A taste of spring

Called radis roses, these radishes are a spring staple in France. After washing and trimming off the leaves, we eat them as an appetizer with salt and buttered crusty bread. Yes, we eat the green parts, too. The radishes are not hot like American red radishes. They're surprisingly mild, almost sweet.

Radishes are a springtime treat.

When the fanes (the bunches of radish leaves) are fresh and in good shape, they can be made into pesto and frozen for later, or they can be cooked and incorporated into sauces or just eaten as greens. The radishes themselves can be cooked into all kinds of dishes from soup to stir-fry. Nothing is wasted!

Baby grapes

The grapes are forming in the vineyards out back. Someone who knows better than I could tell you what variety of grape these are. The clue is in the shape of the leaves. And those who know also know what's planted where.

These could be flowers that aren't open yet. I've lost track. I'll let you know.

In the interest of reporting the good news as well as the bad, we're having decent weather. It's far from hot, but I was able to wear a t-shirt most of the day yesterday. It's not yet warm enough for shorts. We're getting caught up on certain outdoor chores. Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid (little by little, the bird builds its nest).

The other artichokes

Our first artichoke plants are these two. They come back every year where we planted them beside the garden path. I think there were originally four (maybe five?), but these two are all that remain.

It looks like one plant, but it's actually two.

The mowing is done one more time, except for some detail work that I'll try to get to today. Meanwhile, I haven't heard from the landscaping guy at all. He was supposed to till up our vegetable garden plot, but he hasn't showed up. I wrote to him yesterday. I'm sure that, with all the rain we had in May, he's got a backlog of work to deal with. We may not have a garden this year.

La tondeuse

Here's the new lawnmower. It's called a mini rider in French. According to our research, it's the right size for our property. A larger mower would have been overkill. I don't think there are smaller machines. It's a Troy-Bilt brand and it was assembled in the USA (with global parts!). So says the sticker. I remember that brand from when I was younger (and lived across the river from Troy, NY, where their roto-tiller machines were made). Troy-Bilt was subsequently acquired by a company called MTD (Modern Tool and Die) in Ohio. They also own Stanley and Black & Decker, two well-known tool manufacturers. I suspect that the factory in Troy is long gone.

Troy-Bilt mini rider in the driveway.

Monday afternoon was relatively warm and dry, so I took advantage and got most of the yard cut. I did the west and north forties and the strip along the road and outside the hedges. Today I plan to finish with the south forty and maybe some detail work. I'm still learning how to maneuver the mower around the yard as well as what the different levers and settings for cutting do. I think I'm getting the hang of it, but there are still a few things to get used to.

What a mess

We've let it get this far. But, this summer, we will have to deal with the ivy growing on the garde shed wall. The stuff is not easy to pull off. I read a couple of articles on line that say to cut the ivy at ground level, then pull it off the wall from the bottom up while it's still green. After that, you need to deal with what's left behind: those tenacious little tendrils that attach themselves in the nooks and crannies of the wall. It's not going to be a pleasant task.

Ivy growing up the garden shed wall.

We're looking at predictions of a decent weather week, warmer and drier than it has recently been. Time to cut the grass again! I'll get a photo of the new mower this week. I promise.

Tarte aux fraises

Our anniversary lunch yesterday was tasty! I ended up getting two good-sized fillets of aiglefin (haddock in the USA) and a bunch of white asparagus from the market. I prepared (white aparagus needs to be peeled) and steamed the spears and Ken cooked the fish on top of the stove with white wine. He made a lemon butter sauce with capers and served it on the fish and the asparagus. I didn't take any photos of that, but it was yummy!

Local Charlotte strawberries from the market on pastry cream.

We had a strawberry tart for dessert. Ken made the pastry cream; I made the crust and assembled the tart. I glazed the berries with home-made mirabelle plum jelly. Delicious!

Anniversary

It was forty-one years ago today that Ken and I moved into a Capitol Hill apartment in Washington, DC. We had been living in my small Arlington apartment for a short time before, but the Capitol Hill place was the first lease we signed together. Ronald Reagan was in his first term as president What's hard to believe is that we've lived half of those forty-one years in our house here in France. Tempust fugit.

The garden path. Who led whom?

I'm going to the market this morning to get a nice piece of fish for our anniversary lunch. As usual for this damp, wet spring, it's chilly (the central heating came on this morning) and wet outside. I didn't sleep all that well and noticed that it rained on and off through the night.