I spent most of today pulling leaves in the Syrah vines in preparation for harvesting tomorrow. Stripping the leaves from the fruit zone makes the picking of the clusters much quicker, and easier. The yield looks average, but the quality of the crop looks great. I ate some grapes as I worked and they tasted lovely, so I am predicting that 2016 is going to be a nice vintage.
Vinodog 2 accompanied me whilst I worked my way along the rows. Well, actually, she was busy harassing four deer in our neighbour's property who were staring her down. Then, tired with all that patrol-activity, she passed out on a comfy bed of leaves I had just removed from a vine. It's a dog's life.
8 comments:
Vg: What a lovely picture, and also the one you've painted with words; made think of one of my favorite short pieces by Stravinsky:
Pastorale
All the work sometimes can use an accompaniment, although the sounds of nature will do. Can you hear traffic when you're doing this sort of field-work?
When I bought this place in the Finger Lakes it came with a vineyard dog. The previous owners decided to let the dog stay with me. It was old and lived for only one more year, but it came thorugh a vintage cycle with me, from winter to autumn. That dog loved to follow me into the vineyard and hang around while I pruned or suckered or whatever. She stayed at the end of whichever row I wroked, watching me and watching out for intruders.
NHW: Stravinsky is playing in the background :)
There isn't much traffic that passes by Vinoland, so it's quiet whilst I work.
Tomasso: What a great story. Dogs are the best!
Yes, excellent story; I wish I could write like that! Thank you, Thomas.
Dennis:
Even with the typos??
The sad ending to the story is that Sassy, that was her name, went off one day into the woods to die alone. I tried for days but copuld not locate where she took herself. She was about sixteen years old.
The previous owners never let her into the house, bu for her last year, he had run of our house and f=the friendship of the two dogs we had brought with us from NY City.
I'll be off the Net for a while. Traveling to Washington State this week.
Jeez, talk about ... Actually, those are there as a joke.
The typose, that is.
Later,
Tomasso: Sassy's story is still a good one, even with all those typos :)
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