21 February 2018

Projets et explications

Something I haven't done since my mother passed away nearly three weeks ago is thank all of you who left sympathy and condolence messages in comments on this blog at the time. Thank you. I thought for a while I would try to answer your comments individually, but I can tell that is not going to happen right away. Know that I appreciate all the comments you left.

We are now gearing up for a short road trip in March. That means getting the Citroën car serviced and planning the food and belongings we'll take to the gîte rural that we've reserved. The trip has been planned for a while. We'll leave Saint-Aignan on my birthday and drive to the Allier area, north of Vichy, for four or five days.


As you can see in these photos, we've been having a lot of rain (alert the media!) around here. I went out yesterday and was surprised to see that the river is again overflowing. There don't seem to be any houses under water, but the garden allotments and the fields along the river are really flooded. All the little ponds and water holes out in the vineyard are full to overflowing. The ground is sloppy wet, and the jeans I wear for walks with Natasha are splattered with mud.


A lot of bulbs in the yard and vineyard have sent up leaves, and some are even starting to flower. I noticed a few primroses flowering out in the yard yesterday, and ones that haven't yet sent up flowers are like little bushes of leaves (above) already. Unfortunately, it's supposed to turn cold next week, with low temperatures down around –6ºC (as low as 20ºF). I'm sure a lot of the new growth around the area will be killed.
We'll be able to cover some of the beds where bulbs have come up, and we can wrap our little fig tree to try to protect it from frost. But my plum tree, which Walt says is covered in buds, will probably once again fall victim to cold weather. Oh well... I'd like warmer weather for our road trip, but a thaw might mean the rains will return. If it's cold, it'll be clear and we'll be able to do more sightseeing and take more photos. Let's hope the last month of winter won't be too brutal.

9 comments:

  1. This trip you're going to take will be good for you and a change of pace and of mind. I think I can tell your readers are already looking forward to a lot of photos.

    Talking about trip, it is time for me to book my flight to and from France. I'll probably stay five months and hope to see you more often and longer than last year!

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    1. I went for lunch today with a friend at a nearby Japanese restaurant in Arlington, Virginia and it was 81*F at the bank's thermometer at the corner of Lee and Harrison.

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    2. It can be warm in late February over there on the East Coast and even here in France, but 81ºF = 28ºC. Knowing your climate as I do, you might just have a snowstorm next week. Ne te découvre pas d'un fil...

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  2. The break away will be good for the soul, you know, take yourselves out of yourselves. Will Tasha be travelling with you? Is it possible you export some of your excess water to Cape Town?

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  3. CHM, that sounds good. We barely saw each other at all in 2017, with all that was going on with you and with us. Maybe this year will be «moins mouvementée ».

    Andrew, yes, Tasha will be traveling with us. We hope the trip will be a learning experience for her. As for the water, if somebody can come from Capetown and take it away, we'll be happy.

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  4. Good time for a break. Want me to come and look after Bertie?

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    1. Sound like a plan. Can you get here by March 5?

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  5. Ken, I do hope your plum tree escapes the cold.

    chm, wow 81 degrees this time of year in DC is a shocker. Here in LA we were just over 60, and not a drop of rain in the rainy season.

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    1. And rain is projected here for several days in a row for next week as you're in a drought in California! As Donnie LXV would say, climate change is a hoax!

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