Sweet Thirteen (Months) and Already Been Kissed

Jenny and Jean-Marc cooked a marvelous gourmet meal last night for an early birthday celebration for Herb.  Actually, I should say they cooked it over the past day and a half!  Jim, Monique, Charis and Kara joined us.  We had two kinds of gourmet sausage, herbed olives, tzatziki with garlic pita chips, and bacon-wrapped dates for starters.  The salad course was a chunky gazpacho salad made by Monique.  That was followed by Jenny's pork posole, a Mexican stew made with hominy and a from-scratch concoction of two kinds of dried chile peppers.  It was served with onions, avocado, cilantro and lime garnishes.  Next came tossed green salad with home-made vinaigrette, followed by artisanal bread and French cheese.  We finished up with Jean-Marc's specialty:  dark chocolate mousse topped with white chocolate mousse topped with berry coulis. 

Charis got to enjoy the food as her "second supper" before going to bed, and she kept asking for more.   But the highlight of her evening was playing with Peekaboo.  She was suddenly into Peekaboo kisses.  Waiting to be kissed . . .

Giving Peekaboo a kiss.

Peekaboo loves Charis kisses, too!

Charis touched my heart when she went to the ferret cage and kept asking for something, reaching for the covered hammock.  I showed her that Peekaboo was sitting in the cage, but she kept trying to look inside the hammock, asking for more.  I suddenly realized that she remembered Precious and was looking for her.  After all, her very first ferret kisses came from Precious!  See, Precious darling, you're remembered with love!