20 January 2018

Que d'eau !

So much rain! That's what my title says in French. It's raining again this morning. We've been in a very wet and windy period since early in December. The rivers are high. Fields are flooded down the road, along the Cher. Rivers to the east of us are also overflowing, and the Seine around Paris is one of them. The ground in the vineyard is squishy.

The Renaudière vineyard, 9 a.m. on Jan. 19, 2018

The rains came a little late this year. I remember that I was dreading them on my blog back in October and November. A month later, we started getting dowsed. If we didn't each have a walk to take with the dog every day, I guess it wouldn't matter so much. Still, all these gray skies when we are living through the shortest days of the year are fairly depressing.

Winter sunrise

The news reported last week that people up in Lille, in the north of France near the Belgian border, had not seen the sun in two months. More rain has fallen in the eastern part of the country than here in the Loire Valley. So we're not the ones suffering the most.

Tasha waiting and watching while I snap a shot

Then, yesterday morning we had sunlight for about two hours. It was amazing. That's when I took these photos. Now that Tasha is well behaved on our walks, and we don't feel like we have to keep her on a leash, my hands are free to hold a camera. It's like we are back to the good old days when we still had Callie.

On the road home after a morning walk

It clouded over yesterday like most days, but it didn't rain. This time of year, we either have warm (for winter), windy, and wet weather. Or we have colder, still, foggy weather. I'm not sure which is worse. Gloomy days, oras the weather forecasters say — "perturbed" days — you don't get to choose. At least it's not cold. We've had very little, if any, freezing weather so far this winter.

12 comments:

  1. The weather this morning was thoroughly disagreable and going to the market was a distinctly damp experience. Lots of standing water here so the soil is saturated.

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    1. This must be quite a shock after your Aussie summer.

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  2. Your photos are couleur du temps and really depressing!

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    1. I found your comment in my Blogger spam folder. Who knows why?

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    2. I haven’t the slightest idea. Trying to post this on my iPad.

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    3. Should have said iPad mini, since my regular iPad works fine.

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  3. Que , que d'eau . Maréchal Mac Mahon , Président de la République Française

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    1. On est loin de la Garonne, et on n'a pas les pieds dans l'eau ... mais quand même !

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  4. Tasha is growing up. I hope you get some sunshine soon. We moved to Birmingham a week ago, just in time to miss a bad storm in Anniston with icy roads that we closed. What a difference 60 miles can make and a lower elevation and a little bit more South.

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    1. What an adventure to be in a new house after years in Anniston. Hope you enjoy it.

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    2. Evelyn, is Birmingham bluer than Anniston?

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  5. It's nice to see Tasha growing up -- and I'll bet you were happy to have a break from the gloom!
    Judy

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