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.

Pepé le putois ?

I don't know why we have a plastic skunk in the house. Perhaps it commemorates an encounter between our former dog, Collette, and one of the stinky varmints not long after we moved into our San Francisco house. Picture it: the summer of 1995, just after we moved into the house. We had just gone to bed when we were suddenly aware of the peculiar odor. Yuck. At least the dog was in the house. Or so we thought. It wasn't long until we realized that the dog's door to the back yard had been left open and that she was sitting on the bed, literally dripping with skunk juice, seemingly proud that she was able to chase the offensive animal out of the back yard.

It was a night I'll never forget. I don't need the reminder.

We spent the rest of that night and most of the next day laundering bedclothes, spraying cans of air freshener and disinfectant onto the mattress, and showering the dog. It was fine opportunity to test the "bathing in tomato juice" method for dealing with the smell. At best, I can report mixed results. And that's being generous. We gave up the fight at home and ended up taking Collette to a groomer to let the pros have a go. After a while (we're talking days, many, many days) the odor began to subside.

So, maybe Ken got the plastic skunk. Maybe someone gave it to us as a "gag" gift. I don't remember. But I will always remember that night thirty years ago.

Thinking of spring

It may be a tad early, but I'm thinking of spring. One of the signs of the season is the flurry of tax reporting forms that show up in the mail (e-mail mostly these days). Then there's the annual reporting of kilométrage (mileage) for the two cars that makes us eligible for a small reduction in the cost of our car insurance.

A roe deer caught munching on spring growth.

Then I saw this photo of a deer out in the vineyard from back in 2013 (I think). We see many deer in and around the vineyards and in our neighbors' yards through the year. Our property is fenced, so we don't get many deer in the yard. When they do get inside, they panic trying to get out and can hurt themselves. It's difficult to maneuver them to the exits so we can close the gates behind them. Tasha's herding instincts kick in, but she's never been trained to herd. She has to be kept indoors when we have a deer in the yard so she doesn't get hurt herself.

Busy as a bee

Shopping, cooking, running errands. And now it's raining.

What's the buzz?

 There's also no stress. We're not having any guests, not going out at all (except for said errands).

Tasha Tuesday

Well, sort of. It's more of a Lone Poplar Tuesday. But what the heck. Tasha's in there.

All the leaves are off the Lone Poplar now. That's fog climbing up from the stream bed below.

Today's a holiday. That makes it a hunt day. We have to be careful out there. Speaking of which, a week or so ago Tasha, while inside the house, started barking to tell us there was somebody or something outside. I opened the door and heard a loud squawking and the sound of wings flapping unusually close. I went downstairs and outside and there was a male pheasant in the road. He was heading out to the vineyard, and he was not in a hurry. He was a beautiful bird, his colors shone brightly as he pranced down the road. I wonder if he's still out there.

The ants go marching two by two

It's easy to see anthills in the vineyard road. The road is covered with gravel of different sorts and colors, most frequently white limestone. The soil beneath that gravel is red clay. The ants dig down into the clay and carry it out of their nest before dumping it around the entrance.

Red clay marks the entrances to this ants' nest.

Our weather forecast predicts highs in the upper 30s through the week and morning lows above 21ºC (about 70ºF). That, after three days of the same, is officially une canicule (heat wave) in our part of France. Ugh. We won't be able to complain that we didn't have a summer this year. August has turned out to be a scorcher, even if it started out cold and rainy.

Bird is the word

While I was taking photos of St.-Aignan's new passerelle, a bird flew through one of my shots. My first thought was "I'll have to take that out later." But I decided to leave it in. Local color and all that. I'm not at all certain what kind of bird it is. A pigeon of some sort? Wood pigeon?

The wooden plank deck of the new pedestrian bridge at Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher.

I'm planning a trip to the market in the nearby town of Selles tomorrow. The market is on Thursdays (obviously), but it's between twenty and thirty minutes away, so I don't get over there very often. Still, they have a great flower (live, not cut) vendor and I want some surfinias (trailing petunias) for the kitchen window boxes. Wish me luck.

Here's a very zoomed-in view of the bird as it zoomed past.

Un escargot

I saw this one the other day. I had to hurry to get the camera set, hoping he wouldn't dash away before I could get a photo. ;)

These critters are common around here.

Today is market day in Saint-Aignan. What's on the list? Green asparagus, radishes, strawberries, and poultry sausages, for starters.

Escargot

I saw a lot of seashells (down by the seashore) while strolling on the beach at Oléron. Nothing unexpected there. Most were broken, but this snail stood out. Of course it did... it once had a foot.

Snail shell on seaweed. Ile d'Oléron, May 2008.

Yesterday felt almost balmy as the temperature rose to the high single digits. Still, the ground and everything else outdoors is still quite cold, so it didn't feel as good as it might have. This morning, the thermometer reads just over 6ºC, about 43ºF.

Poisson confiture

Just kidding Confiture is jam or preserves; gelée is jelly. This is une méduse (jellyfish) that I saw on the beach at the Ile d'Oléron during our visit in 2008. I assume it was dead. I don't remember Callie being interested in it at all.

A jellyfish on the beach. Ile d'Oléron, May 2008.

I'm seriously tired of this cold weather. I know it's February and this is kind of normal. But it doesn't feel normal. Our lows hover around zero (freezing) most mornings and struggle to rise through the day. We've had no snow (except once back in December (I think), but otherwise it's been rain and fog. I'll be happy to see it go.

Four and twenty blackbirds

The other day, I counted twenty merles (blackbirds) feeding under our apple trees. I wonder where the other four went. The birds were picking through the fallen fruit looking for small insects and worms, I assume. They can see us watching them. If we make a sudden movement, including opening the curtains, they scatter to the taller trees for a minute or two before resuming their meal. We're happy to have them, helping to break down the apples and helping to keep the population of bothersome little critters under control.

Many fewer than twenty blackbirds on this day. Seen with a telephoto lens from the den.

I've got an early appointment at the lab this morning for une prise de sang (blood work). It's the routine every-couple-of-years blood checkup. I've been fasting since yesterday afternoon, as instructed. I'm also going to learn my groupe sanguin (blood type). The lab will only tell you what it is if your doctor asks them to. So I asked the doctor to do that. I haven't known my blood type since I was a kid in school. Whatever it is, I forgot it long ago.

This is the actual distance from the window to the birds. No zoom.

Landing or taking off?

I don't remember. I'm also not sure if that white mass on the bottom is the tide rising or something else. I'm going with the tide. I'd also wager that the bird is taking off as the tide rolls toward it. I wasn't very good at labeling and/or remembering eighteen years ago when I took these pictures.

Is that a cormorant? Mont Saint-Michel, June 2006.

Today is the winter solstice! The days have already stopped getting shorter. It won't be long now before they start getting longer again. Yay!

Look at that "S" car go!

I know. How many snail jokes are there in the world, I wonder? There's the one where two snails climb onto a tortoise's back. One snail says to the other, "Hold on, Sam, here we go!" If you know any others, feel free to post them in the comment section. You are allowed to do it anonymously.

Quick! Get out of the way!

The forecast is holding for a nice few days ahead. I will pick one of them for cutting the grass.

The bee's knees

I believe you can actually see them in this shot of a bee visiting one of our artichoke flowers.

A lucky shot! Even without a macro lens.

We had rain and drizzle on and off most of the day on Thursday. I got no outdoor work done. As compensation, Ken made a delicious fried rice dish for lunch. Maybe we'll be able to do a couple of things outside today. Meanwhile, mole hills continue to appear in the north forty. Ugh.

Fourmilière

That's where les fourmis (ants) live. They're digging a lot out on the vineyard road and their anthills are everywhere.

An anthill in the dirt road out back.

I fixed my French tax return according to the instructions that the tax office gave me. I had a little trouble finding one of the fields they wanted adjusted, so I just wrote the answer in an e-mail and resubmitted the return, hoping for the best. Ten or fifteen minutes after I hit the send button, the tax office responded that they had accepted the return and the matter is now considered closed. Yay!

I spy, with my little eye...

It's been windy and cold these past few days. This morning's low is around 6ºC. Brrr. It's not unheard of to have a freeze this time of year. Frost danger lasts until mid-May.

Can you see the little spider on the iris petal?

I saw this little critter on one of our irises the the other day. Unbeknownst (that word looks funny in print) to me, Ken also saw it and took the same photo. I started the "pick up sticks" chore in the back yard yesterday. Two wheelbarrow loads of grape vines that I dug up a while back, and fallen branches from our tilleul (linden tree). I still have three grape vine trunks to dig out of the ground.

Blossoms

This is either a fruitless cherry or a fruitless plum. Who can say? It's fruitless. Whatever it is, it's putting on its annual show in our back yard right now.

Pink flowers on a fruitless tree.

The frogs in the pond outside of our back gate are in fine form, voice-wise. They're croaking up a storm, day and night. And every time I walk by, they shut up and retreat under water until I've passed. Ribbit!

Swan River

Well, that other word was taken. And besides, it really is a river, une rivière in French. After a run of just under 300 kilometers, the Yonne empties into the Seine not far upstream from Fontainbleau, south and a little east of Paris.

A swan is "un cygne" in French. Digitized color slide, Auxerre, September 2001.

Still wintry here, but with no precipitation. This morning it's -3ºC at the house, probably a little colder out in the vineyard.

Doesn't that pheasant look pleasant!

One of our bird feeders broke and fell to the ground last week. I spread the seed under the tree the feeder hung from. Since then, a few birds, mostly tits and robins, have been pecking away at it. Imagine my surprise when I looked out the window yesterday and saw this guy enjoying some seed! I grabbed the camera and snapped a few shots before he disappeared.

A male pheasant under the maple trees by our driveway.

A few weeks ago, I saw a pheasant out back, pecking at the ground for tasty morsels, but he wasn't in a spot where I could take a picture. By the way, most of the pheasants we see in and around the vineyard are farm raised, I'm told. They're released into the wild just before the hunting season starts.

I tawt I taw a bunny wabbit

I did! I did taw a bunny wabbit! While walking with Tasha in Vindelle, I saw this in a small square in town. I didn't have the right lens to take a good photo from this far away and I was afraid the dog would scare the rabbit away. It looks like a domestic rabbit to me. I wonder what it was doing out like this?

As soon as I snapped this, we turned and went the other way. I didn't want Tasha to bark like crazy so early in the morning.

Many people in rural France keep rabbits. And chickens, too. The answer to the question "Pets or meat?" is, well, meat. Just in case you're wondering, the rabbits we eat come from the market. I couldn't kill a cute wittle bunny wabbit.