A mild weekend

We're having a relatively warm and dry weekend. I took advantage of it on Friday morning to rip the tomato plants out of the ground and put away their stakes. Ken picked the last few tomatoes for guacamole, part of Friday's lunch. I saved some stray green ones to see if they'll ripen on the deck. I still want to cut the grass, but that will depend on how much dew we get. This morning looks a little foggy out there.

This photo is almost a week old. The leaves are falling to the ground now.

So here we are at the end of October. Halloween. And how cool is it that there's a full moon on Halloween? Next week is going to be stressful all around for us Americans. I'm thankful that I'm not there for all the campaigning, advertising, and news coverage. Because of the time difference, we won't be hearing any election results until early Wednesday morning.

Heading south

I'm not sure what kind of birds these are. Possibly ducks? They flew over silently, except for the muffled sound of beating wings. They were heading in a southwesterly direction across the vineyards.

Not a perfect "V" formation, but close enough.

I got my haircut yesterday. The stylist was a little subdued and seemed worried about what will happen to her business under our new confinement rule. She was required to close her shop at midnight last night and can't re-open for at least four weeks. She told me that she had appointments up until eleven. It was going to be a long day for her.

I went to the grocery store afterward. The parking lot was full, but I grabbed a cart and went in anyway. The lines at the checkout stands extended back into the grocery aisles. I continued. I picked up the few things we wanted and went through the self-checkout. I was third in line and it went pretty quickly. The confinement rule went into effect at midnight, but food shopping is still allowed, so I don't think there was much panic buying going on. This weekend is a big holiday weekend (All Saints Day) and I suspect people were just shopping for that. And the traffic headed to the zoo was backed up for several kilometers.

Savory pumpkin cake

Here's one of the ways we used pumpkin this week. It's a savory pumpkin cake, the recipe for which Ken found on the internet. The cake is made with roasted pumpkin, of course, flour, eggs, smoked lardons (like American bacon), grated cheese, and pecans for crunch. Baking powder helps the cake to lighten and rise. It's a very moist cake, and delicious as an appetizer or a snack.

A slice of savory pumpkin cake.

The president spoke last night and, if I understood correctly, France is going back into a modified lockdown starting on Friday and lasting until the first of December. I won't go into the details here, but like last spring, we will be restricted from unnecessary travel, even around town. Ken got his hair cut yesterday, and I have an appointment this morning, just under the wire. I'm assuming the hair salon will close during the lockdown. Ken did a big supermarket run yesterday, stocking up on some essentials. Since we're more or less homebodies anyway, the restrictions shouldn't be much of a hardship for us.

October sunrise

This was Monday morning's sunrise over the vineyards. Big clouds dominated the sky, but the sun had several openings and painted the cloud tops orange and pink. Since it wasn't raining, Tasha and I went all the way to the end of the dirt road and enjoyed the views.

Looking west at sunrise.

We cut into the big ripe muscade pumpkin on Tuesday. I roasted half of it and we're using the other half in various ways. Some of the roasted flesh went into a savory pumpkin cake. Some of it went into a big batch of spicy enchilada sauce for the freezer. Ken used some unroasted chunks of pumpkin to make a couscous which we've enjoyed for two days now. Today I'm making pizza with pumpkin sauce.

Tasha Tuesday

Just before I took this, Tasha took a big drink from the puddle you can see behind her. She has been delighting in drinking from the puddles in the vineyard road since the rains came. There were none for most of the summer. I suspect that puddle water tastes much better than the stuff she gets in her bowl. I can't confirm that, as I do not partake.

Maybe we should bottle the puddle water and sell it.

Today is the day that Tasha gets her monthly flea and tick preventative. It's a chewable tablet, flavored so that dogs will like it. Tasha hates it. She won't eat it unless I wrap it in rillettes (potted pork, a French staple). So each month I take a spoonful of rillettes and cover the medicine with it. She inhales it without chewing. So, to paraphrase Julie Andrews, just a spoonful of rillettes helps the medicine go down.

Let's stick with Friday

Sunday was, as predicted, a washout with rain most of the day. So here's another photo from Friday afternoon's sun-drenched walk. The golden grape leaves are stunning right now. But they're starting to turn brown and drop to the ground. I think we've passed the "peak."

The view of the vineyards just outside our back gate.

I'm hoping for some more nice days over the next few weeks so I can continue cleaning up the garden and yard for winter. Keep your fingers crossed!

A fungus among us

Over the past few days, I've noticed some mushrooms growing in and on the stump of the big apple tree that fell last fall. As you can see, the trunk was mostly hollow and could no longer support the tree's weight. Down it came. Our recent rains have given all manner of fungus what they need to pop up all around, in our lawn, in the woods and, well, everywhere.

Mushrooms help to decompose the old apple tree stump.

These mushrooms were prettier when they were a little smaller, but they're still impressive. Naturally, we won't be eating them. I don't know what they are. I looked through our mushroom identification book without making a solid match. Even if I had identified them, and even if they are supposed to be edible, I still would not eat them. There's too much room for error.