Spring is in there somewhere

The last couple of days have been relatively warm and we are noticing more and more leaf buds on the trees and vines, and more wildflowers in their usual places. Right now, violets are in bloom around the yard. They stay close to the shady areas and their vibrant blue color is eye-catching. But all of that fades away when I apply a sepia treatment to a photo.

As one of my readers pointed out recently, the sepia treatment gives the photo a "Kansas in the Wizard of Oz" look.

With Tasha in the role of Toto, of course.

One chore that got completed yesterday is the breaking-down of cardboard boxes. I'll bet we had accumulated close to thirty boxes in the garage, taking up space. They were mostly wine boxes (ahem), but we also had more than a few Amazon boxes in the mix. Ken and I spent about an hour breaking them all down and flattening them. Some were closed with tape necessitating the use of a box cutter (what an appropriate name!), others with glue, and those can be stubborn, not to mention hell on the fingernails. We put the flattened cartons in big leaf bags and Ken took them to a recycling station over by the supermarket. Good riddance!

Sausages on the grill yesterday were tasty. We may do burgers today. The grilling season is officially here!

Le pliage

Here's an example of grape vines that have been pliées (folded). The single cane that remains after la taille (pruning) is bent to the horizontal and wrapped around a guide wire. Then, in most cases, a sort of twisty tie (what do you call them?) secures the cane to the wire.

These vines are pretty old, but they still produce.

More spring chores are getting done around our place, but there are many more to go. I'm dreading the window and curtain washing. It's not difficult, but it's a chore and it takes time. I do like the result when it's done. I think we'll be firing up the grill for today's lunch. The first grilling of the season will be saucisses de Toulouse (Toulouse-style sausages). Yum.

Plowshares

This is what one of the newer vineyard parcels out back looks like after the plow passes. The tractor with the plow straddles the vine row and, as it moves through the parcel, turns the soil on both sides of the vine trunks. The result is not particularly pretty, and it makes walking between the rows awkward at best. We casual walkers can avoid the plowed rows, but vineyard workers have to deal with them.

My phone camera saw the clouded morning sky as a deep blue.

Friday was another productive day! I power-washed the deck, opened up the bbq grill, and brought the table and chairs up from the garage. This morning, our indoor temperature is just above the point where the central heating comes on. In other words, it's the first morning since winter began that we haven't needed heat. However, morning temps in the single digits are predicted to return from Sunday forward. Yuck.

Thursday morning sunrise

I used my phone to take some pictures in the vineyard yesterday. I'm not happy with the result, so I'll probably take the DSLR out in the next day or two. This sunrise photo came out ok, so here it is.

Looking northeasterly toward our hamlet at sunrise on Thursday.

We're having a relative warm spell. It got up to just over 20ºC (about 68F) yesterday and we're expecting the same through the weekend. I'm thinking of power-washing the deck and getting the bbq grill up and running for the season. But there's no lack of chores to choose from. We'll see how it goes.

The parcel of grape vines shown below was re-planted two seasons ago. This will be its third year. The vines resemble little sticks at this point. Yesterday, one of the vineyard workers used a plow to turn over the soil on either side of each vine row. I'm guessing that's intended to help keep the weeds down while the vines mature.

Mediocre photo of the replanted vineyard parcel behind our hamlet.

I also noticed that the pliage is under way in neighboring parcels. Several workers walked through the pruned rows "folding" each remaining cane to the horizontal and attaching it to a guide wire. The buds are thus well-spaced when they sprout rather than all bunched up. I'll try to get some photos. A picture is worth a thousand words. At least it was before the tariffs.

Whole lotta prunin' goin' on.

Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid. Little by little, the bird builds its nest. An expression that applies to the annual grape vine pruning here (and everywhere, I expect). It's a job done by hand (except that the pruning shears are battery powered): last year's growth is cut off the main trunk, except for one cane. The pruners have an eye for which cane should stay.

Do plum trees get pruned?

Yesterday, in a burst of productivity, I got our US tax return done and sent it off via the internet. A message came back soon after saying that the IRS received and accepted the return. We're expecting a small refund. Yay! Now its on to the French tax return.

Killing me softly

Since Round Up was taken off the market, I've been trying (with little enthusiasm and less success) different ways to control weeds in our gravel paths and driveway. One way is not to bother. I'm not sure I like that method. Ken did some internet research and found lots of mention of using vinegar, and one that combines strong household vinegar with salt to kill weeds. I decided to try.

I don't know what this is.

So, yesterday I mixed up the "recipe" which also called for a measure of liquid dish soap. That, supposedly, helps the vinegar/salt solution to stick to the weeds' leaves. Once mixed, I sprayed the solution on everything green in the garden path before I ran out. I'll see this morning if the weeds show signs of kicking the bucket. If so, I'll mix up some more for the north side and the driveway.

p.s. I just realized what day this is and I want to let you know that this is not an April fool!

So long, March

It hasn't been a lovely winter. Overcast, rainy, and cold most of the time. And both of us were sick for about two months. Nearly everyone we talk to says they had this virus, whatever it was. Our doctor told us it was "something going around." I'll be happy to see March go.

Tree trunks.

At the risk of jinxing spring, we are enjoying more sunny days. It's still not very warm, but the sunshine helps it not to feel too cold. I'm hopeful that we have more and more sunny days as April arrives.

Springing forward

The vineyards around us are looking very spring-like. No leaves, yet, but there are buds forming on the vines. Pruning continues and the vines are looking quite neat and tidy. Some parcels that are normally pruned by now are not, making me wonder if they're scheduled to be ripped out. Time will tell.

Some parcels are getting sprayed for weeds. I thought that herbicides were no longer used out there. Is a puzzlement.

I'm getting a few more things done in the yard while the weather is decent. I ripped out an overgrown sage plant on Friday. It was way past its prime and we hardly ever harvested its leaves. I wonder if it's like our oregano that doesn't have much flavor unless it's dried? Oh well, it's too late now.

Sunny daze

We enjoyed a mostly sunny day on Friday, with another expected today. Of course, cloudless days are often chilly. I ended up putting a fire in the wood burner in the afternoon to take the chill off and to give the central heating a rest. 

This shadow happens in the spring and in the fall.

When the sun does shine in this time of year, it casts shadows around the rooms. This is a corner of the dining area with the Eiffel Tower and its shadow. Our friend Cheryl gave us the tower. It came from Pottery Barn, if memory serves, back in San Francisco. Back in the olden days. The little wiry figure (sold separately) has magnetic feet.

Redux

This image is from our 2018 trip to the Vendée on the west coast of France. It's the city of Niort and one of its churches, Saint André de Niort. We had Tasha for just over a year at that point.

Saint André de Niort, October 2018.

I've got to get out with the camera one of these days and take some new photos.

Wednesday was pizza day

We had some left over radish leaf pesto sauce and thought it would make a good base for pizza. I made the usual crust dough. I make it in the stand mixer then let it rise for about three hours, so putting it together first thing in the morning makes it ready for lunch. The recipe makes enough dough for two individual pizzas.

Delicious pizza pie!

Before topping it, I shaped half the dough with my hands (I've learned that using a rolling pin presses too much air out of the dough), then covered it with a towel and let it rise for about twenty minutes. I spread the pesto on, using a brush to bring the sauce almost to the edge. Then I added cooked and cubed chicken breast, bell pepper cut into strips, and garnished with black olives. I also sprinkled some grated parmesan on top at the table (remembering that there's already some parmesan in the pesto itself). Yum!

Again with the primroses

The best way to preserve primroses? Photography! But don't fret. The real thing will be around for a while. Mowing won't happen right away. Usually, by the time I cut the grass, the primroses are past their prime.

The predominate colors in this year's primrose crop: purple and white.

Sunrise is at 6h44 this morning. Each day, for the time being, we gain about three minutes of daylight. We're still on Winter Time until the weekend. Then Sunday we'll turn our clocks ahead and enter Summer Time. It won't be light so early in the morning, but it will stay lighter later in the day. I think I've got that right...

More primroses

Primroses, as I've certainly mentioned before, are called primevères in French. That's derived from the latin primus, meaning "first." They're among the first flowers to appear in spring. I got all that from Wikipedia; I'm no flower expert.

Primroses in the north forty.

One day, should the weather cooperate, I will cut them all down with the first mowing of the season. With the weather we've been having, that won't be anytime soon. The ground is still very soggy.

A preponderance of purple primroses

There are a few blues, a lot of whites, no reds. This year's crop seems to be mostly purple and white.

Primroses pop up in our back yard, mostly in the north forty, every spring.

Yesterday brought cloudy skies, rain showers, and some wind. The house felt chilly so I built a fire in the wood stove to keep us warm through the day. We also at a yummy gratin of endives wrapped in ham slices with a cheesy béchamel. I guess that would be more properly called a mornay sauce.

Still going

I posted a photo of this fruitless cherry last week, but I think now it looks even more spectacular. Our plum tree's blossoms are all gone now. Look toward the bottom of the photo and you will catch a glimpse of the primroses blooming in our lawn. I'd like to get a few shots of those, maybe later today.

Cherry blossoms.

My trip to the Saturday market in Saint-Aignan was mostly a bust. No asparagus, yet. No strawberries, yet. The Asian guys weren't there, so no nems. I'll try again next week. I did get a bunch of radishes and they are delicious.

Worse than ours?

This building is probably, over all, in better shape than our garden shed. But the door looks like it's seen better days. Still, there's something about that old weathered look...

All  four glass panes are missing, the window is patched with wood. Brillac, Vendée, 2018.

I'm planning a trip to the market this morning, as long as there's a break in the rain. We've been hearing reports on TV that asparagus crops are early this year, at least those near the coast and in the south west. I don't know about our local crops, but that's what I'll see at the market. I'll also check out the local strawberry vendors (it may be too early for those), and look for some radishes and nems (Vietnamese egg rolls).

Fermetures

The contractor showed up on time yesterday morning to replace the motor on our overhead garage door, fix a little glitch in one of the new roll-down shutters, and to take measurements for a a new set of standard shutters on the garden shed. He spent about three hours working on the new motor. The shutter glitch took a minor adjustment and now it seems to be fixed.

The garage door when it was new in 2018. It looks pretty much the same today.

As for the garden shed, we decided that he'd repair the existing door rather than replace it. It looks like new, even though we had it installed in 2003. All it needs is to have the sheared bolts drilled out and new bolts put in. He seemed to think it would be fastoche (easy). Then he'll put in new all-white PVC shutter doors on the window.

The shutters on the garden shed in 2018. They look a lot worse than this now. The wood is disintegrating. The door's hinges will be repaired.

His company is called CLP Fermetures. A fermeture is a closure and, as you can imagine, they do gates, shutters, windows, doors, and anything else that closes (and opens!). To date, he's installed eight shutters on our house, one garden gate, and one garage door. He didn't install the garden shed door.

Another quick one

We're expecting the guys who did our window shutters and our garage door to show up first thing this morning. They have a new motor for the garage door that they installed back in 2018. I also need to show them a small problem that we're having with one of the shutters they installed last month (we're very happy with them otherwise). Finally, I want to ask them for an estimate for a new door and shutter on the garden shed. The door we had installed in 2003 is literally coming off its hinges and the old wooden shutter has seen better days.

These grape vines were planted two seasons ago.

I made a little more progress in the yard yesterday afternoon. The hortensias (hydrangeas) are pruned back and I got a start on pruning back the out-of-control glycine (wisteria). I hope to finish that today.

Happy equinox to all! It's the first day of spring!

In a fog

I have no new photos for today, so here's another of Monday's fog. This is our road, looking the other way from yesterday's photo. That is, to the east, and downhill, toward the river. The house belongs to our neighbors who live full time in Blois (about 45km north) and spend some weekends, holidays, and vacations here.

Fog looks so much more spooky in black and white.

I was sort of productive yesterday. It's a slow start after a winter of hunkering down indoors. First, I trimmed down the dried stems of last year's oregano and daisy patches. I used the electric hedge trimmer for that, then used the walk-behind mower to finish them up. I moved a tarp, a bunch of wood strips, and a dozen or so roof tiles, that I had used to cover last year's pile of yard waste, into the garden shed for the summer. The yard waste was taken away by our landscape guy when his crew trimmed the hedges in January. I'm making a list of yard chores. And I'm checking it twice.

A tale of two hedges

One of our neighbors across the road had his hedges trimmed last week. His is a mixed "wild" hedge, or at least that's what I call it. it's made up of different kinds of trees and vines and other varieties of plants. Our hedge, in contrast, is mostly one hedge species called laurier cerise (cherry laurel). There are also bay laurel, honeysuckle, ivy, and blackberry brambles mixed in to our hedge, but it's mostly cherry laurel plants.

For the time being, our and our neighbors' hedges are neatly squared off. That will change as spring arrives. They look cool in the fog.

I noticed this view of both our hedges yesterday morning when I took out the garbage. Ours is on the right, the neighbor's is on the left.

La rouère

Where you see trees in this image is where une rouère (a stream bed or ravine) runs down to the river collecting water from the surrounding vineyard parcels. If it has a name, I don't know it. Another ravine nearby does have a name: la rouère de l'aulne (Alder Ravine). The vineyard parcel in the photo's foreground was replanted two seasons ago. The vines are hardly visible, partly because they've recently been pruned down to a single cane and partly because they`re still quite young. The next step in this parcel should be the pliage; the canes will be bent to the horizontal and fastened to guide wires as they begin to leaf out.

Vines are planted on high ground so the parcels will drain quickly down to the river.

Our snow episode yesterday ended shortly after my morning walk with Tahsa. This morning we're socked in by fog. The forecast is for increasing temperatures through the week. I'll take it.

Wintry mix

We woke up this morning to some snow. Not much. Big, heavy flakes are falling, along with light rain. It's a wintry mix! I'm sure it won't last, though. The temperature is above freezing and, as I type this, we're probably at it's lowest for the day. The sun will be up soon. In the meantime, there's a little bit of white on the ground.

The white blossoms are on the plum tree that Ken planted (from a pit) years ago.

Here's a view of our back hedge and garden shed from the vineyard road. You can see there's another parcel that was dug up last year. It was tiny. It's gone. What's left (on the left) looks pretty old.

Le cabanon

It could also be called la cabane du vigneron (the grape grower's cabin). You see them here and there around us. This one is on the vineyard road behind our house. In the old days, these cabins were used for tool storage, as shelter from a hard rain, or as place to eat lunch, eliminating the need to go home and back at mid-day. This one's not used for much these days, but the grower keeps the vines that grow up its sides well pruned.

A hodgepodge of limestone and cinder blocks.

The weather is more of the same. I think the weather people believe that if they predict snow every day, we might actually get some. Ha.

Ornamental cherry

Our fruitless cherry is blooming now as are certain plum trees around the neighborhood.

As seen from the north side of the deck.

We woke up to 2ºC this morning. That's near the house; I'm sure it's colder out in the vineyard. All that talk of snow yesterday sounded urgent, but the sun came out here and it's been clear all night (as evidenced by a very visible full moon). It's my turn to walk Tasha this morning. I'll bundle up once more. She's lucky to have a fur coat.

Rock my world

This is the dirt road that connects our hamlet to paved roads west of us. It runs through the vineyard and provides access for agricultural equipment and serves as an alternative to the paved road that runs east and down to the river. We don't drive on the "dirt" road much these days as it has become rutted and uneven. Mostly, we use it as a place to walk Tasha. The problem is that there are now these large limestone rocks* strewn about. They can be treacherous if you trip or step on one, so we need to take care when walking. I suppose that's good advice in any case.

Trip hazards.

The banking problem I mentioned yesterday was self-inflicted and it has since been resolved. The stressful part of the process is communication. Because of the time difference between here and the bank in the US, contact has to be timed right and waiting for replies can be frustrating. My mind imagines all sorts of bad things happening while I wait. But, again, what I broke seems to be fixed now. Fingers crossed!

* Each year, the town spreads gravel and limestone on the dirt roads to fill potholes and ruts. Last year, the limestone mix included these large rocks. I don't know why.

Short post

I'm having some adventures with international online banking, so I'll just post this sunrise from last Saturday while I deal with that.

Looking back toward our hamlet at sunrise on Saturday.

 

Les jonquilles

Here's one of the clumps of daffodils that come up every year in this spot near the greenhouse. I only think of them being there when they're blooming. We have other patches that come and go. This spring looks like a good year for some, a not so good year for others.

Will these daffs get a frosting?

As predicted, temperatures have dropped again, but only down to the mid-single digits. I split some logs yesterday and will likely build a fire this morning. Now the weather people are forecasting what the US weather gurus call a "wintry mix" for Wednesday. Snow in March is not unusual; some of our biggest snowfalls since we've been here have happened in March. If we actually get some this week, it likely won't amount to much. Famous last words...

Can you dig it?

On the left is a vineyard parcel near our house whose vines were dug up and burned last summer. The adjacent parcel, in the center of the photo, remains intact. If I remember correctly, the grapes on the left were white, while the intact parcel produces red grapes. I don't know why certain parcels are being dug up while others are spared. My working theory is that older, dying parcels are going, to eventually be replaced (and in some cases, not) by young vines and, possibly, by grapes that qualify for the "AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protégée) Touraine Chenonceaux" label.

Grapevine parcels behind our house.

The Touraine Chenonceax label is reserved for sauvignon (blanc) grapes. Other varieties grown in the same area such as chardonnay, cabernet, and gamay can be labelled simply "AOP Touraine." We'll see later this spring which parcels get replanted and which will remain fallow for another year.

Springing

There are just under two weeks of winter remaining. Yay! The vernal equinox heralds the arrival of astronomic spring on March 20 here in the northern hemisphere. Then, three weeks from today, we move our clocks ahead to Summer Time. Let's hope the weather we get reflects the season.

Our forsythia is starting to bloom.

These past few days have been relatively warm and bright. The early blooming fruit trees are doing their thing, as is the forsythia around the neighborhood. Daffodils are also up and blooming. I didn't get out to do any serious yard work yesterday. Oh well. Now rain is predicted for this afternoon, so I missed out. Next time.

Ferocious

For lack of any new and interesting photos, here's another of Tasha, post-grooming. She looks rather ferocious, doesn't she? This is not her normal expression at all, and she was in motion when I snapped the shutter.

Bad snapshot of Tasha, but at least she's clean. Grrr.

We're expecting a relatively warm day today. As the sun comes up it's over 7ºC (about 45ºF) outdoors. The afternoon high will approach 20ºC (high 60sF). Wow!

Afta

It's not a great photo to show off her newly groomed coat, but it's so cute I couldn't not share it. You'll have to trust me. She's much less furry that she was a few days ago. This one is from the second batch of post-grooming photos I tried to get.

Mademoiselle poses for a photo.

We had a very nice day yesterday, weather-wise. After a very chilly dawn, the sun warmed things up enough for me to get outside and start work on cleaning up the yard. I cleared winter's mess from the garden path between the house and the back gate. I gathered tree branches and twigs, pine cones, and dead leaves. Some went into the debris piles in the woods and the rest went into the compost pile out back. It felt good to be outside and not bundled up. For my next trick, I think I'll work on getting the tree branches off the grassy areas, and there's a wisteria to trim back. Lets hope the nice weather continues for a while, and beyond!

B-4

This will have to suffice as Tasha's "before" shot. She looks a little shaggy. I'll post an "after" shot tomorrow. I took a few yesterday, but I'm not happy with them. Tasha would not sit still enough. I put her in a "sit/stay" to take the picture. She's very good at sitting, not so good at staying.

Tasha pauses by the lone walnut tree during our morning walk. Her back end and feet really need a trim.

We're enjoying dry, sunny, and relatively warm weather! I don't want you to think that I only mention the weather when it's bad. Yard work isn't happening yet, but we'll get there. I hope.

A March sunrise

What's that old saying about a red sky at morning? I hope all the sailors in our neighborhood took warning. I wish the saying was "red sky at morning, temperatures warming." And they actually are!

The sailors probably weren't delighted yesterday.

Tasha's grooming went well yesterday. Remember, back in November (Tasha's previous grooming session), I was attacked by a rogue goat. No such problems yesterday. Tasha's clean and trimmed. I should take a photo.

A quick one

Tasha's groomer arrives at nine this morning, and I have to walk her before that, so I don't have much time for posting. Of couse, Smart WCS would have prepared the post yesterday, but he was nowhere to be found.

The back, or eastern façade. of the D&H Building, Albany, NY, May 2016.

This is SUNY Plaza, the administrative headquarters of the State University of New York since 1978. It was completed in 1918 as the HQ for the Delaware & Hudson Railroad Company. To me, it will always be the D&H building.

Feeling groovy?

Or not. There's no "Livingston Avenue Bridge" song. The bridge carries no cars. Just trains. It connects the north end of Albany (The Warehouse District) with the Amtrak station across the river.* Trains run daily from that station south to NYC (Penn Station), north to Montréal, east to Boston, and west to Chicago (the Lake Shore Limited). The bridge is in bad shape and, from what I've read, is going to be replaced in the near future. The new bridge will accommodate cyclists and pedestrians, connecting to riverfront parks on the Albany side, but no cars.

Looking downstream toward downtown Albany, May 2016.

* A subject for another day. Albany's beautiful Union Station was abandoned in 1968 for a new station across the river (plenty of parking!), but was thankfully not demolished. It still stands and has been repurposed as an office building.

Somewhat tall

This building, with its forty-four floors, is the Corning Tower in downtown Albany, NY. When completed in 1973, it was the tallest building in New York State outside of New York City. According to Wikipedia, it still holds that title. To get this shot, I stood in what is unceremoniously called The Parking Lot District. Cars park on the vacant land left when the neighborhood's commercial and residential buildings were demolished to make way for a sprawling freeway interchange. I read somewhere that there is a project in the works to redevelop parts of the district, but that the landowners who operate the parking lots are, naturally, opposed. I'm not sure where in the planning process that project is these days.

Some parking structures were built in recent years, but much of the district remains as surface lots.

It's still cold outside, but there's hope for a warm up in the coming week. Let's cross our fingers.

Close encounter

Is that the sun, or have the aliens arrived? This view is westerly out over the vineyards, last Thursday afternoon, during my walk with Tasha.

It's the sun, right? Right?

Glad March is finally here. Still, it's 2.2ºC (about 36ºF) out there this morning.

Meatball pizza

This is one of the better pizzas that I've made. If you read Ken's blog, you know that he made Swedish Meatballs a few days ago with great success. So, talking about what to do with the surplus, we hit on the idea of putting them on pizza. We cut a dozen meatballs in half for our pizzas. I made my usual pizza dough (enough for two pizzas), then topped each with tomato sauce, dried oregano, some comté cheese, mozzarella, mushrooms, black olives and, of course, the meatballs. We devoured them.

The first of two meatball pizzas. Yum!

Most of yesterday was sunny and beautiful, if not a little chilly. It is still February after all, at least until midnight. March is a notorious month for unsettled weather in France. wind blown rain (sometimes snow) squalls are the norm; they're called les giboulées de mars (March showers -- the equivalent of April showers in the US).

Sepia

I applied a sepia treatment to one of the photos I took out in the vineyard earlier this week. If you look closely, you can see our little hamlet in the distance.

Sepia gives this photo a rich old-timey look.

I'm making a grocery run this morning. We don't need much, but I wanted to get a jump on the weekend shoppers. Winter vacations are still on and the stores get crowded on the weekends.

Let them eat cake

I tried something new (for me) the other day. We had (and still have) a bunch of yogurt in the 'fridge that needs to be eaten. Ken suggested a yogurt cake. I found a recipe for a ground almond/blueberry variety. It calls for fresh blueberries, but it's too early in the year to find those. Then I remembered that we had a nearly empty jar of blueberry preserves in the fridge, so I finished that up by spooning it onto the cake batter and using a wooden skewer to make swirls (I've seen this technique on tv and in other recipes). It worked more or less well, depending on which part of the cake you look at. It all tastes good, though.

The wine from the Ardèche region was for lunch. It also went well with the cake.

The big rain came through yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. You know how the tv weather people like to hype up the possibility of bad weather.

Overcast

These are the clouds that moved in on Monday morning in advance of the weather system we're under today. Rain came in some time in the night and this morning it's still raining. It should be all over later this afternoon.

Walking the dog on a winter Monday morning.

I had some technical difficulties with file handling this morning. For a while I was convinced that I had lost a bunch of photos. Ken helped me look for them but, as time went on, I convinced myself that they were gone. Then I found them in a misnamed file folder. D'oh!

Westgate

This photo was one of my "rejects" after a trip to upstate New York back in 2016. But with the help of software, I was able to find some redeeming qualities. This is the Westgate district of Albany, a little less than three miles from downtown. A set of my grandparents (do grandparents come in sets?) lived near here for most of my life. I also lived nearby in my first-ever apartment after leaving home back in '77, so I'm familiar with the neighborhood.

Looking easterly along Central Avenue (NYS Route 5) toward downtown and the Hudson River, May 2016.

There are a lot (!) of car dealerships in this part of town.

We're expecting a lot of rain on Tuesday. And just when the ground was starting to dry out a little.

While we're at it

This photo is from the deck, looking west and a little north. Easily recognized are the two apple trees. Just beyond them are the oregano patch and the vegetable garden plot. It will soon be time to cut down last years oregano stems to make way for new growth. In the foreground are some of the numerous patches of cyclamen that come up each spring here and there. The primroses will follow a little later.

Spring is just around the corner. I hope.

Today is Tasha's eighth birthday! She has a grooming appointment next week. Boy, does she need it!

Here comes the sun.

Reader Mitchell asked where the sun was in yesterday's photo. Just after I took the picture, the clouds parted, so I got this view. It didn't last very long.

The sun rises at 7h46 this morning. Not that we'll see it. But we will see three more minutes of daylight.

It's raining this morning and we're expecting light rain most of the day. So much for the sun.

A view to the west

There are four weeks of winter left until the vernal equinox. Spring is getting itself ready. Ready for what? We'll have to wait and see what it has in store.

Looking westerly out over the vineyards from the guest room windows.

I have errands to run today. I'm getting my hair cut, going to the post office, and maybe making a quick stop at the grocery store. What an exciting life!

Trois

Three. I think I took this photo for the contrast between the number plate and the other surfaces around it. I don't believe that I removed any color; the shutter just looks like a black-and-white image. The tiny writing above the mail slot says, "Pas de pub & journeaux, svp (s'il vous plaît). Merci !!!" That means, "No advertising or newspapers, please. Thank you!!!

Window shutter with mail slot, Ile d'Oléron, May 2008.

Our current spell of spring-like weather feels good. Tasha is enjoying lying in the sun on the deck. We know, however, that it could change back to winter at any moment.

Treize

Unlucky for some, lucky for others. Thirteen. I'm not particularly superstitious and the number doesn't have any special significance for me. I typed that with my fingers crossed.

A house number in one of the villages on the Ile d'Oléron, May 2008.

We're expected to get up to 13ºC (about 55ºF) today, according to my go-to weather web site. Ooh, spooky!

Am I blue?

This gate must have been painted recently. There's not a mark on it.

A garden gate on the Ile d'Oléron, May 2008.

I don't have much to say today. The sore throat is lingering, but it feels like it's getting better with each passing day. Patience. Seeing the sun each day helps.