Red leaves on vines

Here's what the vineyard can look like in early November. It all depends on the weather. In dry years, the colors are beautiful. In wet years, the vineyard is less spectacular. I have some more pictures of it that I took in November 2016 and that I'll post over the next few days.

Yesterday for lunch I made a dish that I'd call Sot-l'y-laisse de dinde au vin rouge et au cognac avec lardons, champignons, carottes, onions, et poireaux. It's based on the classic dish called coq au vin. Do you know what sot-l'y-laisse are? (It's pronounced soh-lee-'less.) In English it's sometimes called the "oyster" of the chicken or turkey. It's the little lump or "nut" of tender meat just under the bird's thighs. You can read more about it here. What does the term mean literally? Un sot is a fool or idiot; l'y laisse means "leaves it there." In other words, the nitwit doesn't eat it because he doesn't know how tender and tasty it is.

It rained for much of the day yesterday. It was mostly a fine rain, not much more than mist or drizzle. I took Tasha the Sheltie out for a walk in the morning. We didn't get too wet. Walt took her out to walk in the afternoon, and the rain let up so they didn't get too wet either. It wasn't raining when I let the dog out to pee  at 5 a.m.