The Last of the Sunshine?

Thank you for your comments on my last post.

I was so heartened by them,

especially when I've been away so long.

Up to yesterday, we had been having some glorious weather.

Though the mornings would be very misty.

But once the mist had burnt off,

the day would be transformed into

the most glorious of days.

So I thought I had better

take advantage of the good weather,

and get my bicycle out.

So I went for a couple of rides at the weekend.

Cycling is very popular here.

Of course we are in the valley

which means that the cycle routes

alongside the river remain quite flat.

These photos were taken

on the Sunday, (I think).

We've been having trouble with the camera.

I've been a bit clumsy with it,

bumping it a bit too much,

and now the batteries keep falling out,

and the date needs correcting.

I cycled along the river to Traban-Trabach

a round route of about 20 miles.

I came back on the other side of the river for part of the way.

Most of these photos were taken

when I got to Traban-Trabach.

Traban is one side of the river,

a bridge spans the river

connecting it to Trabach.

That happens a lot here along the Mosel.

Villages have hyphenated names

and are usually separated by the river.

It has been a busy time here in the vineyards.

Everyone, it seems,

has been harvesting the grapes.

Only this morning whilst out with the boys,

I passed three separate vineyards being harvested.

I have been witnessing the little tractors coming by our house,

their trailers laden with grapes,

then passing a while later, empty,

on their way back up to the vineyards for more.

I just had to stop and get off my bicycle

on my way to Traban-Trabach

to take the photo below.

Whilst I was doing that,

a like minded lady coming the other way

did the same thing.

Except, she was with her husband,

and he went cycling on ahead not realising she had stopped.

There was a festival in the market place at Traban-Trabach.

I think it's main aim was to sell food and drink.

I had a wander round

before getting back on my bicycle to ride back.

I passed this pole,

a remnant from the springtime festivities.

I thought I would include the photo below

taken in the morning,

just to show the contrast.

Unfortunately,

I think we have seen the last of the good weather now.

Today it has been raining,

for the first time in about seven weeks.

So this picture is the same colour as it is here today, grey.

But I will leave you with a sunshine picture

taken at Traban-Trabach

from the weekend.

September Sun

These treasures are from my walk with the hounds.

I collected far more walnuts

the next day.

These photos have been sitting waiting

for me to post for a couple of days now.

I haven't been spending much time on the computer.

We've had people staying at different times

and the weather has been too hot to sit at the computer.

But I just had to get the camera out

to record the weather

and what the boys have been up to.

As you can see,

they're doing what they do best.

It's not often that Paddy lies on his back outside.

I think the temperature must have been just right for him.

Arthur's enjoying a spot in the sun too.

But Rufus is taking it easy on his favourite seat inside.

I took a walk round the garden

to see what's still blooming.

The sweetpeas are looking just as nice

if not better than they have all summer.

They smell lovely too.

This hollyhock was battered by the hailstones a month back,

but it's still producing large flowers.

I was surprised to see these rose blooms

as they are the first ones I've seen on this plant

which I planted earlier this year.

I think I'm good at growing

marigolds

and nasturtiums.

They grow themselves really.
I love their cheerfullness.

Well, some things don't change

do they?

I'd best stop napping

 and get blogging again.

Getting back to Normal

Thank you, thank you,

for all your kind words and thoughts regarding Jewel.

It has been a very sad time for us,

and your comments have meant a lot to Mike and I.

It has been a period of readjustment

of life without Jewel.

On the afternoon that Jewel died,

Mike and I were reminiscing about her,

when the wind started to blow the open window.

I got up to close it and as I looked down at the road outside,

I could see hailstones the size of golf balls,

not falling,

but catapulting into the road below.

They were coming down with such force

that Mike and I

dashed round the house

closing all the shutters on the windows.

I later mopped up a bucketful of water

from the balcony caused by the hailstones.

We later learned from friends

that not only cars had been damaged by the hailstones,

but houses too.

A few miles along the river,

the hailstones had weighed just under one kilogram,

about 1.9 lbs.

Car windscreens had been smashed,

bodywork had been dented.

But not only that,

roofs of houses had been damaged,

and in one unfortunate village,

the hailstones had caused so mush damage to the houses

that people had to be evacuated.

Some of these houses are having to be knocked down.

Added to that was the terrible hurt caused to animals,

many being killed,

and others having to be put out of their misery by vets.

It sounds unbelievable,

but we happened to take a bike ride

out that way and passed a different village

where several roofs had been covered with plastic.

We have also seen the damage done to cars.

A windscreen smashed of a car parked in our village,

and a back window covered over with plastic on a car that we followed for a while.

Our friend who has a car workshop

has been inundated with repairing windscreens.

We have never seen the like before.

Unfortunately,

that seemed to mark the change in the weather here,

which has now become cooler.

Typically,

some friends arrived on Tuesday.

I haven't been out yet,

but today looks decidedly cooler still, and dull.

September marks a busy time on the Mosel.

It's when the main wine festivals take place.

Last weekend it was Bernkastel's festival.

It is the largest in this area.

Mike and I went along on Saturday evening

to watch the fireworks.

They mark a battle which took place

when Napolean sailed up the river and fired on the castle.

The castle of course retaliated.

So the display focuses on the castle and the riverside.

It was lovely.

I heard a group of Americans saying how good it was.

The photo was taken last year

is of the castle overlooking the river.

A beautiful setting for the fireworks.

I have had to use a photo from last year

as unfortunately,

I have broken the camera,

again!

I haven't been using the computer much lately

and it will be a few days yet before I will be using it regularly.

But then I will get round to visit you all.

So in the meantime,

thank you once again for visiting

and your kind comments, they mean a lot.

Jewel

Jewel

August 2003 - 26th August 2011

Day By Day

Thank you for all your good wishes regarding Jewel.

Unfortunately,

she has been back to the vets

and a further X ray on a different part of her leg,

(not previously X rayed),

shows that she has bone cancer.

We are taking one day at a time

knowing that soon we will have to say goodbye to her.

Wet Garden

Thank you for all your good wishes for Jewel.

We have seen an improvement in her.

She is able to make her own way up and downstairs,

she is eating better,

and generally seems more like herself.

So we are hoping that

she is recovering

and that there is no underlying cause.

Thanks also for your encouraging comments

regarding my orangy red elongated hexagons.

 

These photos were all taken in the garden

on Wednesday, after the rain.

I meant to post them yesterday,

but went off to a wein kirmes last night,

returning too late to write anything sensible.

Or maybe it had something to do with the amount of wine consumed.

Yesterday started off sunny and warm,

hot even.

But by midday,

the sky was very heavy,

bringing with it,

thunder and torrential rain.

It was a shame.

I had planned to go and see

the crowning of the king and queen of the wine in the next village.

But as it was due to take place in the market square,

I thought it would be a rather wet affair.

So wisely,

(as it turned out),

gave it a miss,

(I would have got soaked to the skin!)

In another nearby village,

a group of Harley Davidson bikers

have been visiting.

We could hear them

passing on their bikes all afternoon.

We felt sorry for them,

knowing that they had a run out on their bikes planned for the afternoon,

winding up somewhere for coffee and cake.

But the rain didn't seem to stop them.

We know what it's like to come to the Mosel

on motor bikes and get caught in a thunderstorm.

I remember when we visited here in 2003

(it might have been 2004),

we had to shelter in a shop doorway in Bernkastel.

I got soaked to the skin.

Once the rain stopped,

we got back on our motor bikes

only to stop and shelter under a bridge

not far from here.

Little did we know then that we would be living here now!

My sister bought me this Echinacea

last year.

But marigolds have self seeded themselves about the garden.

A bit like the one and only sunflower.

I think potatoes and tomatoes

belong to the same family.

It's easy to see why in these two photos.

The one above is a potato plant,and the one below,

a tomato.

I'm quite pleased with the tomatoes,

as they are all grown from seed.

I didn't really expect them to germinate,

so now I've got loads.

But I'm no gardener,

and so they have all been fending for themselves

and are therefore smaller than my neighbours plants.

But I'll put it down to a learning experience.

And try and do better next year.

I'm surprised to see this lupin in flower.

I sowed the seeds this spring,

so I didn't expect them to flower this year.

When I checked this morning to see if the plants were all still standing

after the deluge yesterday,

I noticed this lupin flower had turned a delicate pink. 

I hope you are all in the pink this weekend!

Trial and Error

It's been a bit tense here lately

as we have noticed Jewel becoming unwell.

It's difficult with animals,

they can't come and tell you that they have a pain

that won't go away.

You have to notice the signs.

What you first thought was a bit of stiffness

due to age,

a reluctance to go down stairs

or a reluctance to eat,

(she's often indifferent with food),

becomes more apparent

when instead of improving,

it gets worse.

Then you begin to fear the worst.

So today

we took Jewel to the vet.

A thorough examination

in which the vet

manipulated Jewel's limbs and joints

in what I think must at best have been uncomfortable for her,

(and yet she didn't protest),

and X rays

were inconclusive.

So now we are hoping that the anti inflammatories

that the vet prescribed for Jewel

give her some relief

and that she is soon back to her little minxy self.

Hot and Bothered

Yesterday I was hot.

The thermometer on the balcony,

in the shade,

was reading 30 degrees centigrade.

Which is hot for me.

I decided to get my hexagon quilt out.

Truth be known,

it was already out,

just waiting for me to

leave the crocheting I have been doing,

and start stitching instead.

I've always thought that I tend to have

lots of projects on the go

so that :-

I don't get bored;

there is a project to suit my mood;

there's a project to suit the time (such as crochet in front of the TV);

or location (such as hand sewing to take on holiday).

I'm sure there are other reasons I could add.

But yesterday,

I realised that I have all these projects

because I can get a different one out when:-

I can't find the thread I need for the first one,

(that's the thread I found sorted out last week

and thought I had put in the tin with the hexagons).

Even if I did find the thread,

that I simply MUST use,

no other will do...

I can't find my sewing glasses.

When I get the next project out,

I can't decide on the layout for it.

And when I do decide on the layout,

I think,

I really do need to prewash the fabric.

In the process,

of all of this,

I come across some fabric left over from some other project,

(completed I might add),

and think,

shall I start a new project?

Do you have days like that?

In the end

I watched this bird for a while

helping himself to our plums

that aren't quite ready.

If you are interested,

you can see the right side of the quilt

from the first 4 photos here,

Just don't look at the date!

P.S. Can you tell I like hexagons?

Grey to Blue in a Day

August already.

This year seems to be flying by.

Our walks with the hounds today

have taken us

above the vineyards,

through woods

and overlooking the river.

This morning we stayed on this side of the river.

It was rather grey.

But still beautiful.

In the afternoon,

we crossed the river,

and walked in the shade,

it was so hot.

The river has gone from grey to blue.

All in a day.

A Little Bit of What You Fancy.

We woke to a cooler, greyer, showery day.

The sort of day

you want to stay indoors

and take it easy.

Doing a little bit of what you fancy.

Turn this...

Into this...

Hope yours was a good day,

whatever its colour.