Late March. The pruning work continues, but not for long. Soon the vines
will sprout leaf buds on the few canes that are left on each pied de vigne.
It's raining this morning, but the sun was bright early on Sunday when
I went out to walk with Callie. The light had a slightly blue tint to it.
This is Callie's "natural" world, which isn't natural at all, but shaped by human hands... and machines.
It's all geometrical and highly ordered. In France, people seem to like to keep nature under strict control.
The whole of France resembles a big park, in fact. Manicured, cropped,
pruned, and planned. The vineyard is the model for that.
I have friends who are professional gardeners who confide that they love the English style of more naturalistic gardening, but they just can't do it themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe geometry of the vines and stakes, though, make for really super pictures.
ReplyDeleteI love these.
"Manicured, cropped, pruned, and planned."
Even the forests...
and our cattle fattener further downstream has had some landscaping done to his drive...
with a wonderful looking half-moon gateway marked out...
he already has WHITE fenceposts along the front of the grazing fields by the road...
it is a good job he only moves cattle around using a couple of cattle vans and matching trailers.
And then there's the commercial veg gardeners up near Montlouis...
with wonderful, almost Villandry'ish alternate rows of coloured lettuces....
And then, of course, there are the roundabouts...
Off topic. Today in Northern Virgina, our scheduled weekly snow fall is in progress. In late March, in the "deep" South! As my great-grandparents used to say, the world has gone crazy!
ReplyDeleteKen, I especially love that second photo. I am in love with sun these days, and the colors and shapes are great in that one.
ReplyDeleteIs this the new computer that you're using now? Loving it? How are things coming on the new stove purchase?
chm, we, too, had another little snowfall. Crazy! I want it to stop already!
Chm, snow again? Wild!
ReplyDeleteJudy, I'm using the new computer as a file server on the network, while composing my blog on the laptop computer we have had for a few years. Re: the kitchen stove, no progress. W tried to order it today, but the Boulanger (big chain of electronics/appliance stores) web site refused his credit card. He called the bank in the U.S. and they said they didn't understand what the problem might be. Back to square one.