Pears, prey, and presents

You might remember that I went out to our little pear tree a few days ago and thought I'd pick a few pears. We've never gotten very many pears from it in the past. By the time I finished, I had picked at least six dozen pears that I thought were worth saving and trying to ripen.

Well, they have ripened. I opened the boxes yesterday and saw that most of them have turned yellow, some with a reddish tinge. Even the greener ones feel soft enough to be cooked now. At the same time, I had to throw out eight or ten of them that had obviously gone rotten.

I've got my work cut out for me this morning —
peeling, coring, and cooking these pears and many others.

When I use the word prey in the title of a post, you have to remember that we now have a cat. Bertie the black cat is spending his second summer here, and he is an accomplished hunter. Over the past few months, he has brought us lizards, birds, mice, a mole, and lord knows what else. Sometimes he eats what he catches, sometimes he eats part of the animal, and sometimes he doesn't seem to be hungry for what he's caught.

Bertie's latest present

He also has brought in live animals. The mole for example, and at least one little mouse one evening, went scurrying around the garage with me, Walt, and Bertie all trying to catch them. The mole we caught, and Walt had to kill it. The mouse was too fast for us, but the next morning we found evidence that Bertie had succeeded in finding and eating it. We know, because when he eats a mouse he always leaves the gall bladder or some such organ on the floor. That little part must taste bad.

Whatever it is, Bertie just brought it in as a present.
Or maybe he was showing off.

Life in the country, eh? Anyway, my question is this: what kind of animal is this that Bertie brought us a couple of days ago? It was pretty big and the cat showed no sign of wanting to try to eat it. He just offered it to us, kind cat that he is. We didn't try to eat it either. I hope Bertie wasn't disappointed in us.

Meanwhile, the good news is that the weather has turned warm and sunny again. We're expecting temperatures near 80ºF over the next four or five days. Pourvu que ça dure ! It would be nice to have this kind of weather when we go to stay in the Perche gîte in two weeks.

Sunset over the vineyard a couple of nights ago,

seen from a window up in the loft

Okay, the pears are waiting. They have to be peeled and cored, kept in acidulated water so they won't turn brown, and then cooked in a light syrup. Packed in jars, sealed, and then sterilized. I don't know about you, but pears are about my favorite fruit, especially in pies and tarts.