Start with dessert

Happy Thanksgiving to the American crowd! I made our holiday pumpkin pie on Wednesday, the day before the holiday. The idea is that it would be done and out of the way when the rest of the meal is prepared this morning. Ken's going out early to retrieve the leg of lamb that he ordered on Tuesday.

Pumpkin pie made with a butternut-like squash from last year's garden.

It looked better fresh out of the oven, but I'm sure it will taste just as good.

We'll also be having some Brussels sprouts and flageolets (small green beans traditionally served with lamb in France) along side. The starter will be snails in a garlic, butter, and parsley sauce. I'll try to get some photos along the way.

Le Mont Saint-Michel

I snapped this photo in June 2006 while visiting the abbey at the Mont Saint-Michel on the Normandy coast.

A forest of columns in the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, June 2006.

I'm waiting for that part I ordered for the wood stove. The delivery date was estimated for the 27th, which is today. It's not here, yet.

Pull up a chair

Or a couple hundred. These were in the cathedral at Sées up in Normandy, again back in the summer of 2006. The cathedral is an impressive sight, inside and out, and worth a stop if you're in the area.

I'm glad I'm not the one who has to line them all up. Sées, June 2006.

I was hopeful that the recent winds we've had would help to dry things out. But, no. It's still soggy outside. Not much fun for waking with Tasha and not very practical for getting yard work done. I know I could just buck up, bundle up, and get something done out there, but I'm not motivated. I am, however, looking forward to our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday. Priorities.

Hangin' around

This is a view of the organ at the church of Saint-Pierre in the Loire Valley city of Saumur. We visited a few places in that area with our late friend CHM that summer in 2006.

A rather ornate pipe organ, Saumur, July 2006.

The warm-up has come. Temperatures are in the mid-teens (celsius), but not for long. The wind has died down, and rain is predicted to move in as the temperatures start to drop again (probably not below zero). Our yard is covered with dead leaves and downed branches (nothing serious) around the bases of trees and in the driveway and the garden path. I'd like to deal with those one of these days. Maybe today, if it's dry enough.

Warm up

The forecasters say it will be warm today with a high of around 18ºC (about 64ºF). We'll be out of the single digits, at least for now. I'll take it. It's been pretty cold these past few days.

The nave of the church in Cunault, near Saumur. July 2006.

We're making plans for our annual Thanksgiving meal. Not that there's much to do. We have most of the fixin's on hand. One of us will head across the river on Monday or Tuesday to order our traditional gigot d'agneau (leg of lamb). We've decided to ask the butcher to bone the leg, then roll it and tie it into a roast. It's something we've had done before because it makes the leg easier to roast and carve. Stay tuned!

'Sno more

The snow we had on Thursday is long gone. Little remnants can be seen here and there in the shady spots, but for all intents and purposes, it's gone. Snow has become rare in these parts over the twenty-plus years that we've lived here. I remember that we had a dusting on New Year's Day in 2004, our first winter here. And, in late November 2010, we had about six inches in one storm.

Thursday's view from the deck.

In our first winters here, there was usually some snow accumulation, an inch or a few, that lasted for a few days or less, mostly in February and/or March. But we've certainly had fewer of that kind of snow event in recent years. I doubt that twenty years of dwindling snow accumulation in our part of the world qualifies as evidence of climate change. It's more likely just part of the normal cycle of things. Whatever it is, I welcome a little snow now and then to remind us of the season. As long as I don't have to drive in it.

It snowed

I went out early to the grocery store on Thursday morning. It opens at 08h30. It was raining lightly when I went in, but it was snowing wildly when I came out. I drove home carefully. The snow wasn't yet sticking to the roads, so it wasn't treacherous, but visibility was reduced. When I got home, it kept snowing, and then it began to stick everywhere.

Part of the west forty seen from the den. This isn't a b/w photo, but it sure looks like one.

I think we might have had an inch in total. Not very much, but very pretty. It started melting away in the afternoon and evening, but there may be some ice out there as the overnight low temperature was (and is as I type this) very close to zero. I'll have to be careful when I walk Tasha this morning.