28 February 2018

Un froid de canard

It's what they call "duck cold" outside this morning. Actually, we've seen two or three ducks at a time on the pond out back over the past 10 days. Tasha chases them when they lift off in a great clatter of flapping of wings and fly in circles around the vineyard. The temperature this morning is minus seven Celsius, which is about 19ºF.

The pond is frozen over and we had a period of snow flurries late yesterday that turned the surface of the pond and dirt road white. The reason this is called a "cold for ducks" in French is that when the weather turns very cold... what do ducks do? They fly south. They can't land on, or feed in, a frozen pond.


Meanwhile, here's my status report. Walt went to the pharmacy yesterday and got me some medicine. It's an herbal remedy that contains extracts of pine tree buds and ginger root, along with "essential oils" (oleoresins) of pine, juniper, and an Amazonian plant called "copaiba balsam" (Copaifera officinalis). 

The directions say to take two teaspoons of it three times a day, which is what I did yesterday. It tastes pretty good. I hardly coughed at all between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., which is how long I stayed in bed. I took another dose of this « Sirop Bronchosec » — its trade name — a few minutes ago. It's officially a dietary supplement (un complément alimentaire), the label says, so not a drug. It seems to be helping.

P.S. The bad news: Walt just got out of bed and came downstairs. Now he's sick too.
So our February miseries will extend into March...

8 comments:

  1. I'm guessing your flowering plum blossoms are not happy. That's an interesting herbal remedy. Hope it works for you two.

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    1. We're going to wait until Friday or even Monday to decide whether to undertake the driving tour we had planned next week. Luckily, I bought trip insurance to cover the cost of the vacation rental we have reserved, so we won't lose our money if we have to cancel. I bought the insurance because I wasn't sure how long I'd need to stay in N.C. when I went there on Feb. 1 to see my mother for the last time. We may need it yet.

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  2. I hope you two will get better very soon and be able to take that trip. But health-wise and weather-wise it seems it might be safer to cancel it or, maybe, postpone it.

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    1. We'll probably decide on Sunday, but for the time being we are not planning to cancel or postpone. Moulins is only a three-hour drive from here, and there seems to be no danger of snow or ice. The car has a heater, so we can just ride along in relative comfort. And the gîte is heated. Maybe the weather and our health will cooperate with our plans, and we'll enjoy the time away from La Renaudière... living dangerously.

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  3. I hope that herbal remedy helps Walt, too :)

    Wow, that is COLD. I don't really ever remember you talking about the temperature being that cold there, before.

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  4. hope you both feel better......ugh....it actually snowed in Biarritz where my daughter lives......looks like more than a dusting too...also my son in law's family "country house" is near Moulins... I've never been but pix r gorgrous

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  5. Il neige sur la côte d'azur:
    http://www.nicematin.com/meteo/retour-de-la-neige-ce-mercredi-sur-la-cote-dazur-211620

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  6. Sorry Walt is sick now. I hope he will feel good enough to travel, otherwise yay for trip insurance!

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