SEPT. 2014
September has arrived and so has fall. We have had some great warm and beautiful days. It is as if summer finally arrived. We have enjoyed it and been out as much as possible. And to make it perfect, the nights have been cool.
I started a new campaign; I decided I should walk at least 20 minutes each day. With the great weather it has been an easy promise to keep. Most days my walk is 40 minutes to an hour. The big question is what will happen when the winter rain starts!!! I am a fair weather sports type; any bad weather and I am in the house.
On to other things. The vendange (grape harvest) started about a week ago. Many of the vinergons (grape-growers) are done, but not all. There are still grapes on the vines in the back of our house ( Update : 23rd of Sept, they are harvesting the vines at the back of our house).
 |
| Bins on the truck filling up with grapes |
 |
| Adding more grapes |
 |
| Working on a foggy morning |
 |
| picking grapes...up on the hillside is the pricey wine -Grand Cru |
 |
Look at all the rejected grapes!! the rest are stems and leaves
that have been removed...a strong red wine vinegar smell in the air as I walked by!
I think I said that the season was hard with hail and mildew!!! and burnt
grapes in June and cold weather in July and.. |
 |
| Vineyard tractor going to pick up bins of picked grapes |
 |
| returning to pick more after a little break-very HOT day-80° + |
 |
| Beautiful old vine before the grapes were picked |
 |
| Size of Pinot Noir grapes...(regular card) |
 |
| Looking down over Gevrey |
 |
| More fall color from Gevrey |
 |
| I think they are beautiful |
 |
| Backyard the morning of the 23rd sept |
 |
| They pick these grapes by hand. Wine is "Gevrey Chambertin Village" |
The weekend of the 20th to the 21st was the "Journee de Patrimoine" (day of heritage) here in France. Historic places are open to the public. It is up to each city or village to decide what they want to open ( or sometimes the owner of a château...). This year Gevrey did not have anything on the list? Not sure why.
But there were churches open, chateaux open, and other places all over France, and some that are only open on this one weekend. I really enjoy the idea. But to be honest, it rained on Sunday and we did not go out to explore. We have seen many of the points of interest in this area. Next year we will go and see something, there is always next year.
Because of the dry weather, mushrooms were scarce. Some finally came up after a night of rain. Now that we have had a bit more rain, more fall mushrooms should appear. But that does not mean that I have not been in the woods...here are some photos of the woods and open spaces from different walks.
 |
| Ruelle-Vergy |
 |
| Gevrey |
 |
| colors a bit odd? Chateau de Gevrey |
 |
| Chateau de Brochon |
 |
| panoramic-some vineyards of Gevrey |
 |
| Played with the color of this photo |
 |
| original color with only one dog |
 |
| Very tiny mushroom.not even 1/2 inch |
 |
| flower |
 |
another flower- I think it is Onagre or Evening Primrose
This one is wild |
 |
| end of the season and seeds ready to fly |
 |
| Thistle |
 |
| Last pollen of the season too |
 |
| leaving Ruelle-Vergy, foggy morning |
 |
| another Gevrey vineyard, some fog in the hills |
 |
| Petite Centaurée |
 |
| OK not on the walk, it is in my garden |
 |
| a little quiet road |
Note the road in the photo above. This is a two way road! There are a lot of these little paved roads, a little off the beaten path. I always cross my fingers and hold my breath hoping not to meet another car. Here there is room to pull off on the grass, but that is not always the case. But what a shame not to use these little roads; the view is always better. Such beautiful scenery!
Keith gave up a bike I always called "Golden Boy". It was a gold Schwin city bike. After about 20 years, it needed repairs. So repair or buy a new bike??...New bike won.
 |
| GOOD BYE TO GOLDEN BOY |
I have to toss in one more photo....I took this the night
before the "Super Moon", but thought it is a pretty neat photo.
The year of the tomato bumper crop came to an end. Everyone had great tomatoes this summer, rain and cold and then some sun and the tomatoes went wild. With the "leftovers" I made red/green tomato chutney. It is really good if you like chutney. Canned a few for the winter months too. Recipe below.
 |
| last of the garden...such wonderful abundance this year |
Recipe of the Month
Chutney is easy to make. I found a recipe and changed it here and there!!, as always. The recipe called for red wine vinegar, I had apple cider vinegar, so I added a little red wine. Add and subtract to make it work for you.
Red and Green Tomato Chutney
Ingredients
- 900g Multi-coloured small/cherry tomatoes, chopped in half (leave a few tiny ones whole)
- 90g Sultanas
- 350g Red onions, chopped
- 225g Light Muscovado Sugar
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- 2 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 large red chili, finely chopped ( I used cayenne pepper and chili flakes instead - red pepper here is very inconsistent)...add chili to your taste
- 200ml White wine vinegar - I used apple cider vinegar
- 100ml Red wine vinegar -I used apple cider vinegar with a splash of red wine
Instructions
Prepare your jars and lids by sterilizing or skip if you are going to put it in the freezer. Small jars for jam work best or maybe it depends how much you plan to eat when you open a jar! I ended up with 4 small jars and one that is about 1 pint, and then a small bowl full to eat immediately.
Add all the ingredients to a preserving pan including tomatoes .
Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.
Ladle into the warm jars and seal with lids . For added protection, I did put the jars through a water bath, boiling for 15 minutes.
