I was having some technical difficulties this morning that took some time to deal with. Also, the deck contractor is expected to arrive at 08h00.
Consequently, I don't have a photo prepared for today. But I'll be back tomorrow. Thanks for your understanding!
This is a hard one to write. We think Bert, our cat, has left us. He went outside on Saturday afternoon, but didn't return. We talked to the neighbors, but no one had seen him. He just disappeared. We thought that this might happen one day, but now that it has, we're dumbstruck.
Bert was almost seventeen years old. He came to live with us in 2010, when he was just four. We had some bumpy times at the beginning, especially with our dog, Callie, who didn't get along with him. Since Callie died in 2017, and Tasha came to live with us, Bert has had it good. He and Tasha became best buds and Bert enjoyed sleeping on the couch or on the bed, sometimes nuzzled up with the dog.
I find myself looking out the window, expecting to see Bert trotting up the garden path toward home as he usually did. But he doesn't come. The hardest part is not knowing what happened. We miss him.
This is the chapel at the Château de Chaumont. It was built in the early sixteenth century. Most of the big châteaux have chapels. I suppose it was a convenience for the owners/occupants to do their religious stuff in private without having to venture out in public to a local church. Maybe it was a status symbol. A guest room for God? Religion is not my area of expertise.
We're concerned about Bert this morning. He disappeared yesterday afternoon. I only noticed when he didn't come in for his afternoon meal. Then he didn't show up in the evening like he usually does and, so far, he's been out all night. He's got open access to the house, so we know he's not locked out. He's done this once or twice before, but it's been a while. We'll take a look around the neighborhood when it gets light. At his age (seventeen years), we can't help but fear the worst.
I couldn't quite figure out what to do with this photo. Contrast is the issue. Intense light in the center and intense shadow all around. Because it's a camera-produced .jpg file, there's not much data in the image to bring it back to normal with software. So I decided to go dark, playing a little with the contrast and color.
Yesterday's market trip was successful. I got four cuisses de lapin (rabbit thighs) for Sunday's Easter dinner. Ken and I got into a habit of eating rabbit on Easter back when we lived in Washington, DC, nearly forty years ago. A lot of people eat rabbits on Easter, but most of those bunnies are made of chocolate. Not ours. I also got a nice head of lettuce, a bunch of green asparagus, a bunch of radishes, and some strawberries. Yum.
I'm stressed about doing the taxes. For no reason, other than I get stressed about it every year. Again, for no good reason. Neither the American nor the French return is complicated and it goes fine every year.
I'm anxious about the deck work getting started. Happy, and fearful that something will come up to delay it (like bad weather). Or that the deck work and the plumbing work will overlap. I'm probably worrying for nothing.
I'm nervous about my broken tooth. I emailed the dentist a week ago to get the process going for the implant he recommended. I haven't heard back. I'm going to have to call him after the holiday.
Thanks for listening to me kvetch. I feel better now.
Well, not so much. This is the southwestern tower of the Château de Chaumont. Looks like many a fairy tail castle tower. In the background is the Loire, and a portion of that island from yesterday's photo.
Good news on the contractor front: the deck guy called yesterday and wants to start work on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday in France). Yippee! We've cleared the deck (as it were) of plants and everything else that was out there a few weeks ago. We still need to get the bbq grill off the deck, and there's one large potted plant that hast to come in as well, so we're basically ready. Demolition will be noisy, but we'll get through it. I hope the weather cooperates and all goes well. As usual, I'll try to take photos of the progress.
I'm heading over to the Friday market in a near-by town this morning in search of rabbit pieces (like thighs) for Sunday's meal. Ken wants to make a slow-cooked dish, a confit de lapin, and it sounds good. It's the poultry vendors in France that normally deal in rabbit, so I'm hoping ours has some today. They usually do, but if they don't, I may be able to order it for pickup at the Saturday market in Saint-Aignan. Wish me luck!
Here's a view of the Loire River seen from the Château de Chaumont. The little town of Chaumont-sur-Loire is down at river level a little to the right of this view. There's a bridge across the river there. The closest crossings otherwise are about fifteen kilometers (just under 10 miles) in either direction.
It's tax season. I haven't started the American return yet, although I think I've got all the documents I need. The French return is due some time in May. Neither return is all that difficult to do. I just have to get over inertia and do them. That's my plan for the weekend, other than going to the market to find some rabbit for Easter Sunday's lunch.
The vegetable garden plot, that is. Our landscape contractor showed up around nine yesterday morning and spent about an hour tilling up the vegetable garden. I didn't get "before" pictures. Bad planning on my part. But here's an "after" shot.
The contractor has a bigger and more powerful tiller than we do. And he's younger and stronger than either of us. There were a lot of weeds to contend with, but he made short work of it. The first tilling of the season is always the most difficult. Now that it's done, we should be able to run our tiller through it once or twice (to keep the weeds down) with relative ease before we plant in mid-May. Now it's time to get the seedlings going.
