Springtime in France

Happy May 1st! All of France is shut down. Today is their "Labor Day."

Craig planted a garden while I was in the U.S. I was very impressed with the quantity and variety of plants. Most people say they'll plant a garden but never get around to it. But Craig went above and beyond the call of duty.

When he was a kid in Southern California he enjoyed planting things . . .one time even planting "bacon seeds" from the frying pan, thinking he'd grow bacon. Which was a brilliant idea . . . bacon from seeds planted in the ground. Vegetarian bacon.

I could have used some vegetarian bacon yesterday. Our vegetarian friends were coming over for dinner. Early in the morning, I concocted a vegetable soup. In the morning, Craig went to the outdoor market, but on his way home he forgot to pick up vegetable stock at the grocery store, which was only open in the morning.

After eight hours of simmering, my chef angst heightened to an uncomfortably stressed level: the broth was still weak and tasteless. I had Craig sample the soup, and he confirmed my fears.

I added more garlic. I added more pepper. I added some more herbs. But nothing did the trick.

At dinner, everyone raved about the soup. After the guests had left, when we got into bed at 12:30am, Craig said to me, "That soup turned out pretty good, what did you do to it?"

In the dark, I smiled and replied, "I threw two chicken bouillon cubes in it."

"You're evil," he exclaimed.

This morning, Craig looked out the kitchen window and marveled at how fast his lettuce was growing. Based on experience, we've found that it's best not to comment on good fortune. So now I'm worried that the sheep will escape and devour the lettuce, or the garden will soon be hit by a horde of rabbits.

All of the sheep are now fat like Blanche. I can't tell if anyone is knocked-up. The big sheep farmers have their sheep sonogrammed, but I'm having a hard enough time getting a shearer out here, I don't want to bother trying to track down someone to sonogram.

I look at the sheep each morning hoping to see a little lamb running around. I'll post photos when that great day arrives.