Kids, fish taco salad, torte

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It was so fabulous to see my little boys round the corner at the airport. They looked so big, as if they'd grown in all sorts of ways in these last six days. Ooh, I just inhaled them. My mother should be sainted for flying them home. They were delayed repeatedly, and she was such a sport. I made my fish taco salad and a Huguenot torte for her, all wheat-free per her allergy. She's sleeping soundly, as is Ol. Jack couldn't nod off so we just cuddled and told each other made-up Angry Birds stories. They LOVE the playhouse so I think we'll be out there all day tomorrow. Off to bed!

Chicken with capgaregano, playhouse

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We worked for nearly 5 hours today, and it felt so good. T and I are a good team and had fun. It's nice when you can have fun with someone even though you're not talking much! The playhouse is coming along swimmingly, and now has walls, a door, porch railings and the gabled parts of the roof. We'll finish it up tomorrow. Look how dear!

This hot summer has massacred our grass, but c'est la vie.

Starving now, I'm cooking a big dinner of chicken with capers, garlic and oregano (capgaregano) and lemon couscous. I also opened a bottle of rosé, the Petit Bourgeois 2011. It's reasonably priced, and we visited the vineyard when we were in the Loire back in 2005 so it brings back memories. It was a wonderful trip and the vineyard, Henri Bourgeois, was incredible. We tasted a boatload of wines, left tipsy and then came across a tiny bakery-type of place where Tom ordered a sandwich that consisted of an entire crottin de Chavignol (a perfect, mind-blowing goat cheese, made even more delicious that we were in the town of Chavignol) lightly breaded, warmed and mashed between two thick slices of scrumptious baguette. Oh.My.God. At that point, Tom agreed with me that French food and France were absolutely amazing, by and large.