June 2016
It has been a political month, a month with terror, a sports month and a rainy month.
The shooting in Orlando and now in Istanbul, both are horrendous. These are extremists, and certainly with political beliefs that the rest of us can not comprehend.
But no one should give in to terrorism. One can not be afraid to live.
Politics, The British have voted on the referendum to leave or stay in the European Union. What a shock that the vote was to Leave! And not by a large margin. Europe is in a tailspin, as was the world (reflected in the markets). Now the marKet has calmed down, but so much still to be settled.
What does it mean? No one knows at this point. The free trade (open market) is one of the main issues. Britain would like to stay in the free trade, but not allow the free movement of people throughout the European Union. They want to control who enters the UK. Now any one in the EU can go to another EU country and look for work.
Another issue is the banking system. Will the banks in London still have the privileges of access across the EU. London is a major financial city, so banks are anxious to know the outcome. Will these banks stay in London, or will the financial center move to other major cities ( the financial banking of London is the worlds largest right now). Some major cities are hoping that the bank will move to their city; Pairs, Amsterdam, Brussel, Milan....)
So many questions, and no answers. To top it off, Cameron wants to delay the enactment of Article 50 until October, the EU is calling for it now.
And to continue on politics, France is still having strikes and demonstrations because of the new labor laws. Nothing has changed there. This week, not as many trains canceled.
Sports ! It is the big football (soccer to the US) tournament this month. Some crazy news there too. Bad news - fights in Marseilles between the English and the Russians.
Interesting news, Iceland. France plays Iceland Sunday in the quarter finals. Iceland has come out of no where and is in the quarter finals. What a surprise.
And the Tour de France starts this weekend. It looks like a mountain riders Tour this year.
And just to let you know it has been a cold and WET month. Everything in the garden is behind, and I have never had so many weeds. Finally this last week, the weather has improved. Even have the backdoor open today for a little breeze.
Happy notes, on the 21st of June each year, France celebrates music. OK many places had the celebration the weekend before, but Dijon had a few bands around the city on the night of the 21st. Here in Gevrey, they had line dancing in the park. Keith went past on his bike, but when he came home, we gave it a pass (one example was western line dancing to Celtic musique??). But the idea is big and highly support still in France. Many places, villages, organizations, whatever, have picnics too.
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| Keith and camping gear |
Keith was frustrated by the weather this spring (mostly house bound), so he left for the south with his bike. He had a few problems with the train strike, so he pedaled a little more than he thought. It was good for him. He put on over 1,000 km.
This week went out a couple times and took some photos. So here are the photos, or some of them at least.
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| Chambolle-Musigny |
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| Orchids- Pyramidal |
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| Orchids- Pyramidal |
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| Orchids- Pyramidal |
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| Sedum..very small |
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| Keith overlooking the Combe at Chambolle |
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| Butterfly (maybe Le Tircis) |
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| La Zygène des bois -black and red bug |
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| Butterfly (maybe Le Céphale) |
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| Sage (sauge) |
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| Viperine with bee |
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| maybe Pulicaria dysenterica |
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| Centaurée |
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| ? |
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| my garden rose |
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| Flipper on a forest path |
Ah summer, it is so wonderful now that we have had a few warm days.
We can eat on the patio...YEAH.
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| Grilled pork kababs and tomato salad (see below) :-) |
Recipe of the Month
Salade de Tomates
To celebrate this wonderful weather, here is a very easy tomato salad to serve with whatever has been grilled. This is so simple, very pretty, and very good.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 yellow tomatoes
- 2 orange tomatoes
- 2 large heirloom tomatoes -black
- lettuce
- Feta (cubed) * I bought Feta with herbs
- 1/2 cup Vinaigrette * I make my own
- 2 tsp Pesto
PREPARATION
- Mix vinaigrette with pesto
- Cut tomatoes into slices
- Pour vinaigrette over tomatoes and let sit a while (in the frigo) if you have time
- Add lettuce (artfully of course) in a bowl
- Add tomatoes along with the vinaigrette
- Top with Feta
