Evolution and the missing (internet) link.

This is what happens when one gets 4 days of mid 70° F temperatures, but doesn't have any internet access to document it sooner.  Not just budbreak, but fully fledged leaves.  The Orange Muscat grapevines are enthused, nature is taking its course.
Of course, the grapevines don't care if I have internet access or not. Then again, perhaps they do: I had 50 extra hours with nothing better to do than prune and preen the little miscreants.

Child Abuse.

I love children.  I believe myself a very lucky Vino-auntie to have 14 of the very best nieces and nephews on the planet.  Eight girls and six boys in total.  However, just of late, I have been seriously considering committing a crime that is considered a felony in the United States.  Relax, nothing as heinous as homicide, no, just a little common or garden child abuse.  I have decided that it may be worth doing some porridge in return for venting my displeasure - at the amount of rain that I have had to suffer through the past two weeks - with El Niño.  And it's not just about me, look at what that titchy, wet-whippersnapper is doing to my Pinot grigio buddies.  My bud-babies are all soggy.
This morning, after getting up at the break of day, having breakfast, starting a load of laundry and walking Vinodog 2, I managed to finish pruning the Syrah vines.  Yay!  And I got about 25% of the canes tied down.  Double yay!  It was wet, muddy, slippery work.  The weather forecast was correct as in it started to rain promptly at 11 am and then, once again, I was banished from the vineyard at the behest of some snotty, little meteorological-brat.  Now, where is that baseball bat?  I feel a Ramones moment coming on.

In memoriam.

I'll only do this once: that is post a picture of my dearly missed old girl who would have turned 17 years old today.
Vinodog 1 would do anything to please me, which included letting me dress her up in silly costumes, she was so patient.  And here she is posing as Bacchus, (sporting real grape leaves along with plastic grapes), in a photograph that went along with a wine lot at an auction (the proceeds benefited the SPCA).  She was a great dog.
I have enough photographs of V1 that I could probably post a different one each day for a good few years.  This is the last one.
Vinogirl misses you, Miss Pinion.

Sweet Sixteen.

My birthday princess, V1, is celebrating her 16th birthday today.  Old Brownie is not the dog she once was, but at 112 in people years she's doing relatively fine.  Well, V1 now totters about like some old dear in ill-fitting high heels; her bark, of late, resembles that of a hoarse, demented sealion; and her rear caboose is a bit loose (get my drift?) in that it can't be trusted for any longer than 3 hours in the house.  But all in all, she is doing great for a dog of her age - her appetite is still good, she continues to be irritated by a certain neighbour when they drive past Vinoland and, most importantly, she's been right there alongside me as I prune my way through the grapevines.  She's a great dog.
Happy birthday V1!

V1 is 15 years old today!

My old girl turns 15 today.  With each passing month she slows down just that little bit more, but she's not exactly what you'd call decrepid.
Vinodog 1 still has her 'funny half-hours' when she springs about like a dog half her age, zipping through the shrubbery and glancing back at me now and again, as if she is challenging me to chase her. Of course, she is exhausted afterwards.  Sometimes, she forgets what she began barking about and just keeps barking until I distract her with a dog biscuit.  And I didn't think it was possible, but she has become even more attached to me: she'll pace about, in a panic and wide-eyed, looking for me if I leave the room.  She is a great companion.
Happy birthday V1!

Happy Birthday V1!

My old brownie is 14 years old today.  Isn't she gorgeous?
V1 spends most of her time snoozing these days; of late she can only really hear me when I whistle to her, the clicking noise of the cookie jar being opened, and the whir of a neighbour's Volvo as it speeds past Vinoland (which still sends her tearing down the driveway in hot pursuit).  But, she watches my every move and was my constant companion over the weekend as I pruned the vines.

Whilst posing in her birthday finery, a turkey vulture flew overhead and distracted her, but it actually made for a cute photograph.  She's a great dog.
Happy Birthday V1!