Waiting for ... (16)

 

All week there was a buzzing of activity around the house: all the neighbours winemakers started to harvest the red wine grapes under a lovely sun - harvesting at 26 ° !! Some photo impressions:

* gathering of the grapes with machines :







* it is incredible how these machines by mere vibration manage to do a very proper job and collect almost 100% of the grapes :

   - before passing



   - after gathering



- when the grapes arrive at the chai (wine-cellar) they go through an égrappoir (crusher / de-stemmer), which takes the stalks off and breaks the grape skins, then into a pompe à marc (grape pump) which pumps them into the cuve (fermentation tank).








It is at times really a beautiful sight in the vineyards: autumnly colours and ripe grapes.




This week in the series 'popular dishes' : one of the all time favourites as entree, especially by hot weather : salmon cottage cheese mousse with red, yellow and green peppers.




Nature photo of the week : a praying mantis ('mante religieuse') doing some acrobatics on the laundry rack.

 

Waiting for ... (15)

 

As promised last week in the future the blog of mas de l'houvande will present pictures of visits, recipes etc. that our guests liked very much.

First in the series of visits: the rocher des aigles in Rocamadour : a brilliant birds' show with eagles, vultures, falcons, parrots in a beautiful breath-taking surrounding.














At table Jamie's Dad's Super Chicken was one of the favourites amongst young and old, accompanied with zucchini, pesto and mozzarella.

 

Waiting for ... (14) : It's viognier time

 

The touristic summer season has come to an end. It has been a lovely hot summer with very nice guests. We would like to thank everyone for their confidence, the nice evenings, the positive critics, the presents, etc. From next week on we'll present some of the most beautiful pictures we received from our guests on a regular basis.

But the event of the week is the early start of the vintage period this year. Because the summer has been very hot and because last week had temperatures above 30° C, the alcohol percentage in the grapes has risen by more than one percent in one week. Therefore the vintage of the white wine grapes already started. Otherwise the grapes risk to lose too much of their acidity and freshness which would give a too mellow wine. I took a closer look at the vintage of the viognier grape which produces my favourite white wine, comparable to the roero arneis grape of the Piedmont region in Italy.

the vineyard



the grapes to be harvested





the cropping and the gathering











the final cleaning



the harvested grapes : waiting to be pressed

Waiting for ... (13)

The touristic season is getting to an end. Nevertheless we still had one premiere this week: the first French couple that took the table d'hôtes (dinner) with us. This may seem strange to you, but in fact it isn't. A lot of French tourists stay in chambres d'hôtes to visit friends, to go to an anniversary party, a marriage, ecc.



Although the weather remains summerly the mornings are getting fresh - so for the first time this season breakfasts were taken inside.

Progress is still made in the house. At last the missing curtains arrived and some curtain cords (embrasses) too. They should have been delivered more than two months ago. Again thanks to Martine for helping us out during the whole season.










To mention also a beautiful soiree with couturier Arturo Costanzo: lovely food, nice atmosphere, singing and dancing, accompanied on guitar by Yvan, a french singer, whose repertoire also contains English pop songs as Nights in White Satin and Without You (thanks to Céline).

Waiting for ... (12)

This week very little news if not that this week-end the small town of Prayssac celebrates the patron saint's day (fête votive). As part of the festivities there was a concert of a young rock band - the lead singer Emma is the daughter of Belgian friends here in Prayssac. We went, we saw that it was good - but forgot our camera.

As september is coming along nights are getting fresh and in the morning sometimes there is fog (brouillard) which always results in nice views with Belaye in the background.



Flower of the week: hibiscus. Not that this is such a big event or a special plant, but we are particularly happy as the small plant managed to survive in the heat and even produced flowers.





We are living at the Caillou des Roches for more than a year now. But what about our cat, Trottinette, you will ask? Fear not, la vecchia donna (already 17 years old), likes the place a lot.

Series: Trotti in the house.

Waiting for ... (11)

Again a very nice week. Stress is getting less as we're getting routine in receiving people, cooking for them and cleaning the house. One premiere though: the first cyclists as guests - who came late in the evening and left early in the morning because of the heat.





So the only 'event' was outside. The winemakers have started their "vendange verte" (green harvest) to decrease the yield per hectare. This year it is more a "vendange noire" (the grapes have turned red by now) as the winemakers waited a long time to decide as they were not sure about the weather conditions. Therefore they call it éclaircissage (thinning out). The third picture shows how many grapes they cut per vine.






Flower of the week: plumbago.

Waiting for ... (10)

This week everything went smoothly. Happy guests, lovely food and - once again - long evenings.
As they say 'no news is good news' - which is of course not always the case. As no particular events are to be reported we present some pictures to show the quietness and beauty of the site - for what they are worth.

harvest of one day of our garden :




some pictures around the house :






summer sight of the house taken from Bélaye :




full moon and lightning over Bélaye





the earth in times of dryness :




a classic in the kitchen : very well known but always refreshing : melon with dried ham




Oh yes, I almost forgot : there was an unexpected going out on Friday night to a blues concert at Fages. Lovely "dancing in the streets" (thanks to Faustine).