17 March 2010

First flowers of spring

The pâquerettes are starting to bloom. They're English daisies, and a flower like the one here is about one inch in diameter. The flowers close up at night, and during — or even before — a rain shower. Local people say they can predict the rain by watching these little daisies.

Une pâquerette

The cyclamens continue to bloom. There are patches of them all around our yard. They seem to be spreading. They flower in late winter and continue into early spring, and then they disappear, dormant. Cyclamens have big roots that look like a beetroot when you dig them up.

Cylamens sauvages

Spring, then is springing. Some mornings are very foggy, but others are bright sunny. We haven't had a drop of rain since February 28, and we could use some.

A neighbor's little fruit orchard, which survived
the windstorm with only one broken branch


A big tree in a field down below on a foggy morning
earlier this month...


...and the same tree late yesterday afternoon

I'm just staying busy getting ready for the trip tomorrow. I look forward to being in the States, but I don't look forward to the traveling. I have stopovers in Philadelphia and in Charlotte before I get to my destination. The trip, door-to-door, will take 24 hours.

10 comments:

  1. Bon voyage Ken.
    Good luck with your stopovers.
    Don't forget to give my best regards to your mother.
    Enjoy your stay with your family.

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  2. Bon voyage Ken et passez du bon temps en famille.
    I sympathize with you - you will have to endure the security circus three times, in addition to flight time.

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  3. Enjoy yourself in the States :) I hope your allergies don't act up again, as they did last trip.

    Those fogged-in photos are something else! We drove through fog like that out in the countryside yesterday morning. It's a little unsettling on a 2-lane highway.

    Bon voyage!
    Judy

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  4. It will be nice to be back home for few weeks and to be with your mother who must miss you very much.
    Enjoy the trip, even if it is a long one. You might meet some very interesting people.

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  5. Hope your trip goes well. It will be nice to have you close by. :-)

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  6. safe travels...hope ur time on the tarmac is short!!!

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  7. Love the foggy photos!

    Flying is such a delight these days, isn't it? I remember a US Airways domestic flight where they wanted to charge for water.

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  8. I am a little worried about the springtime allergies but there's not much I can do about them besides stay in the Loire Valley. Thanks for the good wishes, tout le monde.

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  9. *sings* A foggy day in Saint-Aignan...

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