Grape flowers

The vineyards are in bloom. But you have to look real close to notice. The little flowers are not easy to see.

Grape flowers on the vine.

I think that pollination happens by the force of wind currents. I'm not sure if insects are involved much; I don't notice much insect activity when I look at the flowers. I read that most cultured grape vines self-pollinate, as they contain both male and female parts.

Grape pollen forms on the tips of the white stamens.

Our good weather continues. I was able to get to the market for more strawberries and asparagus. The vendor told me, though, that this was the last week for his asparagus. The local season is ending. Strawberries will continue through the summer.

Hi there

On my Friday morning walk with Tasha, she lagged behind a little (as she often does). I looked to my right and saw this between two rows of grape vines. The chevreuil (roe deer) froze and watched me. I stopped and slowly lifted the camera up. As usual, I had the wrong lens (100mm macro) on the camera for this kind of photo. As I moved on, Tasha caught up with me, but she didn't see the deer.

A roe deer in the tall grass between vine rows.

I'll be heading over to the Saturday market at Saint-Aignan again this morning for strawberries and asparagus.

Vineyard view

It's beginning to look a lot like summer. The vineyards are leafing out and sending tendrils skyward. The support wires and posts are disappearing beneath the green. Soon we'll see the trimming tractors plying the rows, cutting back the vines to neat, rectangular shapes.

The tall grasses are getting mowed, parcel by parcel, this week. Yay!

Bert the cat got a clean bill of health at the vet's on Thursday. Weight is good, heart sounds good, no sign of lumps or growths. So he got his shot, a worm pill, and three months worth of flea and tick preventative. Bert turned fourteen years old two weeks ago. He's been living with us for ten years now.

With the wind

Gone, that is. The two dirt mounds on which poppies had flowered are gone. Poof! They were there one day, and the next, not. One of the five or so limestone piles has also been taken away. I don't have a clue as to what was done with them. I also noticed that, in the adjacent vineyard parcels, the uprooted vine trunks have been gathered into three or four HUGE piles, probably to make it easier to remove them. And yesterday, there were people working everywhere in the vineyards around us. Doing what? Frankly, my dear...

The two poppy mounds seen from across a field. They're gone now. The brown pile behind them is a pile of grape vine trunks.

Today Bert goes to the vet for his annual vaccination. He was supposed to go in March, but the vet postponed all vaccinations and other routine visits while we were under the confinement order. Bert also needs a worm pill and a new dose of flea and tick preventative. Next week, Tasha goes in for her regularly scheduled annual shots. So, now both animules are on the same vaccination schedule.

Poppies among the vines

Grape growers around us, and around the nation, are using a lot less herbicide in their vineyards these days. I can really see the difference between now and when we first arrived in 2003. Some growers are moving toward organic growing methods, others are just using less as the government bans certain herbicides (at least from public use; I don't know what restrictions apply to agriculture). The result is more mowing and more plowing to reduce weeds. Right now, out back, there isn't much of either going on. The grasses and weeds are growing tall and I spotted these isolated poppies the other day.

A late spring morning in the vineyards.

While I'm not at all complaining, the tall grasses make it difficult for us to walk off-road with Tasha. First, the grasses get wet with morning dew or rain and our legs get soaked very quickly. So does Tahsa. Second, the tall grasses are where the ticks hang out and we need to be very careful about that, especially during warm weather when we're wearing shorts. At leash Tasha takes a flea and tick preventative. We don't have that option.

I had a successful trip to the garden center on Tuesday and found pretty much everything I went for. I arrived just after it opened and there weren't many customers yet.

Bloomin'

The clary sage plants around the real fake well are flowering now. Their purple flower stalks start out horizontal, but as the flowers open, they point skyward. Our little volunteer wheat crop in the well is also looking good. Better than weeds, anyway.

Clary sage and wheat in flower.

Ken picked up another grocery order from the Super U drive on Monday. This time they had the chicken wings that we've ordered twice before but didn't get. I like to make Buffalo style chicken wings from time to time, so I'm happy.

Today I'm planning an outing to our local garden center. My goal is to get geraniums for the deck planters, petunias (actually surfinia, a cascading variety) for the kitchen window boxes, some green bean seeds, and some soil. Garden centers have been open all through our confinement, having been deemed essential businesses.

Everything's coming up roses

At least, the roses are. These are on one of three rose plants in our yard, the very plants we divided so many years ago. They're really intense right now.

Hot pink roses.

I finally couldn't stand my long hair any more and I asked Ken to cut it off. He used a pair of hair clippers we got for Tasha (but haven't used on her yet) after not getting any results with my beard trimmer. The clippers cut more hair off than I was expecting, so now I have a close buzz cut. It looks a little funny, but it's neat and feels great. Sorry, we took no photos. The process was a little stressful but, happily, no blood was spilled.