Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World,
At this moment in time, the sun is pouring through my open study window bringing the Tuscan countryside and birdsong with it. A nearby church bell is tolling and all is peaceful on this beautiful Sunday morning. Dogs and their walkers, cyclists and runners have already been spotted on our track and you would never believe we were in an orange lockdown in February. Now we are throwing more windows open and the sun is hot enough to sit outside; what a fabulous day!
Thinking back over last week, when the weather was still cold and damp, I found some great things to occupy me, including a really enjoyable on-line cookery class with my lovely friend and neighbour Judy Witts Francini. Judy, the well-known celebrity cook, has been very enterprising during lock-down with her live cookery sessions and I try to join them as often as possible! If you like Italian cooking, you will love Judy’s classes as they are very friendly and easy to follow.
Judy learnt to cook like a Diva whilst living with her mother-in-law in Florence and has never looked back. Last Thursday, we learnt how to cook Naked Raviolli, which is Spinach and Ricotta Raviolli without the pasta! Amazing and she showed us how to make different sauces to go with it like walnut, butter & sage or tomato. Yum, yum! Judy also has a great cookery book that you can order on her website, where you can also book her weekly classes. Follow her and get all the latest food updates too! https://divinacucina.com
Meanwhile, my man who has just come back in from the garden, handed me a dried up acorn that he found on our outside bench. It’s actually rather beautiful, obviously got at by insects or squirrels but somehow left and forgotten. I will keep it as a reminder of how sweet and kind my man can be. Sigh…..
Then I received a WhatsApp foto from my lovely daughter, who cut these beautiful flowers in her garden near Volterra. Bless her!
So, what else is happening in our little bit of Tuscany on the edge of Chianti? Gosh, well, the political scene continues to evolve as Super Mario, Mario Draghi, is getting to grips with the need for a rapid economic recovery as well as the painfully slow vaccine roll-out. The Five Star Movement has imploded and we are witnessing a lot of change in Government. Just one week to go and hopefully we will be a yellow zone again and able to go out to lunch.
Now, back to lighter things and reminding ourselves how lucky we are to be living in Tuscany and enjoying the fabulous sunsets at the end of the day. I love the gentle move into Spring without the nasty zanzare (mosquitos) that arrive in May. My man has cut the grass so I think a glass of Tuscan wine before lunch in the garden will be on the cards.
Fast forward and it is Tuesday morning. Another day of wall to wall sunshine and relaxing outside before lunch. Thanks to WordPress being a pain in the proverbial, I could not finish this blog on Sunday, so sorry to be a little late. OK, let’s get on with the day job and all have a good week. Life eeez good, life eeez now!
Do drop me a line and visit my website for more about me and my books! http://www.junefinnigan.website
Salute June x
Last Tuesday was my official birthday. My unofficial birthday is when I celebrate with The Rock Chick Band and perform in our garden surrounded by fabulous family and friends, but as you know, not this year. I had a great day, spoilt by my family with cake and presents after a morning setting up my new Sound Studio downstairs. More on that in a minute. That’s me in the middle sending an air kiss and ready to go out with my beautiful party girls!
And what about my new sound studio? I hear you ask. Well, my man and I set about working out the complexities of strange yet familiar new equipment and linking it to bluetooth. My man is a lot cleverer than me, so he was somewhat less confused. Importantly, I wanted to play backing tracks and to sing along to them over the mic, so I could hear how good or bad I was sounding! Wow, the big speakers blasted out really good quality sound, I was so excited! But the mic was very sensitive so some adjustments were needed. I think we got the hang of it. You saw the piano room before the equipment arrived, so here it is all set up as a sound Studio. The other speaker is just out of shot on the left and the 6 Channel Mixer/Blue Tooth Player is the larger black box on top of the piano. It’s all very neat and tidy! Now it’s down to me to get to grips with it on a regular basis and write some more song lyrics! Watch out for some active pics later on! Wow, I am so lucky.
Now it’s still my birthday month and today, Saturday, I succumbed to buying yet another handbag on line. Now, I know I normally push everything made in Italy, but the odd Radley Bag from London does seem to occasionally slip into my collection! Oh, dear, my man will be editing this blog for me, he reads all my stuff, and I will hear him groan when he reads this, because I haven’t told him yet! But it will go with the lovely little Radley clutch bag he bought me for my birthday some years ago, which also has a ‘data dog’ running across it! That’ll appease him and oh, the new bag was also in the sale; you must take a look! 
Anyway, what you really want to read about is Tuscany, don’t you? Well, the Ciccadas finally arrived this last week, rather late but they do like the hotter weather. So now we have both the chirping of these noisy but friendly insects and the toad’s chorus to listen to whilst enjoying an aperitivo outside. We have just heard that our neighbour Paola has a full house of tourists next week in her beautiful Agriturismo, La Poggiolaia, so we’ll soon be hearing the distant tinkle of laughter and splashing in the pool too! Visit Paola’s website 
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. 
Junefinnigan's Weblog 