The continuing adventures of June Finnigan, her Man, and Farty Barty the cat.
Benvenuti to all my Loyal and New Followers
Well, despite the agonising pain in the jaw after a ‘brutto’ time at the dentist, I am writing to you with all my updates in our little bit of Chianti.
The first week was an overlap from the New Year celebrations, which my man and I enjoyed at our daughter’s new home between San Gimignano and Volterra. It is a wonderful old farmhouse on the edge of woodland with panoramic views to the west coast. We were actually granddog sitting whilst the family went off skiing on the Italian French border. For us it was unconditional love from two gorgeous big dogs, providing we fed them and took them for walks of course.On New Year’s Eve, fireworks lit up the sky from below us after the most amazing red and orange sunsets. Beautiful.
I returned home after one night for Farty Barty the cat and, very importantly, to finish the final chapters of ‘The Bolivian Connection.’ On January 10th it was my man’s birthday and I was able to present the first edited draft to him on the day. He is my best and worst critic at the same time. He will rave about the good bits, but will come down on me like a ton of bricks if he dislikes anything. He took the manuscript to London to read in his spare time, in between important business meetings. He returned on the Friday and I waited for his comments with bated breath. “I’m sorry June, but there is far too much drinking going on, particularly on page 167 when Joanna is in considerable danger and needs to keep alert! Despite that, it’s a really good read, well done.” I was overjoyed of course and saw no problem with reducing the drinking side of things, so we celebrated with a glass or three of Prosecco……oops.
There is still much to do before I can publish. I have re-edited ‘My Father, The Assassin’ as I have decided to do a new book cover and in smaller dimensions. So I will publish both books together soon. Watch this space.
Meanwhile, back at the coffee bar in Fiano, I have picked up a lot of info from the local papers. Presidente Giorgio Napolitano has finally decided to retire and cited his age as the deciding factor. At eighty nine I think he deserves a rest, however, let’s hope that he asked someone other than Silvio Berlusconi to arrange the party! Of course, that depends on how strong Giorgio’s heart is, these Italian men do seem to go on forever! Then I noticed, that the Italians were keen to talk about the fiftieth anniversary of Winston Churchill’s funeral. My man as a very young Royal Marine was marching in the front row on the day, this is one of his many claims to fame. Then I see that Dante is celebrating his seven hundred and fiftieth birthday, he is very popular in Italy and January saw lots of exhibitions in his honour.
Down at the Saturday morning market in Certaldo, I went to buy more cheese. I cannot tell you how ‘melt in the mouth’ these wonderful Pecorinos are, particularly the very soft young ones. What with jars of Red Onion Marmalade, which Certaldo is famous for, and the heavenly Chianti wine, I am going to have to think about dieting soon. Well fairly soon.
I hope you will forgive me for cutting this column a little shorter than usual due to the aching jaw. However, I have discovered that a glass of Chianti popped in the microwave for thirty seconds, helps enormously.
Please do not tell anyone I told you this, particularly Claudio who supplies our wine, he will never forgive me.
Have a great month and I look forward to speaking with you again, with a clear head.
Salute June x
Have a great month and don’t forget to visit my blog, Junefinnigan's Weblog and my Amazon author page.
June Finnigan is an English expat who lives with husband Paul and Barty the cat in their lovely villa overlooking the Chianti Hills, in Tuscany.
June is a published Author and her first book 'My Father, The Assassin' is available on Amazon.