2017 March

Mars 2017

Semezanges March 7, 2017

Another month gone! Yikes it goes fast. Above is a photo of Semezanges. I have started on my photographic documentation of the 16 villages of the Haute Côte. On a hazy day I went up and over the Côte and as I started to descend into the village of Semezanges, I pulled over and took this photo. As it was the first week of March, the trees had no leaves.

I just updated my calendar, and it is getting full. Retirement is not at all boring, plenty out there to do. Since I enjoy taking photos, this works for me. But a little under the gun to take the photos during the next few months. And of course continue with photos of nature and for photoclub.

As I mentioned before, the Tour de France is going to pass through Gevrey. The actual peleton will pass through in about 5 minutes! They will come down hill from the Côte and descend into Gevrey and turn south on the highway D974 for Nuits Saint Georges. I have joined the committee to prepare for the event. Weeks of preparationfor the few minutes of glory!

Keith took off on his bike. Because it is a bit early, he is not camping. He headed south and has been gone 5 days now. Even here, the week has been warm, about 65-70 degrees.

Au revoir mon amour

I have played with spring flowers and my camera. Out for walks to see what nature has to offer. It really has been a warm month. So of course here are my photos.

Tall plant with flowers hidden under the leaves- Daphne Lauréole 

Played with the new macro too-Helios M42 macro-
Flower Scille de Printemps

Helios macro- Nivéole du Printemps

Nivéole du Printemps

Amémone Pulsatille

Bius en fleur ( box shrub)

Pulmanaire

Cornouiller mâle

Another flower not within a few kilometers, is the Fritilaire Pintade. It grows in wet prairies. MT and I thought it was time to search for this flower. We headed to the Val de Saone, about 35km south east.

Driving on the dirt roads, we found a field with the flowers. So here are some of my photos.

Fritillaire Pintade

Hope I did not bore you, but I think these flowers are amazing, checkered flowers.

I climbed up the Combe in Gevrey. Just to give you an idea od the height, I added a second photo with the road marked in red.

photo from the top

Road road at the bottom

Photos of the climb.

start of the walk, sunny day in the woods

 The climb

At the very bottom is a vineyard, it is too early for the leaves to sprout.

And in closing, there was a pretty sunset one night. Very from back terrace. Real colors.

Actually an HDR photo. It is 4 photos with diffrent light settings, from dark to light, so that the vineyard shows and
the colors of the sunset. Merge the photos and VOILA

If you are curious about where I live and missed the connection to the YouTube video YOU TUBE version...Gevrey YOUTUBE  .
The Tourist Office made the short video.

Recipe of the Month

Couscous Oriental (Tabbouleh)

Very common dish here, you can add anything.  Very easy to make and adjust to taste.
Add chicken, take out the raisins, add boiled eggs and spring vegetables like peas and or asparagus.
Go creative.  

INGREDIENTS

• ·        1 tablespoon olive oil
• ·        ⅓ cup finely chopped onions
• ·        ½ cup sweet red peppers cut into small cubes
• ·        1 ¼ cups boiling water
• ·        1 cube chicken broth
• ·        ⅓ cup raisins
• ·        ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ·        ½ cup zucchini cut into small cubes
• ·        1 tomato cut into small cubes
• ·         Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• ·        1 cup quick couscous
• ·        1 tablespoon butter
• ·        1 Tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

PREPARATION

1. In
   a saucepan with a tight lid, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and
   red peppers, and cook and stir until wilted. Do not brown. Add the
   water, broth cube, raisins, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
2. Remove
   from the heat, add the couscous and stir well. Cover and let stand
   for 5 minutes. Uncover, add the butter, and vinegar,and fluff well
   with a fork. Add the zucchini and tomato and toss.

February 2017

Février 2017

Tim, our winter cat

Ah yes, it is the end of February. February the month of two faces, chilly and warm.

I have to admit I have spring fever.Warmer and longer days have taken their toll and I am looking for buds on everything. Forsythia has buds as do the roses and the primrose is flowering all over the yard.  Nature is slowly waking up.

Today it is Sunday and it should be 13°C ( or 55°F). It is partly cloudy and I am going for a walk with MT this afternoon.

And miracles, the crédence( back splash) has been installed. It has been a long journey to get this far in the kitchen, but it was our choice. We started a year ago, and found some nightmares on the electric connections behind the cupboards. So acting as our own general contractors, we took it step by step.

But I have a kitchen that I enjoy. I really love it. However, as far as cleaning, I probably picked some of the hardest things to keep clean. Dark counter tops clean easily, but leave streaks, so wash and buff. Same with a black glass back splash. And who knew that stainless steel streaks too. But still, I made the choices and I am happy.

New counter top, back splash and hood.

For those that have been here, the was a table here
and I had it taken out and replaced as a
peninsula. Love it..Keith has to replace the
top drawer, about an inch taller.
 Wall sage green.

Sink is new too, stainless

Bored you enough on my kitchen!

Politics is gearing up here in France. Round one of the elections will be 23rd of April. The second round, if needed will be 7th of May.  The top runner was Fillon (conservative), but a scandal has marred him in the last few weeks. It is alleged that he paid his wife for a job she did not do. The on the far far right, Marine LePen. She has been in the news lately too. She has two campaign workers who are being paid by the EU, with fake EU jobs? LePen is very conservative, wants to stop certain immigration, return to the Franc and get out of the EU. Then there is Hamon, who is on the socialist ticket. But Holland has damaged the party enough, not sure he has a chance. So what will happen? Stay tuned!

Had a few walks this month. However, it is between seasons, and not as much to photograph.
Here are a few of my photos.

Dols waiting for us to join him

Photo of Curtil 

The forest is managed and each year allotments for wood are
sold to the villagers. They can cut down marked trees. The wood
must be transported out by a certain date, and site cleaned. Here
is someones wood ready to haul out.

Winter vines. These are in the Haute Cote and are taller than
the vines in Gevrey. Someone told me that this way the ground
gets more sun to reflect back and keep the vines warmer in the spring.
In Gevrey the stalk is very short.

Spring! Euphorbia blooming

Willows blooming

Even the mistletoe is flowering

Walk on the 26th above Chambolle, waiting again.
We talk and I guess we are slow sometimes

Then we saw a carpet of flowers. SPRING

Nivéole de printemps (L. Leucojum vernum)

Nivéole de printemps 

Nivéole de printemps 

Not to be confused with :

Pierce Neige ( snowdrop)

Fragon faux houx (Ruscus aculeatus)
The flower is very small, about 1/4 inch wide. It blooms on the
underside of the leaf.

Sunday's walk, straight ahead,just beyond the trees, is a huge drop!!

That is all from Gevrey for this month.

Recipe of the Month

Salad Dressing

I make most of my own salad dressing. It is so easy and so much better than industrial salad dressings. I love the taste of fresh dressings, they are more lively.

One dressing that I use the most is a Dijon vinaigrette. really not hard. One version, slowly mixing in the oil makes a thick dressing. Other times I put all in bowl and whip it together, just enough to mix before I pour it on the salad.

Dijon Vinaigrette

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 c - 1/2 Good oil (some use vegetable oil such as sunflower, others olive oil. Depends on your taste)
• 1 Tablespoon vinegar
• pinch of salt

PREPARATION
(for thick dressing)

1. Put mustard in a small bowl
2. Whip the oil into the mustard (with a fork), a little at a time. The mustard will plump up 
3. Add vinegar and salt and continue to whip until blended well
4. TASTE! 

As stated, I put all in a bowl and whip. It is a little more fluid.
Always always taste. If bitter to taste, it could be the oil or the vinegar, small amount of honey will work. When I have a salad with fruit, I add enough honey for a slight sweet taste. 

Janvier 2017

   

Galette des Rois

JANVIER 2017

It is the new year and still struggling with the 2017 instead of 2016 for the date.

The 6 of January is the feast of the Epiphany. Here in France it is celebrated with the traditional Galette des Rois (the galette of kings ). Every year both the Photoclub and the Assoc celebrate with the Galette and a coup (glass of wine or crémant). There is a "feve" (bean) in the Galette and whoever has the feve, gets to wear the crown. The feve is no longer a bean, but a little porcelain figure, usually based on a character from a childrens' movie. Each bakery though has feves with different themes, and some still use traditional feve designs. If you collect the feves, you probably shop around.

We have had some very cold weather throughout France, but now  in the Cote-D'Or, temperatures have mellowed. Even a little hint of spring. However, it is only Feb and it can still turn cold.

Not a lot to report, shut in with the cold weather for a couple of weeks ( and yes, I no longer have the strong fortitude of a Minnesotan!!). And now with a cold. Not a good month!

I have had to work on what photos for the Expo in May, we need to turn in the photos by the 16th of Feb. The post under this one has the 4 photos that I am considering, and I need to pick two. If you want to add comments, please do.

The mayors office has made a film on Gevrey. Kind of a quick look at the place where I live.
Go to the site ( it is the site for the city) and you need to scroll down to the "Présentation du Village" Sky view of the City

Video GEVREY

The Reserve Naturel has hiking trails and lots of flowers, mushrooms etc. One of my favorite places to walk. Also the wild cat lives there, but chances of ever seeing one are zero!
Watch it and let me know what you think. I had nothing to do with this video.
(found the YOU TUBE version...Gevrey YOUTUBE     it is larger

OK a few photos of mine next. The frosty ones, there should have been more; I set out to take lots of photos, until a tree cracked and fell not that far from me. I turned around, got in the car and came home!

Berries

Frost and or ice

Reulle Vergy- row of vines

Reulle-Vergy

Then a couple frosty photos

Near Semezanges-where the tree fell!

Vines of Gevrey-( Reserve Nature starts on the left)

Semezanges

And a photo from the back yard

Sitting pretty out in the vines. AUTOUR ( Goshawk)

This month they are doing the census. I do not know much about how or more to the point when a census is done here. It is not as official as it is in the USA, each 10 years. I need to check out more, just out of curiosity. But we have now been counted.

That is all from here in Gevery.

Recipe of the Month
Galette des Rois
I am going to take the easy way out this month and give you a website with a great Galette des Rois recipe. It is puff pastry and almond paste filling. It is really very good and decadent, but only comes around once a year.
Here is a site by David Lebovitz with step by step instructions with photos.
You should really try it at least once.

Galette des Rois

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/galette-des-rois-kings-cake-recipe/

PHOTOS jan 2016

 Droits, Corbes  LINES and/or CURVES.

?_Photo 1 - graphic

OUI_Photo 2 - lines and curves- Need to whiten clock face a little

NON_Photo 3 - pont Black and white

NON pas nette_Photo 4

??_Photo 5   Mur à Athens

not the next one

HDR photo - but voted out of Expo of Droits , corbes

end