Today and tomorrow are public holidays in France, the fourth, fifth and last holidays in May. We have to wait until July for the next one!! How will we cope?
We spend most of the morning preparing for lunch.
We have seven guests, Andrew and Nella, Nella's father Mike, Bob and Lynne and William and Christine. Despite what the names suggest, the first five are all Brits and the last two are French. Nella and Andrew run a ranch about 10 minutes away, Nella's dad is visiting and we have never met him before. Bob and Lynne are good friends from 'scratch supper' fame (6th April). William is the mayor, not only of our village but he is also the chairman of all the mayors for a few miles around, and Christine, if I understood it correctly, works for the local authority and might even be William's boss. That may have been his joke but I'm not sure.
It's a good fun group with enough English and French speakers to keep things moving.
Jan cooks up a storm. The meal starts with poached salmon and asparagus with hollandaise sauce, followed by lamb shanks, marinated overnight in wine and herbs, potatoes and roasted vegetables. The usual selection of cheeses is followed by a choice of Flummery Drambuie, (a zabaglione delicately flavoured with Drambuie) and/or strawberries. It makes my mouth water just to think about it.
The eighth guest was Bob and Lynne's new puppy, Harry. He and Max play virtually non stop for 5 hours. They play really nicely together, despite the difference in size, and I think that they will be great friends in the future. This is the first time that a puppy has visited the house and Max was very excited (listen to me babbling on like a proud father!) but he was also very gentle, despite getting 'beaten up' by Harry from time to time.
We thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.
About Me
- Alex
- Jan and I moved from England to France in July 2002 and then, in February 2011, after nearly 9 great years in France we have moved to North Yorkshire, England, to be nearer to my ageing mother. The move to France was primarily motivated by the opportunity to, 'have an adventure', after our children had flown the nest. Well now the adventure continues. After six years back in England our delightful Beauceron Max has died and leaves a confused Minnie who has only ever known her beloved companion . She is a Beauceron, a large but very congenial, French breed of sheep dog. By a total coincidence my mother told Jan that North Yorkshire, Ripon, is where I was conceived. Frankly, a bit too much information but it just goes to show that what goes around comes around. This journal reflects the thoughts, likes, dislikes, fantasies and observations of our latest life in Yorkshire, for me, Jan, Minnie and my alter ego Ed.
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