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  the bottom of the expanded China Town area towards the Manhattan Bridge ramp in the distance. It was actually taken a few days ago. One winter storm after another and another is on it's way according to the latest forecasts. I lived there for almost 27 years. I used to ride my bike every day in the winter in this stuff. I think I liked it, though I am having a hard time remembering exactly why. I have so many friends who still live in NYC and I get constant reports of the slimy wet frozen misery they go through. The 2nd picture was taken this morning, the first day of spring of my house here in the Sud Ouest where we have had the warmest and wettest winter on record. About a week or so ago, it finally stopped raining. Everything started blooming. We are experiencing temperatures in the 70's. Suddenly, I was in a race against nature. My strawberry plants started to grow fast and I had to cultivate them. I had to dig them all up, separate the plants, rework the soil and then replant them in the newly fertilized plot covered with an agricultural fabric cover. Sop here I am, about 4 pm this afternoon with about 240 strawberry plants in the ground ready for another season!The poles in the background are the supports for my raspberry plants whichare putting out leaves at an alarming rate. The tree in back of me is one of my figs which I have to cut back constantly because they want to take over the world. I already have had to mow the lawn. Of course, since it is the first day of spring, c'est la tradition, the weather is going to change...After a week of incredible warm and blue skies, we go back to the normal foggy grey, chilly and wet weather of the Dordogne. My biggest fear is a cold snap. That happened the last 2 years after a warm winter and was catastrophic, but I checked the extended forecast and after a few days of cool clouds, the temperature is going to come up again and no freeze is predicted. We have a tradition here...the moon cycle and La Lune Rousse....La Lune Rousse is phase of the moon after Easter. This year it extends from the end of April through May. They call it La Lune Rousse because that is when freezes can occur and frozen tender buds often turn red. The other tradition is Les saints de glace....the ice saints, which are the dates of three saints, St. Mamertus, St. Pancras and St. Servatius, which occur on the 11th, 12th and 13th of May. You can see why we are a little nervous. Normally, the fear of frost does not disappear until the second week of May, but, in spite of all of that, Equinioxe Heureux, a tout le monde! |
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Equinoxe Heureux, A Tout le Monde!
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7 comments:
It's good to see ya healthy and hard at work Dottie. A small personal request. Maybe you could post some pictures of your home's interior. I love the exterior and am very curious how the inside was built.
This house has a convoluted history...it started out as a little one story red stone house around 1828. It was enlarged to the 2 story structure it is now around 1900. When I found it, it had been abandoned and an old woman had been living alone surrounded by the remnants of farm buildings for years before she died. There is a big red stone barn from 1835 which was enlarged around 1960. I tore down a lot of the old buildings, some of which had collapsed. The property was littered with oil drums, concrete blocks, old farm machinery....I gutted the interior, ripping out walls and actually broke the walls to make 2 new windows. The well in front had disappeared into a forest of brambles and feral shrubs. I had to put in new plumbing, heating and a septic system, wiring and big oak support beams on the first floor. We've been here since 2002, but it is still an ongoing project. My wife has a lot of great ideas when it comes to color...I make furniture and the open kitchen is pretty unique. I put some pictures up for you.
DOOD! Is that a PALM TREE in your front yard?
Yes, it is a very hardy type of palm. I think they come from the Adriatic. It must be about 40 years old. There are a few around here, always close to the house because it really does get cold here. It flowers every year and jut keeps getting taller and taller. I actually know a few members of the family who had this property. The father and son were the first dealers of bulldozers here and hated each other and became competitors, both claiming the title, King of Bulldozers! The great grandfather hung himself from the old plum tree in the front garden. It solved a messy divorce and heritage problem. I keep finding Occupied France WW2 coins in the garden. I have quite a collection now. During the war, the Village of Badefols d'Ans was on one side of the demarcation line and the great chateau of Badefols was a center of the Resistance. The chateau was heavily damaged by the Germans and most of the family was deported and died in concentration camps...on the other side of the line, there is a huge property and chateau called Artigeas that was used by the Germans. This area, here was occupied by the Germans and we have gathered that there is still bad feelings against the family that owned the house. They prospered doing business with the Germans. Man once you start to scratch the surface it gets pretty heavy. Most of the people who knew the truth never talked about it and are dying, but as the years go by, more and more details are revealed.
Loved the two photos of your domain. Green! I just saw the first green yesterday since Thanksgiving. Today it is white again!
Love your house. Should my wife and I be in the neighborhood, I'll stop by.
Mudrake, you would be a very welcome guest! We'll remember to serve something else than duck for dinner!
It's about 20F up here in Oswego, NY.
Is it okay if I like you and yet would kill for the house? No, you're right...
So, while I'm looking at pix and reading, I'm listening to "Stupid Fuck", I would love to have heard it live.
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