02 November 2016

Oranges, reds, and greens

These are the fall colors in the Loire Valley. Or at least around Saint-Aignan, which is actually in the Cher river valley, at the extreme eastern end of what used to be called La Touraine. The first photo is the view early in the morning on Hallowe'en day from one of the back windows of our house. It shows a part of the Renaudière vineyard.


Here's the front of the house later in the day, when the sun was setting. Walt had already rolled down the shutter on the kitchen window. The two big red maple trees just off the terrace have been magnificent for the past week or two, with their leaves gradually changing from deep a deep burgundy color to a bright orange.


The good news here at La Renaudière is that the new greenhouse is finished. It's a lean-to structure over the back door, and all the glass is now in place (but not in the photo above, which I took on Monday, also at sundown).


The father-son team that did the work of assembling and glazing the greenhouse spent three full days getting the job done. Now we need to go buy some gravel to spread on the dirt floor of the greenhouse, and then we can start moving in some potted plants. We've put a thermometer inside so we can get an idea of the low and high temperatures they will have to withstand this winter.

8 comments:

  1. The maples are good this year....
    even the field maples have a lot more colour than normal...
    the cherries also!
    And we are getting some lovely evening light to do the highlighting, too!

    Ken, as yours is a real greenhouse, you can get fittings for the uprights that allow you to "double insulate" with bubble wrap...
    the fittings are plastic and stay in place... so you can use the ceiling ones in summer to hold green shading. We used the former a lot in Leeds... but were never able to fit shading up in Summer... the tomatoes had already got in the way!! So we slung it over the ridge from the outside... you don't have that luxury!
    We can't even do either, successfully, with a polytunnel.
    However, you have electricity on the doorstep, so to speak.... and can fit a little electric greenhouse heater with a frost thermostat... that way you'll not need to worry!

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  2. I love the photos like the first one ( especially during this time of the year). They look more like the Impressionist paintings.

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  3. Beautiful photos today, especially the one at sunset with the light hitting your new greenhouse which is a nice improvement.

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    Replies
    1. Today the temperature in the greenhouse went up to 75°F when the sun came out for an hour or two. Outside it was not even 55.

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    2. Oh good! This winter you will enjoy a toasty warmth in the greenhouse on sunny days.

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  4. Beautiful fall colors! My favorite season.

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