Yes, it’s pouring down with rain here and thunder has been rumbling across a leaden sky all morning. And, when we came back from morning coffee in Fiano, the electricity had gone! It was so dark and gloomy we lit a candle and placed it on the coffee table! Funny how, even in Tuscany, we have the same dilemmas as every other country that normally has electricity, what shall we do now? There was enough light to see but not to read. We contemplated lighting the log fire, but it wasn’t cold enough. Then, the moment we decided to relax and sit in the rather pleasant candle light to talk, it came back on again!
Despite unpredictable weather, October is a very popular time for visiting Artist Groups; some are currently packed into the holiday cottages just up the lane. The forecast is so bad this week that I am starting to feel sorry for them. I use to get a little irritated by the fact that they had positioned their easels so that they could paint the vineyards with our home in the middle, or in our gateway so that they could paint our view! But I have discovered something called tolerance, I can’t say I feel the same about the hunters though, but that’s another subject! foto ancoradelchianti.
But I cannot deny that right now the Autumn vines are a site to behold and a joy to paint. This picture was taken by my friend Ute who works at Villa Il Pozzo, just down the road. Every year I see the vines changing colour and there is one spot coming out of Fiano that is glorious, but difficult to photograph. So with Ute’s permission, I am sharing her foto which was taken from Villa Il Pozzo just a few days ago. Absolutely gorgeous. http://www.villailpozzo.it
Meanwhile, the banks are full of golden yellow wild crocuses. Also the ground is throwing up an amazing number of different fungi, a fascinating time.
And, at last we have Tartufo Bianco, White Truffles, being served at Paolo’s restaurant C’era un Volta and are now just about affordable. I set up the table ready for the arrival of my plate so I could photgraph it for you. Then to my horror my man said ‘What are you doing? You’ve just scoffed two huge mouthfuls without taking a foto first!” So I must apologise, I just couldn’t wait as it was our first taste of the season, food of the gods, that’s all I can say. So sorry about the gap in the middle!
So, what to do on this cold wet Sunday? I know, some on-line window fashion shopping will sort me out. Somehow, Italian men and women fashionisti seem to be recognisable wherever they go. Oh, we say, they must be Italian! Now, I love Italian Fashion, as you know, but somehow despite being very Italianised I still can’t quite pass myself off as anything other than English. But I can dream, can’t I? foto whowhatwear.co.uk
Anyway, perhaps we should light the log fire and have a nice glass of wine before lunch. How about you?
Do get in touch, I love to hear from my readers. Hoping you are well and safe in your little bit of the world.
Salute June
Ps Visit my author website at http://www.junefinnigan.website
So is Italy safe? I hear you ask. Yes, it is safe, perhaps less so in the north, just as long as you continue to take those all important precautions: masks, hand cleansing and distancing. Follow the rules! My daughter was in her local town here in Tuscany, trying to go to the farmacia (chemist) and there was a crowd of tourists milling around with no masks and no distancing! She had to shout to be heard when she asked them to give her room to get through! It was so bad that the polizia (police) had to get out a loud hailer and ask them to put on their masks and to spread out! Some people are just ignorant and others, quite frankly, stupid. So it is down to you to remain safe and avoid busy tourist spots if you can! Tuscany is so full of beautiful culture and countryside, it is not difficult to find many quiet and less touristy places to go. The tourist industry is slowly recovering, but you will still find many lovely self-catering properties, like nearby Villa Il Pozzo with vacancies. 
Anyway, enough of that. As I write this blog I am enjoying a delicious breakfast bowl of fresh fruit and some scoops of Mozzarella di Buffala. The peaches are currently to die for, I love this time of year for the fruit and also new potatoes. I have to admit that my man and I do eat out a lot at lunchtime. I find the heat too exhausting to cook. We have an air conditioning unit, but we still need fans as well. So we remain grateful to Paolo at Ristorante C’era una Volta in Lucardo for his coolish dining room.
Well, yesterday, just as the heat was getting to me in my studio, a Luisa Spagnoli email dropped into my inbox announcing a 50% sale! Now, buying directly from an Italian designer, and Luisa Spagnoli is one of my favourites, can be expensive depending on your purse strings of course. So a 50% sale is always something I can’t resist at least scrolling through. Her models are mostly smiley or looking reasonable happy, so that helps too. But, they are very tall! I am your typical English wilting rose, five foot three and short waisted, so I have to be very selective in what I buy. Midi length on me is ankle length, jackets and tops can come down to my knees, which is not the look one really wants to achieve. I have recently managed to buy three frocks on-line from Next and M&S that actually fit and drop to a midi length, which I like. But take a look at Luisa’s sale, if you love beautiful fashion, you will love her sale! 
Back on the subject of food, there is nothing nicer than a big family lunch. It also helps when you have a daughter and granddaughter who love to cook and they arrive at your house with a two course meal ready to serve! All I had to do was lay the table beforehand. This family get together was an extension of my daughter Sharon’s birthday as we did not get to see her on the day. Sharon is the joint editor of EnvyItaly an upmarket luxury travel magazine, which can be downloaded on-line or bought in hard copy form. I absolutely love this publication and if you have not aleady got a subscription, do take a look! 
Yes, it’s yet another Beautiful Day in Tuscany and I’m feeling very chipper. Last thursday I finally returned to my lovely estetista Irene in Certaldo, for a manicure and pedicure. Now in normal times this would not be something to post that was really newsworthy, but when I look at my feet now, it’s like a gift from heaven! For me beautiful hands, feet and hair are so very important. What with my being famous in Fiano, I have to look my best! It’s also to do with that ‘feel good’ factor, which is so important in all our lives. What do you think? Things remain strict here in Italy, you know, masks, hand gels and distancing wherever you go, but this gives me much more confidence about going to these places.
Now whilst this is not strickly about Tuscany, you will probably know that Italians love music and in particular Rock Music. I live in the music world here and many friends are mourning the passing of Peter Green at the young age of seventy-four. He was considered to be one of the UK’s greatest guitarists and was a co-founder of Fleetwood Mac.
On a happier note the world is celebrating the 77th birthday of Mick Jagger, hugely popular with Italians and who always includes Florence or Lucca on the Rolling Stone’s European tours. More are planned for 2021; Rock On that man! The brilliant drawings included for both these guys were done by UK artist Gary Wing, whom I follow on Linked-in. I also own an original of his, not a musician, but my lovely cat Farty Barty who went up to the cat concert in the sky three years ago. Bless him.
Meanwhile, back here in this beautiful part of Tuscany, we are not far from Toscana Resort Castelfalfi, a favourtite haunt of our son-in-law who is a keen golfer. They have opened their new Country Club House and restuarants that look very inviting. I am reliably informed that for people staying there, there are a few things not quite ready yet like the swimming pool and spa centre. However, the re-opening will be welcomed by those who enjoy luxurious facilities and a 27 hole golf course in the most breathtaking Tuscan setting. 
And, what else? Oh yes, on the subject of travelling, I hope you have a passport, because I don’t! If I have to be marooned anywhere, it would be here in Tuscany of course. This is fortunate because, having applied for a new passport last April and being told it was on the way at the end of that month, it never arrived! You may already know that due to the Covid thing, there is a backlog of thousands of UK passports. I only found out a couple of weeks that the secure delivery service given the task of bringing UK passports to Euopean residents, returned a whole batch of passports to London! Meanwhile, Easyjet, in their effort to reward frequent flyers, like my man, made him a member of their exclusive Flight Club. Unfortunately, they stupidly registered me as the member and not him. So when I rang to change a flight free of charge, which is one of the benefits, they said no, we would have to pay £60! So here we are, me with no passport and my man without a decent airline. But we don’t care about that, life eeez good, life eeez now! Here is a picture of my man gazing at the Tuscan countryside and dreaming of returning to the UK, I don’t think!
Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World,
We have developed a liking for Il Bar Querceto, which is an easy walk for us. They serve up the most delicious LavAzza Espresso and you get free biscuits too! You can sit inside, but it is tiny, so for social distancing it is a maximum of four people. The bar is rather beautiful with an inglenook fireplace and wall murals. Over the fireplace is a painting of Oak Leaves from where the name of the bar is derived, The Oak Tree is called Il Querceto in Italian. And, where is this bar? Ah, now that’s our secret, can’t have the place filling up with tourists, now can we? We still pop up to Fiano once or twice a week for coffee but things have yet to return to the easygoing breakfast visits we made every day before lock down. However, there is a lovely new assistant called Ullie, who works from Monday to Friday. She is Austrian and is trying to learn Italian; so we speak in English…..
This last week we made the decision to go to Brico and buy fixed framed mozzie curtains; Tende per Zanzare. We bought three and allowed half an hour for each one as they have to be assembled and cut to size if necessary. Three hours later we had managed to put together one in the kitchen, it was worse that putting together IKEA furniture and the instructions were severly lacking! We worked out the hard way about measuring the opening! What the instructions did not say was to reduce your upright measurement to cater for the plastic foot on the uprights and curtain roll container at the top! Fortunately everything can be cut to size, but what a headache. We have two more windows to do, but we’ll leave them till next weekend! Phew……
Well enough of that. We have been enjoying lunch at least twice a week at Paolo’s, that’s Ristorante C’era una Volta for the uninitiated, and coming away with loads of Zucchini as his vegetable garden is overloaded this year. Our daughter says her sweetcorn are five foot high and she doesn’t know what to do with the huge quantity of tomatoes! There is a limit to the number of bottles of passatta she can fill! So it’s a good year for the Tuscan ortos (vegetable gardens) and the fruit and veg markets too. So, no need to grow my own, I just love it!
So sorry, but unforeseen circumstances prevented me from blogging last weekend. But you’re not forgotten and here is a beautiful picture of the discarded husk of the reborn Cicada! We found lots on our garden bench this last week. Enjoy and I’ll be back this coming weekend.
Now, one thing that has been missing over the last four months is entertainment and the Italians so love cinema. So I was delighted to see that Certaldo Alto, which is the historical walled centre of our local town, is starting Cinema D’Estate from 9th July starting at 9.30 in the evenings in Palazzo Pretorio. What a beautiful setting for some great films. You can park down in Certaldo and get the funicular train up the hill, which runs until midnight or drive around the back of Certaldo Alto and park there. You’ll also find some lovely places to eat and drink there too! Picture from Facebook. For more information and to buy tickets visit 
Back in our lovely little bit of Chianti countryside, the phantom digger has returned. We have whittled the evidence down to being a badger. It has very strong claws and is able to move some biggish stones and bricks lining one of the flower beds. The badgers here are pretty big, we only got a close up once! This one also has an attraction for the bottom of one of our acacia trees, having already destroyed all our Iris tubers. There’s not a lot we can do about this really, just tidy up the mess it leaves behind. During the four months of lock-down the wildlife became much more invasive! But we don’t really mind, it’s lovely to see animals and birds that were previously very shy.
Well, I have to say, it’s far too hot for me now. The sun is scorching so if you are coming this week, slap on the protection! We can hear the faint splashing of bodies in a nearby pool, so tourists are out and about in the sun! This morning at our favourite alimentare and bar in Fiano, La Dispensa, we actually stopped for coffee seated at the one inside table. It was quite busy, including tourists buying meats and if you are veggie, like us, you’ll find lots of fresh vegetables and cheeses too. We were glad to see everyone still wearing masks and keeping a safe distance.
Back at my desk, I can hear the Ciccada’s making one hell of a din outside my window! But I like it; it is the true sound of Tuscany in the summer, along with the squeaky tractors and the noise does not interupt my creative writing. In fact, as soon as I finish this blog, I must get down to some more serious progress on ‘Assassin’s List’, book four in the ‘Continuing Adventures of Joanna Wilde’. I try and reserve Monday’s and Fridays for writing, however work related tasks are also becoming pressing. But we don’t mind, life eeez good, life eeez now! Nothing beats a long working holiday in Tuscany! Foto Cicada Orni
Thanks to our neighbour and friend the potter Terry Davis, we have finally been able to identify the bird with the most beautiful haunting song now in our garden. We have heard it every year since we arrived in Italy, usually in the distance but never knowing what it was until now. It is the Golden Oriele, almost impossible to spot, very secretive and beautiful. We have plenty of birdsong in and around our garden but this song is really special. You should google it and listen for yourself! Picture downloaded from Facebook.
Meanwhile, I have been enjoying my unofficial birthday. Yes, I know, very Queenie like. To be honest, I start celebrating at the beginning of June as, after all, I am named after the month I was born in. Story has it that my mother casually said ‘Oh, lets just call her June rather than faff around looking for other ideas.’ I was a second child and the rebellious streak erupted as soon as I could walk. Yes, I was a wild child and I’m still wildly rocking on. Last Friday evening should have been The Rock Chick’s Band’s 10th concert. My man and I sat outside the front of the house feeling very strange, afraid someone might turn up who hadn’t got the cancellation message! But no, we were alone with the birds, toads and occasional hornet. So, I now look forward to my official birthday on 23rd. My man has just given me this fabulous card, he saw it earlier in the year in London and realised it was perfect. I think he’s perfect too.
The weather here is also perfect and the house should be full of friends and family. Instead, we are enjoying all the newly planted pots thanks to my darling daughter who not only came with me to buy them, she planted them too! Afterwards she went down to Umbria for a couple of days staying near Lake Trasimeno; she deserved a nice relaxing break with the family, bless her.
Anyway, it’s my birthday tomorrow. I have spoilt myself with new shoes from Gabor who have great styles without losing the comfort one needs to survive! I’ve started drinking wine at noon and my man has planted three rose bushes in a nice trangular bed in the front garden. Lovely. Any minute now, DHL will arrive with all the electronic equipment I need to set up my new sound studio in the downstairs guest apartment, now that is really exciting! I’ll send you a foto next week!
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