APRIL 83 



I had the privilege of visiting and hearing the story 

 of one of that charming type, the French old maid. I 

 sat in her kitchen whilst her bonne prepared the Sunday 

 dinner for herself, an adopted child, and the inevitable 

 male friend, be he doctor, solicitor, or priest. The soup 

 was maigre and economical : One large onion cut up and 

 fried in butter in a saucepan over a very slow fire till a 

 nice yellow-brown. Then the saucepan filled up with 

 boiling water from a kettle, and allowed to cook half an 

 hour. Then strained, and a sufficient quantity of Vermi- 

 celli added. Cook for fifteen or twenty minutes more, and 

 serve. A chicken, prepared as before described, was 

 roasted for an hour and a half before a slow wood fire, 

 basted with butter all the time, and served with the butter 

 round it as gravy. The salad was carefully picked young 

 Watercress (never used by itself for salads in England), 

 with oil and vinegar, and a hard-boiled egg cut into 

 small quarters laid on the top. (Few know that Water- 

 cress can be grown in ordinary garden soil, in half-shade, 

 if sown every spring.) The wine was good, and the 

 sweets came from the pastry-cook. 



During our short stay in France I saw several 

 gardens, but nothing at all interesting. As we drove 

 through the villages I noticed specimens of a white 

 variety of Iberis gibraltarica (Candytuft) grown in pots, 

 carefully pruned and cared for, standing in the windows 

 of the cottages. Managed in this way, it made a very 

 charming spring pot-plant. I have never seen it so 

 treated in England. It is not quite hardy. I brought 

 home cuttings, but they all died. I have now several 

 plants which I have grown from seed. From their 

 appearance I do not think they will flower well till they 

 are two or three years old ; they will want hard cutting 

 back directly after flowering. 



It was early in the year, and no sort of spring 



G2 



