Garden Gatherings

Paella in the country

Well, of course paella does not grow out in the country, even a city kitty knows that, but this paella was put together by a woman who LIVES in the country outside a little town near here called Palau de Vidre (where they blow glass) and it was SERVED out in a country field on a rustic table with fresh tomatoes from the garden and way too much pastis (the liquor that turns cloudy when you add water–which you had better do or fall on the floor after a few sips; it is the aperitivo of choice of most of France), and olives and mama’s focaccia and then some really good cheese (or so THEY tell me since I wasn’t invited but ANOTHER KITTY WAS who ate cheese out of mama’s hand–wouldn’t you know it?) and OYSTERS out of another guest’s hand,

and then cold, sweet watermelon, called pasteque in French and anguria in Italian (go figure) and then mama’s mango sorbet, called mango sherbet in Southern English, which had sort of turned into a soft frappe because there was only the plastic cold case as refrigeration but everyone seemed to lap it up (the ice cream, not the cold case) including a DOGGY WHOM MAMA FED OUT OF A PAPER CUP CONTAINING THE LAST OF HER MANGO SORBET!

The kitty was hanging around this plate all night, wonder why?

Boy, it’s a wonder I am even sharing this with you today, I am so chagrined about all of this.  Not to say a bit peeved.

SHəˈɡrin/

noun

noun: chagrin

1. 1.

   distress or embarrassment at having failed or been humiliated.

   “Jeff, much to his chagrin, wasn’t invited”

   synonyms:

   annoyance, irritation, vexation, exasperation, displeasure, dissatisfaction, discontent; More anger, rage, fury, wrath, indignation, resentment; embarrassment, mortification, humiliation, shame “Sean showed up at the party, to everyone’s chagrin”

   antonyms:

   delight

Hey, that about covers it, right?

When are THEY going to learn that we are a FAMILY and that ALL OF US must be on the guest list for country cuisine or shrimp by the sea or fantastic fish fries or kibble concerts.  I made that last one up but you get the picture.

(I forgot to mention that the guy giving the party raises SNAILS and has a greenhouse with 10,000 snails crawling around inside it!  More on that later…)

(Meanwhile here’s another view of a garden with some strange creature in it:

…do anthros really allow themselves to DRESS like this?)

Ah, well, forget and forgive is my motto.

With emphasis on the forget.  Not sure about the rest…

Paella? What paella?