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!

Oops.

We've been busy running errands and dealing with little emergencies (nothing serious) and haven't really focused on the blogs these past few days. Pleas bear with us. Thanks!

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.

Running late

We were invited over the road last evening for drinks and got back a little late. I got up this morning a little later than usual and haven't yet done a post for the day. And it's my morning to walk with Tasha. This will have to do until I get outside with the camera. Happy Saturday! And the last day of February!

Boring January

In a way, it's a good thing. "Nothing much happening" applies to the bad as well as the good. Still, the weather is boring. Not freezing, not warm, very wet and somewhat windy. Walks with Tasha are shorter on the coldest, darkest, and wettest days. The holidays are done -- except for la Chandeleur (Candlemas) in February, an excuse for a whole country to eat crêpes. We're both dealing with health issues that are not very serious, but are annoying nonetheless. Not much can be done about outdoor work right now. We're waiting for the landscape guy and his crew to trim the hedges and do the other pruning and trimming we asked for. The television news is bizarre or boring and, more often than not, both. Wet January is not a wonderful time for local sight seeing.and travel farther afield is just not in the cards right now.

Waiting for Spring. Up, up, and away!

So, with not much going on, there's not much to blog about. I am enjoying watching the Australian Open on tv (tennis season is back!). The days are getting longer, our clocks will "spring ahead" in two months time.

Sing Polly Wolly Doodle

I don't know why that old song popped into my head this morning. So I looked it up. The song has it origins in American slave culture. It transitioned into the very politically incorrect and, what were rightly described as racist, minstrel shows of the early nineteenth century. The shows fell out of favor after the Civil War and, by the turn of the century, all but disappeared from American theater.

A hot-air balloon floating over the vineyard.

I only bring this up because of the actor/comedian/singer Bette Midler who, back in the 1970s, spoke this line in one of her shows on HBO, recorded in Cleveland, no less, and viewed one late night during a sleep-over at my cousin's house. I quote: "Life is real, life is earnest, sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day." The "real" and "earnest" part was, I found out much later, penned by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in "A Psalm of Life." Since seeing Midler's show on tv, that line has been seared into my memory. It pops out every now and then, like today. As I said, I don't know why.

Did you know?

In the US, prescription drugs are dispensed in bottles. The pharmacist would type out a label (old person joke: how'd he get the bottles into the typewriter?), Here in France, prescriptions come in factory produced blister packages inside shiny cardboard boxes. At no time do pharmacy hands touch the medicine.

I still use daily pill boxes to keep myself organized. That involves taking the pills out of the blisters once a week. The yellow things on the bottom are non-prescription cough losanges, also packed in blisters.

I only think of this because I have to renew my prescriptions soon. I take two daily pills for blood pressure and cholesterol control. Other pills come and go depending on what's ailing me at the moment. All of our Rx's are covered by our health insurance program, so no cash is exchanged at the pharmacy. 

Plenty o' nuttin'

That's what I got. So I'm taking a Blogger's Break (is that a thing?) today. Enjoy!

Who's that old guy?

Yeah, I can't believe it, either. Jeez.

I've got no new photos. This is from a few weeks ago. I'm getting my hair cut next week.

 

Oops

I didn't get the clocks done yesterday. I had my appointment for flu and covid shots at 14h30 and that messed me up. So I'll be doing the clocks this morning. My upper arms are a little sore from the injections, but it's not at all bad.

A parcel of older vines.

Meanwhile, the local leaves continue their color change both in the woods around us and in the vineyards. It's chilly this morning. I could build a fire in the stove, but I've got clocks to change! The central heating is helping us out. 

Those crazy cave men (and women)

This "Far Side" comic by Gary Larson always makes me laugh. I don't think that humans and primordial soup co-existed (neither did humans and dinosaurs, another Larson staple), but who's counting? A little poetic license, as it were, for a good laugh is an even trade.

The Far Side by Gary Larson.

The wind kicked up last evening and gusted through the night. I slept through most of it, but I was up at 03h00 and did a quick tour of the house to be sure everything that needed to be was shut and/or secured. Then it was back to sleep until I got up around 06h30. 

Bizarro

Back in the early '90s, I was fresh out of grad school and found a job as a transportation planner at what was called a Congestion Management Agency. I could not resist clipping this strip from the local paper.

Bizarro by Piraro. I added the color.

I heard rain showers over night. Nothing serious. 

Painstakin' peas

Here's another of my favorite comics. This one is by Roz Chast of the New Yorker magazine. Anyone who likes to cook will at least giggle.

Roz Chast's parody of Pierre Franey's New York Times feature "60 Minute Gourmet."

It's about 7ºC (45ºF) outside this morning. It's my morning to go out with Tasha. Brrr. 

Twenty years

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of this blog; the first post went up on this day in 2005. I couldn't have imagined going this long back then. Thanks to all who stop by, whether it's daily or once in a while.

Looking back toward our property. Tasha's was on leash because there were tractors and things moving around out there.

Here's yet another photo of the nearby vineyard parcels just west of us. I've watched the vineyards through the seasons and over the years. Much of what I've observed is chronicled here. And, while there have been changes, it's all generally the same, if you see what I mean.

Foxtrot

I have a small folder of comic strips that I've saved over the years. Here's one that makes me smile:

From "Foxtrot" by Bill Amend.

Our thermostat is set at 18.5º Celsius this time of year. That's close to 65º Fahrenheit, 291.6º Kelvin.

I can see clearly now

The blur is gone. Well, almost. Yesterday's foray into the optical shop was interesting. I saw the third optician in four weeks, so I had to tell the whole story from the start. Fortunately, she was very nice and patient and quickly understood what I wanted done. She asked a few questions before replacing the old lenses with the new prescription and made a few adjustments to the fit. Suddenly, or so it seemed, most of the problem I had  (blur and distortion) was gone. She said that all she did was to change where the glasses rested on the bridge of my nose, but it seemed to make a difference. I don't really know how or why.

Hollow terra cotta bricks.

I'll see how it goes until my appointment with the doctor next week. I thought about cancelling, but decided it would be better for the doctor to have a look sooner rather than later. I wore the renewed glasses out of the shop and drove home with no problem. I could see and read the road signs again. And I can see the computer screen without tilting my head up to the sky.

Sleepless in Saint-Aignan

I'm up at 05h00 this morning. Well, out of bed. I didn't sleep a wink all night. I was up and down, out on the deck watching the stars, and watching for the neighbor's lights to go off (they finally did at 03h00). I think it's a combination of Restless Legs Syndrome and a sprained muscle in my right leg. I took some paracetamol (acetaminophen) yesterday evening, and it helped a little. But no sleep. It may also be my tendency to fall asleep after lunch while watching tennis on tv. I'm sure that doesn't help things.

There should be a picture here. Maybe I'll find one, maybe not. 

I'm planning a trip to the market this morning. We're out of egg rolls. Ah, life in France. In other news, it Today is the Summer Solstice! And also la Fête de la Musique! Fa la la!

Forty-two years

Forty-two years ago today, Ken and I took possession of our first apartment together. And they said it wouldn't last. Here are a couple of early memories.

The top photo is from 1986 after our cross-country move to San Francisco taken by our friend Ann from Chicago. I'm on the right, Ken's on the left. The bottom photo is us in Muir Woods, just north of San Fran, around the same time, taken by our friend Peter who was visiting from Washington, DC. I'm in front, Ken's in back.

Matching jackets.

 

 

Sneaky

I was making some adjustments on the phone and this happened. Twice.

Sneakers or tennis shoes?

Happy Sunday!

Who is that masked man?

Well, it's me. I was futzing around with the phone camera while in the waiting room at the doctor's office earlier in the week. I was the first patient of the day and there were no others in the waiting room. The room is small with six or seven seats. When it's crowded (with sick people) I feel very claustrophobic.

Waiting for the doc. He was pretty much on time.

We're looking at rain this afternoon. I have an errand I want to run this morning in a nearby town. The jewelry shop in our town closed, apparently permanently. I'm going to try another. The reason is to get new batteries in my watches. So far, jewelry shops are the only places I know that replace watch batteries. If you wear a watch, where do you get your batteries replaced?