A word about the weather

And I guess that word would have to be: fantastic! I've been in shorts and T-shirts since Sunday, and it's very comfortable. Not only is the daytime warm, but it stays light now until after 10 p.m. and evenings out on the terrace are very pleasant too.

After I mentioned seeing flower buds on the grapevines
a few days ago, I had to go look up the subject and make sure I hadn't said something silly.
I hadn't — grapevines do flower, but very discreetly.

After all the whining I've done about rainy, chilly weather for the past year, I thought I'd better say something about the great summery weather we are having now.

Yesterday I was down in Saint-Aignan, and out on the street I ran into a woman who works at the pharmacy. We nearly bumped into each other, so I smiled and said Bonjour Madame. « Oh, vous voilà de retour », she said. "You're back" — I'm not sure where she thought I had been. In America, I guess.

The last of our apple trees is now in flower.
The others had blossoms in April.

Walt says he thinks people have a hard time believing we live here full-time. And I think Walt is the one who has gone to the pharmacy for the last few months, not me. But I haven't been traveling anywhere, of course.

I just played along. « Et vous nous avez amené le beau temps ! », the pharmacy lady said. « Nous avons eu un mois d'avril POURRI. » You brought nice weather back with you, she said. We had a ROTTEN month of April. "That's what I've heard," I told her. Little did she realize how I had lived through it and how much I complained about it.

A neighbor has a huge clematis vine
that is in full flower right now.

So I'm not complaining about the weather any more. But I told Walt I would do some serious sanding in the kitchen this morning, and I'm going to complain about that. He sanded two or three walls and a good part of the ceiling yesterday while I was out running errands in town.

After I do the sanding, all we have to do is wash everything down one more time and then we can start painting. Of course, everything in the whole house is coated with a layer of fine white plaster dust now. And we have our friend Cheryl arriving next Wednesday. I hope she knows how to use a feather duster.

And as I mentioned, Scotch broom is blooming
all around the vineyard.