Flowers for Francine

I had lunch today with Francine, an old friend I too rarely have a chance to see. She's smart and funny and opinionated and reminds me that I do still have a brain, however addled it may be at this point in my life.

I took this photo to mark the passing forward of a personal treasure: my Francine flour tin from France. Farine Francine is the French equivalent of Gold Medal all-purpose flour, and I had to save numerous UPC codes from little paper packages in order to send away for the tin. Call me silly, but it became one of my completely-worthless-but-totally-priceless possessions, probably because of the charming watercolor reproductions printed all over it.

Well, it just so happens that I completely overhauled the pantry yesterday, and I finally decided that I could part with said tin and give it to someone who would appreciate it as much as I have. I plopped in a red primrose and presented it somewhat unceremoniously, but Francine seemed to really love it, and later emailed me to say that it has a place of honor on the sill of her red-curtained kitchen window. Much better than hidden away in a dark pantry. How serendipitous!