Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World,
I am firstly going to take you to Florence as there are two things I want to tell you about. Firstly, have you heard of the Wine Windows? These medieval windows, of which there are more than 150, have re-opened to serve wine to the tourists! This is most appropriate, because back in the late Middle-Ages these windows were created to serve wine to the people of Florence due to the Buconic plague or Black Death, that had swept across Europe, wiping out half of the population! So these windows provided protection for the winery owners whilst at the same time serving the much needed ‘Italian Water’ to the populace. There is actually a society that keeps all the windows registered and looked after. At the following site you can find all the windows and where they are. Fascinating stuff! Wine Windows
Secondly, I was really taken with the installation of a beautiful sculpture in the famous Boboli Gardens in Florence. It is called simply ‘Give’ and is the creation of Lorenzo Quinnard. Lorenzo had always wanted to have the honour of placing a sculpture in these gardens and he will tell you a lot more about this on his website. I love the fact that an olive tree has been planted in the centre symbolising peace and love. He also made the hands that appeared to be reaching up from the canal in Venice, holding up a building! Lorenzo Quinn
Meanwhile, back in our little bit of the Chianti countryside, I was itching to get down to my sound studio to do a bit of singing. You may recall that my man and I had tried to work out the technical side of things, linking the synthesiser to speakers and mics etc. Well, the good news is, we seem to have it up and running. To make things perfect I need to download backing tracks in the correct key for my voice. Now, you may not be aware that each song will need a different key. My voice is quite low and some songs, designed for men, are OK. But most aren’t. So I was delighted to get an email from ParisMusic this morning telling me they can adjust the keys on downloads without any problems! Hurrah! We have decided to go ahead with next year’s concert on 18 June 2021, with or without an audience. Fingers crossed; I’ll keep you posted!
Anyway, lets bring you down to earth and talk about wasps! Here in Tuscany, this time of year is the busy building of wasp nests (Macro of wasp) and they can be a real problem, trying to set up home in the most inappropriate places! My man found a nest attached to the outside of the kitchen door of the appartment downstairs, where we have the Sound Studio and Gymnasium. So last night around 9pm he donned protective clothes and went down to spray it. Now we hate doing this, but we have both been attacked in the past as they keep a sentry outside just waiting for anyone getting close! I was relieved when my man returned unscathed and this morning confirmed it had worked.
So, what next? Well, we are now overun with tourists, mostly from northern Europe: Poland, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Austria and some French. Most are being strict with their face masks and distancing in our local village of Fiano, but I can’t speak for the more popular tourist hot spots. Meanwhile, the locals are very busy using up the glut of tomatoes to make passatta, including my daughter who has run out of jars and is scrabbling around for more. The countryside is pretty noisy, with constant strimming of the dried grasses and squeaky tractors cutting the meadow hay below our farmhouse. We hear laughter from nearby swimming pools and the cicada’s continue to chirp away. But it is far too hot to stay outside, between 35c and 39c this week. So we batten down the shutters, turn on the air conditioning unit and fans and settle down to work in our studios. But life eeez good, life eeez now.
OK, need to get back to the day job now, but will be thinking of you all. Please stay safe and well! Do drop me a line, I love to hear from my readers!
Salute June x
PS Visit my website at June’s Site
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