Puppy Pic Of The Week

Callie and I have been trying to be outdoors lately. But the weather has not cooperated. When we get a good morning or afternoon, we go outside. I try to get some chores done and Callie tries to get some playing done.

Callie has just dropped an apple on the ground. I threw it across the yard, and she dutifully chased it, picked it up, and brought it back. Good dog!

She usually wins. And if I'm lucky, she poses for a picture.

But she also likes to run through the freshly tilled garden plots getting her feet dirty or muddy. As I told Ken recently, that means she ends up getting a "spa treatment." A warm shower and a towel dry in the utility room.

Island Harvest

The last time we walked on the island, I took some pictures. You will see them little by little, as I get them prepared for posting. Today, it's melons.

Someone had recently been working this plot. The fire was still smoldering.

Actually, these are not really melons and are more likely some kind of squash. They just look like melons. Since the weather has not been melon weather, I'm sure they are a squash of some sort. I was tempted to take one (as there was a neglected one outside the fence), but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So I have to wonder.

What do they taste like? What will be made with them?

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Ken arrived safely in North Carolina late last night, or early this morning, depending on what part of the world you're in. He lost an hour going to EDT from CDT, but he'll get it back when they change the clocks in the US this weekend.

Word Of The Week

grève

Anyone who has traveled in France knows this word. Strike! It means the trains aren't running, the planes aren't flying, or the garbage isn't being picked up.

This past weekend there was une grève of Air France flight attendants, wanting better pay and better working conditions. Last month we saw une grève of SNCF and RATP employees, making train travel a little bit painful. And they're threatening to do it again in November. Nicolas Sarkozy better be paying attention. All is not well in Camelot. He should be so lucky.

Anyway, there is another meaning of la grève. From the popular Latin, grava, it means sandbank, or beach. Like graviers, or gravel. Who knew?

Image from : http://www.m6info.fr

Kitchen Collection [46]

Cocktail forks are essential. Or maybe they're not. But they do come in handy from time to time and for many things. We have these two sets, as you can see here.

Examples of our two styles of cocktail fork.

One set is two-pronged, with long prongs. Good for spearing things like stuffed olives. The other is more spoon-like and they're good for things like roasted red peppers in olive oil. We also have little picks, those tiny forks that are best for olives and pickles, some with fancy handles, but I haven't pictured them here.

I think we have about six of each of these, and we actually do use them for parties and other events. Who woulda thunk it?

Pumpkin Muffins

Okay. I know the pumpkin thing is getting a little bit out of hand. But still. I've got pumpkins and I have to use them. So on Sunday, I made pumpkin muffins.

My pumpkin muffins, cooling on a rack.

The recipe is the same one I used for pumpkin bread a week ago and it worked just wonderfully in the muffin tin. I had two of these for dessert on Sunday and I'm a happy guy.

I made one dozen, froze six (so Ken can taste them when he gets home), and kept six out for munching. Yum!

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Ken emailed me from Anniston, AL, where he is staying with friends for the next couple of days before going to North Carolina. They took off from CDG yesterday about 18h00 CET. He said they actually sat on the plane for two hours before takeoff, but once in the air everything was smooth. The plane wasn't even full and he and Marie had a row of three seats to themselves.

He'll probably start updating his blog before too long, but in case he doesn't, I will provide updates. He'll love that...

Sunday Is Laundry Day

At least it is for some people. Not for me, at least not today. We do laundry whenever we need to, usually running our machine overnight and hanging the clothes out the next morning. When it's cold or raining, we either hang the clothes inside or wait.

Looks like sheets and towels.

A nice thing about living in the country is that we can actually hang our clothes outside to dry rather than always using the dryer. It's especially nice in the summer, but on dry sunny days we can even hang them outside in winter. We do have a clothes line inside for wet days. It used to be in the utility room, but I recently moved it to the garage. Too much information?

The house pictured above is on the right bank of the Cher in Noyers, right across from Saint-Aignan. It was last Sunday and the laundry was out.

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And here's an update for those of you tracking Ken's trip. He made it to Paris with no problem, but the shuttles that operate at the airport to serve the hotels were a bit messed up. He canceled his dinner plans and ate at a restaurant close to his hotel. He told me on the phone that there were lots of people and they seemed dazed and confused.

I later saw on the news that the Air France flight attendants were striking on Saturday over salary issues and as a consequence many flights were delayed or canceled. I'll bet that had an impact on the shuttles and the number of people trying to move around the airport to make alternative plans. The flight attendants are still not happy, so there will likely be a continuation of the "labor action" on Sunday.

This is the start of a holiday week here in France and people are traveling in large numbers (Thursday is la Toussaint - All Saints Day - a day off). The travelers they interviewed on the news were not happy campers. Usually these strikes don't affect long-haul international flights, but the reporter said even some of those were being delayed and canceled this time.

I'm hoping that Ken's flight gets off ok. I checked the website and there's no indication of anything screwy yet, but it's too early. I'll know in the afternoon.

Inutile

This is a quick image from last weekend's island walk. As I've said, there are many garden allotments on the island. Each of them probably reflects the personality of its owner.

Like this one. It says, "It's no use breaking in; there's nothing worth stealing." I'll post more island pictures over the next few days. Today I'm taking Ken to the train station. He's starting his grand adventure to the States - Alabama then North Carolina.

As for me and Callie, we're staying home to guard the house.