A trip to the dump

Our local "dump" is not so much a dump as it is a recycling center. We separate all our refuse before tossing it into the appropriate bins. When the bins are full, they're loaded onto the backs of large trucks and carted away to a central processing facility before being recycled and/or incinerated. I was checking on line this morning to see if our déchetterie (dump) is open on Mondays and was pleasantly surprised to see that not only was it open on Mondays, but it was open at 06h30 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays! Summer hours! This is new.

This photo of the château and church in St.-Aignan has nothing to do with today's post.

Ken and I had loaded up the car yesterday with old bed linens, pillows, and rugs for disposal. Once I learned of the summer hours, I hopped in the car and drove across the river and, voilà, that stuff is all gone. No fuss. No muss. I have some more stuff (used deep-frying oil among other things) to take over there, maybe tomorrow.

Potato patch update

I'm somewhat fascinated by this garden out in the middle of the vineyards out back. I've still not seen who tends it. My walks are too early in the morning or too late in the afternoon, but somebody is taking care of it. Good for them.

The potatoes are blossoming.

We don't have a vegetable garden again this year. Our garden soil has really and truly turned to concrete. I am, however, growing a few zucchini and pumpkin plants on piles of compost. So far, they looking alright. I've got to keep them well watered during this heat spell we're having. We're expecting a high of 36ºC today and 40ºC tomorrow. Ugh!

Whew!

Our mornings are cool enough that we can, as I've said, throw open the windows and hope that the cool air chases the heat away. By mid-day it will be hot again and, over the next few days, very hot. They're predicting 40ºC (104ºF) by Monday evening. Yikes! Sleeping is going to be difficult.

The newly planted grape vines are doing well so far.

Meanwhile, the grape vines look like they're loving it. This is the newly planted parcel (the old vines were torn out a few years ago). Workers are busy installing wickets (still) in the new parcel while trimming, plowing, and spraying continue in the established parcels. It's hot work and slow going in the afternoons. Some of the workers start their day around 06h00 to take advantage of the cool morning.

We're lucky to have our deck as a place to be outdoors, especially in the hot evening. It faces east, so it's sheltered from the afternoon sun. Plus, the big trees on the edge of the driveway shade the deck in the morning. I wonder if it was built that way deliberately. I suppose it's impossible to know. 

Summer daze

We've had a little relief from the recent heat, but the forecast is for another heat spell to build in over the weekend. Luckily, we tend to have nice cool mornings. We throw open all of the windows so that cool air can move through the house and push the warm air out. Nature's AC.

The deck on Tuesday morning, before the storm.

Tuesday night, after the storm, we had a few power outages. I woke up at one point to complete silence and dark. No humming of the fridge, no spinning of fan blades, no tiny indicator lights here and there. No power at all, just dark silence. Then suddenly it all came on, startling me. We have a number of lamps around the house that are on timers. All but two are digital. The digital timers have battery back-up so most power outages don't change their clocks or their settings. Nice. However, there are still two analog timers that need to be reset after a power interruption. When I forget to reprogram them, lights go on and off at very odd times. Bother.

La plage

Here's a view of the island in the Cher River at Saint-Aignan. I'm standing on the left bank with St.-Aignan behind me. On the upstream tip of the island is a big park with picnic tables and such, and a sandy beach. On the downstream end is the municipal swimming pool and garden allotments.

Big red block letters spell out "la plage," the beach. It's not quite the Hollywood sign, but what the heck.

Last evening a thunderstorm hit us full on. It didn't last very long, maybe twenty minutes or so, but the sky got dark with thunder and lightning and a downpour and a half of rain. We had a calm night with a couple of short power outages, but nothing serious. This morning there's some residual light rain, but that should be ending as I type this. 

The old bridge

Here's the bridge over the Cher at Saint-Aignan looking downstream. The new passerelle is on the other side; you can't see it from this angle. As you can see from the sign, the autoroute entrance/exit is across the bridge. It's a choke point for heavy traffic.

Very little traffic at this hour on a Saturday. A summer weekday, with tourists heading for the zoo, is another story.

Today is predicted to be a hot one, even hotter than yesterday. Yikes! 

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it

I didn't go all the way across. I parked in the lot and was heading to the market and I wanted to get in and get out before it got too crowded, so I stopped here for a quick look at Saint-Aignan's château. It's built on the high bluff above the river. It was about 08h20, so there were very few pedestrians about.

The château at Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher.

Tasha was a good girl for the groomer and she looks great. I think she's getting used to the new groomer and knows what to expect. Yesterday was the third time with this particular groomer. Still, she was overjoyed to see that Ken and I were still here after it was over. I didn't take any photos, but maybe I'll get one later today.