Fromage et Vin

Today was my French club meeting.  We met in Old Town at a cheese and wine shop.  I ordered a wonderful selection of four cheeses - a stinky, a runny, a nutty and a smooth.  Ummmmmm.  And a glass of zinfandel to wash it down.  It also helps my French.  I can blabber away to Jackson or the dogs in French and they think I'm fluent.  I'm a little self-conscious in class although my tutor is very encouraging and says I'm doing great (we pay them to say that, right?).  But in a group I freeze up.  My face gets hot, my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth and my vocabulary flies out the window.  I'd much rather sit and listen to everyone else chat and try to follow the conversation.  Today two women who were in town to do some wine tasting overheard us talking.  They are trying to learn French and recognized the language and so we invited them to join us.  I loved it - I wasn't the only one stumbling over my words and grammar anymore.

Brett was called into work so I had to dash home to do barn chores before dark.  Halfway home it started to rain.  So, I pulled into the garage and changed from my social jeans (clean) to my barn jeans (horse snot, puppy paws) and brought the horses in.  The donkeys were already huddled in the barn.  Jackson was pleased as punch to get his blanket and a couple flakes of hay.  Flash took one look at his blanket and high-tailed it back outside.  He made me trudge down to the middle of the pasture and put it on there.  And I swear he was laughing at me.