Holiday thoughts — and more Burgundy pix

We've had a dark and stormy night — and a lot of rain, from the sound of it. I'll be able to take stock when the sun comes up in a couple of hours (it's 7:00 a.m. right now), but I wouldn't be surprised to see a few tree limbs down in the yard. The wind is still howling, and lots of things are going bump out there. This morning, the temperature outside is warmer than it has been in a few days (8ºC, almost 50ºF), but the house is colder than usual because of all the wind and rain.

There are no vineyards really close to Môlay, but I admired this ornamental vine in the village.

It's supposed to turn cold tomorrow, with low temperatures plunging into the low to mid-20s in ºF (as low as -05ºC). Right now I'm watching British Sky News on TV, and I see they've had snow up in central and northern England overnight. I wonder if it's coming this way. It's time to change over to France 2 TV to see what Télématin and MétéoFrance are predicting for our New Year's Week. Walt and I would be happy to see some snow. The plants around here need a good freeze — it's been nearly 13 months since we've had any temperatures below freezing. They say 2014 has been the warmest year in France overall since the 1890s.

Here's Callie having a walk through the streets of this austere little Burgundian village.

Meanwhile, I'm going back to milder October and Burgundy in my mind and on this blog. The photos here are a few more that I took around the village we stayed in, Môlay, near Chablis, and then I have some photos of places like Tonnerre, Irancy, Noyers-sur-Serein, Montréal, and... well, keep coming by and you'll see what I end up posting.

A barn of some kind, seen from the back, on the very edge of the village... almost defensive.

Yesterday with some of our leftover turkey, we made club sandwiches (bacon, lettuce, tomato, and sliced turkey breast with mayonnaise), and French fries on the side. It was a treat, because we don't often eat American-style sandwiches any more. Looking ahead, we have put another meal of turkey and dressing, with gravy, and then turkey-barley soup on our planned menus. Then it will be New Years Eve and Day, with their own special foods. Again, more later.

This barn had big openings on the village side, providing views of the local stone and the roof tiles from underneath.

Yesterday I had to go to the supermarket because we actually ran out of gas for our kitchen stove on Christmas Day. Luckily, it happened just as Walt was finishing the Brussels sprouts and I was finishing the gravy. The stove we've had since last May has four gas burners on top and an electric oven underneath. We buy bottles of butane at the supermarket.

I noticed comfortable-looking houses in Môlay, mostly hidden behind old stone outbuildings and big gates.

The old kitchen stove had three gas burners and one electric burner, which I used more often than the gas burners. A bottle of butane would last six months. We are just getting used to having the butane run out now after about three months, and we got caught short. I wish we we had piped in gas, but no... We have two gas bottles, but they both ended up empty at the same time. I got refills for both of them yesterday, so we are fixed for six months.

A small splash of fall color in a very gray environment at Môlay

I also went into the supermarket and I found a good deal on pork tenderloin, which here is called filet mignon. It's funny that filet mignon in the U.S. is beef, but in France it's pork. I really never buy tenderloin because it is so expensive, but this was half price, so I got four 1 lb. pieces to put in the freezer. I have plans for one of them for New Year's Day. Another might get cooked later in January and served with any leftover cornbread dressing that winds up in the freezer. Life goes on, and so will cooking and eating, in the new year.