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Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around The World,

2018-02-11 09.27.41OK, I have warned you about Italian Romeos in the past and this week girlies of all ages should take extra care.  Anyway, from now up until the fourteenth, beware of Italian men offering you red roses.  One rose is supposed to be very romantic, however, it might also indicate the size of his wallet!  Ask immediately if he lives with his mother.  If yes, then he’s probably after a bit of slap and tickle.  If he gives you a sob story about his aging or ailing mother, he may be looking for a replacement!  Either way, if he’s good-looking and invites you to dinner in a decent ristorante, why not!  Enjoy!  Foto La Nazione.

2018-02-11 09.30.28Meanwhile, the papers continue to be full of the forthcoming elections.  Villages and towns have had the big metal boards erected ready for the posters that go up shortly.  Matteo Renzi, the former Prime Minister, seems to be talking himself into a big political hole, rather like David Cameron did in the UK.  Both he and Silvio Berlusconi are now paying heed to the female political advisors, I’m glad to say, however, no sign of a likely candidate from their ranks for PM yet.  Foto La Repubblica.

Meta and Moro suspended

OK, so how did the Sanremo Music Festival end? I hear you ask.  Well, the winning act was Meta and Moro.  Meta was obviously doing a Doctor Who impression, aka Tom Baker!  The guys nearly didn’t make it after they were suspended pending allegations of violations of the festival’s rules by the song presented by them.  But all turned out rosy in the end.  To watch the video and get an idea of how ‘high’ the standard of entries were, go to Youtube Video No comment.  Would you believe, 12.2 million Italians watched the final on TV , the highest recorded since 2002!  Foto Sanremo official website. 
2018-02-08 09.49.27Guest appearances at the Festival included Sting.  The music man is fully entrenched into Tuscan life having a villa and land just a few valleys away from us, and the Italians love him.  His music is regularly played on the radio and he holds the occasional private concert party in his garden.  He has obviously taken a lead from me and my Garden Rock Concerts in June each year.  More news on that soon!  Foto La Repubblica
2018-02-11 09.32.36Well, back here in our beautiful bit of Chianti, it is cold and raining.  Contrary to popular belief outside of Italy, February can be chilly and wet.  Despite that Crocuses are beginning to show their heads, the Mimosa and some Cherry trees are in full blossom and life is good.  Local towns and villages are finally getting over the Carnivale Period and things are finally a little quieter; until the elections of course!  Foto La Nazione.
Soon, you will have more news about my books.  I will shortly finish and publish my short story, The Man in Black, and am making big strides with the fourth book in the series ‘The Continuing Adventures of Joanna Wilde’ called ‘Assassins List.‘  So watch this space!
Have a great week and do drop me a line; I love to hear from you.  Oh, and do visit my official author site at June’s website
Salute June x
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Welcome and Benvenuti to all my lovely Loyal and New Followers

Before I launch into the subjects in the above title, I do want to let you know that I have not forgotten to mention the Olive Harvest.  Yes it is in full swing, however, I will talk about it next week when I have some more fotos!

The smoking inglenook fireplace. Fot P Finnigan

The smoking inglenook fireplace. Foto P Finnigan

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, or should I say at our former monastery/farmhouse here in Chianti, it was time to try out our inglenook fireplace for the first time.  Now we do have a vast experience of open fireplaces, in fact my man actually built one many years ago in Somerset, England, so we knew there was only a 50/50 chance of it not smoking the sitting room out.  So, on Friday we got it lit and yes, as you can see in the foto we had to open the french windows to let the billowing smoke out.  But for just a few minutes it looked beautiful and when it was roaring the smoke went up the chimney, but as soon as it died down a bit, out came the smoke again!  So we will get an expert in to decide how to deal with it.  Watch this space….

Sting at 65. La Repubblica magazine.

Sting at 65. La Repubblica magazine.

Back in Fiano, where we mostly go for our coffee these days, I see in the Sunday magazine that very popular British musician Sting, or Gordon Sumner, is looking pretty good at sixty-five.  The Italians love Sting, and as he has a villa a few valleys away from us, he is also considered a local celebrity; a bit like me in fact, although I’m only famous in Fiano!

Look no hands, or feet! Fot La Nazione

Look no hands or feet! Foto La Nazione

The other thing that the Italian’s love is Calcio or football to you and I.  You may remember that AC Milan was purchased by a Chinese buyer a short while ago.  Now I don’t know what to think of this, but in the paper I see the Chinese Premier Xi Jinping  showing off his skills by playing football without his hands or feet!  Methinks it’s a clever conjuring trick.  What was that you said?  Well, really…..

October fruit and veg in Certaldo. Foto J Finnigan

October fruit and veg in Certaldo. Foto J Finnigan

OK, where was I.  Oh yes, back to yesterday morning and the fruit and veg market.  Whilst, most of the peaches have finished I did find some plums and I bought some lovely fresh broccoli too.  I decided to take a foto of one of my favourite home-grown stands and I think this picture says it all.

Then of course, it’s that time of year for Chestnuts or Castagne as they are called here.  The Italians really go to town making wonderful deserts for this versatile nut, I’ll try to get some fotos for you next time.

My Pasta vegetarina. Foto J Finnigan

My Pasta vegetariana. Foto J Finnigan

And just for a bit of fun, here is a foto of my pasta vegetariana,which I had for supper last night with our lovely family, at a restaurant called Il Merlo, somewhere between Volterra and San Gimignano!  The chef has a sense of humour and obviously so disapproved of my not wanting any sausage with my pasta, he even removed the pumpkin as he thought I might consider it meat, then put this little face in the corner of the plate!  Very Ha Ha, I don’t think.

Anyway, gosh is that the time, I must crack on with my soon to be finished novel ‘The Italian Connection’, which some of you are asking about. My deadline for the first draft is the end of October, which I expect to meet, then another month of infill and editing before I can get it published.  Sorry to say, I won’t make the Christmas shelves but you can happily look forward to a Spring launch at the very latest.

OK, off you go, have a really good week and do drop me a line, I love to hear from you.

Salute June x

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

 

'My Father, The Assassin'. Book one in the series.

‘My Father, The Assassin’. Book one in the series.

'The Bolivian Connection' Book two in the series.

‘The Bolivian Connection’ Book two in the series.

 

 

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Benvenuti to all my Lovely Loyal and New Followers

Torrential rain in Certaldo. Photo J Finnigan

Torrential rain in Certaldo. Photo J Finnigan

As I write this blog we are enjoying a reprieve from the horrendous heat and humidity that has smothered us over the last two weeks.  It had become so oppressive, it was as if the oxygen had been sucked out of the air!  Then earlier in the week it started to rumble with thunder and the birds stopped singing.  Then the cicada’s stopped their cackling, the wind started to build into a massive force ten and I could not get outside to rescue the canvas sun brollies.  Inevitably, they went flying dragging their heavy bases with them and sadly one was torn really badly.  But this is a minor issue, what followed was a long-awaited downpour on the parched countryside and I saved fifteen euros as the car got washed at the same time!

Coffee with Sting. Photo J Finnigan

Coffee with Sting.
Photo J Finnigan

Meanwhile, I was safely in Bar Solferino in Certaldo enjoying my coffee with Sting.  We watched the rain thundering down outside, he said nothing.  This is because he was just a picture in the paper, but one can dream.  He was really in rehearsals for his performance at Lucca as the final act for a great lineup of rockers in the summer festival there.

The previous day I had been in the same bar, when six American backpackers struggled in.  All girlies of around twenty-one who proceeded to stuff themselves with two pastries each.  One girl stood at the bar with a pack so large on her back that she must have included the kitchen sink!  She was also tall, stick thin in a long skirt and sandals.  She was trying to get Elena behind the bar to understand her and was having some difficulty in doing so.  Elena looked across at me with pleading eyes.  I asked loudly if I could help and this awful American girl started screeching about the fact that her phone could not pick up the cafe bar’s internet and that she would never had walked all this way if she had known it would not work!  I took her phone and gave it to Elena who in seconds linked it in and gave it back.  Not a word of thanks from this horrid girl!  Meanwhile, the other girls seemed to be ignoring her and enjoying themselves, and I was told that they were on a train/bus/walking tour and had started in Venice.  They were about to get the train to Rome.  That day the temperature was around thirty-eight degrees;  I wished them well.

My man returned from a working week in London on Saturday and I was so relieved to be back in the arms of my Amore.  Sometimes all one needs is a hug to make the world seem right.  I had survived a hurricane, three electricity cuts and a tooth extraction.  But I had left the broken loo system, the dragging door and the cleaning up of the garden after the storm, to him.  I was just too tired to do it all, I’m sure you understand.

Silvio grinning. Photo The Guardian

Silvio grinning.
Photo The Guardian

“I have never paid for sex!”  The illustrious billionaire Silvio Berlusconi has said on a number of occasions, however, escort Patricia d’Addario claims otherwise after having written a book about their alleged sexual relationship.  She is now going to make a film about it!  This announcement comes after poor SB was sentenced to three years in prison, earlier this month, for bribing an Italian senator.  Well all this keeps him in the headlines and bad publicity is better than none at all.  His supporters will just keep rallying around him….  Anyway, if push comes to shove he can always take up a post in Putin’s Government.

Well, enough of that.  Time to think about sunday lunch.  It is such a lovely day we have decided to eat in the garden, so I need to go and organise an aperitivo.

Have a really great week and do drop me a line.

Oh, and do visit my author site at http://www.amazon.com/author/junefinnigan

Salute June x

PS I am off to the UK this week, so no blog next weekend, sorry. xx

My Father, The Assassin.  Book one in the series.

My Father, The Assassin. Book one in the series.

'The Bolivian Connection'  Book two in the series.

‘The Bolivian Connection’ Book two in the series.

 

 

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