Aprils past

These are some photos I took on this date in 2011 using the oldest digital camera I still own: a Panasonic Lumix ZS1. It was good for macro shots (close-ups) and has a 12x optical zoom. I bought it in 2010. I'm not even sure why I've kept it all these years.

Looking at these photos, I realize how different early April in 2011 was from early April 2025. Everything having to do with flowering plants is happening later this year. That's despite the fact that the high temperature yesterday, under hazy skies, was about 70ºF. Today it's supposed to be closer to 75ºF.

Yesterday I went to see our American friends who live about five miles upriver on the Cher from us. We talked about the state of our springtime and commiserated. They are great gardeners, but this year they've hardly been able to start yet. The ground is too mushy to till or to mow over there, just as it is here. We've had an invasion of moles, so you have to be careful where you step when you go outdoors or you might break a leg... or your neck.

This past week with very little rain (but still some) is helping to dry everything out a little bit. Maybe I should take my Lumix ZS1 compact camera out on my walk with Tasha this morning and take some pictures with it. For old times' sake...

Veau bourguignon

Veal Burgundy modeled on Beef Burgundy is an idea I came up with a few days ago. When I searched the internet I of course found several recipes for it. There's nothing new under the internet sun, you might say. I had bought a kilogram of what is called veau pour blanquette because it looked good and was on sale at a good price. But I didn't want to make a blanquette. I had made one about a month ago. Here's a link (scroll down if you follow it).

Beef Burgundy had been on my mind for a few months; I kept saying we needed to make one but other dishes kept becoming a bigger priority. Here's a link to a 2009 post about bœuf bourguignon that I made using meatballs.

So here it is: veau au vin rouge. I used a full-bodied local côt/malbec red wine to make it. Looking at these pictures, you might not recognize the meat as veal. It looks like beef because the red wine turned the veal brown. It cooked for about three hours yesterday and the veal became very tender. Other ingredients are flour to thicken the sauce and smoked pork lardons, mushrooms, shallots, and carrots for flavor. Bon appétit !

25 years' worth of cameras

These aren't all the digital cameras I've owned and used since I got my first one in 1999 — over the years I've given one to my late friend Charles-Henry; one to my sister; one to my mother; and one to a charity shop; and one to an old friend in California. I was never much interested in photography before digital cameras became available at reasonable prices. I regret that. I'd love to have some photos of the years and months I spent in Paris; Rouen (Normandy); Aix-en-Provence; and Grenoble back in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. Also in California, after Walt and I moved out there in 1986. Anyway, there's nothing I can do about all that now.

Starting in the late '90s, I had a series of Kodak digital cameras that I really liked. And several Canon models too. In the early 2000s, thanks to a friend in Paris who had one, I bought and used a series of Panasonic Lumix cameras. As you can see in the recent photo above, I still have four Lumix models. The last digital camera I bought was a Sony that I still have. I kept taking photos with Lumix cameras and the Sony until a new gadget came along. I mean the Samsung smart phone I bought nearly six months ago. I use it for taking pictures now, pretty much exclusively.

What is wonder is: what can I do with all these cameras that I still have and that are in very good condition and still take good photos. Is there any market for them? Does anybody really want a compact digital camera these days?

Sopa de albóndigas for dinner

Yesterday, for our mid-day meal, I made a big pot of albóndigas soup. Albóndigas means "meatballs" in Mexican Spanish (and maybe in other varieties of Spanish too — I don't know). Besides beef-and-pork meatballs, the ingredients for the soup are a lot of vegetables. Carrots, tomatoes, onions, garlic, green beans, bell peppers, and zucchini. I had a couple of turnips, so I diced those up and put them in too. The broth is flavored with chipotle peppers and chili powder.

The first time I ever ate albóndigas soup was about 25 years ago, when Walt and I used to drive from San Francisco down to Salton City in far southern California to see our friends Charles-Henry and Frank. It was what we had for lunch one day at Brownie's restaurant in Brawley, Calif., very close to the Mexican border. Here's a link to a post I published about albóndigas soup in 2007.