tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57828742026-05-20T16:51:48.362-07:00Lignieres, France; village life and times as witnessed by two adventurous Californians with a taste for food, wine, castles, ancient Roman sites and old piles of rock (houses).Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.comBlogger499125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-65200507778533239012026-05-20T16:25:43.570-07:002026-05-20T16:51:48.362-07:00

Well, here I am, 84 and feeling pretty good.  A solid 7 feeling.  Trump Disaster is in full bloom.  Sleepy couple of sillies.  Fall asleep often and eat carefully.  Low booze consumption, not zero but low.  The Best is we are absolutely in love with each other.  Just ask her!On other subjects, ur kat named Cara has fallen head over rump with the new squirrel

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-45678996387125746882024-09-02T21:39:00.000-07:002024-09-02T21:39:04.520-07:00

 Not Dead Yet.  Our French Daze are over,  yes, the damned Covid pandemic wore us out.  Almost 20 years of trips to the lovely village of  Lignieres, Cher is over for good.  It just became too difficult to manage the kats, who we love passionately.  So years have gone by and out of the blue we struck upon an idea...shall we sell the French house or how

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-44041452195817759612022-11-22T15:06:00.000-08:002022-11-22T15:06:26.142-08:00

 We are under quarantine,  albeit not fully but still...and that IS what we are, still.  Today I received my King Arthur 50lb (ca. 23 kg) of   flour.  I go through about 3 bags a year, mostly doing semi-daily bread baking.  It's cheaper this way, getting it from Amazon with no shipping charges.  I also ordered a protein order from Wild Fork Foods.&nbsp

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-60608888500476493582022-11-01T12:17:00.002-07:002022-11-01T12:17:33.241-07:00

 Zero, zilch, zulu for total of Halloween blood suckers!  Not a one!  WTF!  Lazy? sick? stupid? scared? No calendar?  I don't get it, small showing or performance equals rare free gift of sweet things? Seems pretty fair to us, yet...zilch!  Off to bed at 8:30

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-36565224438034049882022-10-31T16:08:00.001-07:002022-10-31T16:08:26.039-07:00

Halloween tonight, kiddies and adults all masqueraded up and demanding as hell will fill the earlier nighttime hours.  We bought a small 4lb (1.81 kg) bag of miscellaneous candy for the purpose.  We ran out last year!  That's not fun!  The election is next Tuesday, we've already voted via mail as per usual.  Republicans don't have much of a chance here in California,

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-41326064557079991162022-10-29T12:31:00.007-07:002022-10-29T12:59:23.601-07:00

 Yes, indeed!  Three times in the last three days I've taken time to write something.  Somehow it has happened, and I am feeling glad for it.  These days are full of concerning news, Covid-19 and the new variants,  the damned war in Ukraine, why my children (with one exception) have abandoned us, the continued drought and other trivial matters as they occur.  Should

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-2880440502965384992022-10-28T14:51:00.002-07:002022-10-28T14:51:44.099-07:00

 Yes, writing two days in a row for the first time since I don't know when.  Not typical at all.  Today felt almost like a winter's day, clouds aplenty, gray and flat.  Chilly and humid.  Up, I made the morning coffee and kissed Kelly as she yawned.  Drank the coffee, ate a bowl of Post Raisin Bran as did Kelly and after, rotated to the parlor to read the news and

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-24091076576790362712022-10-27T14:00:00.004-07:002022-10-27T14:18:09.784-07:00

 Being “back” meant nothing to me apparently as I wrote nothing for months afterwards.  Mere thoughtlessness was upon me.  What to write?  About what?  Anything at all important?  In the time since I've not even clicked on the Blogger.com icon to bring this page to me.  Lazy? Sure, but that's not all.  Getting older matters, and it matters a lot.  I'm

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-76089054829305114342022-06-01T10:10:00.000-07:002022-06-01T10:10:45.647-07:00

 Yes, today is the 30th of May, 2022.  What the hell have I been doing,  not much in my own opinion.  Not sick with Covid 19 but ill in some other ways.  Weary, tired with a little boredom thrown into the mix.  I itch today, not a s much as yesterday or the awful itchy day before.  Cat Fleas!  Damn it, little red bite locations on my arms a few scattered

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-20807100144562245532021-06-23T14:30:00.001-07:002021-06-25T09:35:02.546-07:00

 Here we are,  hopefully on the Other side of our pandemic.  No longer unable to even visit with our neighbors we feel a bit FREE!  Just a bit though we did go to Chris's Club in Vallejo last Sunday for a fill of the Blues.  Many of the "regulars" made their appearance too.  It was thrilling!  Our journey to France is, alas, not happening again this year.&

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-67202772692141813072019-10-08T06:58:00.000-07:002019-10-08T14:02:13.479-07:00

Here we find ourselves among friends and neighbors who speak English!  To finally be understood again!  Dead cars parked where they were when we left with one difference,  1 1/2 dead batteries, the Ford truck's was still alive, it started; alas the Prius' battery was so much lead and acid and no juice whatsoever.  It took a charge, enough to run our Cordelia Road a bit and

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-30201279033366890462019-09-01T02:52:00.000-07:002019-09-01T09:50:42.213-07:00

A Sunday, cloudy, coolish (different from warmish) and all is as well as can be expected. Plans, not many, if any at all except just one; cook the 1/2 roti veal tough-as-nails for however long it takes using the braising method. Braised then in a porridge of pureed pineapple and smoked chipotle peppers. It sounds right and the gods know that the braise will take hours, even though the 1/2

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-82670175635033792042019-08-21T06:50:00.000-07:002019-08-21T06:50:13.947-07:00

In F-r-a-n-c-e for the 27th time think I.  Nice as ever, the people that is.  The weather, no...the climate has changed over the last while, like 15 years or so.  Warmth of a higher magnitude that used to make up the period between June through September is now the rule.  Two canicules (French heat wave) this year, like 2005's but lasting over a week each time, heat waves

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-28095525078073575182018-12-08T18:09:00.003-08:002018-12-09T16:07:12.194-08:00

 My "joy" these last few weeks has been intensely personal.  That aneurism in my gut came under scrutiny last spring just before we wandered off to Lignieres for the late spring, summer and a bit of fall.  They firstly greased me up and ultrasonically scanned my belly for the enlarged artery (the aorta) and at the same time my kidneys.  Then off I was sent to get an MRI...but

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-11881358618626908532018-02-26T18:46:00.001-08:002018-08-25T06:05:43.106-07:00

 "Call me Tony," he said as we walked by the boats busy with men loading supplies and gear.  I saw up ahead "Arlene S." painted in big block letters on her white hull.  Groceries, fishing poles and other gear was being loaded onto her and stowed here and there. She was about 50 feet long and stoutly built.  Her hull shined with a new coat of white paint.  I

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-9378243218801290362018-02-22T16:56:00.001-08:002018-02-26T19:04:16.306-08:00

Was the first thing out of my mouth.  Bud had me up early, I mean early.  4am early!  I tore off the tags and labels then slipped on this new pair of jeans my Mom bought me yesterday along with one of Bud's old denim shirts and I was set. These were now my "old" clothes or soon would be!  Out the door we went, into his old Chevy pickup and away we went. 

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-13716939706611426902018-02-17T12:32:00.000-08:002018-02-21T15:08:44.529-08:00

It was late May 1959, yes I had split knowing full well I was missing the last three weeks of school and would have to make it up.  I sat in the car and listened to the radio until I saw a little red Pontiac pulled up at the curb, my mom got out and walked towards the stairs, I climbed out and exclaimed "Mom!"  She turned around, stared for a second and exclaimed, "Howard!"  We

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-25256620643844457752018-02-13T12:21:00.000-08:002018-02-14T16:26:02.097-08:00

How I drove through Los Angeles traffic on THOSE "freeways" I'll never know!  I was a VERY inexperienced driver, not yet 16, and had driven few vehicles, none of them stolen, gulp!  I'd driven Harold's old Ford Pickup, a Ford farm tractor and a couple of my friend's cars now and then but never a lot of miles and NEVER in hostile traffic!  This WAS "hostile traffic".  I had a

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-31447189110277698692018-02-10T10:45:00.000-08:002018-02-10T10:49:24.533-08:00

I let the work life rest.  It was early May with 6 weeks of school left.  I was 15 1/2 yrs old and thoroughly fed up with it.  My grades had dropped back to a D average and I was flat out flunking in English, Spanish and doing "D work" in everything else except my Shop class.  Lazy and friends that were of similar mind and condition, maybe not as awful but still had a big

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-82719073514408781402018-02-07T11:01:00.003-08:002018-02-10T10:50:38.476-08:00

Hazel was always supportive of my working outside our home.  She was a hardworker herself as was Harold.  She worked at a large packing house between Selma and Reedley where she was their bookkeeper.  She had worked there many harvest seasons and sometimes even during the off year time. She liked the work and the people.  The job made her feel useful, even knowing she had the

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-91756366922150046672018-02-05T12:13:00.004-08:002018-02-05T12:14:17.375-08:00

My junior year at Selma Union High School had just started when I decided I needed money above and beyond my weekly 10 dollar allowance.  I needed to save for a car, pay for insurance, gas and all the rest (INSURANCE!), costs that yet I had not yet known too. Woolworths A friend of mine had worked during the summer at the Woolworth 5 and Dime across the street from the Park movie

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-11567700378187110372018-02-03T10:40:00.001-08:002018-02-05T11:52:26.258-08:00

That was a timeout to sort out a few dates and sequences that my ever failing memory screws up.  Here we go:  The Seal of Selma While working at Mr. Patterson's pharmacy one day, he asked me, "Would you be interested in some OTHER work?"  I replied "Sure!" enthusiastically.  He then explained that he needed all of the windows on his house washed inside and out. 

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-85224250080715373522018-01-28T16:41:00.002-08:002018-01-29T13:36:23.488-08:00

From age 8 1/2 til I was 19 I lived at home in Selma, California in the very heart of the "Big Valley", the San Joaquin Valley.  Jobs, many anyway, were mostly in agriculture.  Small businesses abounded, Selma had many small shops, 5 and dime, a genuine toy store, a pharmacy, a huge packing plant owned by Libby, McNeil and Libby a toy store owned by the brother of the "Chipmunks" voice

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-62309861026383141762018-01-26T12:23:00.002-08:002018-01-26T14:46:23.803-08:00

Housing for the Muscovy Ducks Soon the 8th of December we and our Kats wandered off to South Carolina to visit the Peelers.  The flights were flights, domestic and suitably boring.  No food, of course, but lots of people, water and orange juice.  Plane landed in DC at Dulles, then after a plane change we were off to Columbia, SC. via a rj-145 3 seat-per-row 2+1 configuration.

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5782874.post-13300370848425659602017-11-26T18:10:00.000-08:002017-11-26T18:11:09.561-08:00

Sky's cloudy, threatening rain, more likely drizzle.  Up to make breakfast of eggs, pigtail sausages by Farmer John (smoked links raw), some crispy potatoes made by using a potato peeler to peel an entire potato, separate them into piles and fry them in a skillet til crisp on both sides.  A nice and filling breakfast. Then deal with each of the 4 computers to get the latest Win 10

Howard N. Lutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04929162384202300967noreply@blogger.com0