A dish so sought after in the Far East that it is customary to leave one’s daughters on the streets and lock up the poodles. The poodle catcher is on the qui vive and the game’s afoot. The Vendée, however, does not have a tradition of man eat dog, although the Labrador across the lane seems keen on dog eat dog. Here, a fresh poodle is safe from the apricot recipe but not from the slavering jaws of peripatetic black dogs. Owing to this Exocet like threat at “walkies” time ( or, being French poodles, “promenade” time) we have to bundle our two temporary charges, Trigger and Gypsy, into the car with blankets over their heads, to make them unrecognisable as lunch, in the manner of mass murderers, or philandering politicians, leaving the Courts of Justice although it is rare that mass murderers or politicians are eaten for lunch but it would certainly save money on appeals. Once out in the forest the dogs are content. Their shiny noses hoover up unspeakable horridness but who are we to judge unspeakable horridness as anything they can do, we can do better as cuisine from the deserts of Sudan to the gardens of Japan clearly illustrate (pace Ian Dury). We are at the dawn of the seventh day of caring for our curly haired charges and the chances of Biblical rest seem remote. Trigger’s closest, closest best friend ( he doesn’t realise that there are duplicates of his best friend freely available on the internet, but then again, do any of us) is a rubber ball with a face on it. It travels by the name of Baballe and it is Trigger’s raison d’etre. Unfortunately Gypsy, who is still waiting for her portrait to be done, in a moment of three dimensional creativity, has transformed Baballe into a semi hemispherical cuplike thing that no longer functions as a ball. There is no point in throwing a cup for a dog, even a cup with an uncanny similarity to an old friend. Trigger is bereft and it is up to me to reft him by finding a duplicate of Baballe. That is today’s mission. As a matter of interest, Algy appears to be on the run.
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Food, Photography & France 
Funny story! My husband’s parents dog’s name is Sean and his peluche friend’s name is Penn.:-)
How cool – I like that:)
I certainly hope your houseguests smell fresher than the Rank Beast who just put in an appearance in my office to beg for her breakfast…Phew!
(That would be the dog, not the granddaughter. In case you were wondering…)
Best luck in your search for a replacement friend.
How do we get lumbered?
OH.. you are dog sitting, no wonder there was an air of slightly Frantic in your writing this morning, now get thee hither and find another ball for that poor beastie. Trigger does look awfully sweet. I must work out how to put two shots side by side, the apricots and the dog are a perfect irony stood together like that. Morning Roger! c
If you have Photoshop I’ll show you how to do it.
I do have photoshop and I love to learn.. sometimes a diptych is the perfect choice. Thank you Roger, this is very kind of you.. my email is celima.g.7@gmail.com. c
I’ll do that today.
Even Larousse has little to say about dog (save for the Chows in China), however, that Monsieur Trigger is the spitting image of Jaques Mesrine 😉
Check out “Simple Singapore Snacks” and who is Jacques Nesrine – I’ve found his Twitter gravatar in which he appears to be a girl?
Mesrine was France’s public enemy number one – he was a master of disguise and kidnapper of judges. They made a good two part biopic in 2008.
I was under the impression that food in Singapore was tasty but “dull” in comparison to other countries in the far east. This indicates that eating dog isn’t legal there:
http://thesatayclub.net/2011/05/uproar-over-dog-meat-in-singapore-restaurant/
You’re an invaluable source of information. I must have meant “Kute Korean Kebabs & Kurries”.
I think they definitely like poodles in Korea 😉
I think Poo is quite a Korean word:)
Cute dog. Our Lab, Sheba, would just eat the ball but would play nicely with Trigger to compensate.
We want Sheba as our neighbour:)
The apricots and wine look wonderful – I’d have those as house companions (no need for walks) or to eat any time rather than the poodles…..but don’t tell them that!
I’m keeping it to myself:-)
Instant Trigger fan here, Roger. I’m like one of Pavlov’s dogs. Show me the shiny black nose and I come over all affable. The idea of Trigger’s love affair with his ball is just so funny. And you photograph catches him so well.
I’ve still got to find a replacement friend for him. We have another 10 days of looking after the dogs, so a Baballe replacement is essential:-)
Trigger. Such a menacing name for such a sweet face!
Nothing menacing about Trigger. He’s named after a character in a British sitcom who was anything but menacing:-)
Day 7 and you and your charges have all survived, much to th dismay of the labrador, I’d imagine. Max has managed to destroy every toy, “indestructible” and otherwise, that I have given him. He hides the pieces and brings them to me, poking me with his snout as a means of enticing me to play fetch. Very often, the piece is no larger than a pea. Don’t blame Max. I’m the fool that tosses the piece and says “Fetch!”
We’re running on parallel tracks again, John:-)
I am now waiting patiently for apricot season! That photo has me longing for a few 🙂
I’ve just made an apricot tart which I’ll post later
Do those gorgeous apricots taste as good as they look? They’re mushy and tasteless in the stores over here.
Glad to hear Algy’s on the run.
Ha, ha. I mean aren’t dogs great? That one is a cutie!
He is one cool little hound dog, Greg, that’s for sure:)
You are truly hilarious! Genius; I love this line: “Unfortunately Gypsy, who is still waiting for her portrait to be done, in a moment of three dimensional creativity, has transformed Baballe into a semi hemispherical cuplike thing that no longer functions as a ball.” I can see the it now!
Thanks for compliments, Marina – makes it worth it:)