafica (Certificate of Registration) due to Brexit. So my man and I called into the office in Certaldo, were given two forms each and an appointment for the next day at 9.30. We were instructed to get the top of all four forms stamped by a tabacchi (sells Tobacco, stamps and lottery tickets). So off we went for the stamps. After going into two tabacchi we discovered that they no longer sell stamps and we would have to go to the Post Office. I waited in the car until my man came out and he said, “You’ll never believe it, we must go back to a tabacchi and ask for a Marco di Bollo, which is different to a Francobollo (postage stamp) the latter being what used to be used!” He raced back into a tabacchi and returned with his purchase. “The ruddy stamps cost sixteen euros each, so I just spent sixty-four euros for forms that no-one needs!” He groaned. Anyway, the next day at nine-thirty the forms were completed and just when we were about to leave, the embarrassed young man said, “Err, you need to pay us fifty-two cents for each form!” He pointed to the top left hand corner of the forms and there it was in print, another euro and eight cents were handed over and he responded by handing us our two copies. Shall we send an invoice to Boris?
Anyway, on to brighter things and the subject of the Olive Harvest, which is in full flow. Brightly coloured nets stretch out over the grassy slopes under the olive trees and we can hear the strange whining of the hand held electric pickers echoing across the valleys. There are thousands of groves in Tuscany, some so small that hand picking for family consumption is all that is required. Others big and commercialised. We are generally gifted a bottle of the green nectar as soon as it is cold-pressed; fresh bread for dipping or drizzled over toast and garlic is just to die for!
Also, the fruit harvest is producing delicious plums and pears. We have a bowl of chopped fruit every day for breakfast; I confess to adding some Mozzarella di Bufala to mine. Now before we moved to Italy, I had not discovered Mozzarella di Bufala or Burrata, an even creamier verson of the former. If you have not eaten these heavenly cheeses before, please do. The only danger is you could get addicted. But hey, life eeez good, life eeez now!
What else? Well, I don’t have a lot of spare time on my hands, but I am doing a little more on-line window shopping. As you know I love Italian Fashion and try to keep up with what is happening here in Italy. Like the rest of the world, the fashion industry is struggling here, particularly if they have not got a good on-line site. But yesterday, I realised that it’s pointless thinking of buying new clothes when Covid is keeping us at home. But hang on a minute! We need to go out for groceries so window shopping for cuddly coats and boots is OK. And, amongst James Lakeland’s lovely coat selection, made in Italy, I found this gorgous faux fur snuggly look. Hurrah! http://www.jameslakeland.net
So, now it’s time to tuck-in and be grateful for our comfortable home in the Chianti countryside. Good Wine, olives, cheeses, fruit and autumn vegetables, all readily available and of course Amore. Time to light the log fire and enjoy an aperitivo with my man. The next month or so we are returning to plan A and lockdowning by choice. What will you be doing?
Have a great week, stay safe and secure.
Salute June x
Ps. Visit my author site at http://www.junefinnigan.website
However, both my man and I, who are normally avid readers, have not been able to concentrate on a book for weeks! Given so much quiet time, this is something I’m finding difficult to grasp. I have also been trying to get back into my fourth novel, as my heroine Joanna Wilde, is currently left suspended in Havana, waiting on my instructions!
So yesterday I re-visited a short story, which I started writing some years ago. It’s supposed to be a thriller where the people and animals in a nearby Italian town, disappear completely without trace and the panic this creates for outsiders. So I get into chapter two and I start seeing lizards everywhere and in particular a green and yellow one, which starts speaking to my main character, turning the whole thing into a comedy! Well, this will not do. My man hates the idea so I have ditched that project for the time being too! Lizard foto euroland.com
Now, one exciting thing happened a couple of days ago; my James Lakeland clothes order arrived, hurrah. Well, everything fitted, despite the extra weight around my middle! So, I have my new charcoal grey outfit for the concert in June. Now we have to wait to see if the concert can still take place……. I’ll let you know one way or another in May. Now I am waiting for the arrival of my new passport, but that’s another story.
Back in our lovely garden my man found a little Redstart fledgling, which had obviously had an aborted first flight. It was standing exactly on the spot where we like to sit with our aperitifvo, so being all heart we stayed in to give the parents a chance to feed it and encourage it to fly again. We have had a great number of Redstarts this year, oh and the first cuckoo is now here in one of our trees. We’ve not spotted it yet, but then they are difficult to see. The fledgling had gone in the morning, thank heavens.
One sad thing to tell you, our big and normally beautiful Ash Tree is in trouble. Only a quarter of the tree is in leaf, the rest looks dry and quite frankly dead. It really needs an experienced tree surgeon to sort it out, but not during lockdown. My man has had to move our park bench under the European Oak to get the shade needed for viewing the outside world. If you know anything about Ash Trees, do let me know. But hurrah, our English climbing Rose is in full bloom and there are masses of buds too! And, the perfume is to die for, so that’s good news.
But that’s all changed! We have been inundated with visitors that don’t seem to understand how important it is to stay at home. Firstly, Phil our resident Pheasant, has invited two hens to stay and was flaunting himself below our bedroom window this morning. He’s obviously feeling very randy as he was fluffing his feathers up to give the impression that he is twice his normal size! When he started jumping his startled hens, I had to look away, what an exhibitionist!
Meanwhile, the garden is full of visitors including the stunning and musical Hoopie. The disturbed earth around our new compost heap seems very attractive to them. Also a pair of Jays, numerous wood pidgeons flocks of redstarts and many other birds whose names escape me.
And, on the subject of Compost Heaps, we are very proud to have completed our very first version of one, yesterday morning. This then created the need for a wine break before lunch. It is rather shameful that we have only just created one after having spent most of our lives living in the countryside with good sized gardens. My beautiful Earth Mother daughter has been growing veg and using compost heaps for years. I am not the greatest of cooks and she asked me very seriously on WhatsApp ‘What are you eating Mum?” “I can cook if I have to!” I snorted. “Oh, I thought you might have ordered a flow of ready made meal deliveries!” She chuckled. Cheeky monkey.
Butterflies before, but they were back and getting very close to where we were sitting. Out of interest we had previously looked up their lifespan and were astonished to read that in butterfly form they only live for ten days! As one almost alighted on my man’s chest he commented “So, they have only ten days to work out if they are male, female or transgender.” He said very seriously. “Mmm. I think that one is female” I grinned. Foto it.123rf.com
Well, I could waffle on but there is one thing I want to mention. London based James Lakeland, who is the brother of an English friend, designs beautiful women’s clothes that are made in Italy. Like many fashion shops, he is really struggling at the moment. He has managed to pay his staff so far and has now reduced his prices so low, you have to get on-line and start buying! I have placed an order, so that’s my next concert outfit sorted, god knows when it will arrive here in Italy (Italy’s postal system is unpredictable), but it is worth it to support at least one deserving fashion house. James also delivers worldwide! Foto from James Lakeland Blogsite. 
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