Les artichauts

This is one of our two artichoke plants. We planted this one (along with three or four others that have since died) many years ago. The second is a volunteer that came up out in the vegetable garden plot a couple of years ago. It looks about the same as this one. I think we should pick one or two of the flower heads and see if they're edible.

Artichoke next to the garden path.

Yesterday was productive. I mixed up ten liters (about 2.5 US gallons) of weed killer (household vinegar, salt, and soap) and sprayed all of gravel paths around the house and the driveway. Ken said he saw signs of death (yikes!) yesterday afternoon. The last time I sprayed this solution, it took a few days to a week for the weeds to die entirely. But die they did.

Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew

Potatoes, eh? See yesterday's post. I always thought they were potatoes, but I never seen a single spud out there since this started, so I abandoned that theory. Oh well. You'd think there would be a few strays lying about after the harvest. But no, I've never seen one. I'll continue to look for pommes de terre out there. Thanks to all for your comments!

 

The little supports remind me of croquet wickets.

Today's photo is all grapes. On the left is an older, established vine parcel. To the right is a newly planted parcel. The wire wickets will serve as supports as the little vines start to grow. After a while, metal stakes and wires will be installed and take over the support job. 

C'est quoi, ça ?

That is the question. Here's that plant I was talking about a couple days ago. Whoever is cultivating it is doing a nice job. The rows are weeded and looking good. I still don't know what it is. Maybe some of you will.

At first I thought these might be potatoes, but I don't think that any more.

Tasha and I got out early today, just after sunrise. The fog was as thick as sea poop, as they say, but we had no wind and the air felt quite mild. The weather people are predicting a summer-like weekend with temps in the high twenties and low thirties. That's the high eighties, low nineties for the Fahrenheit folks. What a change that will be.

If you recognize these, feel free to let me know in the comments section.

Today's the Ascension  holiday. Our walk was virtually silent except for the wildlife. Lots of bird song and even a barking deer. I heard one car in the distance.

Ten years ago, yesterday

I took this photo ten years ago. One of the roads near our house had just been repaved, and this sign went up to warn people that vehicles can kick up loose gravel. Can you tell that I've run out of new photos?

I think that sign has since been removed.

We're working on spring cleaning, both inside and out. Outside work has slowed as it's been quite chilly lately. No fun in that. As for indoor work, the windows are wanting to be washed. But... wait! That's also an outside job, at least for the outsides. I can procrastinate!

A curiosity

For the past several years, someone has been plowing and planting this small parcel that was once planted in vines. Each summer, the plants flourish. Then, in the fall, they're harvested. I have no idea what they are. I see no signs of potatoes or any other vegetable or fruit. Could it be for the leaves? And now, just this past week, this odd-looking alignment of wooden posts showed up on the far end. Climbing stakes? Another agricultural mystery.

Old vines on the right, mystery plants on the left.

The other end of this parcel, where the stakes are, stops at a paved road. Perhaps I'll take a detour over there one morning and see what I can see. And maybe I'll take a closer-up photo of the plants.

Perish the thought

Did this grape vine skip summer? Them looks like fall colors to me. Pretty, but let's not rush things.

A gnarly old grape vine sporting a fall yellow in May.

Here we are in the last week of May, coming up on the last May holiday. This Thursday is Ascension Day, another May day off work for many.

Sunday morning in the vines

A weather system is moving through today. Some rain is predicted, but it's not raining yet. The sky is overcast, the wind light.

Today just after sunrise, looking toward the northeast.

I noticed yesterday that one of our neighbors was having trouble with his riding mower. He's got the same one we have, sold under another brand. I could hear the engine surging and then almost stalling before surging again. It sounded like it might be a carburetor problem; that happened to me a while back with the walk-behind mower. The neighbor worked on his machine for two or three hours, part of the time with a friend, so the problem must have been more complicated than a clogged carburetor. I felt bad, but couldn't keep from thinking "it's not just me." He got the engine running normally in time to cut most of his yard before evening.

A closer look

Here's a closer view of the newly planted grape vines out back. I'm pretty sure that they are sauvignon (blanc), as that's the principal white grape grown in our region and one that is AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protégée) designated.

Newly planted grape vines with their protective waxy coating. That will disappear as the vines grow.

Growers in our area have been replacing older vineyard parcels with sauvignon since that happened. Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are two of the more well-known of the region's sauvignon blanc wines.

A new vineyard parcel

So, this happened yesterday. That empty field out back was planted with new grape vines. It's a semi-automatic process. A tractor pulls a contraption (for lack of a better word) that carries a supply of new vines up and down the rows and a machine pushes them into the ground in neat rows, equally spaced. A couple of workers ride on the tractor to ensure the grapevines are going where they should and to fix any anomalies as they occur. It goes very quickly but, still, it took the whole day. It's a fairly large piece of land.

The new vines look like spears of red asparagus.

The young vines are little more than sticks at this point. After a few days, their red waxy protective covers will melt away and leaves will begin to grow. I think the next step is to put stakes and guide wires in, but I'm not sure when that will happen.

It was nice while it lasted

Our weather has gone from clear and sunny to overcast and chilly over the past couple of days. There's no significant rain in the forecast, but tomorrow's low temperature is predicted to be about 8ºC (46ºF).

Monday's sunrise over the vineyards. And Tasha.

I didn't take any pictures, but yesterday's pizza was delicious. We had two kinds of chorizo in the fridge, one of which wasn't very good on its own (my opinion) so we combined the two on pizza. Once cooked, it was hard to tell the two chorizos apart. The sauce was a tomato puree, and we used grated gouda cheese, black olives, and some leftover cilantro as additional garnishes. Success!

Far afield

The sun was just up (around 6h15) and the shadows long. That golden vineyard parcel in the distance was dug up about three years ago. In the last couple of days I could see a plow turning the soil (clay), first coarsely, then more fine. If I understood my conversation with one of the vineyard guys last fall, the parcel will be replanted (with grapes) this year. That will be nice to see.

Looking westerly last Saturday morning.

There's a stiff breeze out there this morning, from the southwest, and it's chilly. We may see rain this afternoon. I'm making pizza for lunch. That'll help to keep the house comfortable.

Grape buds

It's that time of year again! The grape vines out back are starting to flower. Their flower buds look like this just before they open. Once they're open, pollinisation can occur and the grapes themselves will form.

Each one of these buds should become a grape in the coming weeks.

The little squash seedlings that I planted in hills of compost have survived their first twenty-four hours. Some critter nosed around in the compost during the night but the seedlings seem undamaged. They've even grown!

Seedlings

Yesterday I planted a bunch of seedlings. Zucchini and pumpkin. Since our garden plot resembles concrete at this point, I planted the seedlings in hills of compost. It'll be interesting to see how they do. One problem, I didn't label the starting pots, so I have no idea which plants are which. They all look the same at this stage. Jeez.

The pumpkins, I think, as they sprouted. Now they're bigger and planted outside.

This got us thinking about the possibility of building (as in paying someone to build) raised beds for the vegetable garden instead of fighting with the "soil" we've got. If we do decide on raised beds, we won't have them built until next spring. Lots to think about and, besides, the plot is now planted with squash.

Sneaky

I was making some adjustments on the phone and this happened. Twice.

Sneakers or tennis shoes?

Happy Sunday!

A castle in the back yard

That tower in the background is part of the old (medieval) château in Saint-Aignan. The newer (Renaissance) castle is out of the photo to the left. The owner lives there and the buildings are not open to the public, except that people are allowed to walk up to the courtyard and overlook for the views.

I'm standing with my back to the river and bridge looking up to the bluff where the castle sits.

The grass is all cut! How long will it be before it needs to be cut again? And before the weather is good enough to get it done?

The old and the new

Here's another view of the new pedestrian bridge in Saint-Aignan. It's still not open. You can see the temporary (I think) walkway down near the water level that the construction workers used during the project.

The old bridge was built over an old mill, long since closed after a fire and removed, but the foundations remain.

I went over the Thursday market in Selles-sur-Cher yesterday and got some more fraises (strawberries), salade (lettuce), a bunch of radis (radishes), and the big score: gambas crues (raw prawns). Most prawns and shrimp in France are sold already cooked. I don't know why, maybe they last longer that way. We can get raw shrimp at the Asian grocers' in Tours and Blois, but it's frozen. Better than nothing for sure. I didn't see any gombos (okra) at the market. We've only found that at the big produce market in Blois, a good forty minutes-plus drive from home.

The other thing I did yesterday was to mow the north and west forties. Today I'll finish up with the south forty and the strip along the road.

Frog eater

That's the best translation I can do of this restaurant's name: le Mange-Grenouille in Saint-Aignan. It's puzzled nearly everyone I've asked over the years. It's been a pretty good restaurant, but now things may change. It's being replaced and reopened under the equally puzzling name "Relais des Braconniers." That means, sort of, "The Poachers' Rest Stop." Huh?

The banner sign says "Recruiting staff for the dining room and the kitchen."

We had sort of a mishap last night. As I made my rounds before bed (making sure lights and appliances are off and doors are locked, that sort of thing), I could hear water running... somewhere. I followed the sound to just outside the the front door and it was obvious: a nozzle on a garden hose failed and water was running freely. I figure it had been running for about two hours when I found it. Water had flooded the entry and went on into the garage. I turned the water off from inside the house (we had obviously forgotten to do that; now it's on my list of things to check during the nightly rounds) and went to bed. This morning I moved the car out and used a tool called une raclette (like a giant squeegee) to push the water from the garage out onto the gravel driveway to drain away. The floor is air-drying now. What a wet mess!

Bird is the word

While I was taking photos of St.-Aignan's new passerelle, a bird flew through one of my shots. My first thought was "I'll have to take that out later." But I decided to leave it in. Local color and all that. I'm not at all certain what kind of bird it is. A pigeon of some sort? Wood pigeon?

The wooden plank deck of the new pedestrian bridge at Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher.

I'm planning a trip to the market in the nearby town of Selles tomorrow. The market is on Thursdays (obviously), but it's between twenty and thirty minutes away, so I don't get over there very often. Still, they have a great flower (live, not cut) vendor and I want some surfinias (trailing petunias) for the kitchen window boxes. Wish me luck.

Here's a very zoomed-in view of the bird as it zoomed past.

Le pont neuf

There's a new bridge in town! For a while now, we've watched the construction of une passerelle adjacent to the bridge over the Cher at Saint-Aignan. In French, a passerelle is a pedestrian/bike bridge. The word is also used for jetways and gangplanks among other things. The construction is all done now, but the bridge hasn't officially opened. The old bridge will remain, of course, but now pedestrians and cyclists will not have to negotiate its narrow sidewalk or the busy car and truck traffic that it carries.

The new bridge is made of steel with a wooden deck. It passes through the building on the far side. The old bridge is made of stone with rounded arches.

We had a little bit of rain yesterday, but I was still able to get out with the weed eater (strimmer) to neaten up the borders in the garden path. I noticed that the application of the home-made weed killer has done a good job on the weeds, but I think another treatment is called for. And, the yard wants to be mowed again.

Tread lightly

Look at those tractor tread marks! When it rains they become muddy as a bog, making walking treacherous. When it's dry, they harden like concrete. And the grass and weeds look packed in along the rows and are about a foot tall. Most of the parcels out back don't look like this one, but enough do to make me wonder how the grape vines survive. But they seem to.

We avoid walking between the rows and stick to the dirt road as much as we can.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are what French people call les saints de glace (the ice saints), after which the danger of frost is over. But beware! It's not unheard of to have a late freeze. It's 11ºC outside this morning, about 52ºF. Far from freezing, but still chilly, if you ask me.

As high as an elephant's eye

The grass is very tall in places around the vineyards. I think it will probably get cut eventually, but in the meantime, the tall grass is good for the wildlife and the wildflowers.

That's our little hamlet in the distance with the river valley beyond.

 

Yesterday the sun came out and things warmed up a little. I took advantage and made a couple batches of weed killer and sprayed the garden path as well as the gravel parts of the yard adjacent to the house. The mixture is mostly household cleaning vinegar mixed with table salt and dish soap. There are many versions of this recipe on the internet. If this one doesn't work well, I'll try another. The sun will rise soon and I'll get to see how the weeds are doing.

Un escargot

I saw this one the other day. I had to hurry to get the camera set, hoping he wouldn't dash away before I could get a photo. ;)

These critters are common around here.

Today is market day in Saint-Aignan. What's on the list? Green asparagus, radishes, strawberries, and poultry sausages, for starters.

Knapweed

These flowers are growing in our neighbors' yard. I'm not sure if they're wild or some domesticated variety. No matter; they're pretty.

A more rustic-looking version of this flower grows in some of the uncultivated areas out back.

The taxes are done, I hope, for another year. I always feel like I've missed something, especially, as one of my commenters pointed out, the forms change ever-so-slightly from year to year. I just have to check the summary recap to be sure that everything is there.

Snowballs up close

The optical shop sent me a text on Tuesday saying that my eyeglasses were ready. I went in yesterday to have them fitted. So far, the reviews are mixed. I've been wearing progressive lenses for close to thirty years, so I know there's an adjustment period whenever the prescription changes. My eyes need to figure out where to look. This morning is better than yesterday afternoon, but there's still room for improvement. Maybe today will be better.

A closeup of snowball flowers.

I'm planning to get the French income tax return done today. It shouldn't take long once I get started. It's getting started that's the hard part. I just keep telling myself that the sooner I start, the sooner it'll get done.

Snowball bush

This is the neighbors' snowball bush. It blooms every spring, even more so now since it was pruned back not long ago.

Snowball bush.

Today is haircut day for me. Tomorrow is the second holiday in May. This one marks the end of World War II. I'm not counting Cinco de Mayo. The French don't celebrate that one.

Zoom zoom

This is a different cropping of yesterday's photo that zooms in on one of the vendors at the Montrichard market. Guess what he sells! That's right: fraises (strawberries) and asperges (asparagus). He's not the guy that I usually buy from. I don't remember ever seeing him at Saint-Aignan's Saturday market.

He even sells green asparagus. We see more and more of that available as the years go by.

The heating technician arrived at about 11h00 yesterday morning and did his thing. Everything looks to be in tip top shape. Good thing, too, as our heat came on early this morning, the first time in about a week. It's close to 7ºC (around 45ºF) out there as I type this. Brrr. And grrr.

Busy busy

Our "busy" month of May continues today with a scheduled visit from the people who service our central heating boiler. The technician's expected some time this morning and he'll (it's always a guy) spend about an hour inspecting, cleaning, and replacing parts. We purchased the service contract oh so long ago when we had the old boiler (the first reference I could find in the blog is from 2010 and it says that we bought the contract "a few years ago").

Montrichard's main square. City hall is outside the photo to the left.

This photo is the third (and last) one I took last Friday in Montrichard. I was standing on the town's main street looking up the hill through the market. You can't see much of it in this shot. Sorry about that..

Cooling down

After a near perfect weather week (shorts and tee-shirts!), we're having a cool down. Some forecasters are predicting rain, even thunder storms. Others are predicting no precipitation at all (at least in the short term). Everyone seems to agree that it will be much cooler this coming week.

The Cher River at Montrichard, looking downstream.

I was able to get the grass cut over the past few days. Yesterday I got the weed-eater out and started attacking the edges, including the garden path. The mower can cut to about six inches of the path's raised edge. The rest has to be done by hand. And I used to do it by hand until we got the weed-eater last year.

Productive Friday

As planned, I drove over to Montrichard yesterday morning. I had time to wander around at the market and picked up some asperges blanches, une barquette de fraises, and une botte de radis. Then to a bakery for deux baguettes. After that, I went to my appointment at the optical shop and ordered my new glasses. They should be ready in around eight days.

The bridge over the Cher at Montrichard.

It was a beautiful day with a bright blue, cloudless sky. After lunch I finished up the grass cutting. Now the weather is supposed to turn again. Back to chilly mornings and maybe some rain. We shall see.

This will be short

I'm heading out this morning to the market in Montrichard. I'm hopeful, but not optimistic, that I'll find okra at the health food store there. There probably isn't much of a market for it here. We do find it in the larger produce stores, but the closest is a good forty minute drive away.

This is part of the perimeter that was closed off with an electric fence. Nothing's happened since it was taken down.

I also have an appointment at an optical shop for new glasses. It should go pretty fast since I don't have to choose frames. I have two pair that I like a lot, so it's just a matter of getting everything measured. Once the lenses are made, I'll go back to have them fitted into the frames.

Another log pile

This is the "other" log pile on the Artsy Organized Neighbor's property. It, too, is very meticulously stacked. Last year we noticed that a lot of people with wooded land harvested logs and stacked them. Word was that wood for firewood and other purposes was fetching a premium price. Whatever the reason, a lot of wood got harvested last year.

Logs (center), piled up between trees for support.

As I've mentioned, today is la fête de travail (Labor Day), a major holiday in France and around Europe. Yippee! A day off! LOL