As I start writing this blog a cold wind is howling around the house after a night of much needed rain. And, I feel a huge sense of relief as the words start to flow again on screen.
The Italian news is full of Queen Lisabet’s loss of her handsome Prince Phillip and this will be a very sad period for her. It really doesn’t matter the age of a loved one when they pass away, the fact is you will never see them again and it’s an innevitable but terrible thing. I have spent several weeks looking after the one I love due to illness and I can honestly say, to see him so much better and on the way to full recovery is a golden gift. It is that fact that has helped me return to creative writing. I just love him.
Meanwhile, it was announced yesterday that Certaldo, our local town, is moving from a Red Zone back to an Orange one on Saturday 17 April. This is a big relief and I can at last get to the hairdresser. Sandra has just messaged me to say she will be open and I am down for the first Tuesday, bless her. And, our sixteen year old granddaughter returns to school tomorrow for three days a week, which is a mixed blessing for her. Her school is in Siena, which is currently in orange.
Last week my man and I managed to get vaccinated; me in Empoli where I was given the Astra Zeneca one and my man in Siena where he got the Moderna one! The roll-out of the vaccine remains slow here but the pace is picking up, thank goodness. We have to book on-line and need to be in a certain age group or vulnerable position. I kept trying but it was only when another batch of vaccines had arrived that my box to tick suddenly flashed ‘open’! Unfortunately, the supply is still restricted as the EU is currently sitting on billions of Euros meant to aid recovery and could be spent on vaccines, but they can’t get everyone’s agreement on how it should be distributed! I want to take this opportunity to mention the Amazing Red Cross here in our local town of Certaldo. For a short period I thought it might be wise to hire a wheelchair, just in case. We have a lovely friend called Paolo who is a volunteer and drives support vehicles for people needing to get to hospital for appointments and are ill or less able. My lovely daughter has been getting us to appointments, but on difficult days for her Paolo has stepped in. He arranged for me to pick up a wheelchair from the Red Cross and we can keep it indefinitely for a donation of just 50 cents! I cannot thank Paolo enough for his personal attention and the support of this volunteer service that backs him.
I have had several followers ask about my next Rock Concert and sadly I must tell you that we have decided to wait until next year. We are also cancelling any visitors this year to be sure that things are back in control first. so any plans you want to make, aim for the Spring of 2022 and fingers crossed all will be well! We look forward to seeing you!
Anyway, Spring is here in our beautiful little bit of Tuscany. The wildlife seem unaffected by the pandemic and in fact are a lot more obvious without the hunters around. Phil our resident pheasant has a new wifey and is doing his usual postering, so that’s OK. I hope, over the next few weeks to bring you lots of good news and more fotos of our stunning surroundings on the edge of the Chianti Hills.
Whilst this blog is a little shorter than previous ones, it is an important one for me. I have missed writing to you and I would love to also have your news. I will be endeavouring to update my website over the next couple of weeks too.
Salute June x
Visit my website at http://www.junefinnigan.website
Meanwhile, the Italian Government are up to their usual wittering about leadership, the original coalition fell apart and the current arrangement is not working either. Reading the newspaper, I came across this brilliant photo taken in 1953. It is the mayor of Florence giving a speech and just look at the faces on the guys surrounding him! You could say ‘nothing has changed’, everyone is seriously bored listening to all the moaning and groaning.
But enough of that. It’s the 1st March, hurrah, and the month for celebrating Tartufu (truffles). There will be Festas all over the place including our local town of Certaldo, Volterra and Florence. If you have not been to Volterra, you really should. It’s about an hour from us and is a beautiful ancient city with a great history. You could combine the visit with the Tartufo celebrations. Yesterday, we went to our local restaurant C’era una Volta where my man enjoyed a delicious pasta dish with Tartufo Marzolo (March Truffles) grated over the top. Yummy. Sometime this week we will probably head over to Tavernelle and Osteria La Gramola, where they do wonderful creative dishes with seasonal produce, like the Tartufo. I’ll let you know.
Back in our lovely winter garden the daffodils are coming out. I took this foto this morning as it looked a little lonely on it’s own. We will not be uncovering the rest of the plants until 1st April; we look forward to that. The other day, we were visited by a big male fox and he may have gone off with one of our resident wild pheasant hens, as Phil the Cock Pheasant has been making a lot of noise of late. I saw the naughty fox with a large bird in his mouth being chased by Phil, it may have been a pigeon but probably not. Whats happening in your garden?
And so, here we are we carrying on as usual. Enjoying good food, wine and friendships. My next urgent task is to get my repertoire sorted for the concert on June 19th. So far I’ve decided on six songs so another dozen to go. I’ll be sending out initial invites soon. If you are not on my invite email list, send yours to june.finnigan@virgin.net Exciting isn’t it!
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.
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