Periodic Puppy Pics - A Pic a Day in May #31

This is the last day in May. It went by so fast. As far as the weather is concerned, it feels more like the end of March. So here's a photo of Callie at the party we went to on Wednesday. She enjoyed chasing the shadows of insects on the ground and playing with two small children most of the afternoon.

Callie drools with delight as she chases shadows on the ground.

We had a number of strong rain showers on Thursday and the kitchen ceiling is now leaking like a sieve. We have to find a roofer that will actually come over and work on it. We've had three roofers look at it over the past years. One said it was done wrong in the first place, another cleared some debris from the valley where the leak is. The third trimmed some of the tiles (last year) to make the water run faster, but that hasn't fixed the problem. Now he's too busy to come over.

I suspect the tiles need to be removed from along the valley so that the old (and possibly compromised) flashing can be replaced with a new and wider one. Meanwhile, we have to unplug the appliances on that side of the room, cover them with plastic, and watch our kitchen ceiling be slowly destroyed while we try to find another roofer.

And speaking of spiders - A Pic a Day in May #30

Well, no, we weren't actually speaking of spiders. But why not? They're everywhere and they help keep down the populations of annoying flying things. This little guy blended right in with his surroundings and I nearly overlooked him. Or her.

The underside of a tiny spider whose web was woven between the stems of wildflowers.

We had a terrific afternoon yesterday at the vacation home of some English friends who threw a little party. The house is about an hour south of us in a beautiful town called Le Grand Pressigny. The weather cooperated and the sun smiled on us most of the day.

Misty morning - A Pic a Day in May #29

As the sun rises, when there are few or no clouds and after a rainy day or night, it warms the air and the humidity begins to evaporate from the ground and plants. The water is transformed into a mist that rises up in the early morning light.

Looking east at sunrise Sunday 26 May 2013. Our house is out of the picture on the left.

This is our road this past Sunday morning. The day turned beautifully sunny, but it wasn't enough to dry us out. Our ground is saturated and there is still a lot of standing water all around, especially in low spots.

Dandy no more - A Pic a Day in May #28

There are a lot of spent dandelions all around us now. They bloomed and went to seed and the rains washed a lot of the seeds away before they could be blown away by the wind. So there are a lot of these empty seed heads out there.

It looks as though it should be edible. Maybe it is.

And speaking of rains, we're under the weather again. The system rolled in right on schedule overnight. I'm glad we had the two days of sun; we got a some good things done outside, not the least of which was cutting the grass and running the tiller through the vegetable garden plots (again). They're almost ready for planting. In fact, I did plant one plot with several winter squash varieties (seeds).

One of our neighbors told me she and her husband are sick of their garden and yard this year ("On en a marre," she said). The ground is too wet to work in the flowerbeds and the lawn grows so fast that his lawnmower gets clogged with clumps of wet grass. These are the elderly neighbors that live up in Blois. They have almost ten times the land area that we do; about half is wooded but the rest is grassy. They were here yesterday along with the guy that helps them in the garden, but they're not always here to take advantage of the good days when we have them.

Stop bugging me - A Pic a Day in May #27

It's not the best picture of an insect, but I like it nonetheless. I guess it's because of the leg articulations. The legs came in focus, whereas the antennae and the body didn't. Proof that the depth-of-field of a macro lens is paper thin.

An insect on a blade of grass.

I'm watching Roland Garros, known in the US as the French Open, now and for the next two weeks. I remember watching some of it (probably just the finals) when I was in high school in the 1970s. I actually played a little tennis back then. I was not very good at it. I started playing again about ten years ago, just before we moved to France, but I haven't played since. I have, however, gone to Roland Garros a couple of times. I wonder when I'll go back.

Fern bar - A Pic a Day in May #26

Remember fern bars? I just barely do; I didn't go to a lot of bars back in the day, although I did go to a disco or two. Stayin' alive, stayin' alive. I do remember one place in particular, though, and it was full of ferns. Mostly in pots hanging from the ceiling in macrame plant hangers. Remember those?

These ferns are not in pots but grow in the woods along side the vineyard road.

Today is la fête des mères in France, so Happy Mother's Day. It's also opening day for the French Open at Roland Garros. Almost miraculously, the clouds have gone away and the sun is out this morning, at least here. Paris is expecting partly sunny skies, but no rain. Good for tennis.

Have I mentioned it's wet - A Pic a Day in May #25

We had light rain most of the day on Friday. I was able to get about an hour's work done in the garden before it started. I decided to postpone cutting the grass until Monday, but there are still several piles of cut hazelnut branches to make smaller and stack. I made some progress on that.

Dew drops on a blade of grass.

Today we're expecting more rain, but the system should be moving out. In fact, it's not raining now and hasn't since late last night (or, at least I didn't hear any rain during the night). I'm going to the St.-Aignan market for asparagus; the season is going strong, but the end is coming. It's good to take advantage while we can.