The garden path

Here Tasha and I just left the house and are heading out for our morning walk. A lot of leaves have fallen from the tilleul (linden tree) onto the garden path (there are still a lot left to fall). Raking them up is a pain, but no more! We just became the proud owners of a leaf blower thanks to our hardware store credit. My plan is to blow the leaves off the path and onto the grass, them run them over with the mower (once I get that running again).

Looking west toward the vineyards at dawn on Thursday morning.

I tested the blower out yesterday in the driveway on the other side of the house and it works pretty well. It also has a feature for sucking up the leaves into a bag, but that looks like a lot of trouble in terms of emptying the bag and cleaning out the machine. We'll stick with blowing the leaves for now. Baby steps.

A month ago

I took this picture about a month ago, just after arriving back from my trip to the US. A throwback to autumn, even though we have another month of it to go.

Looking back at our hamlet from the vineyard road.

Yesterday, I stopped into the hardware store to see about a recharger for the lawnmower's battery. I had no idea what to look for and there is nothing I can find in the manual to tell me.I wanted to ask the staff what they would recommend for my mower. After all, it's the place where I bought the thing. I haven't pulled the battery yet, so there may be something written on it.

At any rate, after much consultation (with each other) and head scratching, the two guys that were helping me found what I hope is the answer. They pulled a charger off the shelves that I never would have seen myself because it was on an end cap and not with the other chargers. "This is the one we use to charge lawnmower batteries," one of the guys said confidently. Why he didn't know that sooner, I do not know. So, after some more online research, I'll probably get that one. I didn't buy it yesterday because, well, that's a long story. Short version: we have a store credit to use up and it's in Ken's name. He has to do the transaction.

I'm going to try to remove our mower's battery today to see what's written on it.

Stacked

As I mentioned, this year's firewood is stacked and ready for the season. I've already had a few small fires. With the stove grille (that part that keeps the logs from falling out when the door is open) broken, I don't want to risk a regular sized fire. 

Firewood. The garbage cans on the left are filled with kindling. The big stump in front of them is my chopping block for splitting logs.

New problem: the battery in the riding mower is dead. Turns out that it's my fault. I was supposed to remove the battery before parking the mower for the season. I was also expected to recharge the battery about once a month during the off season. The mower didn't come with a charger and nobody mentioned it to me when I bought the machine. Of course, it's in the owner's manual. Which I didn't read in depth. A few days ago, one of our neighbors (who has essentially the same mower) asked if I had taken the battery out. Uh, no. So now I have to go to the hardware store where I bought the mower and ask about rechargers. From what I can tell, the battery's sole purpose is to start the mower's engine. And mine is now dead.

Tasha Tuesday

Tasha has been spending some time on the deck while I've been down below stacking firewood. It keeps her dry (the grass all around is pretty wet) and out of trouble (mostly). Good news: Ken found a groomer and Tasha's got an appointment next week. This is another groomer who comes to the house. She asked if we had a shower and/or a bathtub that she could use, so this is not the same setup as the previous groomer (who's now on maternity leave). The utility room has a shower and a large tub/sink next to it, so we should be in good shape.

Ever vigilant!

The log stacking is done! I'll have a couple of photos in the coming days.

Serendipity

This morning I got an email from a local friend who reads this blog from time to time. She read yesterday's post and took note of our problem with the wood burning stove. She suggested I go on line to look for replacement parts for the stove. I hadn't even considered that! I figured that since the company who made the stove went out of business years ago, there wouldn't be an opportunity to find parts.

Nothing to do with today's topic.

Leftover sauerkraut made a great second (and third, and fourth) meal last week.

Well, I forgot about third party enterprises that collect parts and stock them. Et voilà ! I looked around and found the exact product I needed for our stove and ordered it. It'll be delivered to our house in two weeks. Total cost: €50 (about fifty bucks US). Thank goodness for friends and blogs!

Firewood

Ken and I started work on stacking the firewood that was delivered on Friday. The pile (if shaped a little differently) is almost as big as the car. I think we got almost half of it done before we quit. I'll be back out there this morning. Ken might be out there, too, unless he's busy making lunch. Pictures of the stacked wood to come.

Firewood and the Citroën C-4.

Now we have a wood stove issue to deal with. The front grill that holds burning logs back from the stove's glass door broke in two a few days ago. It's been deformed by eighteen years of use, but I never imagined it would break. It's made of cast iron, after all. We're trying to get in touch with the company that installed the stove in 2006, but they seem to be busy at the moment. And we're in the middle of a holiday weekend. Ken will likely call next week to get an appointment. We need to figure out if there's a grill replacement or fix available. If not, we may have to considering replacing the stove. Ka-ching!

Snowball

Here's what's become an annual post here: a shot of our neighbors' snowball bush in the fall. In the spring, it's covered with round, white flowers that resemble snowballs. In the fall the flowers are long gone, but the leaves turn bright red.

The neighbors' snowball bush seen from the deck. That's our red maple on the left.

Our firewood was delivered on time yesterday morning. It's in a big pile (dumped by a truck) in the driveway next to the carport. This morning I'll start stacking it. Of course, rain is predicted for Sunday. I'll never have it all stacked (and out of the rain) by then, so I may need to throw a tarp over it.