Hi-ho, hi-ho, into the woods we go

To get down to the river valley, Tasha and I walk through these woods along a path that's in some places wide enough for a tractor and, in other places, only wide enough for one person to pass. The narrow part is where somebody cut down the trees (some years ago now) and the re-growth filled in with vigor. On hot summer days, the path through the woods is shady and cool. On dark winter days, it can feel downright spooky.

Tasha sniffs the ground on the way down the hill.

The temperature on the deck this morning is -0,5ºC, which means that the temperature out in the vineyards will be a degree or two colder. It's our first below-zero reading of the season.

Dog on the move

When we first set out for our walks, Tasha is excited. She bounces around, back and forth, sniffing the ground for signs of whoever, or whatever, went before us. This is the start of Saturday afternoon's walk, not long before sunset. We headed down the hill from our back gate to the path that takes us further down into the river valley. Tasha knows the way by heart.

Our route takes us down and around the vines you see on the right, then we head into the woods.

Saturday was a pleasant, sunny, and relatively mild day. I wore a fleece and a baseball cap during the walk. This morning is cold, close to freezing. I'll be wearing my long-johns, coat, scarf, gloves, and a knit cap. We'll head out through the vineyards rather than going down the hill.

Have a ball

These two fountains, les fontaines de Pol Bury, were installed in the Cour d'Orléans of the Palais Royal in the center of Paris back in 1985. They didn't exist when I lived in Paris a few years earlier. The first time I was back in Paris was 1988, and there they were. The building itself was also renovated and its façade cleaned since then.

Pol Bury was a Belgian artist. He died in 2005.

Back then I was just getting started with SLR photography and was into taking color slides. This image is scanned from the original slide and fixed up a little with the software I currently use to process digital photos. I was sure that I had posted it on the blog before, but I can't find it, so here it is.

Just another day

Our Thanksgiving meal was delicious. I didn't take any photos, but Ken did and I'm sure he'll post some soon. Now it's on to the leftovers. A whole leg of lamb for two people is a lot. Today we'll probably have cold slices of the roast with mayonnaise. Later, some of it will get chopped up for an hachis parmentier (a shepherd's pie).

A last burst of fall color as we move toward December.

And speaking of pies, I made a pumpkin pie for dessert. I thawed out more pumpkin than I needed for the pie, so we ate some with butter, salt, and pepper, alongside the lamb. We also had peas, carrots, and mushrooms. Now I've got to get moving. I have an appointment with my doctor early this morning. Just a routine visit to renew my blood pressure and cholesterol prescriptions.

Thanksgiving Day

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. It's a national holiday, second only to Independence Day as far as secular national days go. The traditional meal is stuffed turkey. The traditional sport is sitting on the couch watching (American) football on television. The traditional w(h)ine is, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." LOL.

Some birds flying south between the contrails.

Ken and I will roast our traditional leg of lamb and maybe watch some tennis or CNN or Dr. House on television. And we'll drink a bottle of Beaujolais-Villages nouveau.

If you celebrate, enjoy! If not, enjoy anyway. And be safe.

There goes the sun

The sun is rising later and later these days. Here, today, it will officially be up at 08h14. And we'll continue losing daylight until the solstice in December. Driving is a pain right now, because the sun is so low in the sky that it's just blinding, especially when driving east in the morning. We're not supposed to be out for much these days anyway, except for food shopping and medical visits. And getting the car inspected. By the way, it passed, so we're good for another two years. That's a good thing for a car that's twenty years old.

This past Monday's sunrise.

We only use that old Peugeot for tooling around town. No long drives, just in case it decides to break down, so we stay close to home with it. The newer car, a Citroën, gets inspected in a few weeks. We don't expect any issues with that one.

Ken's heading out this morning to get our Thanksgiving "turkey," which is actually a leg of lamb. We started that tradition in 1983, if memory serves. I'll be making a pumpkin pie, too. Meanwhile, today's lunch will be soupe à l'oignon gratinée.

All the vines are brown

Fall has done its thing in the vineyards. The brilliant golden leaves of the last months turned brown and dropped to the ground in nearly every parcel. The bare canes take on a reddish/orange color this time of year, but it's a much more subdued hue. As winter settles in, the canes will be pruned from the vines.

Winter is coming.

The grasses growing in the vine parcels are bright green. Some parcels have been neatly mowed, in some the weeds have been plowed up. Still other parcels seem to be growing wild with weeds. I'm sure they will be dealt with soon enough. We learned from the mayor a few days ago that the largest grower out back is working to convert to organic production. She (the daughter of the current grower and winemaker) is testing different kinds of vineyard management techniques. We noticed that in one parcel she's planted a variety of clover between rows as a nitrogen-fixing winter cover crop.