What's on tv

We're getting a new channel. It will be called "Trek" and will replace a channel called "Escales." However, we did not subscribe to "Escales" so I don't think we'll be getting "Trek." Both are like travel channels, but "Trek" will be more about adventure travel, like mountain climbing and throwing oneself off of high places. I"m not likely to be doing any of that. We already get a travel channel called "Voyages" which is more my speed.

Mila Kunis has a new Sci-Fi movie in theaters. I still think of her as Jackie in "That 70s Show."

What not to watch this week. I'm adding a new element to this weekly feature called "What not to watch this week." Our tv magazine rates shows and movies using a star system: one star is ok, four stars is best. They use another symbol for really bad movies: the red dot. It means à zapper (change the channel!). The editors will often include some comments about the movie that usually make me laugh. Here we go:
 

Age of Extinction. An American made-for-tv movie directed by James Kondelik. 2014. First showing.
With Kelly Hu, Robert Picardo, Nick Stellate, Nicholas Alexander, Anthony Marks, and Lane Townsend.
The sun strikes an altar hidden inside an ancient pyramid and initiates an alien invasion. An anthropologist tries to stop it.
► Kelly Hu's charm is not enough to save this low-budget, poorly written stinker.
For adults, teenagers over 12 years.

Note: My translation is not word-for-word; I'm trying to express the sentiment as an American reviewer might.

*****
We had some snow on Friday. And by snow, I mean flurries mixed with rain for all of about five minutes. It goes without saying that none of it stuck to the ground. Now they're predicting snow for most of the next week, but it will likely be the same story. Still, we're back to wintery temperatures.

Soaked

Thursday was a wet day, to say the least. It had started raining during the night and did not stop all day. The rain was moderate, but steady. It's unusual for us to have hour after hour of steady rain. Normally our weather systems come in with squalls or showers that move quickly through, but this system was just rain, rain, rain. We measured twenty millimeters in the gauge this morning.

This small orchard was planted sometime in the last five years or so.

The rain has stopped now, but the temperatures have dropped and the wind is still with us. Ah, the joys of winter.

Down in the valley

This is a section of the walk that Callie and I usually do in the afternoons. The river is not far from here, but we have to cross the road to get there and cars tend to fly by, so it's not something we do often. And this time of year the ground is very wet and it's no fun trudging along the muddy riverbank with the dog.

A wheat field on the left and a small vineyard parcel on the right.

There aren't many vines in the valley; most are up on the heights where drainage is better.

Wednesday afternoon was rainy and windy, so we did not venture down on this route. Rather, we stayed close to the house and took a shorter walk. Today's weather is much the same: rainy and windy. This morning's walk will be short and muddy.

Onion pizza

This is our take on the classic pissaladière (onion pizza). The only real difference here is that I've left out the anchovies. The last time I made one, Ken said that he didn't really like the anchovies, and I agreed. I think we had a particularly strong batch and it was too much. I have made the pissaladière with anchovies in the past and it was good. At any rate, leaving them out is ok if you don't like them.

The second of two small pizzas. Delicious!

Otherwise, it's a simple pizza. All you do is cook down a lot of onions with herbs and white wine (optional), then spread them on a pizza crust, dot with black olives, and bake. Follow it with a green salad and you've got a meal.

Lost again

Last week, Ken drove up to a local wine cooperative and, with his purchase, they gave him this promotional scratcher. It came with no instructions, no rules, and no indication of what the prize might be. But how could I not be excited by the words jouez, gagnez ! (play, win!)? Not to mention the rainbow colors and little wine bottles. I grabbed a coin and rubbed off the golden, um, whatever that stuff is you rub off a scratcher. Perdu. Lost. Sad face.

The teeny-tiny print on the right says there's a web site where you can find the game rules.

I needed a magnifying glass to read it.

After I lost, I noticed that I had scratched off the game piece in the shape of France. That's got to be worth something, n'est-ce pas ?

Up, up, and home

This is our road where it climbs up from the river to our house and the vineyards on the heights above. If you look closely, you can see Callie out ahead of me, on the right side of the road next to the first telephone pole. This is our usual afternoon route when the vineyard fence is not electrified. It's a circular route and Callie knows it well. She knows that, with me, we turn left out the back gate in the mornings to walk through the vineyards, but we turn right out the back gate in the afternoons to take the path down the hill. Smart dog!

The sun is setting as we head for home up the hill. The climb is good exercise for me.

As for yesterday's sign mystery, I will be walking by it again this afternoon, so I'll have a closer look. I've been thinking it might say "Sable - oui." That would be "Sand - yes," which would make sense. I'll let you know.

A sign of the times

This home-made sign has seen better days. I saw it along one of my dog-walking routes last week. It's strange that I never noticed it before because it looks like it has been there for a while. The sign is on a tree next to a stream bed where I've noticed the neighboring households dumping yard waste.

I suppose whoever owns the property is concerned about pollution, and rightfully so.

Here's what I think it says:

Végétaux - oui (Yard waste - yes)

Désherbants - non (Herbicides - no)

Produits toxiques - non (Poisonous products - no)

XXXXX

I can't make out that bottom line from my photo; I'll have to go back and take a closer look. We're still having just barely freezing temperatures in the morning, but the weather people are telling us we'll be warming up a little in the coming week.