Happy Equinox!

Depending where (and when) you are, Fall 2026 has arrived. The weather is pleasant, nowhere near what we experienced in the summer months. The grape harvest is done except for the possible exception of some late-harvest-grapes that may still be lingering out there. Now it's time for the leaves to turn and fall. We're in no hurry for that, as long as our pleasant weather holds.

I have to get a handle on my photo data base. I let it get out of control this past year. Bother. As for the yard, I think we've lost another tree. The big Xmas tree in the back looks pretty much dead. I wasn't expecting that. The heat was just too much for it. I need to talk the landscape guy about adjusting the schedule of things if that tree needs to come down. I will take some pictures before that happens.

This little grape vine got slightly ahead of things The photo is from mid-August. And I'm having trouble centering my caption.

Still here

So sorry that I've kind of left without a word. I'm still here. We've had a string of pesky health and home maintenance issues and the very, very hot weather we had this summer really took the fight out of us. I just haven't had the energy/desire to deal with photos or write about anything in recent months. The blog kind of fell by the wayside.

But that, like the weather, may be changing! I have a few things beyond the daily routine kicking around in my head. We'll see how it goes.

I think of you all frequently and appreciate your concerns and well wishes. Hope to see you more as fall approaches. I'm looking forward to some pumpkin pie!

Still hot

We could be at the breaking point. Recent high temperature are high, for sure, but the nights seem to be cooling down. I've noticed the past few nights that it only take about an hour in the evening for the house to cool down. Sleeping has been easier. But afternoons and evenings are still tough for now.

The current state of the pond near our back gate.

Work has stopped on the pond. In fact, the pond may be done. They still have to put up the fencing that will close it in. In the meantime, there's a temporary barrier and reflective warning signs along the road side of the pond. This one's been there for a long time: 

Fire Reserve

120 cubic meters

Access and pumping

Prohibited except for

Rescue and service 

For emergencies

Our hamlet includes a small pond to provide water in case of a fire. During the past few days, it's been emptied and cleaned out. I'm guessing that the fences will go up today. Let's hope we don't need any water, especially since most of what we had is gone for the time being.

The local pond, cleaned and ready for refilling. That's not our house.

The pond was new when we moved in back in 2003. It's been emptied and cleaned out once since then. This is the second time. Again, I hope we don't ever need it. 

Desert sands

This week we're seeing two atmospheric events. The first is tragic, and that is smoke from the wildfires burning in the southern regions of France. The smoke combines with Saharan winds blowing northward carrying orange sand from northern Africa. The sky turns a vibrant orange and red at sunrise and sunset. During the day it's got a light orange tint.

Sunrise over our hamlet.

This is a not-so-great shot of the morning sun rising over our region. Yes, that's the sun (I didn't look directly at it so as not to injure my eyes) and I zoomed in a lot. The actual view was quite dramatic. And it's still happening. I wake up in the morning with sand in my eyes. A little bit of the desert coloring my view perhaps? 

Relief!

We woke up this morning to 19ºC (66ºF) outside. We're also back in the loft in our own bed. Sleeping is much more comfortable than it has been. The weather folks are predicting more cooling in the days ahead. 

Our apple trees in the parched back yard, the oregano patch is on the left.

Now the big worry is twofold: the possible return of the heat and the lack of rain. Jamais content. 

Le 14 juillet

Today is July 14th, France's national day, a celebration of the first steps in the nation's transition away from a monarchy to a nation led by its people.

An artichoke in bloom out back. The 14 juillet défilé (parade) down the Champs-Elysées gets under way soon.

It's also still hot. Many communities across the country have canceled traditional fireworks displays to reduce fire risk. Drone-based displays are becoming more common, although I don't know of any around us.

Grilled

The chicken's not the only thing getting grilled this season. Our heat wave continues, making sleep nearly impossible except for a few measly hours in the early morning. It's then that we can throw open the shutters and let the cool air (such as there is) come in.

 Grilled zucchini and chicken tenders. Yum!

We're expecting a high just over 40ºC today. That's 104ºF. We're just not used to this. On the up side, humidity is pretty low. Hang in there! 

How do you like them apples?

One of our apple trees is covered with fruit. The other is not. We have two trees, both planted before we owned the house. There was another tree, much bigger, but its core had rotted away and the tree fell in a storm.Too bad, too, because it had the best apples of the three (Bramley I think).

This year's somewhat meager crop.

There's actually a hint of rain predicted for later this afternoon. I didn't see any mention of storms, thank goodness. 

Raisins on the vine

These are truly sun made. Not Sun Maid. And they're not good to eat. They're crunchy. This seems to happen when there are no leaves to shade young grape bunches. I wonder what percentage of a crop is lost to the sun?

Grapes and raisins.

Our heat wave is not over. Each day is a little hotter than the one before. We've abandoned our loft bedroom for the time being.Sleeping is a little easier on the house's lower levels. We can trap cool air in the morning for some relief. Thank goodness that there's no humidity. Dry air helps the hot air to be a little more bearable.

Golden days

Our grass is dying. There's no rain in our forecast. Ken told me that the weather forecasters are saying that we're unlikely to see any change in the current pattern in the days ahead. We have been lucky, though, in that most of our mornings are cool. We can open up the windows just before sunrise and flood the house with chilly air. It feels good, but by afternoon, the air is back to hot.

Sunrise in the west forty a couple of days ago. A lot of what you see in the foreground are crispy seed pods fallen from the tilleul (linden tree). The rest is was grass and other lawn plants.

Wild fires are burning in the south, and fire danger is elevated in many places, including in our region. We find ourselves wishing for winter in early July. Ugh.

Temperature's risin'

Our daily high temperature is creeping up toward the low 40s. That's the low 100sF if you're counting. The mornings are deceptively cool. The high occurs at some point in the late afternoon.

The sun rises before what promises to be another "scorcher."

The people who work in the vineyards out back start their days as the sun rises. Tasha takes us for morning walks at about the same time. Our evening walks are short. 

Hot again

Yesterday was pretty nice, and not so hot. But today, the temps are expected to rise again, building to heat wave levels once again this week. It will be the third official heat wave of the year in France, with some of the highest temperatures ever recorded around the country and Europe.

I'm still in a sort of blog hiatus, as you may have noticed. Part of it is the heat; it really takes the motivation away, especially for working to take photos and process them. Another part is the lack of subject matter for new posts. I have been working on the yard on those cooler days. In fact, I just finished cutting the grass on the entirety of the property. But I've taken enough photos of the yard. There's not much left to see; most of the grass has been grilled. Rain has been scarce and the grass (and many smaller plants) have died back, dehydrated. Lawns and gardens all around the 'hood and town are mostly brown. 

Nonetheless, I hope you'll check back here once in a while. I don't plan to close the blog down, but it's definitely in a slow slump. For now. Thanks for reading!

Cool again

The heat dome (as it's been called) has moved on to taunt eastern Europe. We are free, for now, from its searing grip. Already, the weather gurus are warning us: it's still early in the summer. It can return. We'll keep an eye out.

And now it's raining. 

Welcome breather

The heat wave has finally broken, sort of. We had a nice thunderstorm last night for a shot while and, this morning, a pretty stiff wind event blew the "heat dome" (as they're calling it) around mixing up the air. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. This morning we have fresh, cool air. Will it last? Who can say. It's still hot, but a little less so. Happy weekend everyone!

Hot damn!

Our last two nights have been horrid. The humidity (such that it is) is up, so that makes things feel worse.Gotta hold on a little longer; relief is expected over the weekend.

Record breakers

Records are being broken all over France as our historic heat wave continues. We're expecting a high of 42ºC today. That's nearly 108ºF. Yikes! Sleeping last night was awful. It'll be worse tonight, they say.

We're toast!

At least, we're going to feel like toast by the time this week is over. Today's high is predicted to get upwards of 40ºC. That's 104ºF. And highs about the same, if not higher, for the rest of the week. Yikes! 

This happened

I'm often up in the night wandering around the house. On hot summer nights I will also be wandering around on the deck, looking for jets, satellites, constellations, the international space station, and other things that fly by in the night sky. Last night, I saw this. I wasn't looking for it. Today I'll have to do some research for the details.

The moon and a probably a planet (Venus? Jupiter?) just after 23h00 in the western sky last night.

The next few days will be our hottest in this current heat wave. I'll probably be out on the deck a few times star watching.

Operation Oregano

Our oregano patch is ready for harvesting! I started a couple of days ago. Armed with a pair of scissors, I clipped as much as would fit in a large bowl and rinsed it well. Then I put the clean stalks and leaves into the dehydrator and let it run on low for most of the day. When the stalks got dry, I removed them from the stems and put the leaves in zip-top bags for storage.I'm repeating the process for another batch now, and there could be a third while the weather's good.

Fresh oregano, rinsed and ready for drying.

We're still using last year's harvest, so it will be a while before we start using these.