Hotel Lebelle getting ready for the summer

First of all, the garden is coming along nicely. The raspberries are starting to ripen. We had a bowlful yesterday that we shared on our leftover cheesecake. They are very, very good this year. The other day I picked a pound of cherries that the birds hadn't gotten to. We have sour cherries and I made a kind of relish for meat dishes, but we haven't used it yet. As I was mowing the lawn on Friday I noticed the first tomatoes starting to grow and there are plenty of flowers on the plants, so we should have a bumper crop. And the sweet corn is growing fast. I really need to spend some time weeding, though, and I can always find something else to do! It's either too cold (yes, the heat is on!) or too wet.
Eric is in France, down in Lyons on a class exchange program. Unfortunately, it's rained all week. That's such a disappointing introduction to a place. Here, today is looking okay. It's cloudy, but I can see patches of blue. Jon and Tobi are coming at the end of the week and we'll pick Eric up from his group and spend some time together. I've got some ideas for day-trips or longer excursions. And of course, Paris could still occupy all of our time. I guess a lot will depend on the weather and what everyone wants to do.
Then, in mid-July, we're going off to see Claire and Geoff, et al for a short week. I'll continue working at the library on Tuesdays. In August, I'll have those Tuesdays off and the Pickars are coming. Jacques came over the other evening for dinner and we talked about what we'd like to do over the few days they'll be here. With them or without, we'll go up to Rouen before September to see the Impressionist exhibit. Then, maybe back to England for Aurelia's first birthday!
Yesterday, Sunday, Paul and I went to see Sylvie, Jean-Marie and their two children in the country south of Paris. Sylvie and our kids are second cousins, but they don't really know one another. Anyway, we've gotten to know them in the past 6 or 7 years because Sylvie is the one who was managing everything when Tante Marthe died and Paul helped her out a bit. They are a wonderful family and we spent a.great afternoon with them. They had not been able to make it down to the big family reunion last August, but we brought along our photo album. Lucie, just about to turn 6, spent the afternoon quietly producing drawings and airbrush paintings for us.
I've got to make my reservations for my trip to the States in October. Paul doesn't want to come and make it a longer vacation, so I'll probably just stay a week or 10 days and visit the Glasers in DC and high-school classmates. I'd love to get to NYC and go to a recital by Beth if she's got one scheduled. I didn't see any dates past September last time I looked at her schedule. I don't know if I'll go all the way out to Pittsburgh, though. I guess I should wait until I discuss it with Jon and Tobi before making the reservations.

Christopher Buckley at the American Library, etc.

The other evening, Christopher Buckley spoke at an "Evening with an Author" event at the the American Library. He read from and spoke about Losing Mum and Pup: a Memoir. I haven't read that one, yet, but I did read about it when it first came out and I'm interested. I was never a William Buckley fan, but I remember his name from conversations my parents had. I think they enjoyed reading his stuff. I read an article or two when doing papers in college, I think, and didn't agree with anything. I remember how strange William Buckley sounded. Someone in the audience asked about that and we learned that English was not really his first language. The home language was Spanish because the family had spent several years in Mexico and even after leaving Mexico they kept Spanish-speaking staff. After Mexico, they came to France and William learned French. He didn't really start speaking English until he was sent to boarding school in England. Other people asked about Pat Buckley, Christopher's mother, who was very big in the New York social circles of the 50s and 60s.
My own interest was in Christopher Buckley. We're about the same age (me 1951 and him 1952). I've read Thank You for Smoking (I also saw the movie) and No Way to Treat a First Lady. I enjoyed both of them. They are good novels. And they are fun to read. I'm going to read the rest of his books. One of the advantages of volunteering at the library is that I'm sure to go in every week and I see books coming and going, so if I forget that I wanted to take one out or reserve it if its already out, it'll probably come through my hands soon and I'll grab it then.
I had lunch with Pascale, Christiane, and Violaine before heading off to the library on Wednesday. It was good to see them all. Violaine is finishing up a masters' degree on lobbying, but is in a sort of rut right now because of the job market; Chris is flying high on her successful completion of an executive MBA at ESSEC; and Pascale is making good contacts, but the market has not yet picked up for her qualifications. Violaine picked the restaurant, a vegetarian place near the Place de Contrescarpe.
On Thursday, I had lunch with Judith Merians (Night at the Movies events). We met a few years ago at one of the WICE Money Matters for Women conferences. It was a good, long lunch with lots of conversation. She's been able to work out her dream of spending several months a year in Paris. She's returning to LA soon, but will be back in September. Judith is often mentioned in Adrian Leeds' "Parler Paris" newsletter and I knew they are friends. Since Adrian announced that another friend had died (Suzy, a friend of mine from Ile de France Walks) just recently, I made a Judith-Suzy connection. I mentioned how upset I was that with Christine last month, Paul's mother and now Suzy, I was hoping for a couple of months with no one dying. Judith, however, had not read Adrian's most recent newsletter and did not know about Suzy. And they were not friends via Adrian. They went back to when their kids were growing up, in LA! They were both very surprised to find each other in Paris a couple of years ago. And I was upset with myself for having sprung the news on her like that.
Yesterday evening, the AARO investment group met. That was fun. We're not really a club as we don't have any investments together, but we get together once a month to pool our knowledge. Some have some good things to say, like B, who was a banker, or S, who is a member of a French investment club. I enjoy it. It's been a busy week!
Tomorrow, I'm going to try to get up early to go to the farm and help out. We are members of a coop association. Every week we get a bunch of veggies from the farmer our association is helping out. But he needs to real help, too, so every Saturday, some members go out to help him for a few hours. The vegetable distribution was yesterday: spinach, Swiss chard, long radishes, turnips, potatos, salad, beans. It's fresh; it's local; it's "bio". (The French say "bio", which is no better than Americans saying "organic". There's got to be a better term to describe that kind of food.)