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 !
With that, I must run. Tasha has an appointment to get her annual shots this morning. Chop chop!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 expecting a high temperature of 24ºC (about 75ºF) this afternoon. I'm planning to cut more grass!
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.
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!
You've seen it here before. It's a specialty of our region (also down near Bordeaux). It's the same plant as green asparagus, the difference being that green asparagus are allowed to see sunlight while they grown. White asparagus are kept in the dark (buried in soil) until they're harvested. These went into one of our favorite seasonal dishes: asparagus tart with ham and a cheesy egg custard.
As today is Easter Sunday, there will be no grass cutting. In our town, domestic noise is only permitted between the hours of 10h00 and Noon on Sundays and holidays (Easter Monday is a holiday). Most people don't bother, so it's a quiet day. Yesterday I got another swath of our yard cut. I'll pick it up again next week, depending on the weather.
By the way, we're not having asparagus today. And we're skipping our traditional rabbit meal in favor of a blanquette de veau, a veal stew in white cream sauce.
There's a lot of beautiful countryside in upstate New York. This is part of the Schoharie Valley, not far from where I grew up.
I took the rider lawnmower out yesterday for the first time this season. I reinstalled the battery (which turned out to be easier than I expected) and, to my happy surprise, it started up! I began to cut some of the grass in the north forty, but it was too wet and I had to stop. It should be dryer today, so I'll give it another go later.
