26 June 2019

Up close in the vineyard

It's 22ºC on the front terrace this morning. The "historical average" low for the morning of June 26 here in Saint-Aignan is 12 degrees — and the historical average high is 23 degrees. So it's nearly as warm at dawn as we would usually expect it to be late in the afternoon.

This is the western wall of the grape-workers' shed out back, bathed in afternoon sun. Workers who came from their homes on foot could store tools here and even spend the night if need be.
I don't think the shed is used any more and I've never seen the shed door open in 16 years of living here. Nobody walks to work in the vineyard any more. Everybody drives.


I'm trying to spare you more toilet pictures. One of the building contractors came over and sanded the walls of the new little room and put a coat of primer on the sheetrock. Now we are getting an idea what the loft is going to look like once the work is finished.




These are some "macro" or close-up shots I took out in the vineyard last week. It was obviously a very sunny day, but I don't think it was a hot as it is now. On, I just looked and Accuweather says the high temperature that day was 24. That was nice.


The grapes were already starting to flower more than a week ago, as you can see in this shot. You can enlarge the images to see more detail by clicking on them or touching and then "unpinching" them.

It'll be my turn to walk the dog out in the vineyard late this afternoon. I think the walk will be brief. Neither I nor the dog could stand to go very far in this heat. Predictions are for a high between 32 and 37 degrees, depending on which weather service you believe.

21 comments:

  1. Even though I'm surrounded by vineyards and even have some grapevines in my own yard, I have never realized that's what grape flowers look like!
    Down here in Carcassonne, the heat isn't too bad. For one thing, the place is built for it--thick stone walls, narrow streets, lots of shutters. Yesterday when it was 34 outside, it was 25 inside, without A/C.

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    1. It's 25C in our living room right now. Sleeping was comfortable last night. It's supposed to be hotter today than yesterday, so we'll see. Last night it was 30+ in the loft and about 27 in the living.

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  2. In my Paris apartment, without AC, it was a balmy 80F yesterday afternoon. I don't think it will go much higher today or tomorrow, but I can take the heat. I love it, in fact.

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    1. Be forewarned, it's supposed to turn chilly in a few days, with highs of 25 (77F) on Monday and 22 (71.5F — brrr!) on Tuesday. I'm relieved because I have to go to "the big city" — Blois — on Tuesday and summer in the city is hotter than summer in the country. Are you out sunbathing in your garden these days?

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  3. Thanks for the helpful temp conversion chart on the sidebar :)

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  4. Amazing article such a great article.

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    1. Je devrais essayer de rédiger mes billets en français, mais je manque de confiance. Je serai intéressé de regarder votre site.

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    2. Je connais ce sentiment; j'ai le même quand je dois écrire en anglais. Mais je suis sûr que tu t'en tirerais très bien. Tu connais le français mieux que beaucoup de natives. Et même si tu faisais des fautes, ce dont je doute, personne ne s'en rendrait compte! Aie confiance en toi.

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    3. Chris and CHM, the fact is that for me, writing in French is much more work than writing in English, and I've never wanted this blog to seem like work. Another fact is that I have the Robert Correcteur (which checks and corrects French grammar and spelling), so I could do it. But the target audience for this blog is Americans and also English-speakers who live in France or travel here often. So English makes more sense.

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    4. Why not try one post a week in French?

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    5. This suggestion is similar my suggestion that you yourself should start doing a blog.

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    6. I like your blog no matter how you do it.

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  5. The weather has gone crazy. You're roasting, we're chilly. 65 the high and completely overcast. chm would not approve.

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    1. It is crazy. In June 2003, I figured the hot weather we were having couldn't last long. But it stayed hot through all of June and all of July. Then came the worst heat wave in the first half of August. It was terrible. I hope we're not in for a repeat of that. Maybe this would be a good time for me to come to California for a long stay!

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  6. I love seeing the potty pictures- it is a nice addition to your loft.

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    1. And now it's working. We had a little "first flush" glass of the local sparking wine late yesterday afternoon with the three contractors who have been doing the work. It was fun. Now the plumber has to get the new wall-mounted toilet put in downstairs. There's so finish work to be done but I can see the light at the end of the drain pipe!

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  7. Someone last year taught me a rule-of-thumb F-C conversion: Start with 30 (not 32), add the Celsius figure doubled, and you get Farenheit within a couple of degrees. Not perfect, but a good way of doing quick approximation.
    I suppose you could start with 32, but using 30 makes it easier to add in your head.

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    1. I didn't know that trick, but it does seems to work. The temperature in Celsius outdoors is 25 right now. 24 x 2 = 50, 50 + 30 = 80. The actual equivalent for 25C is 77F, so that's a good rule of thumb.

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    2. I meant to type 25 x 2, of course.

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