Vert vert vert...

They had promised us rain for the weekend, and we may get some this afternoon, but this morning the sky is perfectly clear. It's almost time for the sun to rise. It's cold outside.

Above, sunrise on Thursday. Today, Saturday, it's the same scene. Okay, the Télématin weather report is coming on right now: As usual, Saint-Aignan is right on the line, with rain and showers to the north (Normandy, Paris) and east (Burgundy, Champagne, Picardy, Alsace, and so on) and sun but cool weather to the south and west. We'll find out what our weather is going to do when it does it...

The vines are now covered in little leaves like the ones above. All the vegetation is much greener now than it was two or three weeks ago when I left for my American trip. I've planted some vine canes in pots and most of them have leaves on them now. All you have to do is take a clipping at pruning time and stick the bottom end of it into dirt. It grows. Not this year, but in 2015, I"ll have to pick places around the yard where I can plant my vines.

The back yard is very green. Our mole colony seems to have moved on, mostly. The ground's too dry for moles, since we are at the top of a hill. I hope it stays dry enough to keep the moles on lower ground, out in the woods, where there's more moisture. I may regret their absence, though, if a lot of beetle larvae — mole prey — start eating the roots of our garden plants. We didn't have enough freezing weather this past winter to kill such pests.