Callie the Collie on a walk

Yesterday morning I took pictures out in the vineyard when Callie and I went out walking. It was a very clear morning and the sunrise featured no gorgeous colors and clouds. The sun was just a big bright orange ball coming up (barely) over the horizon. The sun is very low in the sky this time of year.

Callie waits while I take a photo in the vineyard.

On Sunday mornings, we have to get our walk done early because the hunters show up at 9:00 a.m. and start firing guns in all directions. We're very used to it now, after all these years, and we hardly notice them, really. I remember the first winter we were here, and the first day the hunters started shooting their guns. We thought war had broken out!

Callie wants me to follow her down this way,
but I tell her the vineyard is too wet around the edges.
Better to stay on the gravel road today.

We are still having extremely mild (is that an oxymoron?) weather, with abundant sunshine instead of the usual November gray and gloom. There's no sign yet of a freeze. Last year November was much colder, and we had a significant snowfall toward the end of the month.

Callie in the sun, refusing to look at the camera

Somehow, right now I can't get myself to go out and do any more work in the yard. There's too much cooking to do. Yesterday I made soupe à l'oignon gratinée. In the afternoon, I cooked the confit de canard — we won't eat any confit until December, and maybe not before Christmas. The duck legs need to "cure" in the fat for a while.

The hamlet in the haze of a November morning

And now I've gone and bought choucroute, so that will have to be cooked this week. Life is tough. But I thought it would be raining by now, so my plans for daily activities and projects are slightly off kilter.