Mid-November

We finally had a day that was fairly dry here in Saint-Aignan. There was only one short rain shower in the middle of the afternoon. And finally the wind has stopped blowing. Temperatures remain mild. We had a lot of rain, but Normandy, northern France, and Belgium got the worst of it, with flooding. Today it's raining and snowing down in the Alps, and there's rain all the way to the Riviera.

Fortunately, I have no more cat stories to tell right now. Yesterday when I came back from my walk with the dog, the cat came into the room, brazenly, and confronted the dog. It went fairly well, even though Callie tried to bite on of Bertie's back legs off. Bertie hissed and swiped at her with his claws. He missed her nose by a whisker. Maybe she'll learn to accept him one day. Same for the neighbors.

There are still a few leaves left in the vineyard.

There's still a rose here and there in the yard.

The vignerons and their crews are out in the
vineyard, pruning the vines and burning the clippings.
Here you can see the plume of smoke, behind the tree.

The color of the light can be pretty nice, late in the day.

And the pond is very full after the recent rains.

The sun is supposed to shine all day today. Il serait temps — it's about time. Yesterday I went out and cut down two big sad-looking stands of dahlias, pruned back an overgrown rosemary bush, and pulled out the dead flax, marigolds, and zinnias that were growing around the well near the back door.

What a great feeling to accomplish something outdoors, finally, after being incapacitated by a sprained ankle and then kept indoors by the constant rain for two or three weeks.