Working Dogs
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Many of the finer things in life come from our civilized friends in France, and elsewhere in Europe.  When I went to live there for a few years while Electric Horseman was working for a French company, I discovered some (ok, a lot) of these finer things.

They know how to enjoy a meal, for example.  A typical week-day lunch lasts for at least 2 hours and Sunday lunch is a 4-hour long affair.  No fast food for them, if they can possibly help it!  Eating is a social event, a life event, to be taken very seriously.

As any woman worth her salt knows, the table linens in France are to die for.  And the dishes – well the dishes are just plain yummy even sans the delicious French cuisine.  Before moving to France, I was never particularly interested in either linens or dishes.  While living there, however, (and much to Electric Horseman’s dismay), I became a bona fide “dish whore”.  We left the US with barely one matching set of dishes; when we moved back we had three.  I had to have a dish cabinet built just to house all the things I brought back.

How could I help myself?  My friends and I could drive to where these beautiful dishes were being made, on the days of the sales for gosh sakes, and pick and choose exactly which dishes we wanted.  As I told Electric Horseman, “Look how much money I’m saving you!  These dishes were so cheap, that when/if we ever tire of them, we could use them for clay pigeons.”  As usual, he just rolled his eyes and sighed.

One of the things that tickled my fancy about a well-set French table was knife rests.  Rather than put your soiled knife on your plate (or heaven help us, on the table!), you would rest your knife on little knife rests.   

knife rests

What a clever idea!

This set of knife rests consist of the ubiquitous cigales (like the US cicada), which can be found decorating just about everything for the tourist.  One day when I was in need of some knife rests and in a hurry, I just ducked into one of the tourist shops in Aix and scooped up these.

The knife rests I lusted after, however, belonged to Queenabelle.  They were little porcelain leaves that were beautiful.  She said a friend gave them to her and there were no more to be found.  I tried to steal them from her, but she kept hiding them from me.

You can always count on Queenabelle to never forget things like this (she’s kind of like an elephant in that respect) and to come through with something.  One Christmas, or maybe one birthday (who can remember these details?), a package arrived and look what was inside!

the cutest dogs you ever did see

There were eight of these dogs (two of each one) in the set, and it took me a long time to stop laughing (which I’m sure was Queenabelle’s intent).  I ask you, could there be any more perfect knife rests ever made pour moi?

These “working dogs” are hysterical.

a poodle, perhaps?

this is a hot dog if I've ever see one

its rear end

This one is in a skirt, for gosh sakes!  Their faces … their faces are simply priceless.

adorable

snooty

goofy

Some people have suggested that I should match the dog to the dinner guest.  I’m afraid I might lose what few friends I have if I do that.

cigale knife rests

Yes, these knife rests look ok.

working dog knife rests

But you must admit, these look absolute stunning.  Especially at my house, on my table, with my pack of dogs milling around.  I crack me up (with Queenabelle’s help, of course).

I like these knife rests so much that I just can’t keep them hidden away, waiting for the next dinner party.

work in progress

The dogs are hard at work, even if all they’re doing is guarding my flowers.  It’s a dog’s life, no doubt about it.