Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Tomato mad.



We're up at five. A chance to explain to men in dark suits about shenanigans in Washington. Although the C suite can be tough the politics of Washington are ten times tougher.

Just after six a man arrives at the gate and offers to sell us solar panels. '' I was passing and saw you in the garden so thought I'd stop ". We thank him but say we really don't need them. ''Why ? " he asks. Presumably in France this blunt approach is a selling technique but at six am Anglo-Saxons are less inclined to provide reasons.


Sophie sprints towards the pond and the small fluttery Coots.  The family princess can record a remarkable turn of speed when she wants to.  Angus just manages to catch the blurry outline of the Coot mother shepherding her little ones into the overhanging foliage ( look really carefully and you might see her in mid pond ). Sophie has that look of studied concentration on her face that tells me she's considering leaping into the pond.  I fear it is only a matter of time .


All sorts of weird and wonderful aubergines make an appearance in the fruiterers.


Today there are large,fat, juicy local tomatoes - in varieties unheard of in the UK - . A sign tells me that the average consumption of tomatoes in France is 14 kilos per annum. This doesn't sound a lot but as there are no comparable figures for anywhere else I shall assume that the French are proud of their tomato consumption.


The device fixed to the plane tree by the ox track seems to be devoid of activity.


8 comments:

Taste of France said...

The yellow ones with the reddish bottoms are my favorites--they're called ananas and live up to their name.
The heart-shaped ones on the right, which are not coeur de boeuf even though they look like hearts, are also delicious and so fleshy that you can cut them in half and grill them cut-side down like steaks.

Poppy Q said...

Up at 5am here too, although I much prefer an early start in the summer.

it is nice that the French eat seasonally. it annoys me that people complain about tomatoes/lettuce prices here in winter. I enjoy the cheap carrots and broccoli at this time of year.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
The little eggplants (which actually look like eggs) are delicious. 14kg... per person I am assuming that means. 250-260 gms per week per person? Hmmmm, a fair consumption. Sorry, just had to work that out! YAM xx

Sheila said...

Installing solar panels on the ancient tiles of the ROF would surely spell trouble. Explaining why we now have a new acting Secretary of Defense might prove to be interesting indeed.

Pam in NH said...

Where do we go to see your explanation of DC goings on? If necessary, I can don a dark suit.
DC hasn't made sense to me since Barack left....

Bailey Bob Southern Dog said...

Does this mean you understand the shenanigans in Washington? Please make sure you have your phone in hand before leaving your house with Sophie. This way you can throw it aside while jumping in the pond to save Sophie!

Emm said...

You could have solar panels set in the garden off to the side, with a cable to connect the house. I've seen that done elsewhere, so no need to mess up the roof.
Agreed with others re DC, I'm afraid we're just going to get worse and more crazy projections from here on. And that's the best outlook for it all.
Stay dry, Sophie!

WFT Nobby said...

How are Sophie's swimming skills?