Sunday's finest

It's Sunday and it's my morning to go out for a walk with Natasha. These Sundays in October are difficult, because hunters arrive in the vineyard at 9 a.m. and start shooting at game birds or hares. The sun doesn't come up until 8:12 a.m. today, and if it's cloudy outside it doesn't really get light until 8:30 or so. So timing the walk is tricky.

Here are some recent photos of Tasha. I took them on a sunny afternoon four or five days ago. As you can see, she keeps her nose to the ground when we go out into the vineyard.

Walt will take Tasha to the groomer's (le salon de toilettage) on Tuesday for her semi-annual brushing-out. The dog's coat looks pretty good right now but, even so, there's just too much of it. She doesn't really enjoy getting brushed, so we don't do it as much as we ought to.

We went to our late neighbor Daniel's burial (enterrement) yesterday morning. It was well-attended; I'd say there were 40 or 50 people there. There was no service at the church, just as his wife's funeral was a simple burial ceremony at the cemetery in 2015. We learned that Daniel had lung cancer but didn't know it. He wasn't somebody who went to see a doctor on a regular basis. He had some kind of malaise a week ago today and his daughter had him hospitalized. That's when the cancer was diagnosed. He passed away 48 hours later.

Daniel's daughter plans to sell her parents' house, I understand. And the other house in our hamlet that is for sale is already under contract. The new owners are supposed to close on it at the end of the month. I don't know who they are, or if they plan to live in the house or rent it out as a gîte rural — a holiday rental, as the British say. It will need some renovating, I'm sure.

And I learned something else yesterday. The people who are selling the little house had the equivalent of a "garage sale" or "estate sale." Maybe it will continue today. It's the first time in all these years of living and traveling in France that I've ever seen that kind of sale. I thought they weren't allowed, but it turns out they are if the organizers get the permission of the mayor and follow rules that specify that only used items may be sold, and the sale can only last for a specified number of days. It's called a vide-maison or a vide-grenier à domicile. Those terms mean "empty out the house" or "empty out the attic" to clear out. I don't know where it was advertised, but there were quite a few cars up and down the road during the day yesterday.