Another machine

This one is not a vineyard machine. It belongs to a company that does terrassement (earthworks). The work they're doing now is a continuation of the filling of the ravine out by the walnut tree. I thought they were done until the other day when the guys started hauling more truckloads of dirt to the site. And this half bulldozer/half claw thing was brought in.

Good old Caterpillar. The green sticker is the terrassement company's logo.

The Olympics opening ceremony happens this evening. The weather forecast is not great, but it doesn't look all that bad, either. Time will tell. I don't know if we'll watch live or wait for the news channels to do their thing.

Wildflower

I'm not sure what this is called. It looks like wild carrot, but I don't think it is. But it could be related. At any rate, it's pretty and there is a lot of it out among the grape vines.

Wildflower.

The Olympic frenzy is ramping up. That's almost all that we'll see on tv for the next three weeks. Some events are already happening before the opening ceremony on Friday. I'm hoping for lots of nice pictures of Paris.

Grape leaves

Newly emerging leaves explore the air space above the grape vines out back. Their predecessors got too unruly and had to be shorn off. These, too, will likely meet the shearer as the season continues.

Grape vine tendrils and new leaves.

The rear-view mirror on our 24 year-old Peugeot fell off the other day. So Ken's dealing with getting it reattached. The car still runs fine. LOL. We're expecting delivery of a weed-eater (strimmer) this weekend. If it works as we hope it will, it will come in handy getting to some the places the riding mower can't.

Tasha Tuesday

Over the last couple of weeks, and since our mini heat wave, we've been able to enjoy sitting out on the deck. Also, grilling. Tasha likes to snooze out there, but only if the window is open so she can listen to what's going on inside the house.

Tasha got up from her nap to see what I was up to.

It's cooler now, but not as chilly as it was before the heat wave. Another week or so and it will be August. Summer is fleeting. Even more so than usual this year, it seems. What's it feel like where you are?

Tiny daisies

Little wild daisies like these grow here and there among the grape vines. Also out there are wild carrot (Queen Ann's lace) and wild chicory. These, among others, are the summer wildflowers that are typical in our region.

A patch of little daisies.

There's a lot going on and off in this summer season. Bastille Day has come and gone. The Tour de France ended over the weekend. The Paris Olympics start up this coming weekend. Everyone's in vacation mode, it seems. The weather has calmed a bit and we all breathing a little easier.

The last one

This is the last of the vineyard fogger/sprayer photos. The Image of the Week is also from the machine, so that will be with us for a little while.

Another nozzle? I'm unsure.

Storms came through last night as predicted, but the all went around us. I saw some lightning and heard a little very distant thunder. I don't think it rained here at all. The next week is predicted to be very pleasant. Yay!

More machinery and a mini heat wave

I'm not complaining. I am NOT complaining. It's hot outside. We reached around thirty degrees yesterday and are expecting pretty much the same today. Then comes la dégringolade. Temperatures are expected to plummet as we move into next week, with thunderstorms and rain in the forecast. When that happens, I will be complaining. Oh, it won't be as bad as all that. I hope.

Nozzles. Or aliens from outer space.

Here's the third in my series of photos of the grape vine sprayer that was parked out back for a couple of nights. I think these are some of the spray nozzles. Have a good weekend!

Machinery and the mosquito man

Here's another shot of the vineyard sprayer that's been working out back over the last few days. At least, I think it's the same one I've seen plying the vine rows recently. It was parked out there (under the walnut tree) for a couple of nights, but now it's gone. Yesterday, Tasha and I had to navigate around the moving sprayer so as not to A) get run over, and 2) have to walk through a cloud of chemicals.

Vineyard sprayer.

That reminded me of a Wanda Sykes bit we recently saw on Netflix: The "mosquito man." Ms. Sykes hilariously recalled how, when she was a kid, she and the other kids in her neighborhood would follow the sprayer truck that was part of their local mosquito eradication program, running through the clouds of what likely included malathion and who knows what other chemical insecticides. "It's the mosquito man!" they would gleefully yell when the truck appeared. I, too, remember the "mosquito man" from when I was a kid, although I don't think we called him that. And we, too, would follow behind, running through the clouds of insecticide. Good times! Cough, cough.

The elephant in the vineyard

Or is it something out of "Mad Max?" Well, it's neither. It's part of a sprayer tractor that's been parked out under the walnut tree for a couple of days. From what I understand, the spray is a copper sulfate concoction known commonly as bouillie Bordelaise. It's used to help prevent fungus and mold from developing on the grape vine leaves. It's also used in home vegetable gardens for the same thing.

It looks like a mechanical elephant, or a not-so-wooley mammoth, to me.

I got out and cut the grass yesterday afternoon. It was a nice ride, even if a bit bumpy in spots. There's a small parcel left to do later this morning or this afternoon, depending on the dew situation. Then I'll be nearly out of gas, so a trip to the filling station (lol) is coming up in a week or so, before the next mowing day.

Grapes

The next few days of warm, if not hot, dry weather should be good for the grapes out back. The bunches have formed and the individual grapes are starting to plump up.

Grapes!

Today might be the day for grass cutting. I'll look to see how much dew there is before deciding whether to cut this morning or this afternoon. Or whether to put it off for one more day.

Look at that "S" car go!

I know. How many snail jokes are there in the world, I wonder? There's the one where two snails climb onto a tortoise's back. One snail says to the other, "Hold on, Sam, here we go!" If you know any others, feel free to post them in the comment section. You are allowed to do it anonymously.

Quick! Get out of the way!

The forecast is holding for a nice few days ahead. I will pick one of them for cutting the grass.

The daisy patch

They're in full bloom now. These daisies were here when we moved in twenty-one years ago. They come up every spring and die back every fall. The only real maintenance I do is to cut the dead flower stalks down after the bloom. Sometimes I weed the plot and yes, there are brambles trying to invade. 

Part of the daisy patch.

Our neighborhood was full over the holiday weekend. Every house (there are nine in our hamlet) was occupied and many of those occupants included out of town family, house guests, and party goers (we were invited over the road for drinks and nibbles on Saturday evening). One of our neighbors rented the Air B&B two doors down for her overflow guests. There were a lot of people we've never seen before walking (some with dogs), cycling, or jogging past our house and out into the vineyard. Tasha had a bark fest. The weather was chilly, but mostly dry. Most of the people are gone again now, others will be leaving today.

Le quatorze juillet

Happy Bastille Day!

The north side

Nobody sees this side of our house, unless they walk around to the north forty. Our deck wraps around from the east side and becomes a narrow overhang on the north. It's too small to be useful and I often wonder why it was done this way, except that it makes washing that living room window very easy. And it provides a protected spot below to store firewood.

The unglamorous north façade.

This cool, even cold, weather is really bugging me. The temperature on this mid-July morning is a crisp 14ºC or so, mid 50s F. We expected this kind of temperature when we lived in San Francisco's fog belt. But it feels weird here.

Our village held it's July 14th fireworks last night. I watched from the north side window in the loft (not visible in this photo). Boom!

Summer vines

The grape vines out back are lush this year. It was a very wet spring. Growers trim the vines to help concentrate their energies on fruit production rather than leaf production. And also to aerate the vines so molds and fungi can be kept at bay. Of course, I don'l know any of this; it's just assumption based on observation.

Recently trimmed grape vines.

Sometime during the night a thunderstorm moved through. I barely woke up, but it wasn't thunder that woke me. It was rain pounding down on the roof punctuated by the sound of Ken shutting windows. By the time he got the windows closed, the storm hand moved on and the rain came to an abrupt halt. The good news: no leaks in the roof, as far a we can tell.

Popcorn clouds

I thought I made that up. Turns out, it's a real thing. Popcorn clouds. Who knew?

Popcorn clouds at sunrise. I was really hoping to see a jet airliner, but no luck.

We're enjoying a relatively warm spell. Not hot. Warm. Still, not unpleasant at all. Happy Thursday!

Trimming the verge

I don't think Americans use this word the way other English speakers do. We use it more in the figurative sense to mean "the point beyond which 'x' will happen," like "I was on the verge of loosing my cool." The word means "edge" or "border" in its literal sense. Like "trimming the verge" in a garden or park, the border or edge of a planting bed.

As my grandfather used to say, "It's better than it is, wasn't it?"

That's what happened here recently. As the woods become overgrown, their edge gets closer and closer to the vineyard parcel. So, every once in a while, someone cuts back the verge. The French have a long tradition of working to control the landscape, often with spectacular results, as in château gardens.

Tasha Tuesday

In recent years, plowing between vine rows has become a preferred method of weed control in the vineyard parcels around us. Unfortunately for us, the practice makes walking between those rows unpleasant, even difficult and dangerous. There are a few parcels, however, where the growers mow the tall grasses that grow between the rows instead of plowing and the ground stays relatively level and pleasant to walk on. This is one of those parcels.

Tasha enjoys the grassy spaces between grape vine rows.

I don't know what makes a grower choose one method over the other. They're certainly not obliged to maintain a pleasant hiking environment for those of us who walk out there. I wonder if they would prefer us to stay on the roads and tractor paths and out of the vine rows altogether, although no one has ever said anything to us about that.

Tasha likes to walk between the vines. She finds it much more interesting than the rocky dirt road, and it's probably more comfortable for her little paw pads. So I'm happy that there are still a few places where we can do it.

Let there be grapes

It looks like there are lots of grape bunches out there. Again, probably a result of the very wet spring we had. I'm not a grape grower, but I suspect some hot and dry weather would be welcomed as the grapes start to mature.

Young grapes on the vine.

The kids are out of school for the summer. Bastille Day is coming right up. The Tour de France is well under way. The Olympics in Paris are just around the corner. All we need now is some summery weather.

Saturday's sunrise

This is July? This morning we have 11ºC (about 50ºF) outside. Inside, we're one degree (celsius) from the central heating coming on. I'm wearing two shirts and long sleeves. And I keep hearing about 100ºF-plus temperatures in the US. I certainly would not like that kind of heat here (been there, done that). But, wtf? This is nuts.

Looking toward the northeast on a (chilly) summer morning.

The good news, at least according to one of the weather sites I look at daily, is that this coming week should see some more summer-like weather. Let's hope so.

Ouch!

These are some of the thorny blackberry brambles, commonly called ronces in French, that grow in our hedges. This year they've been most aggressive, taking advantage of a very wet spring to advance into new territory. Each spring, Ken goes out with gloves and pruning shears and tries to cut the worst of them back. I don't know of any way to actually eliminate them short of burning down the hedge. Even then, I'd bet that the brambles would survive.

Cut ronces on the ground. You can see some more growing out of the hedge in the top left and right of the photo.

If they're not cut back, they will reach out into the yard looking for new places to spread. They're a danger to anyone who gets close, which I often do while mowing. Their thorns are strong and sharp and they can pierce clothing and still draw blood. They're a scourge! And their fruit isn't even good to eat.

The bee's knees

I believe you can actually see them in this shot of a bee visiting one of our artichoke flowers.

A lucky shot! Even without a macro lens.

We had rain and drizzle on and off most of the day on Thursday. I got no outdoor work done. As compensation, Ken made a delicious fried rice dish for lunch. Maybe we'll be able to do a couple of things outside today. Meanwhile, mole hills continue to appear in the north forty. Ugh.

A choke of a different color

The volunteer artichoke out in the vegetable garden plot is blooming. Instead of the deep blue/purple flowers I'm used to, its flowers are very nearly white.

Just a hint of blue.

Yesterday, I spent a good hour hacking at the big forsythia, something I do every few years. It gets too big and unruly and it's impossible to mow around. There's a little more to do, but it's minor. The cut branches are now piled in the vegetable garden plot for the summer. The leaves will dry and drop and I'll dispose of the branches themselves in the fall.

This morning the weather is lousy. We have 15ºC (about 60ºF) and drizzle. On the bright side, it's preferable to a hurricane.

Fallow year

It's official. No vegetable garden for us this year. We never heard back from the landscape guy about tilling up our plot (we can't do it ourselves any more). Now it's too late to plant; the seedlings have died. So, the garden plot will lie fallow this year, sort of. I'm still mowing it.

I left the volunteer artichoke alone. The oregano patch (right) is starting to bloom.

We're thinking now about how we can change our approach to the garden. Maybe by relocating it. Definitely by downsizing it (we've already started that). And likely by finding another gardener who'd be more reliable and responsive.* I'd hate to give up on backyard tomatoes and squash.

*He's always been reliable about the hedge trimming and taking down trees. Big jobs are more attractive than small jobs I guess. But he's the one who offered to till for us. He did it last year. I could understand if he's swamped (as it were) because of all the wet weather we've had this spring. Maybe he's lost employees. Maybe he's gone out of business. We haven't heard anything.

Holy moley

The moles are back. Not in great numbers, but there are two areas where fresh hills are appearing. This one is in the north forty, the other is in the west. They're not a big problem, but the hills are unsightly.

They kind of look like cow patties. They're just dirt.

Yesterday I did some trimming, cutting off most of the low-hanging branches on the apple trees. They tend to slap me in the face when I run under them with the mower. And the apples are getting big enough to hurt when they bump my head. So, off they went!

Armagnac

I treated myself to a shot of armagnac on Saturday after lunch. Armagnac is a brandy made by distilling white wine and aging the result in oak barrels, much like its cousin, cognac. Often, brandies are served in a bowl-like glass called a snifter. I guess that helps to develop and capture the brandy's aroma, particularly the smokiness of the oak. I served this one in a shot glass. But don't gulp it down in one go. Brandy is meant to be sipped and savored slowly, and especially after a meal. Brandies are often referred to as digestifs. That is, they are believed to help with digestion. Works for me!

A nice shot of armagnac on the deck after lunch.

Burger buns, sort of

These didn't rise quite the way I wanted them to, but they were delicious. And they held together when we sliced them and made barbecue (slow-cooked pulled turkey) and slaw sandwiches. Ken makes a kind of mock cole slaw with chopped iceberg lettuce (in the place of cabbage) dressed in a tangy sauce. Along side we ate black-eye peas with mixed vegetables.

Blurry photo of hamburger buns.

Next time, I'm going to try using my pizza dough recipe to make buns. That should be interesting.

The storms and rain predicted for overnight kind of fizzled. It's raining gently this morning, but we were spared the predicted deluge. Other regions weren't so lucky. Roof-wise, it's so far, so good. The external leaks we had (holes in the gutters) seem to be gone. In one spot, the patch is temporary. We'll probably ask the roofer for the permanent fix (replacing a section of gutter) in the fall.

I don't give a fig

This is our famous fig tree this year. It's bigger than it's ever been. It's full of figs. Or rocks posing as figs. They hard as concrete. Maybe the title of this post should be, "I don't get a fig."

Fig.

It took me about two hours yesterday to cut all the grass (and that included stopping to cut blackberry vines out of the hedge. They attacked me as I mowed close to them). Sure, there's edge work to be done with the smaller mower, but that's not urgent. Most of the yard is neatly cut. We're still expecting rain over night.

Filler

I'm out of fresh photos. I don't feel the need to show more of the roof work. Between Ken's blog and mine, I think we've done it all. That said, here's a close up of one of the two garage windows with it's freshly painted sill. Now I've got to wash those windows. Ken washed the garage door yesterday and it looks great.

Garage window.

The weekend is still expected to be a wet one, so we're waiting to see if this roof job fixed our leak problems. Fingers crossed.

My plan for the day: get the grass cut before it rains.

All is calm

The roof work is done now. The guys spent about two hours on Wednesday morning putting on the finishing touches and cleaning up. Now we wait for rain. Storms and rain are predicted as we move into the weekend. So, we shall see.

The garage window sills and the underside of the deck are looking pretty spiffy now!

Today's errands include a stop at the vet's office to pick up an order of dental chews and a supply of flea & tick medicine for Tasha. Then I'll likely make quick stops at the recycle center and the grocery store with a final stop at the filling station (do people say that any more?) for gas for the lawnmower. Then I'd like to cut the grass before the rain moves in.

Almost done

Here's some of the roof work in progress. You can see one of the two dormer valleys with it's new metal flashing. The tiles are back on now (but not in this photo). You can also see the underside of the deck. In this shot, it's been power washed, but not yet prepared for paint. That is actually done now. The work should wrap up today. I will post "after" photos soon.

Tasha's on the deck supervising the roofing crew. The yellow spots are made by the sun shining through a leafy tree.

Meanwhile, the heat is holding, but not for long. I think a cool-down is expected for the weekend. Boy, were we lucky!

Tasha Tuesday

Of course I took a couple of pictures of Tasha when we walked along the river in Montrichard last week. This one shows how happy she was to be out in a new place with new smells. She looks happy to me, anyway. You can see central Montrichard in the background.

A walk on the right bank of the Cher.

Well, glory be! The roofers showed up right on time yesterday morning. Once they started working, they realized that they needed a tool that they didn't bring. So one of them had to go to the hardware store while the other two waited. Not a great start. But, they eventually got under way. The valleys over the chien-assis (sitting dog, also dormer window) are rebuilt. Today the roof tiles will go back up. The underside of the deck has been power-washed. Today a filler and sealer will be applied before the first of two paint coats. I guess the final job will be to clean out and re-seal the rain gutters. This morning the guys are planning to show up around 08h00 to get a jump on the afternoon heat. Yeah, it's hot! And, more importantly, dry.

Will he or won't he?

This morning we're expecting the roofing contractor to start work. We have no confirmation of this. We think that's the way we left it last week. So, we shall see. I moved the flower pots out of the kitchen window boxes yesterday. They were just below where the work will be done. One of us will take the car out of the driveway and park it on the road in case we need it while the contractor is working. Then we just wait.

Another view of the dam, lock, and old mill in Montrichard.

Remember those baby grapes I posted about a while back? Well, now I see that they were just the flower buds getting ready to open. They've been open for a while now and grapes are beginning to form. These next few days of sunny and warm (yay!) weather should make them happy.

Dam it

This is one of many small dams on the Cher River. It's just down stream from central Montrichard. Tasha and I walked by last week while Ken was at a doctor appointment. The building is, I believe, an old mill that used the force of the channeled river for power, very similar to the old mill dam at Saint Aignan up river. And, like at St.-Aignan, there is a lock to allow water craft through.

I believe it's called le Moulin des Îles de la Motte. At least that's what is says on the map. The lock is in the foreground.

The sun is shining this morning. We're having a very welcome break in the rain. Flooding has been a problem all over the country, along with crop and property damaging hail (none here, thankfully). We're keeping our fingers crossed that our roof work can get done before the rain comes back.

Les pommes

Our apple trees are laden with fruit this year. Last year we had virtually none. I wonder if it's related to the weather. This past winter was warm and wet. Whatever the reason, it looks like we're in for a bumper crop. The pain is that the bigger apples have to be gathered off the ground before mowing. And the more of them that there are, the more of a pain it is. Unless... maybe the new riding mower can just make applesauce from the fallen apples.

Little apples in the back yard. They'll get bigger.

Yesterday was a wet day. And that's an understatement. We got hammered. Rain came down in buckets through the morning, one of the hardest rainstorms we've had in recent memory. Maybe ever. The rain continued into mid-day and then slacked off. A good thing, because our roofer came by then to do the measuring for the repairs he's starting next week. The forecast is good. If it's correct, we should have sunny and dry weather for the next four or five days. And won't that be nice.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Here's a shot of that strip I cleared out last week beyond our north side fence. To the right of the fence in this view is the west forty section of the back yard. To the left is outside. That's where I hacked the path that you can see. In a couple spots, it's more like a tunnel.

There's still some cleaning up to do, but the worst is done.

We heard from the roofer yesterday. He's coming by this afternoon to take more measurements for the replacement of the dormer valleys. Then he will choose a day that looks good weather-wise to do the work. He said it'll take one full day to get it done. After that, he's going to repair the gutters on the rest of the house. That's another job. And lastly, he gave us an estimate for repainting the underside of our deck. It hasn't been done in well over twenty years and is a serious mess of cracks and peeling paint. It will be nice to have that finally done.

A short walk

Tasha and I drove Ken to his ophthalmologist appointment yesterday afternoon. While he was with the doctor, we took a short walk down to the river (le Cher) just outside of central Montrichard. We continued a little along a bike/hike path to a small dam on the river, then turned around and headed back. I'm still trying to master the "selfie" without looking like a dork. Not squinting would help. I need more practice.

Yours truly at Montrichard-sur-Cher.

We've accepted an estimate on the roof work and put down some money. Now we wait. The contractor promised it wouldn't be for long, since we have a little "emergency." We're still having periodic rain showers and the roof is still leaking. We don't quite need buckets on the floor (yet), but there's visible water damage on the drywall below the leak.

Threatening skies

And they did follow through with the threat. This image, from the guest room window, was taken yesterday morning. By nightfall, it was raining again, and it seems to have rained steadily through the night. Early this morning there was some distant thunder, but nothing like yesterday morning. It's still raining as I type this (07h15).

This sky was trailing the thunderstorm we had on Tuesday morning.

The forecast for the week is more rain every day, but with quantities diminishing. We are having a few roof problems (again!) and we had a guy in to give us an estimate on repairs. The worst problem has to do with the roof valleys on either side of the dormer window in the loft, the same problem we've been having off and on for twenty years. They probably need to be reconstructed. Ka-ching!

Thunder boomer

We woke up this morning to the muffled sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. It didn't stay muffled or distant for long. Radar showed the center of the storm right over us around 05h00. Rain started to pour down. The garbage collectors were right outside, sitting the squall out in their truck. The sky was lit by multiple lighting strikes as thunder boomed all around us. The storm lasted about thirty minutes as it rolled off toward the northeast. As they do.

The phone camera didn't know where to focus. Or, more likely, I don't know how to tell it where to focus.

The photo above is a little blurry, but it shows the kind of blackberry brambles that live among the hedges and woods around us, the kind I recently hacked through to clear a path behind our fence. This one is growing out of our compost pile. Look at those thorns! Like sharks' teeth, they are. There are bigger ones than these, I dare say.

I discovered yesterday morning that I've lost my prescription form. Now I have to go to the pharmacy and ask them to spot me some pills while I get a duplicate Rx from my doctor. They've done that before; we've been loyal customers for over twenty years. Still, what a pain. It's always something.

Wet

It rained off and on yesterday evening and into the night. Our forecast still includes a warm up as the week goes on, but there's rain (and T-storms!) predicted through Thursday. Sigh.

Grass growing in a fallow vineyard parcel. I need some new photos.

It's my morning to walk Tasha and, at the moment (06h30), it's not raining. I'd better get out and back while I can.

Cold, wet, dark, and miserable

The weather is cold, wet, and dark, and it's making us miserable. On the bright side... oh, wait. There is no bright side. I can't even do yucky chores like window washing because it's too cold and windy to open the windows. I guess it's good that it's dark. The dirt is less visible that way.

A little bit of blue sky from last week.

The weather gurus are predicting a warm up over the next week. With lots of rain. But we'll take it. Fun fact: in French, a low pressure weather system is called une dépression. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Saturday again

The rain that was predicted for Friday turned out to be less than expected. In fact, most of the afternoon was kind of sunny. And very blustery. We're expecting more of the same today. But not much warmer.

Our garden plot might have looked like this if it had been tilled. Now it's just a patch of weeds.

The landscape contractor who was supposed to come till up our vegetable garden plot has never showed up. I've emailed him a couple of times. He answered once, but has since gone silent. Now we're in the middle of June with no garden. Bother.

The north forty

Thursday was a beautiful, sunny day, even if it started out kind of chilly. My plan was to use our hedge trimmers to reestablish a path just outside the north side fence. The fence runs the length of our property on the north side separating our yard from the woods beyond. Then I planned to run the lawnmower through to cut and mulch the path down at ground level. Weeds, saplings, vines, and brambles try each year to get into our yard (with measured success) and each year we try to fight them back. Keeping the invading forces trimmed back to a meter or so beyond the fence isn't difficult unless weather and other projects delay the maintenance, giving nature's forces an opportunity to advance. And advance they had.

The eastern half of the fence line looking toward the woods to the north, seen from the deck.

So, I pulled out the hedge trimmer, ran two very long extension cords from the house out to the fence (I have enough extension cord to reach anywhere in the yard), and started hacking away. There's only one access point to the other side of the fence for people and that's out the back gate and along the hedge in the west forty to Ken's plum tree in the northwest corner. Unfortunately, that point is often the most overgrown. But I attacked and made it through, cutting up as high as I could reach.

I continued to about half way along the fence's length then took a break. After  re-hydrating and letting my arms rest, I took out the walk-behind lawnmower to see how that would do (the rider is too big to fit). I was pleasantly surprised. So much so, that I continued the process of hacking and mowing along the other half of the fence's length. That half is overgrown mostly with tall grasses and supple saplings that are easier to cut away. However, there are also a lot of blackberry brambles (with thorns the size of paring knives) trying (and succeeding) to make the leap into our yard. I did not come away unscathed (thank goodness for heavy-duty garden gloves) but I did come away a victor. At least in this battle. I'm afraid the war is unwinnable.

Uh-oh

The grass is (mostly) mowed once again. I haven't done the edge work, but the rest is done. It took me less than 90 minutes to do what was taking me three days to do. I'm getting into a grove with the mowing pattern.

Nothing to do with today's post. A vineyard parcel that has been mowed between the rows.

There is a (not so) small problem, however. The strip between our north side fence and the woods is closing in, as in filling in. All that rain we had in late winter and spring contributed to a growth spurt, and the dry days we did have were occupied with mowing the yard. I've been thinking about the strip. Mostly thinking about "one day I'll get back there." I waited too long.

So, today I will get started on it. That means taking out the hedge trimmer and the cords that supply it with power and hacking a path through the worst parts, then trimming back where the overgrowth is not so bad. The goal is to be able to take the walk-behind mower back there to keep it clear. We've been doing pretty well for a while now, but every year there's a little more "creep." This year's robust growth has thrown us for a loop. To add insult to injury, the overgrowth is filled with agressive blackberry brambles. Ouch! Long sleeves and gloves will be the uniform of the day.

The rest of the week

Ken's cataract surgery went fine yesterday. Stress levels have dropped considerably. While Ken was at the clinic (he was provided a taxi for the round trip, so I didn't need to drive him up and back), I was a busy bee. I did a load of laundry, then I washed the kitchen and guest room windows, inside and out, washed the curtains and re-hung them. Later in the morning I worked on cleaning out the overgrown millepertuis (St. John's wort) under our mailbox so the mail deliverer (and us, too) has better access to the box. I ate some leftovers for lunch and waited for Ken to get back.

Grape vines and woods.

So, what next? This morning I'm planning a trip to the supermarket. After that I want to finish the clean-up under the mailbox. This afternoon I plan to cut the grass again (with the new riding mower, of course. Wheeee!). There are more windows to be cleaned, but I'm not sure I'll get to them today. We're expecting rain all day on Friday, so I want to get the grass done before that. And let's not forget lunch! Retirement is a full-time job.

Tasha Tuesday

Or, more accurately, the back end of Tasha, Tuesday. She got out ahead of me while I was stopped fiddling with the camera. So she's in the shot.

Tasha heads out for her morning walk through the vineyards. Lots of sniffing to do.

Have I mentioned that it got cold again? This morning I wore my winter coat and a scarf on our walk. Sheesh. Our outside thermometer read 11ºC (about 52ºF) at sunrise. That thermometer is up against the house, so I'm sure it's reading warmer than the vineyard temperature. Our weather web sites are saying we're between 7º and 9º outside.

New vines

This large vineyard parcel was dug up a couple of years ago then replanted last year. This year, the new vines look like they're doing very well. Stakes and guide wires were installed a few weeks ago. I don't think there will be any grapes this year, but maybe next year.

New vines (sauvignon blanc, I believe) out back.

There's another very large parcel just beyond this one that was dug up last year. Right now nothing is happening out there, except that the wild grasses have taken over. At some point, I hope, the grower will start plowing the soil and otherwise preparing the parcel to receive new vines, maybe by next spring.

Saturday's lunch

I was successful at the market on Saturday, for the most part. The fish monger had the lieu noir (pollock) that I wanted and I got a nice barquette of strawberries. The goat cheese vendor wasn't there.

Lunch is served! The fish was perfectly cooked, in my humble opinion.

We cooked the fish in butter and white wine with capers and some lemon juice. Along side we had macédoine de légumes, what I'd call mixed vegetables. Ken chopped the rest of a leftover tomato to garnish both the vegetables and the fish. Dessert was strawberry shortcake.

Sunrise walk

Clouds began to move in from the southwest just as the sun rose last Wednesday morning. That's not at all unusual, but on this day I had the camera with me. The light kept changing as the clouds moved across the sky and it changed quickly, leaving little time to frame a photo and adjust the camera settings.

Looking toward the southwest, just outside our garden gate.

I'm planning a market trip this morning. We want to eat fish again. This time I'll look for lieu noir (pollock in the US, coley in Britain, according to Wikipedia). And I'll get some more goat cheese and some strawberries. I've also got a carload of recycling to get rid of.

A taste of spring

Called radis roses, these radishes are a spring staple in France. After washing and trimming off the leaves, we eat them as an appetizer with salt and buttered crusty bread. Yes, we eat the green parts, too. The radishes are not hot like American red radishes. They're surprisingly mild, almost sweet.

Radishes are a springtime treat.

When the fanes (the bunches of radish leaves) are fresh and in good shape, they can be made into pesto and frozen for later, or they can be cooked and incorporated into sauces or just eaten as greens. The radishes themselves can be cooked into all kinds of dishes from soup to stir-fry. Nothing is wasted!