Some like it hot

The new water heater was installed yesterday and now we're back in "bidness," as some say. It's a big tank by French standards, but we've never run out of hot water with one this size, whereas we used to run out with the smaller model that we replaced back in 2010. Especially when we had house guests.

Slightly blurry grape bunches.

The plumber agreed to clean our chimney (plumbers do that here) in September. He actually gave us an appointment in writing! This is good because, in France, insurance companies require that you clean the chimney once a year, and homeowners need to have proof that it was done if there's ever an incident. I plan to refrain from building a fire until it's done.

Ouch!

Look at those thorns! And this wild blackberry is not even one of the big ones. Still, getting tangled up in a patch of these will certainly leave marks. These aren't necessarily good to eat. The fruit is small and the seeds inside are big. The wildlife likes them, though.

Wild blackberries starting to ripen out by the pond. One of the sharper images from this outing.

Plants like this populate our laurel and hazelnut hedges and are a pain to deal with every year. That's one reason we're having the remaining hazelnut hedges in our yard taken out this year. The nuts (when there are nuts) are no good as they get pierced by insects that lay their eggs inside. Yuck.

In other news, our water heater sorta died yesterday. It's leaking, and it's not heating water very well. We called a plumber, new to us, to have a look and he declared it basically dead. He's coming back today to install a new one. It was bound to happen. The heater has served us well, but it's just too old. We've had it since 2010, and it was a "previously owned" appliance when we got it. RIP. 

Shake your booty

It's not as easy as it used to be. I'm talking about taking the DSLR out on my morning walk with Tasha. I always carry her leash (a retractable model that we've had since the 1990s), fixed around my waist when I have the camera. However, in the vineyard, I usually let Tasha run free and only attach her when people or vehicles approach. For Monday's walk, I put the 100mm macro lens on the camera. It's a big, heavy lens that hangs from my shoulder by its strap. It's all kind of awkward; I need to figure out a better system, especially for when we go to places like the island in the river where I can't let her off leash..

These yellow wildflowers (wild wort?) grow all around and in the vineyard. Sorry for the blur.

With the macro lens, I'm often crouching when I take the picture. It's not a very stable position and I end up moving more than I should. When I have the dog attached, well, she doesn't sit as still as I'd like. Add to that the low light-levels of a typical morning and you've got a recipe for camera shake. End result: blurry photos. And that's what you're getting this week.

Fading

The daisies are fading already. Maybe it was the combination of our heat wave followed by period of chilly rain. There are still some flowers. And, oddly, the faded blooms are interesting to look at.

Fading daisies.

We're in the period of the grand chassé-croisé of the summer, when July vacationers, les juillettistes, head home and August vacationers, les aoûtiens, head out. The result: heavy traffic in all directions. I'm glad I'm not out in it. 

One last glance

That's it for my recent walk on the island in the Cher at Saint-Aignan. I'll have to go back again soon since I missed a bunch of stuff. Like the beach and the fish ladder. Tasha loves car rides, so I know she'd be happy to go. It takes a whole five minutes to get there.

The château at Saint-Aignan at sunrise.

I haven't cut grass in a few weeks because of all the rain we've been having, but yesterday I was able to get the mower out and cut the strip along the road. I mostly wanted to run the mower to keep the battery charged. Now it's time to wish for some dry weather to get the rest of the property groomed.

And speaking of the property, we got the landscaper's estimate for all the things we wanted done but can't do ourselves. The estimate seems quite reasonable and we're both happy about that. 

What is it?

I don't know what that blue-green stuff is on the surface of the water at this spot. Foam? Algae? Some other kind of plant? I guess I need to go back and have a better look.

The bridge at Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher.

I called the ophthalmologist's office yesterday and I have an appointment in about two weeks time. Until then, my old prescription is standing in. It's not great, but it's much better than the new one.

Up a lazy river

Looking upstream from the island in the Cher at Saint-Aignan. The water is so calm because the river is held back in two places to form a reservoir for the now-gone grain mill.

Le Cher à Saint-Aignan.

I went back to the optical shop yesterday morning for my appointment. It was with a different woman, so I had to explain my problem from the beginning. Still, she was very patient and seemed to want to help. She tested my new glasses to be sure they conformed to my prescription; they did. But she was very surprised at the strength of the new prescription, just like the woman I saw on Tuesday. She said that amount correction after only three years with my previous glasses seemed excessive, something you'd expect to see after ten or fifteen years without an update, not three. She told me to go back to ophthalmologist to ensure that the prescription was what he intended, then to get instructions for what to do next. She was very deferential to the doctor's role and said she didn't have the authority to override his prescription.. But I could tell that she became more and more convinced that I should not have such a strong prescription. She called it une sur-correction, an over-correction. I don't want to be one who self-diagnoses with the internet, but my research confirms that I have all the symptoms of a sur-correction..

So, now I have to do that. I'm calling the doctor's office this morning for an appointment, sooner, I hope, than later. In the meantime, the optometrist put my three-year old lenses back into one pair of my glasses. They feel so much better, although my vision is blurry with them. But there are no distortions or discomfort.

Stepping back

I was using a 50mm lens on the camera so, to get a wider angle shot, I needed to physically back away from the subjects. I do have a 25mm lens for wide shots, but didn't have it with me. No matter. Here's a somewhat wider view that includes the château, the church, the bridge, the new passerelle, the old mill foundations, and the lock. No swimming allowed.

View toward central Saint-Aignan from the island in the Cher.

It rained on and off yesterday with some mild thunder in the late afternoon. We're still in the same pattern today, maybe with less rain. The high temperature is expected to be around 22ºC (71ºF). And it's a new moon! I wonder what its name is.

The municicpal swimming pool.

That should be plural. There's one indoor pool and one outdoor pool. Not being much of a swimmer, I haven't been in either of them. They were closed for a while recently for renovations. 

Saint-Aignan's municipal swimming pool, built on the island in the Cher.

I went to the optical shop in Montrichard yesterday and spoke to the woman who fitted my new prescription back in May. I did my best to explain the problem. She was puzzled when I mentioned that my two new pairs of glasses were different, that I couldn't use them interchangeably without a significant adjustment period. She said, "That can't be. They're identical." Well, they don't feel identical to me. Maybe I'm using them wrong.

She looked at the new prescription and the old and remarked, "Your new lenses are very strong. Twice the strength of your previous ones." I'm not sure how significant that is, but she seemed to be surprised, which surprised me, because she fitted them in the first place. The prior prescription is three years old; the one before that was six years old when I had it updated (both by different companies). Then I told her I'm nervous about driving with these newest glasses, said the equivalent of, "It's that bad?" Yup, it is.

So now what? She gave me an appointment for tomorrow (Thursday). If I understood correctly, she wants to test my eyes and compare her results to the ophthalmologist's. I'll let you know how it goes.

And throw away the key

This is the lock at Saint-Aignan. The photo shows the doors that open and close so that boats can move from one level to the other. Very small boats.

The lock doors at Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher.

I'm planning to go back to the optical shop that made my new glasses a couple of months ago. They're just not working. I kept thinking they would, that my eyes would adjust to them, but I've had it at this point. There's one tiny point on each lens where things are clear. Otherwise, my vision is blurry and distorted. Working at the computer is almost impossible and very uncomfortable. I trip over rocks on the vineyard road; my depth perception sucks. I worry about driving. Ugh. I checked my paper work and I'm still within the adaptation period for guaranteed replacement lenses.

The other side

As I've mentioned a few times, the bridge, and now the new passerelle, pass over the foundations of a mill that once stood on this spot. Here, the foundations form part of a dam that creates the mill's reservoir. There is also a lock so that boats can move up and down river. In fact, more than an few dams with locks along the Cher once made it possible for commercial river traffic to move goods downriver to Tours and beyond. I believe that all that is over these days; I've never seen any of the locks in actual operation. Maybe I'm not paying attention. I do know that some of the lock houses have been converted to vacation rentals over the years.

The steel gray/green passerelle recalls the industrial history of the site.

Yesterday was a wet one, as predicted. We do need the water, especially after the couple of heat waves we've had. It's supposed to rain again this morning. Temperatures are much lower since the systems moved through. I think they're supposed to stay that way for a while. 

A little to the left

Depending on where you're standing, St.-Aignan's château and the town's church can look like parts of the same building. They are quite close, but they're separate buildings. This view, without the château, was taken from the same spot on the island as yesterday's photo.

The two towers of the collégiale church at Saint-Aignan.

Today is expected to be rainy. In fact, it rained before I got out of bed (about 06h20), but not much. I was able to go out for a short walk in with Tasha since I've been up. It's sprinkling out there, but I can see on the radar that heavier rain is indeed headed toward us. Thankfully, there's no electrical activity to report, nor is any predicted.

Here comes the sun

Caught just as the sun was rising, this is the château at Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher. I was standing down at water level just upstream of the bridge.

Le château de Saint-Aignan.

There was a little lightning and thunder during a rain shower yesterday. Nothing threatening, thank goodness. I noticed lightning in the sky during the night last night, but there was no rain, no thunder. In fact, the sky above me was mostly starry with patches of cloud here and there. If there was a storm, it must have been a long way away.

The beach

I didn't get a photo of the actual beach this time. Like I said previously, there was a crew working over there and I didn't want to get Tasha all excited. It's not a big beach, but it is sandy. The river is shallow and slow moving there; I'm pretty sure most people could walk across it where the beach is. I wonder if the beach is natural or artificial. I've seen other small, natural beaches here and there along the river. There's a big beach in the river at Montrichard. I'll bet it draws a crowd on hot days.

The sign is positioned to be visible from Saint-Aignan. The actual beach is on the other side of the island.

Today would be a good day to go to the beach, except that I'm not really a beach person. The weather site I look at daily is projecting 33ºC (low 90sF) for this afternoon. After today, a major cool-down is predicted.

Where'd it go?

From the upstream side of the bridge over the Cher at Saint-Aignan, you can't see the new passerelle at all. Reflections in the reservoir on this side of the bridge are unspoiled. Water that flows toward the bridge is slowed by a small dam built at its foundations before spilling over and continuing on. The dam is what remains of a grain mill that was built on this site a long time ago; the reservoir behind provided the power to turn the mill stone(s). The mill since closed and a fire destroyed the building leaving only the bridge and the dam below.

A dam beneath the bridge creates a calm reservoir that once provided water to power a grain mill.

To help create the reservoir and keep most, if not all, of the river's water from diverting around the other side of the island, another small dam was built upstream. That dam was recently enhanced with a fish ladder, giving the aquatic critters access to upstream waters. One of these days I'll go back to see what I can see and, hopefully, take some pictures.

Ramp

Two ramps connect the bridge level to the island level below. This one leads upstream toward the beach and guinguette/picnic area. The other, just behind where I'm standing to take this photo, leads downstream toward the swimming pools and garden allotments.

Ramp.

Today is errands day for me. First, I'm picking up a prescription at the pharmacy. Then I'll stop at a nearby produce market for some seasonal melon (similar to cantaloup, but sweeter) and, hopefully some jambon cru (cured ham) to go with it. After that, I'm crossing the river to the vet's office to pick up some dental chews for Tasha, ordered online last week, and a fresh supply of her monthly flea and tick medicine. My last stop will be the Intermarché grocery store to turn in some plastic bottles for recycling (and a store credit!). Then it's back across the bridge to home. I hope the zoo traffic will have calmed down by then.

Passerelle pass-through

The new passerelle (pedestrian/bike bridge) in Saint-Aignan has an interesting feature: it passes right through one of the buildings on the island. I don't think the building is used for anything; I looked in through one or two of the windows. Nothing in there.

Buildings "on the bridge" are the access points to the island below.

The sign on the other building that says "Sur Le Pont" (On the Bridge) is for a restaurant that is, you guessed it, on the bridge. The last time I ate there was a long time ago. The restaurant served good burgers and pizza (I think). They have a terrasse down at water level so diners can sit outside with a great view of the château on the left bank. I'm not sure what they're serving these days, or if they're even open. I'll take a closer look the next time I visit the island.

The monument in the form of an obelisk is a memorial to over 800 American soldiers killed in the region during World War II. 

A morning walk on the island

There's an island in the Cher River at Saint-Aignan. I think I've mentioned that on said island there's a restaurant, a beach, the local pétanque courts, garden allotments, and the piscine municipale (municipal swimming pool). There are actually two pools, one indoors and one outdoors. Tasha and I drove over (well, I drove, but Tasha kept an eye out for oncoming traffic), parked at the new passerelle, then crossed over to the island for a stroll.

Entering Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher from the west.

Tasha's extendable leash was attached to my waist so she enjoyed a little bit of freedom and I had use of both hands to work the camera. I took this shot from the small parking lot on the left bank at the entrance to town; the bridge is just out of the frame to the left. The street bedecked with colorful flags winds up through the historic center of town to the Saturday market then on southward to the big zoo (Beauval).

Today's a holiday, so there was not much in the way of traffic at 06h30, but that will change as the day goes on, I'm sure. Saint-Aignan held it's July 14 fireworks on Saturday night the 12th (better than a Monday night, I suppose). I noticed there was a guinguette (a kind of outdoor bar/tavern) set up in the picnic area next to the beach. Of course, I didn't take any photos of that as there was a crew working to dismantle it and Tasha was a little anxious.

Boom!

I had just fallen asleep. Then, at around 23h00, I was awakened by semi-rhythmic thuds off to our northwest, toward Mareuil. At first I thought the dog was up to something, but as the fog cleared I realized what it was: fireworks. The show lasted about fifteen minutes. I couldn't see anything out the north window because the shade was closed and there's a fan spinning on the dresser in front of the window. Too much to deal with at groggy o'clock.

The view down rows of neatly trimmed grape vines.

Then the music started. Faint music, but with a discernable beat, off to the east, where Saint-Aignan is. I assume there was a party on the island, or maybe in the municipal stadium. It went on for a few hours. I made the rounds of the house just because I was awake. But soon after I went back to bed, around 02h00, I was in slumber land again. It's not even the 14th yet. I wonder what we'll hear tonight.

Grapes and raisins

At the risk of repeating myself, here's a bunch of grapes. You might even say, a loverly bunch of grapes. The individual fruits are called raisins in French, grapes in English. When they dry, they're called raisins secs (dry grapes) in French, and simply raisins in English. Each bunch (English) is called une grappe in French.

Some of the grapes dry out in the heat. Nature's raisins. And they're tasty, too.

The moon last night was an amazing sight as it rose in the southeast. I'm sure it has a name, but I haven't looked it up. OK, now I have. Buck Moon. Something to do with deer growing antlers. Are these moon names the same every year, or do they change? I think the heat may be getting to me.

Hot days ahead

The forecast is for a few days of hot highs in the low 30sC, the low 90sF. This is exactly what we were longing for back in the cold and damp of spring. What were we thinking? LOL

This looks like fun on a hot day. Fountain at the Parc André Citroën, Paris.

According to one weather site, we will lose our first two full minutes of daylight today. We're also heading into a big holiday weekend. School's out for the summer and Monday is la Fête Nationale (Bastille Day). I have a doctor's appointment this morning. Just the regular six month checkup to renew prescriptions. 

The lone poplar

It was a much smaller tree twenty-two years ago when we moved here. We've watched it grow since then on our daily walks through the vineyard. It's even visible from the house. It's become a landmark much like the lone walnut tree a little further along the road. 

The lone peuplier/poplar belongs to the people who own these vines.

While it's still chilly in the morning, the high temperatures are inching (or should that be "centimetering?") upwards. We may hit 30ºC today. The mowing is done one more time, although I still have some edge trimming to do. 

Death among the vines

Sometimes grape vines die. I don't know why one vine among dozens just gives up. But they do, especially in the older, established vineyard parcels. In some cases, the dead vine is replaced with a younger, healthy one. In other cases, the vine is removed but not replaced. An empty space marks the spot until, at some point, there are too many empty spaces and the entire parcel is dug up and, eventually, replanted. Or not. I'm sure vineyard management is not so simple as that.

A dead grape vine among the living.

Yesterday was a productive day. I made another trip to the dump and got rid of several containers of spent fryer oil. I also went to the filling station for ten liters of gasoline for the mower. After, I managed to cut the grass in the west forty. Today I hope to cut the south forty and the strips outside the hedges. The weather forecast looks good. 

Twenty years ago

Just a quick photo from 2005 when we started harvesting green beans from our garden. Yum! No such bounty this year. :(

Green and yellow beans from one of our first vegetable gardens, 2005.

I was up and out early this morning. Another trip to the dump and to buy some gasoline for the mower. 

Getting plowed

One way to keep weeds under control out in the vineyards is to plow them under. That's what's happened in this parcel in the past week. It's good for the vines and it looks nice. But walking in the newly plowed rows is next to impossible. Oh well, the vineyard isn't there for our strolling pleasure.

A newly plowed vineyard parcel.

Can you believe that, after our near 40ºC days last week, we're now back to putting blankets on the bed. It rained most of the day on Sunday. The rain was welcome. You may have noticed from the photos of our back yard how brown the grass is. It's almost like California in the summer.

Top heavy

The apple trees are looking a little top heavy these days. They're on the list for pruning during the winter months. It'll be the second time we've have them done in twenty years. There aren't any apples on the tree this year. We seem to be in a year-on year-off cycle with them. One year were drowning in apples, the next year there are none. I've read that this happens when trees are not pruned regularly.

No apples on the trees this year. That'll make mowing a lot easier. Didn't I see this tree in The Wizard of Oz?

We woke up to light rain this morning and about 18ºC on the thermometer. Dare I say, it's almost fall-like. Our high is predicted to be 20ºC, a far cry from the nearly 40º we had for a couple of days last week. 

It's grapes

Here are some grapes on the vines out back. They're coming along nicely. I think they like the hot weather and all the trimming and pruning they've been getting.

These are red grapes, I think, but are they gamay, cabernet, or côt (malbec)?

Today is market day and I'm thinking of going for some poultry sausages. Next weekend is a big holiday weekend: July 14, commemorating the French Revolution and, if the weather is good, I expect there to be a lot of vacationers in the area. The market can get crowded. 

Ivy league

It just got away from us. The ivy growing on the garden shed, that is. And we can't remove it; Ken has tried. However, the landscape contractor said "no problem." But, he warned, it will try like heck to come back, so we'll have to cut away any shoots we that see at ground level to keep the takeover from happening again. Doses of weed killer could help, but we may have to move those irises.

Ken cut some of the ivy (you can see where it's brown), but it's tough going, and we can't pry it off the walls.

It's chilly this morning! It was 16.4ºC when I took Tasha out. That's about 61ºF. The high is expected to top out at 31ºC (about 88ºF). Sleeping is much easier, especially for Tasha.

Relief!

This morning's low temperature is below 20ºC (about 68ºF) for the first time in a while. It feels nice. We're expecting a high of 31ºC (about 88ºF) this afternoon. Much better.

The remaining hazelnut hedge, about half of what it was.

This photo shows the row of hazelnut hedges out in the west forty. You can see them between the fig on the left and the artichoke on the right. It's about half the the hazelnuts we had before I had the other half ripped out many years ago. Some have died, others are being taken over by ronces (blackberry brambles). The hedge serves no purpose; it's up against the fence. It gets trimmed back every year with the other hedges, but there's really no reason for it to be there. It doesn't produce any edible nuts and hasn't for years. It's filling up with sharp-thorned brambles and they're choking the hedge. One of the nut trees that make up the hedge is already dead. So the whole hedge will come out as part of our Big Beautiful Pruning Project (sorry) that we hope will happen some time this coming winter.

Still hot

The heat wave continues. Tuesday night was the hottest so far. I'm waiting for the weather site I like to update its forecast, about fifteen minutes from now. Meanwhile, I have no new photos to share. (I since went out and took a few photos of the yard.) But, there's news. The landscaping contractor who trims our hedges each year came by yesterday to work up an estimate for a bunch of things we'd like done this fall and winter on the property. The list includes pruning back the two apple trees, cutting back the large tilleul (linden tree) out back, digging out the row of hazelnut trees and another dying shrub, helping to remove as much of the St. John's wort as he can, and cutting back the overgrowth along the north side fence. 

The tall linden (center) looms dangerously over the house.

It feels good to know that some (or all) of these things will get done. We've been stressing because we haven't been able to do much of it ourselves this year due to weather, the scale of the work, or the fact that we were sick a good part of January.

The photo includes one of the apples (left), the linden (middle), and a Christmas fir (rignt), all planted by the previous owner over twenty years ago. The top third of the linden will come down and the remaining branches will be pruned back or eliminated to open up, reshape, and lighten the tree. Its proximity to the house, in its current form, makes it dangerous when we have high winds.

Watering the vines

I think the new grape vines out back are too young and fragile for this heat wave we're having, so the growers are working to ensure they survive by giving them water. At least, that's the story I've conjured in my mind about what's going on here (maybe they'd water them anyway?). Four people, each armed with a hose that's connected to that big machine, walked behind it as it crept along, keeping the ends of the hoses aligned with the rows they were watering so there would be no waste. With that big machine, they could do four rows at the same time.

I was very far away when I took this photo. You may be able to see the people just to the left of the tractor.

Meanwhile, the heat wave continues. Today looks like it might be the hottest day before it cools down again. We shall see.