The state of the union?

The state of this Cabernet sauvignon graft union is rather good: the cambium of the stock and that of the scion appear to be calloused perfectly.
I have been busy performing some odds and ends of vineyard operations the past couple of days, which has included the training up of a few Cabernet and Syrah vines that I field-budded last September.  Meanwhile, Vinomaker has been entertaining himself by replacing broken valves, and failed drip irrigation hose and emitters, to ensure that the vines will have an adequate water supply during the coming summer months.  Although, Vinomaker didn't seem that entertained.  I think I got the better of the vineyard chores.  Sorry Vinomaker!

Not more grapes.

Here she is, Vinodog 1, acting as usual in her supervisory capacity.  She is never too far away, (unlike Vinodog 2 who is usually off somewhere doing her own thing), she is always just close enough to keep an eye on me.  At one point though, when they were both nearby, I do think I heard them discussing why the bi-ped wasn't grafting the rootstocks over to something useful like dog biscuits instead of stupid grapes.  I'd better watch my back whilst I'm bending over, there may be a 'Canine Mutiny'.

Ouch, that hurts!

This looks worse than it actually is, or at least I hope so.  The vine has not had a serious accident, although it looks like it's sporting a giant bandage. This rootstock has just been grafted to Syrah.  I tend to be a bit anthropomorphic so if I thought in the least that my poor vines felt anything during field budding I would be devastated.  The process involves using an extremely sharp knife to cut a bud from a lignified shoot of a chosen cultivar, making a corresponding cut on the rootstock, taping with a special tape, whacking off most of the rootstocks summer growth and covering the whole thing up under a mound of dirt...until April.  Yes, you have to wait a long time to see if your work was fruitful. It's a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and at least this year I didn't almost cut my pinkie off!!!