Travels with Forty Roses: A Bit of This and That

Do you remember the expression in like a lion and out like a lamb for the month of March? Here it has arrived weather-wise like a lamb. We are taking advantage of these glorious spring days to get out of town and stretch our legs daily. . .well maybe a couple of skipped days. The countryside is lovely and there are few people on trails during the week. On weekends the story is quite different. If the sun is out every French family is outdoors for an afternoon walk. In town it gets a bit crowded and distancing can be an issue as cyclists and runners do not wear masks. We want to be far away. The department of Moselle within our Grand Est Region has an exceedingly high rate of virus infection with variants. We are in Grand Est and the department next door. Precaution is our watch word.

We had great hopes of receiving our vaccines this week or at least the first dose. However, France has not licensed the AstraZeneca for what all in France are calling “le groupe d'âge oublié” or “the forgotten age group”. And the members of this so named group are most unhappy. Our médecin had to break the news. She is upset and concerned about this, as are so many. Thursday of this week she can vaccinate all her patients if they are below 65. We on the other hand must wait until the Pfizer or Moderna have sufficient supply for us and she will not be allowed to administer it. Rather we must go to the designated vaccine sites due to storage and distribution issues. Macron is not popular nor is his Health Minister about all this. Now we are told it will be in late March or April. So, we continue with our routines but are doubly careful.

Therefore, getting out and breathing fresh crisp air in the Vosges on little used trails is fun and good for us. And I must say I never tire of the vineyards with their orderly rows and neatly trimmed vines. What a job it is doing all the necessary pruning of the vines in the cold months. Watching a pruner is a treat. They have pruned thousands of vines and are assured and fast in the cutting. Unlike me who has trouble deciding just what to cut on an overgrown bush, they have no doubts. I have included a link for those who might want to check out a video of pruning in action. And yes, this pruning equipment is electronic. Cannot imagine how many vineyard owners must have suffered from carpel tunnel syndrome before the introduction of these tools! By the way the video includes the stunning European Kingfisher. We see them periodically and they never fail to delight. Their feathers are iridescent.

Vineyard Pruners

This past month has been one of recipe testing as well. My good brother-in-law sent me his recipe for single-rise white bread that he has tested quite a few times. He added his notes, and I followed his directions to the letter. Annabel and Blythe who joined me via WhatsApp and made bread too. Now on my end I followed the recipe with the best bread flower I have ever seen. Quite different from Canadian flour but giving the bread a delightful texture. At the other end of the bread ring the girls in the UK made one bread mix and then a recipe using gluten free flour. All rose, all were baked, and the outcomes are pictured below. I do think Annabel yearned for the white loaves. She told me a rather funny story about her friend over for a dinner of beans on toast got the gluten free bread that is used at the Priory Rd address. She whispered to Annabel…this is the worst toast I have ever tasted. But so goes the world: those who love gluten free and those who politely detest it.

The pictures in this blog are a mixed lot of subjects, days, views, and locations. We feel the days here are similar. A mixed sack. Dreaming of planting a garden at some point when we get home, I bought seeds today. Cosmos seeds are in great demand and disappear from the shelves early. I found what I was looking for and naturally left with more than cosmos seeds. I could not resist buying seeds for Courge Musquée Muscade. It is delicious and worth a try. If I could get these seeds to my sister with her huge summer garden, she would be the best person to experiment, to see if our Canadian season is long enough.