Becca on my mind….
Irony of ironies….I’ve spent the weekend cooking and this evening knitting. Of course, this is not unusual for me. The weekends around here include all things home….cleaning, cooking, spending time with the girls, hanging out, knitting…ect. None of this could be considered ironic or even odd, except that I’ve been thinking about my sis in France over the last few days, a lot. I was getting ready to post my photos of dinner tonight and my new knitting project, when I just realized that my new favorite cookbook is named Around My French Table and the pattern I just started, Wrenna, is from a book called French Girls Knits. Oh, and I forgot…I made French Onion soup for dinner yesterady!! The recipe for the Onion soup was in the same cookbook.
I also took a photo of the left over scones I made Saturday morning. Some friend of ours moved from here to Decatur, GA this summer. Thier youngest was best buds with our oldest. So, we had them over Saturday and invited the girls from Grey’s class. I made three batches of scones for us to nibble on and made a fourth batch to take to our new neighbors about five houses down. Henry and I have appointed ourselves the unofficial welcoming committee on our street. We may branch out into the neighborhood…just depends on my baking keeping up with the moving! Anyway, out new neighbors are actual a family from our girls school.. We are so excited to have them. The number of children in our neighborhood seems to be growing. I am very excited for the girls.
Here’s a photo of the dinner and a photo of the knitting.
By the way…notice all of those pears?! My Aunt Nancy brought them to us. There is about 3 gallons of them. I plan on making a pear and port compote to can. It sounds like autumn so much, I can’t resist. I am imagining serving the compote with turkey this Thanksgiving. Becca, I wish you were going to be here. Maybe I can ship a jar of compote.
K is for Kanning (I know, it’s spelled with a “C”)
I am not going to do knitting for the K post because that is too predictable, especially from me. So, I cheated a bit and I am going to do canning for K since at least the first letter sounds like a K. It’s my blog and I reserve the right to do as I please 
. Anyway, I have been canning all weekend…by that I mean 12 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. This is my first real go at canning. I am starting this year because for a while Henry and I have really been interested in where our food is coming from and what goes in it. In early spring we decided that we were going to take down a few trees, build a retaining wall and have a really big garden. It is not finished as it was a bigger undertaking than I first thought, but it will be ready for next year. I decided to stick my feet in the canning pool this year using vegetables that someone else grew. We have a really good farmers market in Nashville, so I made a trip last Friday and stocked up on some in season favorites and supplemented with some items that were regional like peaches, as well as some things that are a little further afield…lemons. My mom let me borrow my grandmother’s water bath canner and a bunch of canning books. I also bought a pressure canner because I knew some things we would want were not acidic enough to be safe in the water bath canner.
I made lemon curd, peach salsa, peach and almond jam with thyme, red pepper jelly, tomatoes and preserved lemons (salt preservation, no canning for it). I have to say that while it was not the easiest thing I have ever done, it was not the hardest either. I do think it is going to prove enjoyable and very, very satisfying and will get easier as I develop a system. The only real issue I had was something called “siphoning.” This happens when the contents of a canned item migrates from the jar into the pressure canner. This happens when the pressure changes too rapidly….the pressure changed too rapidly in my case because I failed to read the part that suggests leaving the items in the canner for five minutes after the pressure returns to zero and after you have removed the vent weight. Live and learn…I had to reprocess the lemon curd. now, the taste did not change, but the color changed significantly. The lemon curd was a beautiful sunny yellow until the second run through the pressure canner…now it is a muddy brown. I have photographic proof of all of this activity below….even the mud brown lemon curd. We have already been into everything and found it to be well worth the effort. I know it will be doubly worth it this winter when we can relive the glory days of summer through food.
J is for Just In
I finished my French Girl Knits Delphine lacy cap sleeve top last night. Here’s the Ravelry link. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Slipping/delphine-lacy-cap-sleeve-top I just finished it last night in time to wash it and dry it so I could wear it this morning for work I may have mentioned…I work in a knit shop and I love wearing hand-knits in the store. I get excited and that makes customers excited and it’s just more fun. Anyway, I had to weave in the ribbon this morning and made it just in time to get to the store. The top absolutely has to have the ribbon…if not, it is not a just a “French Girl” knit, it’s a “French Girl in a Bordello knits!” The sleeves fall down to an off the shoulder type garment….not a good look for a 40-ish year old mom with chunky arms!!!!!
I is for International Traveler
My nephew, Remi, arrived last Wednesday after much anticipation! We were so excited that we would get to see him again after only 6 months. This is unheard of. Remi lives in France with my sister, niece and their father. Becca, my sis, has been there for about 15 years. Usually they get to come back to the states once a year. This time Remi got to travel alone and visit for 2 weeks. Here he is with Nanny (great-grandmother) fresh off the plane.
G is for Grateful
I have so many things to be grateful for this week. As you may have noticed, I missed “G” last week. We were in the Blue Ridge Mountains in GA with our best friends and their twins. I have a number of photos to show you as proof positive that I have so much to be grateful for. I’m grateful for a husband who is a better partner than I deserve and who is the father that the girls need; for my beautiful girls who find everything exciting and fresh; for my dearest friend who lets me be crazy while all the time gently nudging me toward a saner place; for two amazing 15 year olds who are excellent role models and friends to my girls; for my hubby’s best friend who is always there; and last, but not least, my snuggly bed, two cuddly cats and a cup of Earl Grey with my favorite cookies before bed.
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PS>>>>> Check out more ABC Posts at the Accidental Knitter http://accidental-knitter.blogspot.com/2011/06/h-is-for-hairband.html
F is for “Firsts”
It seems as if one experiences an endless parade of “firsts” when becoming a parent. There are first steps, first words, first smiles. Then life happens and we forget the everyday firsts we experience with our children. I was looking through my recent photos for inspiration and found numerous pictures of our girls. I realized that those everyday pictures are even more precious than I thought. There are pictures of Grey and Mycah’s first ever May Fair at their amazing school. There’s a picture of Grey’s first crocheted hat and her first knitted doll (with crocheted clothing), both done at aforementioned amazing school. Our picnic with Zoe at the park (ok, I admit, not the first of the season and certainly not the last…but give a girl some poetic license, k) And lastly, there is a photo of my first time sitting knee to knee with my friend Camille embroidering names on the apron for Mycah’s teacher.
E is for Enlightened
e was a hard one for me. I have chosen this word based on a random word generator, so I am really stretching here. However, I am enlightened after my weekend with Lori. Lori is my best friend and a master seamstress/costume designer/patterning instructor/college professor…etc. She has been working with me for a couple of years on my sewing skills. I have a high desire to learn, but apparently little patience. I have been progressing steadily and have made two or three dresses for each of my girls, a skirt for each of them and a couple of tops for myself. With hose items i learned to do pleats, to install and invisible zipper, do a buttonhole, elastic, hem and make small adjustments in a pattern. the one thing that I have avoided at all cost has been bias tape. I attempted a blouse from http://www.amazon.com/One-Piece-Wearables-Garments-Accessories-Domestic/dp/1592533442
One Piece Wearables that made heavy use of boas tape before my sewing lessons with Lori. I made the rookie mistake of trying to encase the raw edges in one pass and the result was so poor that I threw the entire lot in the trash! I have avoided all bias since then. well, that, my friends, is over. Lori taught me some of the tricks of the trade regarding bias tape using the very same pattern that had kicked my butt before. So…I have been enlightened…thanks to Lori. No bias tape will ever kick me again!!!!
D is for Done!….almost
I am almost finished with the apron. I have embroidered all the names. All I have left is to embroider “Morning Glory” on the waist band and the Linden School’s symbol on the upper left of the apron body. I have to say, i have been slogging through this last portion an d stealing time to do other things. I have knit a pair of newborn booties http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stay-on-baby-booties-5 from a Churchmouse design for the yarn store I work in and I cast on a pair of clog socks http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/turkish-bed-socks for myself (also a Churchmouse design).
Here’s a picture of my husband modeling the apron…he’s a little silly at times.
Today is World MS Awareness Day
More than likely you know someone, love someone or will meet someone with MS at some point in your life. Today is World MS Awareness Day. Here is the link to the National MS Society’s homepage. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/index.aspx Please take a minute to look at the site and if you are so moved…act on it. Thank you.
C is for Crafting Our Lives
This is a wall organizer I hacked for my husband. Henry looses his keys, his wallet and his phone on a daily basis. I decided that he needed a place to charge his phone, stash his wallet, camera and keys that could live at the front door. I knew I wanted it to hang on the wall so it was not more clutter on the table. So, I found these Real Simple wall pouches. I really liked them other than the bland canvas. I jazzed them up a bit with some Anna Marie Horner fabric http://store.annamariahorner.com/ . (Nashvillan, by the way) The little pocket is for his cell phone and enables him to plug it in for charging and hang it! He really likes it and i am really happy I have crafted up some piece for me and him…now I don’t have to nag and he doesn’t have to stomp around looking for his phone!
These are lotion bars I crafted with my friend Aziza. We are trying to get a little cottage business started. we are currently focusing on finding the best organic ingredients, perfecting our methods and packaging these little jewels. They are beeswax, cocoa butter and shea butter. They smell so good and have no fragrance at all. Our little lotion bars are more than just lotion bars, they are the product of a couple of women crafting a friendship.
This little picture is terribly hard to see, I know. But, trust me, it is one of my most favorite things I am currently crafting at the moment. This is an apron for one of Mycah’s teachers. Another mom, my friend Camille, is making one just like it for the other teacher in the class. Mycah is in a mixed age kindergarten. They are 4, 5 and 6 year olds. We had them write their own names on a piece of paper and then laid them out in a pleasing composition and transferred them tot he aprons. We are now embroidering each child’s name. Each little name I embroider causes me to think of that little person. The handwriting even looks like each child. Mycah’s teachers are amazing women and I hope that the little imprint each child left on this apron will remind them of the love those children feel for them. Camille adapted this idea from Amanda Soule’s book, the Creative Family. http://www.soulemama.com/ Amanda embroidered her children’s drawings onto linen for simple, beautiful bookmarks. I thought this was a great adaptation that Camille thought up and cannot wait to finish it so the teachers can enjoy them.
The last set of pictures is from my most important and ongoing project…my family. Henry and I spend a good deal of time crafting our lives and those of our girls’. Growing a family is a craft, a skill on is not born with and one that no one tells you how to do. This was Saturday night a tour first neighborhood movie in the park night. We walked the 2ish blocks to the park dragging our trusty and dilapidated red wagon filled with a blanket, bug spray, glow sticks and snacks. The movie of the night was The Goonies. It was an amazing night, one well worth the effort, just like any fine craft!B is for Big Brown Blobs
Let me say this….I LOVE my husband. As proof I give you…the big brown blob. Yes, I can even prove how much I love him. I am 630 yard into a never-ending garter stitch outdoor sweater for him in ….wait for it……brown. I have never knit Henry a sweater even though I have promised before. This year is our ten-year anniversary. (he say 17 years if you count the 7ish we loved together!) Anyway, I desperately want to give him a sweater he will wear and love for our anniversary. So around Christmas I started the search for the perfect sweater. Most were met with great resistance. In a last-ditch effort, I pulled three sweaters that I felt like we down his alley. He saw the Adult Tomten by Jared Flood (original is Elizabeth Zimmermann) and he was hooked. I brought home three different skeins of yarn fo varying weights and colors and nothing pleased him. So, I said how about the yarn Jared used and of course he said yes but felt the colors were not what he wanted. So, he picked out a brown and with probably go with a green for the stripes and edging. Here’s Jared’s version http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/adult-tomten-jacket . Anyway, I have been knitting on this for a month and am only finally about ready to divide the fronts. Of course, once I do get there, it should move along much faster….but boy am I slogging away in brown garter stitch land now!
I almost forgot to include one of myfavorite songs for me and Henry…
http://youtu.be/DHEOF_rcND8
Alphabet Lost and Found
For better or worse, I have decided to join the The ABC’s with the Accidental Knitter. http://accidental-knitter.blogspot.com/2011/05/learn-your-abc-new-meme.html This is a once a week posting theme based on the ABC’s. We will post a topic beginning with the week’s letter of the alphabet every Monday. I have been looking for a way to get back into to posting and I am hoping this is just arbitrary enough to suit me. We were supposed to start last week with A. Obviously, it didn’t happen. So, I will post A tonight and hopefully put up B tomorrow. I have a ridiculous backlog of photos, projects, stories, etc. I just felt compelled to link the Might Be Giants song Alphabet Lost and Found because it is so cute and it starts with A.
Here’s a cut picture of Allison’s two littlest and my two making some no bake cookies. Henry and I took Allison’s oldest and ours to the used bookstore today and Mycah bought a couple of cookbooks. She immediately began pouring over them and located a simple recipe that we could make with many hands!
Vote for a blog I read daily…
I subscribe to a blog called the Wheelchair Kamikaze. Mark is a totally engaging, irreverent, and informative blogger. He blogs about MS….specifically his search for some answers and clarity about his primary progressive MS. While we do not share the same type of MS, we do share a refusal to allow MS to win. I have found his current discussion and investigation into CCVS to be balanced while still championing further investigation. I also just like him because he was in film and takes some great photos.
Anyway, the point of this post is that he is up for a nomination for the best patient blog…..take a minute and vote for him….. http://www.medgadget.com/2010bestpatient.html .
Knitted Farmyard, 3rd update
We have made some pretty heady progress on the farmyard today. All of the canvas is covered and Henry has made the initial layout of the bushes. I have almost completed the farmer and two friends are making a piece each. One will make the momma and the other a child. Henry and I decided that I will construct the house out of that plastic canvas stuff and cover it with fabric. I will make it hollow so that the hay bales, people, animals and misc can be stored inside. It is going to be so cute and soooo hard to part with!
Update on the farmyard
Henry and I have made a good deal of progress on the play mat portion of the Knitted Farmyard, but not much on the actual animals and such. I need to get on the stick and let the other moms know what is needed. I think we will have to make a less ambitious farm. I am thinking we will have 4 or 5 hens, a pig, a horse, a cow and a donkey. We will have the house, the mom and dad and a baby, but probably not any other children. We will also have hay bales and cabbages in the fields. I think the farm should still be a pretty nice set. I just need to limit exactly how much we need as we only have one month to complete it. We have discovered that the pompom make makes amazing bushes and trees. This saves us from having to latch hook and sculpt a bunch of places and our girls LOVE to make pompoms. Here is an updated photo…..
We have a snow day tomorrow, so we plan on staying home and getting a lot done on this guy. Also, I have learned to crochet little hearts. I am making a ton for the girls to use on their handmade valentines for their classmates. I am very proud of my meager crocheting and the girls seem pleased. I think they will work on valentines this weekend as well. They have friends coming over on Saturday and it seems like a great thing to keep all of them busy while getting something done that has to be done anyway.
The Kitchen is Finished!
Well folks, the kitchen..she is done! I am in love. I even Baked scones and made coffee yesterday. We aren’t in the house, so I prepped the scones here and then took them to the new house to cook them. I am in love with my range. It rocks. The library is 95% done. All that is left is for the doors to the lower cabinets to be put back on. Yes, back on…the stain was not as dark on the doors as on the rest of the cases, so they had to do them again. The knobs have to be put on and the incredible ceiling fixture installed. We have booked the movers for Wednesday, so we have to pack like crazy until then. Bottom line, we will wake up at our old house on Wednesday morning and go to sleep in our new house Wednesday night! Now, the only question is….do you know anyone in the market for a lovely 1937 Craftsman in the 12south district of Nashville? 
New entry, without photos or finished objects!
I’ve spent most of my free time sewing with Lori today. (the time that was not filled with making dinner, taking grey to a playdate, meeting with the contractor or the myriad fo other things that seem to happen over the course of a day) Anyway, I cut out my pattern after extensive alterations to said pattern by Lori. I happen to be very lucky as Lori is a fashion design and patterning instructor at a university in GA. So, she worked on a commercial pattern that I purchased because it was similar to one of my favorite summer shirts. I am very hot natured these days and I hate to wear unflattering things just because they are cooler. So, I thought I would make a few tops. Lori have really worked on this pattern to get it to fit me and look the way I want. Of course, i happen to like details…those little details that make sewing something an absolute crazy pain in the ass and I am an adventurous beginner at best. I made several error s this evening due to being tired and having a headache, so I have nothing to show you. In the morning I will rip part of the neckline out and sew in the facing. then I will hem tha shirt and I will be able to show you a beautiful finished object…………I hope.
On a totally different note, I started a pair of socks last night and they are going well. They are infinitely more portable than the shawl that has to grow beyond comfortable portability!!!!
Our Dream House
Several months ago Henry and I started discussing the possibility of finding a house with a little more yard. When we left the farm, we moved into the city. We are pretty urban….including the impossibly small lot. We have enough room in the backyard for the kids to have a swing set and short of that, not much. Now, we love our house, just not the lot. So we started looking a bit. We happened to go see a house during the six inches of snow that was for sale by owner. It was amazing, but expensive and only had a little more than an acre. At that time I thought I really wanted between 5 and 10 acres. So, we had our realtor start looking a bit. We spent a couple fo days looking at several houses with that kind of acreage. The houses were nice, the acreage was good, but it turned out we felt so far OUT….sor far AWAY from everything. It was a 20-30 minute drive to get the girls to school and nothing that we use was close. The house that we saw during the snow was still for sale (I’m sure you see where this is going) and we sent our realtor to scope it out. He LOVED it. But, he thought it was a little over priced. So, here is where a good realtor earns his money. He got us a deal of a lifetime and the sellers got to move on with their lives. This house met all of our requirements. it is in the same neighborhood, it has an acre of land and it has character out the ass. Yes, it was built in 1909 and has the woodwork to prove it. We have some work to do as we are only the 4th owners, so some stuff has been done and some not, but it will be a labor of love. We picked this house out together. The girls spent two hours playing in the back yard playing. It looks like a secret garden in the back, we will be enjoying this house for many, many years to come. There is a beautiful staircase that I can picture the girls walking down when/if they marry! All are welcome….come by whenever you want!
Here are a couple of pictures in our secret garden……
It’s that time again!
It’s MS awareness week. I’ll be wearing my orange. I will be making an effort to “Move It.” I will take the time to answer questions or help you look for answers to questions for which I have no answer.
It seems a lifetime ago that I was free of MS. But, at the same time, I feel very new to it. I was diagnosed officially on the day before Thanksgiving in November 2005. The intense search for answers began in February of that year, although, I had issues for three years prior to that. I am pretty typical in both the time it took to get a diagnosis (a total of three years), the sneaky progression, my age at the time of diagnosis (35) and my gender (female). I have also been very lucky in that, I have only had one relapse that put me down and I recovered from it quite well.
With that said, I would like to address one of the most distressing parts of MS. Ironically, it is not really a symptom or a cause of MS. But, it is a direct result of having a chronic disease and those with MS are just one of the millions who suffer with it. I am talking about healthcare, most specifically, insurance. I had great insurance while I was still in the workforce. My employer paid about 60% of the cost and I contributed the remainder from my salary. The process was pretty seemless and the insurance was both comprehensive and reliable. Funny, I didn’t need it much before the MS. Yes, I used it when I had the girls, but other than that, it was always just there. The, the MS showed up and insurance stepped right in. It paid for 3 MRI’s, a spinal tap, some crazy electrical thing to my muscles, numerous nuero visits, a second opinion and finally disease modifying drugs. That was before the relapse that knocked the wind out of my sails. That relapse caused me to reevaluate the stress in my life (stress can trigger a relapse…it’s thought). The job I worked at was high stress and I loved it, but it was not the best for my health or for my family who wanted me around and helpful, not helpless. So, I left my job. Yes, I did this of my own accord. I could have continued to work. I could have had to continue to work, but I didn’t. Once Cobra is up, I will be out on the open market looking for insurance. The one good thing is that I now cannot be denied in TN. Any insurance company writing in TN will have to allow me to purchase insurance. However, they may charge whatever they feel necessary. I now find myself in that odd place fo being the one who needs the very thing that is so hard to get when I used to be the one who had something, but barely needed it.
I am not sure what the answer is for healthcare/insurance reform in this country. I know I am not the only one in this type of situation. You can turn on the TV any day and hear a story just like mine. I’d love to hear what others think about this issue. It’s MS Awareness wekk….I will try not to wear my feelings on my sleeves and have an open dialogue with any who care to engage.
Snow Day Three….Bread
Just a quickie…made bread this morning. One loaf for the yarn store gals and one for my family while I am working at the store. The house smells so good and Henry and the girls are excited. They love my bread, but I have been on a bread making hiatus since before Christmas!
Agde..the Mediterranian a’la Christophe
Here is yet another (and much belated) installment on the France trip. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to copy the photos from Flickr to my desktop so that I can then put them in my blog. There is a back story here. I lost my camera the second day I was in France. We went mushrooming at the ass-crack of sawn in the mountains. I was trudging around the woods with my camera in my pocket and it fell out! I did not know until we got back to the car and there was no way to back track when we had been zigzagging across the side of a forested hill looking for mushrooms and not paying attention to any particular landmarks (like the thousands of pines that all look alike). So, I used Becca’s camera and downloaded them to Flickr every night. This was not really an issue until today. I had to replace my computer because it is on its last leg. I decided to go over to the dark side and we bought a MAC. Now, I have to say I am in love….but there is no “right-click” which means I can’t steal my own photos back from Flickr. AGHHHHH.
So, here is the link for those of you who are really curious. http://www.flickr.com/photos/slippingthroughmyfingers/page12/
Agde is the largest resort town in the south of France and a destination for French wanting to escape the cities and frolic on the beach. It is beautiful. The beaches are very rocky….even the sand is black from the pulverized rocks and shells. The contrast of the black against the heartbreakingly beautiful blue of the sea and the sky is stunning. Of course, it was pretty cool when we were there, about 60 and not many were swimming, but many were walking the beaches. Remi and Alex got a bit wet, but even they decided it was too cool for much of a dip. The town is full of stores on a boardwalk kind of area. Many of the stores were closed for the season, but there was still plenty to be had, should we have had the need for questionable beachwear or some moonwalk stilts! The boardwalk area is right on the sea. The docks are on one side of the walk and the shops and building on the other. I found a boat named “diane” at the dock and I asked Becca if the name Dianne was popular in France. She snickered and asked if I really wanted to know. Of course, I did….she said that men name their best hunting dogs “Diane” after the goddess of the hunt. Christophe said she was correct and he even owned a dog named Diane at one point and she was an excellent hunting dog. Oh well, at least they reserve my name for the BEST dogs! There are pictures in Flickr of my boat.
One of the most interesting things I saw in Agde was the monument hill to the Americans who fell fighting for France’s freedom in WWII. It was a beautiful hill and looked out to the clear sea. I took many photos of it, both detail and overall, but I know I was unable to capture the full effect….but I am certain there is no way I can write about the place. It was moving and eerie and odd to find something dedicated to Americans in France. Common myth is that the French don’t care for Americans and never have and never will. I think things are a lot more complicated than that and this monument is tangible evidence that in some way, our country has made a positive impression on the French.
Christophe and Becca both told me many different times how great the area is that they live in and I think I have to agree. In a weeks’ time Christophe took us to the beach, to the farm, to the mountains and to the city all within an hour from their house. Christophe said the region of Caux was the best for him and I think it is the best for the kids and Becca as well. There is so much to do and see, the people are kind and generous and the air feels squeaky clean. It was amazing. Browse through my pictures….I think you’ll agree.
No real post today
Kidney stones suck….that’s all I have to say.
France, part 2
On Thursday or Friday (not sure which) my brother-in-law, Christophe, took us to a cave. No, that is not cave, but /cav/. Yes, short a. Anyway. A cave is a place where grapes are processed into wine. Christophe is in the Languedoc region of France. He is part of a different co-op than the one he took us to. This cave was the largest in the region. It is the Pomeroles Cave. Here is a photo.
We were able to taste several wines (before noon). They were really good. The tasting is inside the warehouse where the wine is fermented and stored. It was so cool. There was the coolest thing, too. There were spigots where you could bring a jug and fill it with one of three types of wine. this wine is what the older locals drink. It is not aged, but Christophe says it is perfectly good table wine and it is cheaper than gas! That’s right, a liter for a 1.2 euro or so. Here’s a picture of that.
Here’s the price list.
Here are a group of photos from the inner workings of the cave. You can see some of the fermenting and purifying tanks. I don’t know what every thing is because Christophe’s English is marginally better than my French. Let me promise, we were both at a disadvantage, but somehow managed to get along. Notice my dad…he had already sampled a few wines. They were NOT skimpy with the samples, either. It was so funny…I was every intimidated by the idea of going to a real French wine producer and tasting the wine, but the people there just acted like it was another day on the job and so did Christophe. Super.fun.
On the way back from the cave, Christophe took us to see his vineyard. All I can say about that is WOW! He has a lot of land and a lot of grapes. He grows two varieties. One is picpoul. The other is a red. The picpoul is a grape that is protected. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piquepoul Only the growers in his region can grow it. In addition to all fo the grape vines, there are almond trees. Christophe pulled and cracked fresh almonds for us. He also showed us wild rosemary and thyme…not to mention many other herbs that I did not recognize and could not get the jest of through translation. There are also tons of markers on his land. The markers tell the story of the area using cartoon Roman soldiers who appear to be less than smart. Here si a gallery of the vineyard and the signs. I also tried to get a couple fo horizon shots. Remember, they are 25 miles from the Sea and about the same from the mountains. They really have it all in this area.
Tomorrow I will continue my France posts with pics from the coast.
Good Deed and Good Breakfast
Last night Henry and I took the girls to our favorite sushi place. We go at least twice a month and the staff love our girls. Te girls are very comfortable there and we trust them enough there to go to the restroom together. (Yes, this does have a point…give me a minute.) Anyway, 2/3 of the way through dinner the girls had to go to the restroom. They went and were gone for a very short time before returning with a WALLET! It was a white and pink wallet that was very, very fat. It was worn and fat. It had he look of a little thing that held someone’ life as tightly as a bit of synthetic leather and metal can. The girls were very concerned. We caught the manager and the girls handed it over to him. He promised to find its owner. A few minutes later one of the waitresses comes to table near tears. She wants to thank the girls (they had gone back to the bathroom to finish their business). She waits until they return and thanks them profusely. She hugged them and told them what good girls they are. She explained that she had just received her weeks pay and it was apparently in the wallet. Now this particular lady works at TWO restaurants we visit. She is a very hard working woman. The girls were kind of stunned to receive such gratitude from a grown up, a person they didn’t know well and for something they knew they should have done….but they were very pleased.
Right before we left, Sam, the waitress, brought a big bag of Japanese candies to the girls. They almost came out of their skins! They adore these treats because they are so different from the stuff you get at the supermarket. We tried to beg off, but she was adamant that she gie the candy to the girls as a thank you for such a good deed. She thanked us too for raising such good girls. Wow, they are good girl, if I do say so myself. Here they are with their reward.
This morning we made ebelskiver together. Henry and I went to Williams Sonoma yesterday and ran into a pan we couldn’t resist. Here’s a link and a better photo. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/c332/index.cfm Henry was intrigued and I consented to trying these. I picked up the cookbook as well. The interesting thing about these is that you beat egg whites and incorporate them into the batter in order to make them very fluffy. They puff up like and are the size of golf balls. I made one batch that was cinnamon and brown sugar. These had no filling. Then I made some filled with jam as well. The girls helped and we had a pretty good time. Everyone loved them but me. I really do not like pancakes and I don’t think they are different enough to make me like them. They are much eggier than pancakes, but still, no go for me. Here’s photos of the process. It’s a bit more involved than pancakes, but we had fun. Oh, ignore the pj’s and bedhead…please.
One more thing…I forgot. The first egg I cracked was double yolked!
