Cup of tea in hand, we hear activity outside the gate. Good news. It’s our wood that should have been delivered on Monday.
He was apologetic. He’d delivered our wood to another English family in Noizay. Are there many other English families in Noizay I ask myself? We know of one other, that makes two. I guess one English family is the same as another eh? Anyway – it’s here, that’s all that matters.
We have a hanger opposite the house where we park the car and this is where the wood is delivered. It’s dry and gives us time to stack it over the course of a couple of days without ending up flat on our backs.
I wheel the barrow over to the hanger, fill it up with logs and barrow it back through the garden to the cave where Nigel is waiting. He thens stacks it in a very orderly fashion. This would not be the case if we were to switch tasks with him barrowing and me stacking. Best to accept your strengths and weaknesses I always say.
Each time I make a journey I take a different route across the grass. It’s damp and the weight of the barrow makes tracks. We have a system and it seems to work.
Back in the house for a coffee after and hour or so. My back is aching and Nigel’s too. It’s a beautiful day so we’re going to pop up for a walk in the vineyards before lunch.
Bright sunshine up in the vines. We meandered among the different parcels and passed by the recent planting of trees. Vincent has been and dug more holes in the ground between them where fruit bushes will be planted very soon. I think this will be a very good spot for foraging in future years (with permission of course).
Lunch was rather good if I say so myself. I had a little tomato and basil sauce left over from the aubergine parmigiana last night so decided to make a sort of ‘eggs in purgatory’. I poured a little olive oil in a frying pan and gently heated the sauce before adding a couple of handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves. After they had wilted I made 4 holes and popped in 4 eggs. A few capers, a sprinkle of chilli flakes and some Feta crumbled over the top and then I put a lid on the top and let it cook gently for a few minutes until the eggs were just set.
A glass of Montdomaine’s sparkling Touraine blanc (60% Chardonnay, 40% Chenin) was a fabulous match and I decided to suggest this as a possible pairing on the second Instagram Live for the Festive Tasting Case.
Sausage casserole this evening with braised cabbage and new potatoes. I love cabbage and it’s a good job. Nigel bought this particular one about two weeks ago and we’ve been eating it ever since. In stir fries, coleslaw, braised and roasted it’s all been delicious but time to move on to a different veg. One of the problems (well not really a problem is it), when there are just two of you in the house.
Arnaud Lambert came up trumps tonight with his delicious, fresh Montée des Roches 2107. Just beautiful pure fruit and tension, lovely freshness and acidity. Clean and pure. Seems a while since we drank a Cab Franc like that. Love the 17’s. Love Arnaud’s wines in general.
