And The Beat Goes On.....

I just said av revoir to Elle and her family.

Sadness lingers.

She was a constant bubbly joy.

I loved her, my neighbors loved her, my friends loved her.

She will be greatly missed.

We had a farewell dinner last night.

 

I made a heirloom tomato salad with watermelon, Bulgarian feta, fresh mint, salt, pepper, splashes of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and garden mint.

We grilled sausages and served them with my so called French potato salad.

Then my neighbor Nelda knocked it out of the park with a peach, blueberry and raspberry cobbler with whipped cream.

Some say it with flowers, we say it with food.

The French are off on a three week adventure, getting their kicks on Rt.66, from Chicago to Santa Monica.

Then they drive to San Francisco, overeat, and fly home.

As I write this there is a moving van parked in front, moving the neighbors across the street, who had rented for a year.

I will miss their energy, soccer balls everywhere, the little boy who kept a diary, the young wild dog Rocky who would chase Lucy around the yard while she scrambled over fences and ran up trees.

So again, changes.

I try and embrace them these days.

My life has been enriched by all the different people who have filtered in and out of it.

Thanks to Elle, I could get these pictures off my new phone and put them on the blog.

I can light a grill, make a pastry crust and tie a scarf , but I still don't speak a word of French.

And to her grave disappointment, I still don't have enough "products".

The shower is empty without all her scrubs and rubs.

And our house is empty without her.

But our hearts are bigger for having known her.

Bisous Elle.