More Saturday morning views

It's cold here, with the temperature just below freezing this morning, but at least we don't have 8 inches of snow and ice on the ground the way Mary in Oregon and many others across the U.S. do. I don't know whether to wish you all a white Christmas or a December thaw.

The shot above shows part of the vineyard that's only a couple of hundred yards from our house. Callie loves to walk down into that little valley that separates two vineyard parcels. There's a stream down there, but it's dry most of the time. Only heavy rainfall over a period of days or weeks get the water flowing there. The stream doesn't even have a name, as far as I know.

These are two of our neighbors' houses in the hamlet. Both are a lot older than our house. The one you can see best, with the ladder leaning up against one wall, is currently being fixed up by its owner, who lives in the Paris area and just comes here for the summer. It belonged to her mother-in-law, who died a few years back at the age of 95. The owner's late husband, who died last year, grew up in this house.

Above is a much wider view that shows the houses in the previous picture (on the far right) as well as our house, the very tall cedar tree in our yard, and our garden shed. The larger stone building just to the left of our shed is the cabane de vigneron owned by the people who run the Domaine de la Renaudie vineyards and winery. To the far left in the photo is the grain silo on the other side of the river and that big water tower over on the heights opposite us.

Finally, just some examples of our fall colors.The rising sun was really highlighting the reds and golds of the season. If I tell you that I was out at dawn taking these pictures, you might be impressed at my initiative. But you have to remember that the sun doesn't come up until about 8:30 at this time of year.