To market, to market

I did get to the market on Saturday. The strawberries are plentiful and beautiful right now. I also got a couple of avocados for making guacamole. I also got some sausages for grilling (most of them went into the freezer).

Climbing up the stair toward the castle.

I parked down by the bridge so not to have to deal with parking in town. I took the stars up toward the château then the wide drive down into town (on foot; the drive is closed to vehicles). Along the way, I stopped to have a look from the terraces and notice my car parked down below. I didn't plan it, so it was a nice surprise to see how the car lined up perfectly with the view point below.

Looking down toward the river from the view terrace. Can you spot my little blue car? It's parked just left of center in the photo.

As planned, I mowed the west forty yesterday. Today I'm planning to finish up by cutting the north forty. There's also a little detail work to do; I've done a little of that each day with the walk-behind mower. I wonder how soon it will all need cutting again? 

High five

Here's my last photo of the balloons from last Thursday's sighting. I have a few more, but it's just more of the same. There is a somewhat local balloon fest, or race, or rally that takes place each year in our département (Loir et Cher) so I'm thinking that's what we saw. I suppose the covid pandemic shut it down for a while. I'm glad it's back.

There were many more balloons than these. If I remember, we stood and watched for about half an hour.

Meanwhile, our heat wave continues and is expected to keep on continuing for at least the next three days. I cut the south forty yesterday and it looks pretty good. Today I'm thinking I'll do the west forty, and then the north forty tomorrow. Another chore that needs to be added to the queue: power washing the deck.

Three's not a crowd

There's plenty of room in the sky for hot air balloons! I've never ridden in one, nor do I expect to in the future. I would have, I think, when I was younger. But now... not going to happen.

Smooth sailing! Again, the movement is from left to right.

It feels like summer! We're expecting highs in the low 30sC (approaching 90ºF). Hot! By the way, Roland Garros (the French Open) tennis tournament gets under way today in Paris. Keep Kool!

And then there were two...

I heard more burners whooshing as two more balloons came into sight. Ken moved outdoors to take a few photos and I remained in the guest room. Two more balloons floated by. Back when balloon sightings were more frequent, it wasn't uncommon to see more than one in the sky. But usually they were spread out a lot more than this.

The balloons were moving left to right in these views.

I did get out yesterday to cut some grass. I'm hoping to get more done today. But, first of all, a trip to the Saturday market for some strawberries and who knows what else. This is a three day weekend (Pentecost) so I'm expecting the market to be crowded. We shall see.

Montgolfière

In English, it's a hot-air balloon. Early on Thursday morning we heard the familiar whoosh! of a hot-air balloon's burner. It was near by. We rushed to the windows to get a view. There it was out over the vineyards behind our house. Balloons were a common sight around here before the pandemic. Then they became a rarity.We enjoyed watching this balloon pass through our neighborhood. Little did we know that we were in for a treat...

A hot-air balloon graces our view to the west. But wait... what's next?

Our days are warming up as predicted by the weather folks. It should be increasingly warm through the weekend. Yay! One of our neighbors was already out there in the early evening mowing. I'm planning to get the mower out today.

The lone poplar

All leaves are in place as we head toward summer.

Maybe we can put away the scarves and knit caps?

Today's temperature is expected to reach the high 20ºs and increase further into the weekend. That's downright summery for us. There's a long list of chores on the list. Among them, grass cutting and window washing. I actually got the north side living room window washed (inside and out) yesterday. 

Fleurs de printemps

I don't know offhand what these are called. They grow as a shrub against one of our neighbors' fences.

Flowers in a neighbor's garden.

We're still waiting (and hoping) for a warm up this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. 

Repère

One day, many years ago, I saw one of the people that worked in the vineyard out back tying red and white flags similar to this one pictured here and there at the end of certain vine rows. I asked what they meant and she told me, "Ça sert comme repère pour Bruno (They're markers for Bruno)."  Bruno is the guy who owns the vineyards and who, back in the day, regularly drove the huge sprayers and harvesters up and down the vine rows. The flags mark which rows he should drive the machines into. The sprayers can cover six to eight rows with each pass. It's helpful not to miss or repeat a row. And every year or two the flags need to be replaced.

The big machines straddle the marked row and spray three or four others on each side.

It's still cold, but we should be in for a warm-up as the week goes on. How much of a warm-up and for how long it will last remain to be seen.

Grape flowers

The grape flower buds are on the edge, ready to bloom any day now. Especially if we get a little warm weather. The forecasters say it'll be warmer and more seasonable as the week goes on. That would be nice.

Each one of those tiny round buds is a flower.

Meantime, we're still dealing with unseasonably cool days. If it does get warm by the weekend, I'm certain that lawn mowers (including mine) will be out in force.

A little quickie.

Errr... make that quiche. It was yesterday's lunch, made with spinach, cheese, and little chicken nuggets. Yum!

I made the crust, Ken made the filling and took the photo.

 

It's winter again

The central heating is coming on nearly every morning now. Morning lows are in the single digits (celcius). This morning I built a fire in the wood stove. Wacky!

Sunrise over our hamlet this morning.

 To add insult to injury, I'm wearing a knit cap, scarf, and gloves on our morning walks.

No photo Friday

Maybe just this once. It's 6ºC (about 43ºF) out there this morning. We had a light hail storm yesterday. I don't think there was any damage, at least there was none I could see.

Have a nice day! 

The spring vineyard

We're half-way through spring and the vineyards are in fine form. So far, no frosts or hail storms to worry about. It has been cold, though, especially when the wind blows.

Overcast sky and bright green grape vines.

And it's wet. While there's no frost, there is dew. This morning my jeans were soaked well above the ankle. A little bit of water make it through my waterproof hiking boots. Cold water. 

Trimming the verge

This is not the piney woods, but it's not far. This, unless I'm mistaken, is part of the Artsy Organized Neighbor's land. He's cut down trees and stacked them farther back in the woods (a few posts ago). He's also thinned out the undergrowth at the edge (and burned it). The edge is where vineyard parcels meet the woods. In true French style, he's tidied up the landscape.

Woods' edge, neat and tidy. By the way, this is that vineyard parcel that was dug up about a month ago. Now it will lie fallow for a year or two.

We are now in the middle of what's called Les Saints de Glace (the Ice Saints). This is when the last killing frosts of spring can form. True to form, it's been cold for the past few days. But, thankfully, not cold enough for frost. I'm sure the grape growers are happy about that. Maybe now it'll start getting warmer. By the way, the asparagus vendor at the Saint-Aignan Saturday market has beautiful (and tasty) strawberries available, as he does each year. I got some last Saturday and am planning to get some more this coming weekend.

Spa day for dogs

I'll be brief. Tasha has an appointment for grooming this morning, so we have to get ready. There's not that much to do, just a little tidying up in the utility/laundry room before the groomer arrives. But first, we have to get out for a walk before hand.

Most of the back yard. Looking easterly.

Here's a photo of the west and north forties seen from the garden gate. The dividing line is just beyond the apple trees. The south forty is just out of the photo to the right. Happy Tuesday!

The tunnel

We had a fence built back when we moved in (23 years ago!) to close in our yard so that the dog (then Collette) wouldn't be able to escape. The fence follows the property line on the north side of the yard. Nobody (even the mayor) seems to know who owns the property on the north side. It's a narrow strip, overgrown and abandoned. Trees have fallen and killer brambles and ivy have taken over back there. And it's right next door to us. So I asked the landscape guy if he could clear a meter-wide strip on the north side to give us access and to prevent the weeds from taking over and pulling down the fence. No problem, he said, and now it's done.

Our property is to the right of the fence in this shot. The "tunnel" belongs to an unknown neighbor. 

Behind where I'm standing is a one-lane right-of-way for vineyard access.

The question is, how long will that trimming job last until it needs to be done again? I'm not sure I want to think about it. Yet.

UN Hedge quarters

This image reminds me of something diplomatic...

From this point you can peek into our back yard through the gap between the fence and the house.

This is the western edge of our property and it separates us from the road. The south forty is on the other side.

Hedges as sculpture

This is the tallest and widest part of the hedge that nearly encloses out property. It's at least a foot taller than I am. By the way, the plant that makes up most of the hedge is called laurier cerise (cherry laurel). We also have some laurier sauce (bay laurel) here and there inside the main hedge. There are also some honeysuckle and ivy taking up residence among the laurels.

The edible bay laurel rises up over the main hedge.

That rounded shape at the southwest corner is also laurier sauce (bay laurel). It started out as a conical shape, but the hedge guys insist it should have a flat top and not a pointed cone. Oh well. The customer isn't always right in France. 

More hedges

This is the hedge that grows along the west side of our property. I had it shortened and cut less wide a bunch of years ago. The shed is our garden shed with it's repaired door and new window shutters. The old shutters, made of wood, were disintegrating. These are PVC and should last a while.

Where the west forty (right) meets the vineyard (left).

The grassy road in between provides access to the machinery. Sprayers, harvesters, etc..

Today's a holiday, so I'm not supposed to make noise before 10h00. I plan to get out there then and cut the west forty. The grass has gotten tall again. 

Hedges '26

The hedges have been trimmed for another year. It's a big job, at least from my perspective. I drimmed them myself the first few years, rationalizing that a hedge trimmer would cost less than paying a contractor. And maybe it did. Until I missed a year and had to deal with two years' growth. I injured myself. I went back to the contractors to take over the job. It takes three guys one full day to do it all, including the clean-up (it took me several days, maybe a week). They have the tools and the expertise needed for the job. Not cheap, but worth every centime.

A small section of the trimmed hedge around our property seen from the kitchen window. The garbage bin is for scale. The neighbors' short hedges are visible across the road.

Last night was chilly. I piled the blankets on for a comfortable sleep. But, ooh, getting out of bed during the night was walking into a refrigerator. Brr! 

Squalls

The current weather is unsettled. Yesterday we heard thunder nearby without seeing a storm and had numerous rain squalls with no thunder or lightning. Temperatures are dropping; our heat came on this morning. The forecast is for diminishing rain and lower temperatures, then warming up again through the weekend.

Stormy skies.

Tasha is feeling more like normal now and thanks you for all of your well wishes. Woof! Just a case of normal dog behavior, as we suspected. 

Tasha Tuesday

Good news and not so good news. First, good news: our landscape contractor texted me yesterday morning that he and his crew would be coming to do the hedges. Yes! Yes! They spent the whole day and did a spectacular job. I don't have photos, yet, because it's now raining. But I'm not complaining.

Tasha patrols a vineyard parcel.

Not so good news: Tasha's got a belly ache. We think that she gobbled up something on her walk and it's made her sick. Constipated, maybe. She threw up her breakfast yesterday and didn't even touch today's. So, we're keeping an eye on her and giving her free access to the yard if she needs it. I'm pretty sure this type of thing has happened before.

Let's try this again

Here's a picture of the South Forty again, this time with some of the West Forty visible. None of the Norty Forty can be seen from here.

The South 40 in gold, part of the West 40 on the right. Somehow I got the camera into panorama mode. Kind of an interesting shot, so I kept it.

As promised, it rained most of the day yesterday. One of our neighbors was having a party. They had put up a party tent, so there was some shelter from the rain. Fortunately for them, the weather cleared out in the middle of the afternoon and the revelers were able to enjoy being outside. Most of them left the party between 20h and 21h (8pm and 9pm for those not on the 24 hour clock).

Rain day

It's raining this morning. I took this photo from the guest room window overlooking the "south forty," as I call it. You can see that we need the rain, at least on the surface, to green up the grass. Plants with deeper roots seem to doing just fine. Rain is forecast for pretty much the whole week ahead. Ugh.

The South Forty and the Real Fake Well.

There's too much blue in the image. I could have adjusted that in software (along with the perspective), but I'm still having some technical problems as far as photo editing and storage go, so it is what it is.

Utility poles and snowballs

This is the road-side part of our neighbors' property. The utility poles carry our electricity (the line between our hamlet and the rest of the local network is under ground) and fiber optic lines for telephone and internet. There's a concrete pole and a wooden pole. I wonder if there are plans to put it all underground and eliminate the visible wires and the poles. We haven't heard of any.

Our neighbors' snowball bush is in full bloom right now.

Last evening we heard thunder. The low rumbling kind. There were two instances out to the east and north and then it was over. I saw no lighting (we still had daylight) and there was no rain. 

Labor Day

Today is la Fête du Travail (Labor Day) in France. It's a national holiday, so a lot of businesses will be closed today. This is the first of many holidays in May, so stay tuned.

Machinery in rust.

Here's yet another view of some old machinery on the Artsy Organized Neighbor's property. Looks like it could be (or could have been) a harvester of some sort. But what the heck do I know? 

Campanules

This patch of campanules (bell flowers) has been growing in this spot since before we bought the house. It just comes up every year. And there's no maintenance! It's s sure sign of spring and we look forward to them blooming every year.

There's another patch of these not far from this one.

Our mail box has met it's end (don't ask) and it's time for a new one. Problem: we're having trouble getting the new box installed. It should be a simple "out with the old and in with the new" kinda thing. Instead, it's a complicated "out with the old and in with a pain in the ass" thing. Bother.

Grape buds

Here's my first look at this year's grape crop. The tiny round buts that you can see are grape flowers. They'll soon bloom and then form fruit. 

Soon, these little buds will open into flowers and set fruit.

Yesterday I mowed the north forty and did some weed whacking along the garden path. Next up is the west forty, probably the largest parcel that I mow. It's supposed to be a nice day (again!). Fingers crossed! 

Two lips

 

To celebrate the annual Tulip Festival in Albany, NY, here are some bulbs from 2016. This year's festival gets under way on May 9.

I'm getting my hair cut this morning. Yoohoo! 

I'm also having some technical difficulties with the formatting of this post. Bear with me! 

What's left of the piney woods

I call this stand of conifers "the piney woods." It still is "piney," but all the deciduous trees have been removed. "Harvested" is probably is a better word. I first started walking in these woods with our dog, Collette, back in the early aughts when we moved here. Later I'd do the same walk with our next dog, Callie. We've had Tasha now for ten years but our visits to the piney woods have become fewer and farther apart. The woods got denser with brush and there are (were) fewer good paths through. But now they're wide open, beckoning for new exploration.

Yesterday's sunrise over the piney woods.

 

Five and dime

This is the Woolworth Building in lower Manhattan as seen from the World Trade Center's observation deck back in 1994.

Woolworth Building, New York City, May 1994.

 

Market day

I'm planning to go into town this morning for the weekly market at Saint-Aignan. I want some chicken sausages from the poultry vendor. Specifically, chipolata and merguez. Grilling season is upon us!

Albany, NY, prepares for its annual Tulip Festival. May 1994.

Nice try

We live under a relatively busy commercial air corridor. We see (and sometimes hear) jet liners and their vapor trails passing over in the sky above. In this case, they're coming from the north and flying south. Paris and Orly are to our north, so I suspect that many of these jets are coming from the Paris region. They might even be coming from places farther north like the UK and Scandinavia, others from North America even, all heading south toward the Mediterranean or Africa, and beyond! If the fates allow, I can sometimes identify a plane by using air traffic software. Very nerdy stuff, of course, but fun. This photo is not very good but, by zooming around, I can count at least six jets heading south.

Jets leaving vapor trails in the morning sky.

 

Low bridge!

If woodsy areas are not maintained, they remain in or revert to their wild state. Dead and dying trees fall and decompose. That's good for the critters, I expect.

If you walk through the tall grass, watch out for ticks!

I'm heading out with Tasha this morning. I haven't decided which way we'll go.

Fields in the flood plain

This is where we end up after walking down the hill from our hamlet toward the river. Fields, sometimes planted in winter wheat, other times planted in colza (also called canola in English). Outside the frame to the left is another field of similar size.

This may be colza, based on the yellow flowers that are starting to bloom.

As you know, we're waiting for our landscape contractor to show up. In addition to the annual trimming of the hedges, there was other work around the yard to be done. We approved and signed his estimate for that work back at the end of last summer. Since then, as they say, crickets. We're waiting still. I texted him once since to no avail. Yesterday, I texted him again. Just a few words: Vous m'avez oublié ? Have you forgotten me? Within fifteen minutes he replied: "No, no, I have not forgotten you." I still have no idea when, or if, he intends to do the work. Hope springs eternal.

Tasha Tuesday

This path is one that we used to take when walking with Callie and now with Tasha. It goes down past a vineyard parcel to our north, then down the hill toward the river. It's good exercise, but these days that means it's harder to do. No matter, I'd like to go that way once or twice a week as a change of pace and a mini-workout.

Tasha leads the way. It's steeper than it looks.

During my walk this morning (we didn't take this path) I noticed some weed trimming work that needs doing outside the hedges along the road. I should be able to get that done today.

Another view

Here's another view of the west forty (in the foreground) and the north forty (beyond the apple trees) from out near the garden gate. You can see the tall grass along the path's border wall. I weed wacked what remained of that yesterday. I also got the walk-behind mower out and tidied up a section of the south forty (to the right just out of this shot) where the riding mower can't go (because of shrubs and other obstacles).

Looking east along the garden path toward the house.

We enjoyed the warm spell we've been having. Now the temps are cooling down again. No freeze warnings are in the forecast so far. Let's hope Jacques Frost (perhaps more correctly Jacques Givre) stays away. 

The Disputed Lands

I stood in the den window to take this photo, looking out over the border between the north forty (background right) and the west forty (foreground left). The actual line is somewhere along the sawed off tree trunks that you can see in the foreground, maybe a little farther west. The apple trees (you can see one standing in the sun) are definitely in the west. 

The Disputed Lands. There used to be a few grape vines planted there.

 I got the weed eater (strimmer, débroussailleuse) out yesterday and worked on the tiny walls that separate the garden path from the grassy sections. The mower can't get close enough to cut it. I may do some more today. But, it being Sunday, I can only make noise between 10h00 and noon. That's plenty of time to do the work if the dew has dried up by then.

Logs Three

Another view of the logpile on the Artsy Organized Neighbor's property, adjacent to the vineyards. Nothing much to say.

The leaning wall and the bulwark.

I cut the west forty yesterday afternoon! The west forty is the biggest section of our property. The way the grass is growing right now, however, means that it won't be long until the whole yard needs cutting again. Weather permitting. In the meantime, it does look under control and like someone is taking care of it. 

Logs Two

This big pile of logs started to lean and it looked like it might fall over. Whoever owns/manages the piles (I think it's the Artsy Organized Neighbor) built up this barrier to reinforce the main pile and keep it standing. Sort of a log jam, if you will. Tasha will keep a watchful eye out.

Tasha inspects the bulwark.

I was somewhat productive yesterday afternoon and mowed the north and south forties of the yard. If things go right, I can get the west forty done today. Fingers crossed. 

Logs One

I took a walk though the Artsy Organized Neighbor's property yesterday morning. At least that's who I think owns this land and stocks old discarded road signs, building stone, and other curiosities among the trees. Right now he's been cutting younger trees along the edge of his land (where the vineyards start). He's also cleared a lot of brush from ground level and burned it. Things are looking neat and tidy.

One of the tractor paths and log piles on the AON's property.

We're enjoying a few days of "it could be worse" weather. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get the mower out and get some cutting done between now and the weekend. This morning I'm planning a trip to the supermarket. Oh, what a glamorous life! 

No photo Wednesday

No, it's not a thing. Yet. It's hard to get motivated these days. There's nothing new going on. No subjects that haven't been done several times. We don't venture far from home. The weather has not been propitious for roaming around on foot or in the car. I've been reduced to watching the grass grow. So... NPW. Hopefully, something interesting will catch my eye soon.

Tasha Tuesday

Tasha hears a deer. We both heard the rustle of leaves on the edge of the nearby woods as an animal moved away from us. Then we heard the coarse bark of a roe deer. Tasha was very excited and ready to bolt toward the retreating deer, but she listened to me when I told her to "stop!" and "stay!" Then we continued on our walk.We heard the deer's bark a few more times as it moved away from us. Did you know that roe dear bark? That was one of the first things I learned while walking through the vineyard with our dog, Collette, back when we moved here in 2003. She loved to chase the deer, but we had to be very careful on hunt days that she wasn't mistaken for one.

Tasha's on deer alert.

I'm not enjoying the cool/cold wave that's currently upon us. It's not stopping the grass from growing, however. It's time to mow again.

Another look at the wysteria

I think the flowers are at their peak now. Here's another look at them. I have to keep the spring growth in check so that the plant doesn't take over again.

Wysteria on the west-facing wall.

The weather is cold again. I don't think it's as cold this morning as they predicted, though. Our outdoor thermometer reads about 8ºC at 07h00. That's not life threatening for the new growth in the vineyards around us. Still, it ain't warm. 

Undergrowth

All kinds of little (and not so little) plants grow beneath the canopy of the woodsy areas around us. It's nice to walk through on the paths that the wildlife (and some humans) make. We've seen deer, wild boar, badgers, and foxes to name a few of the critters out there. Tasha and I use some of the paths depending on the day and what we feel like.

Fresh growth in the woods.

Yesterday's market trip was successful. I got a bunch of white asparagus and loaded up on Asian egg rolls. I also stopped in at the produce store for some shelled nuts (pecans and walnuts), celery, and radishes.

Market day

I've got a shopping list and am ready to head out. Happy Saturday!

Someone's harvesting logs from deep in the ravine out back.

 

Watch that first step!

In spring, and then again in fall, the sun shines into the living room at just the right angle to make a distinctive shadow on the wall. It's an Eiffel Tower wire sculpture topped by a magnetized wire daredevil. The wire guy was a gift from a friend in California. I always thought he should hang out on the top of the tower. Oh, là là !

Wiry, isn't he?

With that, I must run. Tasha has an appointment to get her annual shots this morning. Chop chop! 

Dandelions among the grape vines

They're called pissenlit ("wet the bed," due to their diuretic properties) and dent-de-lion (lion's tooth) in French. I think the former is more commonly used than the latter. I may be wrong about that. At any rate, they're bloomín' all over, including in the vineyard parcels. They're also going to seed, as evidenced by the white "parachutes" in the photo. 

A few good breezes will help the dandelion seeds take flight.

Today should be another good one, according to the forecasts. After today, things are supposed to cool down some and there may be more rain. 

Ashes to ashes

This is one of the ash cones I've been talking about. You remember. An old vineyard parcel was dug up and the vine trunks were burned. This and another are all that's left.

An ash cone out in the dug-up vineyard parcel.

The weather was spectacular yesterday. The morning dew dried up before noon. We could actually sit out on the deck before evening. I got the mower out and cut the west forty. It feels good to make real progress. I'll try to do more of the same today. The weather should be the same today as yesterday: cloudless blue sky and warm air. The are many patches in the yard that the rider mower can't reach, so they have to be cut by hand. I have a self-propelled walk-behind mower for that. 

Glycine

Wisteria, in English. I did serious surgery on this one a couple of years ago. Nothing but the vertical trunk remained. I think that these are the first flowers that have bloomed since then. I wasn't expecting any at all. I fact, I was going to cut the trunk at ground level. I'm glad I didn't.

We're going to get to work on weeding the gravel path.

We're expecting a high temperature of 24ºC (about 75ºF) this afternoon. I'm planning to cut more grass!

Piles of trunks

This is one of the piles of grape trunks that was dug up over the past couple of weeks. When the digging was done, they set them on fire. Now there are two neat cones of ashes out there. At least, there were the last time Tasha and I walked by.

A pile of trunks before the fire.

Today is a holiday in France (Easter Monday), so it should be a quiet day. We'll be having leftovers for lunch. I may get out and do a chore or two that don't involve motorized tools. The weather is supposed to remain clear and warm for the next few days. Yahoo!