April 2014

I had him in my March blog too...I guess I like him

AVRIL 2014

Spring is glorious. I love how everything starts to grow. The trees all have a vibrant green color, and the flowers start to bloom everywhere. So many photos to share with you this month.

The plants here are about 2-3 weeks in advance of normal. We have had warm weather all month, and now very very dry weather. Ah yes I complain when it rains and now I complain when it does not rain. But it has not rained very much at all this month. Clouds come over the hills, and then..nothing!
I guess at least it is spring and flowers have bloomed and the countryside is beautiful. So I will stop complaining. As for flowers blooming, lots of photos to follow.

Quick follow-up on elections. First, Gevrey had only one tour (as it called). One list was elected with more than a majority (64%), so we did not have the second tour (voting the second time). There is now a new law (this is for villages over 1000), the other lists (that did not get the majority) should still have some representation on city council. So the list with 61% votes gets 50% of the list in office automatically (because it had the majority). Then here in Gevrey where we had 2 lists, the second list gets 39% of the seats left.
19 seats in city council of Gevrey... 19 * 50% = 9,5 people on the list or with whole numbers 10 people. The second list had 39% of the vote...9 people left is  9 * .39 = 3.51, so they got 4 of the top names on the list to join city council.
After the election is final, the 19 people gather and elect a mayor. It is usually known who is going to be elected, but in cases where the list is split 50/50, who knows.
That was the final result of our first time voting in France.
Did you know that those in the EU, such as the english, are able to vote in the city elections (not national). Just thought I would tell you that.

Also, Christian Hoquet was elected mayor of Messanges. We had a little celebration.

Big news for Gevrey and for me too. Chistophe Mae, pop singer here in France did a benefit concert here in little Gevrey. The paper said it took 65 technicians to set it up!! He had a concert in Dijon at the Zenith on Thursday 17th of April. So Friday night, the 18th he did a concert here in Gevrey at the sports complex (indoor tennis court space). There were only 2000 tickets, and I bought two. The sports complex is walking distance from our house- "yeah".
Since I had never been to a rock concert, I was surprised that there were no chairs!! There was beer, soda pop and water for sale and sandwiches too. It was a Friday night, so families were there and the children were having a good time running around before the concert (this was not Orchestra Hall)!! Oh well, when in Rome....
Christophe Mae according to Wiki "Maé's music is largely acoustic. He has cited Bob Marley, Ben Harper, Tracy Chapman, and Jack Johnson as well as French singer-songwriters Francis Cabrel and Gérald De Palmas as musical influences. He allegedly began to learn harmonica as a tribute to Stevie Wonder, who is commonly cited as his biggest influence musically."
He now has a New Orleans touch.. The concert was great, high energy and great music. Loved it, although I had very tired feet. I have now been to a pop or rock concert!

We were in the back by the doors for the cool air...but I
had my little camera in my purse. Not too bad.

Went for a walk at the beginning of the month and we had started to cut across a field. Did not climb a fence, just went under the wires!! This was a big field, and after 5 minutes of walking, we noticed horses. First one, then two and then they all started to come and see what or who was in their field. That is when we noticed Mr Bull, he was watching us. Was he a friendly bull? or not. Well maybe it was not a great idea to find out. So a U-turn and back the way we came. The horses followed (and so did the bull, but at a distance).

all the horses following

And he was watching !! bully bully

At the beginning of the month, my photo club group had an outing to take photos of the old church in Fixey (fee say). It is 1,000 year old church. Our outing (sortie) was to practice HDR. And what is that? you ask. You take multiple photos, from overexposed to under exposed, and then meld them. That way you gain a lot of detail other wised missed. I find the old church attractive as it is.

English..Romanesque Church of Fixey
"The church was dedicated to Saint Anthony and built from the 10th
century onward. Classified as an historical monument, it is one of the oldest
buildings on the hillside region stretching southward from Dijon."

vineyard with the church in the background

It was a great day for photos

here

This is the backside of the church. Here I did a blend using
over and under exposed photos (HDR). Note more detail in
the shadows. Then I played with some options and selected "PAINTING"
Unfortunately, I cut the top of the bell tower off. Maybe I can
merge and tower on....

Even tried a Black and White

a grape hyacinth with the church in the background!!
I will try anything

Other hikes and flowers. There have been a few hikes, and love taking photos of the flowers and of other things too!  This last month Marie Thérèse, her sister Michele and I have put photos out on Flickr. If interested, visit it to see some pretty photos.. https://www.flickr.com/photos/123040777@N03

Magnolia (not wild)

Ficaire Fausse

Buttercup

Euphorbe des bois

Anémone des fôrets

Violette ororante

Sceau de Salomon

Violette ororante

Anémone des fôrets

Le Tircis

Dandelion

? ID in progress-Ranunculus- je pense

Cardamine des prés

Parisette de quart feuilles

Euphorbe

Anemone sylvestris

Stellaire holostée (Maire T suggested this, I think it

just might be the right identification)

La Flambé - the butterfly

Vinca ( the forest floor was covered in these purple flowers)

I took some photos of places we or I walked, not just flowers.

Going up the hill above Gevrey

Taking the horses to pasture

Born free 

Colza (canola) in bloom near Messanges

Walking towards the woods with the dogs

Forest with flowers in bloom

Lonely tree

This last week, my little group Nature, Flore et Faune, prepared the window at the Tourist Office in Gevrey. We had 60 photos to display along with covering the bottom with moss and adding some fossils, rocks and mushrooms (fake). I think it is a real success, however since it will be on display for three weeks, I have to go water the moss today!

Now that the window at the Tourist Office is done, my group has to prepare 12 photos of Faune. We have some great photos of bugs and butterflies, so I am not too worried about this project, but I must get it done soon.

Keith has done some bike riding. He wanted to go out camping for a couple days, but although we have had a great start to spring, the evenings are still cold. Then he was almost ready to go south, by train and then ride, and the there was a strike at the SNCF (Sydicate National de Chemin de Fer), the nationalized train company. He continues to volunteer at Bligny with the tourist train.


Recipe of the Month


Chicken with Dill and Mustard sauce

You can find this on the internet. However I did my own version. A few years ago my cousin had made chicken with dill. I did not get the recipe, but thought of it the other day. So I went to the internet. Lots of variations, and here is mine.

INGREDIENTS
( for 2 or 3 people - depend if Keith has ridden his bike for 100km or not)
2 hours marinade
20-30 minutes to prepare

• 3 chicken breasts- no skin or bones
• 1/2 cup 0% fat yogurt 
• 4 TBS chopped fresh dill
• 1 TBS oil
• 1/2 cup chopped leek
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 2-3 teaspoons mustard (Dijon of course or ancient with seeds)
• oil
• salt
• pepper

PREPARATION

1. Mix the yogurt with 2 TBS of dill and 1 TBS oil
2. Cover chicken with yogurt mix on both sides and marinade at least 2 hours
3. Heat about 1 TBS of oil in pan
4. Add chicken (with yogurt still covering) and brown a few minutes on both sides
5. Place chicken on a plate
6. Add leeks and saute
7. Add wine to de-glaze
8. Add mustard and blend and then the chicken broth
9. Place chicken back in pan
10. Cover and cook until chicken is done -depends on the thickness of the chicken breast
11. Put chicken on a plate and turn up heat.
12. Let the sauce reduce some, thicken a little if necessary
13. Add in 2 TBS of fresh dill 
14. Stir 
15. Put chicken on a serving platter and cover with sauce
16. Serve immediately