I'm pretty amazed at the quality of these images. Here's another "slide show." I think when we were in Monet's garden at Giverny, on June 3, 1999, the weather was very clear and sunny. Most of these photos were taken with my first-ever digital camera, a Kodak Digital Science DC260. If I remember correctly, that camera didn't have features I take for granted today — image stabilization (anti-shake), for example, or a macro mode for close-up shots.
Other subjects: we are having beautiful weather here in the Saint-Aignan area these days. Mornings are cold (but temperatures are above freezing right now) but afternoons are glorious. Yesterday afternoon the temperature was about 60ºF (15ºC) and the sun was shining brightly when I went out for a walk with the dog.
Meanwhile, our deceased neighbors' daughter and her family continue burning furniture and furnishings that they are hauling out of their late parents' house. Last Tuesday or Wednesday, they had another big fire to burn furniture they had piled up in the yard last Saturday and left there for several days (it rained on Sunday and Monday). And yesterday, there were at least four cars and a rented van parked over there for most of the day. They loaded up the van several times and drove away, coming back a few minutes later. I assume they were taking things that they couldn't burn to the déchetèrie (recyling center) over on the other side of the river. Late in the afternoon they hauled out two more big wooden cabinets and set them alight in the yard. These are people I don't know well, so I haven't gone over to talk to them, and the smoke is not blowing our way. It's none of my business, and the mayor of the village is our neighbor, so she is bound to be aware of the situation. It's still hard to understand why they are doing this the way they are.
Beautiful flowers! I find the story of these people burning everything very strange, especially as they seem to have transport available to take things to donate. Is this not done in France? What they are doing sounds like a great waste...
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of anybody doing anything like this before. A few months ago, another house in the neighborhood was put on the market. The people selling it, children of the owner who had died, had what is called a vide-maison ("empty-the-house" = an estate sale). They certainly didn't burn anything in the yard. There are plenty of brocantes (second-hand shops) and dépôt-ventes (consignment stores) in the area that would probably have been happy to have some of the furniture that has been burned.
DeleteOften if you make a large donation of items, the outlet will send a truck to pick them up, so there's that too. Although ANNI makes an intereting point below.
Deleteque c'est triste de voir partir toute une vie en fumée... moi non plus je n'ai jamais vu ça !
ReplyDeleteLes pyromanes, ce sont des gens qui habitaient cette maison dans notre hameau quand nous sommes arrivés ici en 2003. Deux ou trois années plus tard, ils ont déménagé parce que les parents prenaient leur retraite et voulaient venir s'installer dans leur maison de campagne. Je connais très peu B., la fille, et son mari pas du tout. Ils habitent une petite ville à une 20 de kilomètres au nord de Saint-Aignan. D'autres voisins m'ont dit que B. comptait vendre la maison de ses parents. Peut-être qu'ils ont un acheteur et qu'ils sont pressés... c'est quand même bizarre.
DeleteMaybe the wooden items have borer problems!...great to see your "flower slide shows", keep them coming please. :o)
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some good neighbors in that house. Estate sales are common here, but we didn't want to have one. We paid a man to haul off the things we didn't want anymore. We sold our house nearly empty.
ReplyDeleteWe sold our SF house empty too. Our neighbor here passed away very suddenly so he hadn't cleaned out. Often he left his garage door open during the day and the garage was stuffed to the gills — he never put the car inside because there was no room for it.
DeleteTerrible waste.
ReplyDeleteGood quality photos with that old digital!
Perhaps Mme. le Maire (is that the correct reference?) would know why they're burning. If the house had sat empty for a time, there could well have been insect infestations.
ReplyDeleteThe house has been unoccupied since last September or October. If I run into the mayor, I'll ask her but I don't think I'll make a special call. She's a pretty busy woman. I think the burning might be over now. I've checked different web pages that list local houses for sale, but I haven't come across the one in question. And there hasn't been any À Vendre sign put up either.
DeleteMaybe there's a complicated and dark story there, and this is a revenge burning. I can think of a handful of plots that could jump off from that.
ReplyDelete