Collected rocks and other projects

Last summer when I started the process of emptying out our little greenhouse of plants, pots, and other things that had accumulated in there, I found several pots of all different sizes that were full of rocks. They are rocks that I've picked up out in the vineyard over the years. I always thought that they were picturesque and that one day I'd find a use for them. In the meantime, I figured I could take them out of the greenhouse and put them all on the utility room window ledge, out of the way of the continuing greenhouse clean-up. Here they are:

The ground around here is very rocky. The greenhouse clean-up got put off when I suddenly came down with the aches and pains of arthritis (arthrose in French). My swollen and painful right wrist prevented me from moving heavy potted plants around. Now I realize that we really need to have a new window put in here next year. The old one doesn't latch the way it should. It's not double glazed and does not have a shutter over it. The window ledge needs scraping and re-painting. Projects, projects, projects.

Looking north

I was standing near our back gate when I took this photo, and looking toward the north. Most of the big weather systems that bring us rain and wind sweep over us from north to south — or northwest to southeast. The Atlantic ocean and the British Isles send us a lot of weather.

Today I'm taking my 25-year-old Peugeot to the mechanic's shop for an oil change and a general going-over — brakes, tires, fluids, lightbulbs, shock absorbers. windshield wipers, etc. I'm just being cautious. The car is running great. And I don't have to have it inspected until a year from now. We never drive it farther than about 15 miles from home. It's odometer shows that the car has nearly 150,000 kilometers on it now — that's 93,000 miles.

When I made the appointment at the garage on Friday, the woman who runs the front office and interfaces with the public at the garage looked up my vehicle on her computer, where she keeps records of all the jobs and repairs they've done on their customers' vehicles. I told her I thought it had been quite a while since I'd had an oil change done on the Peugeot. Looking at the file, she said yes, you're right, it's been quite a while. Your Peugeot's last oil change dates back to 2002! I was stunned. Could that be true?

I made the appointment for today and let the matter drop. It wasn't until I got home that this dawned on me: I didn't buy the Peugeot until 2003! And I didn't start taking it to her and her husband's shop until about 2006. Something is obviously wrong with the garage's record-keeping.

On Sunday, I consulted my own files concerning the Peugeot. I keep copies of all the printed reports about the car and its repairs and maintenance. I found one paper showing I had an oil change done in 2011. Then I found another one showing an oil change in 2018. And finally, I found one documenting an oil change on the Peugeot in 2022. I'm going to break all that to her gently. I think I need to tell her, because maybe some kind of computer glitch has corrupted her records. Or maybe there was just a typo on the page showing that the Peugeot's last oil change was done 23 years ago...

Coucher de soleil (2)

Coucher de soleil

Saint-Aignan — Saturday, 15 November 2025