Oh, Deer!

This is one post I was hoping to avoid this year! This doe was in the vineyard yesterday morning feasting on my beautiful Syrah shoots! It sure brought back bad memories of last year. I thought we would not be seeing them this year because of the electric fence Tim spent weeks installing last year. Well, yesterday I found out an electric fence only works when power is charging through it. The problem turned out to be a non-functioning power box. Fortunately, we had a spare. So, the fence is working again and I truly hope not to see any sighs of the deer again this season!

Shiners

How can we sell wine without labels? Can't. So we expectantly await the overdue shipment. Once the labels arrive we'll frantically put them on. Until then the unlabled wine bottles (tasted just great last weekend) are called shiners. Visiting wineries and tasting wine from shiners has become a trendy thing, sort of like barrel tasting. But for the festival we want to show off our labels, designed by our son's girlfriend Rhian Swierat, and our wine.

Wine and Farm Festival, April28

I had a hard time working in the vineyard yesterday. There were many phone calls interrupting me. A reporter from Mesa called to interview me for an article, people called for information about the festival, and vendors called and e-mailed about the set-up. The festival is only one and one half weeks away! Everything is falling into place. Now I am wondering if we can count on the weather. That wind has been blowing hard these days!

Bud Burst!

Last week I decided to stay out of the vineyard for a few days as the vines were still dormant. I thought I'd have a little breather before the growing season began. I have learned that once grape vines bud out I become very busy trying to keep up with their growth. Boy, was I surprised when I returned to the vineyard on Saturday! The vines have budded out! The season has begun. I find this time of year very exciting. So, I am starting my busy but happy time of year.

Alpacas are coming!

Yesterday, after a busy afternoon coordinating the upcoming Canelo Hills Wine and Farm Festival I sat down to read, "The Desert Leaf," a Tucson publication. After flipping through a few pages I ran into a cute alpaca staring at me and an article titled, "Living the Alpaca Lifestyle." Smack in the middle of the article was a section on Mike and Linda Wood and their Square Top Ranch. I was especially excited because I have been to the Square Top Ranch and met their alpacas nose to nose. Those very same alpacas will be attending our Festival with their owners. So come meet Mike and Linda Wood and their animals and see first hand the beautiful things alpaca fiber can create.

The sign is going up!

Tim worked hard this past week-end digging post holes, pouring cement, peeling bark off the posts and putting one post in. The other post will have to wait until we buy more cement. We ran out! After all these years of planning and working, seeing the sign up will be a great feeling of accomplishment.

Writers' Group

I met with the women in my "In Over Our Heads" writers' group this morning. We had a great time visiting but eventually got down to business discussing the upcoming April 28 Wine and Farm Festival. Kathy Goodwin will have her book, "Zopilote," a history of the East Santa Cruz County, Keri Jelks will be signing her cookbook, "Yum, Yum," and Betty Barr will be there with copies of her book, "Hidden Treasures of Santa Cruz County." It'll be a great opportunity to meet some long time residents of Santa Cruz County and have their books personally signed for you. I'll soon have more members of the author's group to tell you all about. So stay tuned!