tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post1156033341526529107..comments2023-07-03T09:22:01.637+01:00Comments on tasting rhubarb: VachesJeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690685768980280402noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-20873321319741075872011-01-18T21:32:53.086+00:002011-01-18T21:32:53.086+00:00What an evocative memory, beautifully written. &qu...What an evocative memory, beautifully written. "Berger-esque" comes to mind, but it's really yours, your voice. What I especially like is that you haven't sentimentalized or glorified anything; you just show it for what it was and what it meant to you. I wonder -- are we really the last generation that will remember these things? How terribly sad that would be.Bethhttp://www.cassandrapages.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-70322109815658182132011-01-18T17:37:16.078+00:002011-01-18T17:37:16.078+00:00Beautiful. A precious memory.Beautiful. A precious memory.Parmanunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-84228603213094674862011-01-17T22:35:26.221+00:002011-01-17T22:35:26.221+00:00My grandparents had a smallholding in Shropshire w...My grandparents had a smallholding in Shropshire where I used to stay in the summer: hens and a large vegetable garden. There was a large dusky barn with a wonderful scent of seeds for the hens, wood and country mustiness. There were about twelve cats (who all lived outide!), and my great-grandfather would go out with two huge battered saucepans of bread and milk, crying "Tails up!" and from all corners of the garden and fields the cats would stalk up with their tails held vertically - quite a surreal sight. In the garden were three huge rows of multicoloured sweet peas, and when small I loved standing among them with the magical flowers towering over my head. <br /><br />Fascinating to read your memories of French rural life. <br /><br />Have you read Rose Tremain, "Trespass", 2010? Set in a remote area of France, the Cevennes, about the contrast of decaying rural life and the alien quality of new-comers buying up property, one an antiques dealer from London. One of the best modern novels I've read for ages. <br />(NB I do realise that you yourself are sensitive to French rural life!)Viviennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-44650268775681849892011-01-17T21:14:02.719+00:002011-01-17T21:14:02.719+00:00That's a beautifully written piece, Jean. It ...That's a beautifully written piece, Jean. It reminds me of watching, as a child, my Dad wring chicken's necks before my Mother plucked and cooked them.Huwnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-25136680919146862572011-01-17T19:47:51.387+00:002011-01-17T19:47:51.387+00:00splendid! A wonderful addition to the carnival!splendid! A wonderful addition to the carnival!Michael Solenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01120045114297450520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-57939181238895111382011-01-17T18:06:06.754+00:002011-01-17T18:06:06.754+00:00So vivid, I can feel it and see it all.I wonder if...So vivid, I can feel it and see it all.I wonder if that farm still exists?Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-43949816134458844282011-01-17T09:58:02.813+00:002011-01-17T09:58:02.813+00:00I can see it all - envy you the ancient feel of th...I can see it all - envy you the ancient feel of that experience.Fire Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13518190677399410354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3406446365589143789.post-58767497303546482392011-01-16T21:40:47.751+00:002011-01-16T21:40:47.751+00:00Wonderful, Jean! This brought back memories of my ...Wonderful, Jean! This brought back memories of my grandparents' farm in Finland. I was pretty young when I left but those memories were agumented by my mother's stories of milking cows, catching, killing and plucking the chickens, tending the gardens and fields, baking bread, and all the other work of surviving off the land. The next generation soon gave up and that lifestyle disappeared in that tiny hamlet. The old farmhouse still stands, empty.marja-leenahttp://www.marja-leena-rathje.infonoreply@blogger.com