Went out in rainy autumn weather and tried out local goats cheeses wrapped in vine leaves or ripened in ashes, creamy, complex cheeses good with salty crackers or salads of rocket and fennel. Most enjoyable. The valleys are rainy and green at this time of year (we are a winter rainfall region), vineyards sere yellow, oaks now turning from red to beaten copper.
My neighbour whom I shall call Joubertina because that is not her name, a farmer’s wife in her late 60s, is going back to hospital to have a knee replacement redone. Worrying because the doctors don’t know what is wrong. She asked me if I can make a big dish of lasagna for her when she comes home, so she can feed herself and all her visitors. My version of bechamel involves simmering the milk with sliced onion, cloves and a bay leaf, which oddly makes the dish lighter and more fragrant. Often I use lamb mince rather than beef because our lamb or mutton out here is very good. But at the end of the day a big dish of layered pasta, meat sauce and a cheesy bechamel topping is always welcome and no need to fine tune or fuss much with the basics.
Blogging interrupted by stiff upper-lipped Dutch Reformed minister arriving to ask for pastoral contributions from non-parishioners and to say that the oversized dog should stay outside in a kennel so as to learn his place in the order of created beings. Dog enamoured with this show of churchly authority, myself less so.
The somewhat deaf neighbour in the house down the road playing the hymn ‘O Love That will Not Let Me Go‘ at a penetrating volume and I listen while outside tending to my herbs and watching dogs play on the grass. Here I stand in the garden, unbelieving, doubting, credulous, filled with tender nostalgia and hopefulness.
Gratitude. It surprises me at least once a day.
Your world sounds so rich with community. I think I would love that, until someone acted like that preacher man who wanted to tell you how to treat your dog, and wrapped that poison up in a pseudo biblical wrapper. But I love the image of you gardening while listening to your neighbor’s hymns.
Community out here means taking the rough with the smooth, we all have to live together. Not easy at times, but neighborliness isn’t something I would find in a city. Thanks for the comment, Mary Christine.
I feel your gratitude. Its impossible not to with your finely crafted posts. Effortless, perhaps, on your part. But as the literary commoner, I am always amazed with how some can convert a feeling so simply.
Have a blessed day.
P.S. I would have been tempted to tell the minister to ‘bite me.’ Crass, yes. But seriously, a kennel? Whatever.
Thanks Kristin — telling the minister to bite me would have been a relief but caused ructions.
I see many knee replacements gone wrong…yet, people line up for them, and younger and younger. I want your lasagna, but without the meat. Probably not at all the same dish!
I’m not in favour of non-essential surgery Lou, but I know several friends who have had successful knee replacements. I make a mean butternut and spinach lasagna and prefer vegetarian lasagna myself.
[chuckling to myself]…I’m with Kristin on this one. lol The noive of some people!
Been a cooking/baking kind of day here…I made a caramelized onion lasagna recently…mmmm….
I’m falling asleep and should be in bed. xoxoxoxo
Annie that lasagna sounds great. Good to have you online again.
I like the sign that some of my dog friends have that says “Our dogs live here. You don’t.
If you don’t want dog hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture.”
And then there is this:
My Dog Lives here :
My dog lives in this house. You are welcome to come and visit me anytime
but we have a few things that you must understand before you visit.
I vacuum and clean daily but my dog lives in this house too.
You may be leaned on and find him in your lap a few times but he
does this because he loves people and wants to say hello. So if you
feel that you are too good for his love then you are not welcome here
because this is his home too.
My dog is well mannered and very clean but if you are one of those
people who think all animals are dirty and smell, then go away. You
are not the type of person that I care to associate with. If you don’t
like the sound of barking, then my home is not going to be a comfortable
place for you to visit.
Do not expect me to lock my dog in another room during your visit. I
have trained my dog well so he will not do anything to you except
maybe want a pat on the head. I will not subject him to feel as
if he is being punished by locking him away for no reason. That would be cruel.
When you walk into my home, be careful not to trip on a stuffed toy or
ball. These are my dog’s treasures and I will not take them away from
him just to show you that I keep a clean house. He knows where
all his toys are. They may not look like much to you, but to him, they
are worth more than gold.
You see, this is OUR home.
We have been together since he was a small puppy scampering around
the house. I raised him into well mannered, beautifully behaved dog.
I am proud of him. I consider him my personal gift from God.
He has done nothing but give me his endless love and devotion for many
years. I love him dearly and want to make his years happy ones. As
happy as he made mine.
When you go home to your family, he stays here with me. A fine and
loving companion. He is MY family and I wouldn’t change that for the world.
When it was cold and there was no heat, we kept each other warm. When I
was sick, he stayed right by my side, as I did his when he
was not having a good day. A better friend I could not ask for.
When no one else cared, my dog did. He has given me nothing but
pure joy and I love him endlessly.
So please understand that I am not being rude. I’m just looking out for
my best friend. ****Author Unknown
Syd, this is something I can echo word for word. Thank you so much