When there was sun

We had some bright, sunny days a couple of weeks ago. Since then, it's been more or less cloudy or rainy. Yesterday, the clouds let some sun through most of the day and it felt good, but still chilly. The forecast is for the sun to come back and temperatures to warm up again through the weekend. The garden will like that.

Let's hope July is more like this than June was.

I'm probably as sick of writing about the weather as you are reading about it. The cat just brought a mouse indoors and the dog is barking, ready for her walk. Another day begins.

Tasha Tuesday

After I cut the grass in the south 40 last week, I went outside to take some photos. Guess who came with me? These are the strips along the road, outside the hedges. Ours is on the right, our neighbor's is on the left. I've been mowing her strip for a year or so after she asked if I could do it once. It takes just a couple of minutes and it makes the road look nicer.

Tasha in our road. The neighbor's hedge (left) needs some work.

That neighbor will be moving soon. She sold her house several months ago and I think the new neighbors will move in some time in July. I won't continue cutting that strip once they're in. In fact, I think last week may have been the last time. It will be interesting to see how they change things.

Oy vey

Pardon my Yiddish. These are the Jerusalem artichokes that grow in front of the garden shed. I planted them there many years ago and they come back every year. Despite their name, the plants have nothing to do with Jerusalem nor are they related to artichokes. The English-language name comes from a deformation of the Italian girasole (tournesol in French), which means "turns with the sun," the name for sunflowers. I read that the artichoke part of the name came from the flavor of the tubers (called topinambours in France) which reminds people of artichokes.

These have a long way to grow before they start to flower later in the summer.

The weather has not improved. We had rain most of the day on Sunday and are expecting scattered showers for the next few days. And it's not warm. Oy gevalt!

Tour de France 2021 in Saint-Aignan

The 2021 Tour de France bicycle race got under way yesterday in Brittany. This year the tour's route takes it through our own back yard, almost literally. On Thursday (July 1), the sixth stage will start in the city of Tours and follow the Loire River up to Amboise, turn south to the Cher Valley and follow the river up to Saint-Aignan. The riders will turn south again to cross the bridge, ride through Saint-Aignan, past the zoo, and then continue south to Châteauroux.

A map of the Stage 6 route. Saint-Aignan is in the middle, marked by the red "4" marking the "Saint-Aignan Incline" (which is not much of an incline). Click on the map to make it a little bigger. Image from lequipe.fr.

The Tour has come through our region once before since we've lived here, but nowhere near this close to our house. We won't head into town to see it, but we will be watching it on television. If the weather is good, then we should see some great aerial views of our area, including some of the famous châteaux around us.

Hydrangea with ramp

I need to take some new photos. These are two of the hydrangeas that I grew from cuttings many years ago. The other two, planted on the other side of the garage door, died last year. I probably didn't water them enough. The window goes into the garage and the plank is Bert's ramp in. He comes and goes as he pleases until I lock him indoors at night. Of course, he has to come in around bedtime for that.

It's not elegant, but it works.

When the days are long in summer, the sun doesn't set until around 22h00 (10pm), so it stays light beyond bedtime and Bert stays out with it. Last night he came in around 22h30, with a live mouse. I usually hear him come in because he meows as he climbs the stairs. I get up out of bed and go down two flights to close the garage window. More often than not, he brings a mouse in with him. He has a special loud meow when he's got a mouse, dead or alive. When this happens, sometimes as late at 02h00, I have to be sure the mouse is dead and not released live into the house before I shut the window. The other night, Bert played with a mouse for about ten minutes while I not-so-patiently tried to get him to finish it off. Bert eats mice head first, so when I hear the crunch of the skull, I know the mouse is dead and I can go back to bed. Not fun.

Wild bellflower

Not much to say about these campanules sauvages (wild bellflower) other than that they show up every summer here and there among the tall grasses adjacent to the vineyard parcels out back.

I took the background color out of the photo to highlight the blossoms.

I really want to get out and cut the grass today. Maybe this afternoon. Heavy morning dew makes the grass too wet to cut until close to mid-day. If it dries out enough before lunch, I'll give it a go. We're not expecting any rain until over night. Fingers crossed.

Red flag

The grower that owns most of the vines out behind our house uses lengths of red and white "do not cross" tape to mark certain rows in his vineyards. They mark the rows he drives the big tractors in when he sprays the vines. His tractors have arms that reach out to spray several rows at a time, reducing the number of passes he has to make. Ain't agriculture fun!

It's not charming but it does the trick.

Our weather is not really improving. The forecast I saw yesterday for a warm weekend has been downgraded to a "not as cold" weekend. Lovely. And summer hasn't sent so much as a postcard from wherever it's vacationing. If this goes on much longer, the central heating is going to kick in.