24 December 2013

Tempête !

I don't think the wind is as bad as the weather reports said it was going to be. They told us to expect, and to prepare for, virtually hurricane-force winds of 120 kph (72 mph). I think Brittany got the worst of the storm, along with the British Isles. Here's the post I wrote yesterday, thinking that we might be in the dark this morning:

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It's not often that I write my blog post the day before I put it up on the 'net. My normal routine is to get up between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m., go down and make some coffee or tea, and then sit down in front of my laptop computer and put something together.

 The view out the back window at about 6 p.m. Monday night

Today's post is pre-programmed. We are supposed to have a heavy-duty windstorm starting around midnight tonight (it's Monday afternoon as I type) and continuing all through the day tomorrow, which is Christmas Eve. Even though the electric lines coming up out of the river valley to our hamlet have now been undergrounded, and we stand less of a chance of having a local power failure because of trees falling on the lines, we could well be victim to a much wider-scale outage when this storm comes through.

This the 4.85 lb. Guinea fowl capon that we are hoping to be able to cook Weds. a.m., Christmas Day 2013.
It's fermier et élevé en plein air, which means farm-raised and free-range.

So here's a post for Christmas Eve, written on Christmas Eve eve. We have a plan in place that will allow us to enjoy our traditional December 24 cheese fondue, even without electricity. Maybe the current will come back on — if it does indeed go out tonight or tomorrow morning — by Christmas Day so that we will be able to roast our Guinea fowl capon and cook our squash and collard greens.

I went out to the garden this morning picked a big mess of collard greens to cook for our Christmas Dinner.

If you are reading this, it means we are in the dark today, Tuesday, Christmas Eve, 2013. The wood- burning stove will keep us warm. Winds are supposed to gust up to 60 mph. Earlier, they were predicting 70 to 75 mph winds, but they've scaled that back. Our house is especially vulnerable to high winds. Wish us luck.

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The wind is really whooshing through the trees outside, but TV, Internet, and electricity are still on here. I imagine we are having gusts at 60 mph (100 kph) right now, and the vents tempétueux are supposed to continue until this afternoon, with heavy rain. I think I'll get to work sorting through my greens and preparing them for cooking this morning.

14 comments:

  1. Ken,
    Sue and I wish you and Walt a safe festive season.
    Keep well and hopefully see you both next October.

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  2. There's a bit of debris in the streets here, but nothing too serious. The wind sprang up yesterday evening, then died away in the night for a while until making a reappearance early this morning. Quite strong and gusty, but not tempête material.

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  3. Stormy winds here, but then we're on a ridge. However, so far so good.
    We're having 'ordinary' pintade with roasted parsnips and green beans. Seafood, as always, tonight.
    Have a good Christmas :-)

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  4. Glad you didn't loose 'your power'. Have a lovely Christmas Eve and that sumptuous cheese fondue. Martine

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  5. Yours is the first blog I read so I have no clue what is going on with the weather in other parts of France. Since it is 2 pm your time, I hope all is well and your Christmas eve will be delightful!

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  6. have great xmas, with all your power on!

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  7. I hope the storm has passed and all is well up on your hill. Merry Christmas Eve!

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  8. Must be a great thing that your power lines are below ground now. Surely that made a difference this time?

    Merry, merry Christmas Eve! and Christmas Day tomorrow! Same to all of you commenters :) It's close to 4pm your time, Ken-- what time were you starting the Fondue experience?

    Judy

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  9. Hi Judy, we had the fondue as our noontime meal, and it was pretty good. Three cheeses, white wine, garlic, black pepper, nutmeg, bread cubes and apple cubes. And then a green salad with garlic vinaigrette. It's been a busy day.

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  10. Evelyn, it's still blustery and raining off and on. And it's almost time for me to go out with Callie.

    Merry Christmas to all. Ho ho ho.

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  11. I think we've been in a kind of island between two streams of horrible weather - and the tail of one of the streams is about to hit us. Enjoy the guineafowl tomorrow, I see it's described as tender! P.

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  12. Wow! I had no idea you were expecting such high winds. Whenever we've had them things really fly (literally!)
    One would never know you had been on the verge of a Tempest by that beautiful night/blue photo! Everything looked so serene and tranquil.
    Merry Christmas to you and Walt and as Judy said, "to all the commenters" too!
    Lots of things to do on my list today, wishing I was having fondue tonight, but maybe I'll plan that for next year!!!

    Mary in Oregon

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  13. Ken

    Hopefully, power will remain in your corner. Here we have had a very bad WE and now it is the Atlantic provinces which are suffering from two fronts - from the west of them and along the eastern coast from down south. Many homes in and around Toronto and the Eastern Township in Québec are in the dark - cause ice storm ( like we had in 1998).

    Merry Christmas to both you and Walt and enjoy your pintade.

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  14. Merry Christmas to you and Ken. I hope that the weather does not turn into what the UK have had !! Horrendous in lots of areas, not too bad in ours, but loss of power yesterday. More bad weather to come I think , Happy Holidays .

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