Hey Mum, the shot on the left could have been taken in our garrigues (bushland) only yesterday! Incredible how the landscapes in South Australia and the Minervois can look so similar…
Happy Birthday to you!! – I swear your face hasn’t changed a bit since then.
Here’s to a great year, more reunions and please, come back SOON xoxo
Before I get started after all this time away, distracted by a Summer full of time with loved ones in all this delicious heat, I have to say (is it one year already!??)
Happy Birthday Pop!
It’s a biggie, but as you know, it’s only as much as you feel. And that deserves a toast!
Have a good one and here’s to more voyages across the sea!
They came, they saw, we drank – woohooey!
It was meant to have been a BIG surprise, but in the end we knew. But that didn’t change ANYTHING in the way of how excited I was to have my parents – for the first time in 12 years!!- come and visit us.
My lovely brother had tried as hard as he could to keep it a surprise until the very last but, with all sorts of things popping up on his end and ours, had to tell us that he was heading our way with two of his kids and da da da daaaa… Ma and Pop in tow!
Since we moved here 14 years ago I’ve been enormously lucky to have had so many friends and family stay – and each time is so special as you get to enjoy each person on their own and usually over an extended time (hey, this is no quick side trip on the itinerary – if you’re going to travel from one side of the world to the other you’d better make it a decent trip!). I adore going back to see everyone in Oz, but it can get hectic trying desparately to catch up with everyone at once. This way, when people come to stay on our turf, I can relish every minute of their company and not have to juggle with a social diary.
So this was Jan and Pete’s – and Mark, Ruby and James’s turn to finally drop their bags and hang out (in the home that my parents hadn’t seen until now!)
I took them to all the places they’d rememebered vividly from twelve years ago, dined in a few lovely bistrots, cooked my favourite meals for them, introduced them to our mates and even snuck in a few drinking sessions, bien sur, with Benji’s wines (yes I’ll make it clear you don’t drink the stuff Mum).
I can’t tell you how good it was to have everyone here at last. I’m still smiling. Thanks big bro Mark for making it happen!
ps – a word of warning! there’s a few pics down below, sorry – but hell, this trip was twelve years in the making!
I shouldn’t go any further before introducing you to this beautiful lady. She is one of the pride and joys of our kitchen and has withstood many a gas bottle change-over (the door on the left conceals the blue butane gas bottle, hooked up by a rubber hose to the elements, which we change over at the hardware store on average every three months). This ‘cuisinière’/ stove has had her bottles changed since the 1950’s!
We found her sitting all shiny and alone in an Emmaüs (charity shop) many years ago and apart from the crack in her bottom drawer’s handle, has aged so gracefully and remained a very loyal friend in the kitchen. I love her!
Her name is FAR and I spotted Catherine Deneuve cooking at a single version in an old French film once and got very excited. And then I came home with this cookbook folder from a ‘vide-grenier’/garage sale the other day, and guess who features on the cover…
I’m not letting her go anywhere!
The Vigneron's Wife 