Tuesday, 23rd June

So my friend from high school and her husband (there is a VERY short list of people I keep up with from high school, and she's about the only occupant) are arriving on Friday for three or four days. I need to get the cave cleaned up and figure out what to do about water for the sink down there (there's a half bath, you see, but the water to the sink is turned off, since, as I've mentioned before, the plumbing wasn't properly installed and it LEAKS big time). The toilet works, though, and it's not all that bad, except for the cobwebs and the floor needs cleaning, and the bed needs making. The "cave" is what an American would call a "cellar", but we had it finished last year, and it's now a bedroom and half bath, tiled floor, heater, lights, the whole works. Problem is that the house is sort of built into the side of the mountain, so you can't get upstairs from the cave without going outside, around and up some stone steps, and into the main floor of the house, which is actually basically two rooms and a bathroom with a shower. The other bedroom used to be the attic, and has another (sort of) bathroom in it, with a tub (that's Phil's...I use the shower, as I can't get into and out of tubs, plus I don't much like them). Except that right now the sink has no water. The toilet works, though, which is, I guess, a compensation.

My aunt has suggested that I get a housekeeper to help me with the cleaning (here they call it a "femme de menage") and it's actually a really good idea as it's really hard on my nonexistent joints (back knees, hands, shoulders...) to do housework. I plan to have a chat with Mme. Dumas about it; she's the lady next door who I've mentioned is very territorial about our cottage. She doesn't actually clean it when we're gone, but she airs it out, and she re-organized my kitchen, cupboards and a bunch of other stuff, after we left last year. She would be seriously insulted if I did anything without discussing it with her first. What she speaks is Occitan, too; she understands everything I say, and I understand about 30-40% of what she says.

Yesterday I bought a bunch of canned confit de canard, and we had a couple of the duck legs, with 'pommes de terre Sarladaise' and a green salad last night. What you do is cook sliced potatoes (hey, new ones...) in duck fat from the confit de canard, and put chopped fresh garlic and parsley on them, along with the salt and pepper (and this time of year, the fresh garlic is just that, not at all like the stuff you get in a supermarket in the US), and then brown the duck legs in the fat. Drink with a local red, and it's hard to get food that is much better. So there.

Today I cooked a couple of veal scallops I bought yesterday, dipped them in flour, cooked a couple of kinds of mushrooms with shallots in butter, cooked the veal in butter and olive oil, made a sauce from the flour, veal broth and white wine, and cooked it all for awhle. It was not in the same league as the veal scallopini I buy when I can find it in the US. The veal was tough, which I didn't expect, although it was thick. Flavor was good. We ate it with bread, the local Pecharmant from the keg, and had cooked fruit (hey it was going bad, so I cooked it in butter with cognac and chestnut liqueur), and CHEESE. Lord, the cheese is good...

So when I told P today that I was having a bad day, he said and I quote: "How can you tell? you've slept through at least half of it..." I will try to go to bed earlier tonight so perhaps I can get up earlier. It's hard to convince myself to go to bed when I finally am feeling pretty good, and getting out of bed in the morning is really dreadful. It feels like I'm bolted to the bed, and everything will hurt if I move it. And then it seems to take FOREVER to get going. But I will try. It's sort of necessary if I ever want to get to a market.

A couple of people have suggested that I post photos. I will do so after (a) I take some and (b) I figure out how to post them...

I have to do something tomorrow about reservations for our train trip to Switzerland and Germany--Basel, Marburg and Tubingen. Phil will be doing science. I will not. I think I may be done with being a serious person, e.g., a professional. Am having a bit of a problem getting my head around this idea, but I suspect I will eventually manage.

A plus tard, lillie