Curious

The dirt road that goes through the vineyard parcels behind our house is full of curiosities. Every year, the town fills the potholes that form in the winter. The fill is mostly crushed stone, but there must be other things in it. I've seen glass, brick, and other materials that are not from nature exposed as the road wears down. This seems to be a hunk of concrete with some lettering molded in.

It's hard to tell what words these letters are part of.

We're having nice weather right now. Warm, not too hot, dry. But the weather people say that will change on Sunday with a drop in temperatures and weather system moving across the country from the northwest. There may even be some rain. At least we're not facing a hurricane, like they are in the southeastern US.

Here come the beans

In the spring I planted a row of yellow flat beans along the garden's trellis. They sprouted quickly and started climbing, but then they slowed down. I suspect that the heat waves had something to do with that. But a week or so ago I noticed blossoms, and now the beans are forming.

The beans are getting bigger and are starting to turn yellow.

I hope the crop is good, because we like flat beans. Green flat beans are usually available in the markets and they're really good. I wonder if this year's weather will have had any impact on the commercial crops.

Still producing

The zucchini are starting to pile up. I've got to process them and freeze them before they go soft. I guess we're not eating them fast enough, even though we seem to eat them almost daily. I like to grate them in the food processor and freeze them. Then, later in the year, I can thaw the grated squash for fritters or for zucchini bread.

I picked this one after I took the photo. I can see at least six more growing on this plant. Yikes!

Last year we had a bumper crop of potimarron, those red kuri squash that have a nice chestnutty taste. To preserve those, I roasted them and froze the flesh. There is still a lot of it in the freezer for making pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread this fall. I was smart enough not to grow any this year.

A stormy evening, a restless night

For about an hour last evening we experienced rain. Not a lot, but a steady mild rain with some rumbling thunder. We were on the edge of the storm because we consistently heard the thunder to our west as it moved northward. It was nice to get some rain, but it had stopped by nightfall and the stars came out in a mostly clear sky.

One of our roses is producing flowers again.

I had another bad night of sleep or, rather, lack of sleep. My legs will not calm down. The moment I lie down, my leg muscles tense up, just short of cramping. I constantly want to move them, stretch, or get up and walk around. It keeps me from falling asleep. I've read about "restless leg syndrome" and how nobody really knows what it is or how to deal with it. This has been going on for a long time, but it's been much worse in the past few months. I suppose I'll mention it to the doctor when I see him this fall, but I'm not certain what, if anything, can be done.

Cabernet franc

I think this is cabernet franc, one of the red wine cépages (varietals) grown in our region. The other two are gamay and côt (known in other regions as malbec).  All three varietals grow in the vineyard parcels around our house.

The grapes are ripening now. It will be interesting to see when the harvest begins this year.

The primary white varietal here is sauvignon, but there are small amounts of chardonnay grown for blending. In the vineyards of Vouvray and Montlouis, not far from us on the Loire, they grow chenin blanc almost exclusively. One of my favorite local wines is a rosé made from pineau d'aunis, a very localized grape that I learned about when we moved here. The rosé made from pineau d'aunis can be very pale, crisp, and dry. That's the way I like it.

Another heat wave

Last night was very uncomfortable for sleeping. I didn't get much, except for a couple of hours early this morning as it cooled off. We got up over 33ºC (over 91ºF) on Sunday. It's supposed to be a little warmer than that today and Tuesday. I'm thinking that the only thing making this heat not as bad as June's and July's is that the days are getting shorter this time of year.

The knapweed (I think) flowers are long gone, the pods are brown, and the seeds are floating away.

Our yard is burned to a crisp, as are most of the neighbors' yards, except in areas that are sheltered from the sun. Even those are extremely dry due to lack of water. I think the moles have moved down into the ravines where it's shady and probably damp, where they can find food. The mice and voles may have followed them, judging by the fact that Bert hasn't brought one home in a while.

What a strange, hot summer it's been. We're looking forward to fall.

Death in the vineyard

If you look closely at this vineyard storage building, you will see that one of the grape vines that grows against the wall has died. The vine was one of four that grow on the southern and western walls of what's called la cabane de vigne or du vigneron (the vine grower's cabin). These grapes were never harvested as far as I know, but have always been nibbled on by passersby (including me).

I walk by this cabin (and that tree) nearly every day with the dog.

Each year, the vineyard workers prune those vines back as they do all the other vines, and each year the vines grow robust leaves and produce grapes. But now one is gone. It will be interesting to see if the grower decides to pull it out and replace it. If anything happens, it probably won't happen until the winter pruning season.