Pouring here - incessantly. It’s ok - I have plenty of “paperwork” to do.
tomorrow looks like it is going to be fun.
Merrill! I think you could make a great ‘cat diary’ video with your little felines…
I could/should. I had my chiropractor laughing so hard last week when I told him my little Lady Sapphire calls me “mom.” Truly. If she wants her half-and-half (she will only drink Organic Valley brand - she will sniff others but will not consume) and I am upstairs, she calls out “mom?” If I don’t respond immediately, she ups the volume and the tone. “Mo-o-om!” She pulls the same act when she wants to go out. I have a 2-story foyer, and if I am upstairs, she sits near the front door and calls out in the same manner. The sound carries up those stairs pretty well. And she has me trained pretty well. My pleasure. She is a little girl who knows how to get what she wants!
And now back to your regular programming: the weather stinks. It is not cold (50) but it has been raining forever. Hard and steady. Bodes well for the vineyards, the landscape, and the well. There were supposed to be very high winds, and it was been windy off and on, but really no big deal - yet.
It poured like crazy yesterday, with periods of extremely high winds. We lost power twice - once in the afternoon for around an hour or so, and then from 7:30 (a minute after the Celtics logged in their win against the Raptors!) until 11:30. Flooding, road closures, downed power lines in Napa, Sonoma, and Lake Counties.
I hope we have seen the last of this one.
Keep your eye Boston. This storm is forecast to reach them early Sunday. Good that your Pats are on the road for Sundays game.
Yeah, Matty, on the road and the forecast is something like 20 degrees and down to perhaps below zero?
We received close to 7in of rain the last 48hrs. Some serious runoff for the first time this season.
That puts us around 28in for the season, close to 50% of our yearly average.
That was brutal - I think/hope the worse is over. Napa River levels this morning were down over 10 feet from last night and it’s high tide this morning. So most of the water up valley has moved through pretty quickly. After light rain on Sunday it looks like a week of sunshine and temps in the mid-60’s.
As expected my guys sent me pics and videos of our ponds going over their spillways. After 12 days of goofing off I guess it’s time to come home!
No real damage to the road up to my house, just some minor stuff I can fix with pick and shovel today. 5:00 am and pouring now. Our house sitter burned a lot of wood in our absence, which is great that he didn’t just run the furnace and burn propane. I too see the 10 day predicted dry spell ahead. Looking forward to seeing how weak my pruning hand got by only holding tacos and cocktails for 12 days! Vineyard pics tomorrow I promise.
I am seeing a bit of sun peeking through at the moment, but it could go either way. Lots and lots of rain, for sure.
Ok this is for the hardcore geeks. One vine has been prepruned by the ladies crew the other has not had the canes removed. Hope you see the difference of how easy it is to prune when the heavy lifting is done.
Zihuatanejo?
Yes sir our little town. Great view from IL Mare one night.
I did the resort side a couple of times, but I always made it a point to cross the hill to visit the bay during my stays . (Las Gatas)
A productive day yesterday. Placed two of my A pruners in a 2015 Chardonnay field and spent a couple hours making sure they knew the plan. Spent an hour back in the Gruner solo to reconnect. Then delivered one of our tractors to the dealer for some winter repairs. If that wasn’t enough, I took my 22 foot gooseneck trailer in for bearing and brake work. I still had time for a 45 minute power walk out at Lake Mendocino in the late afternoon. Now W-2s and 1099’s and other carp that piled up while I was goofing.
Freezing cold mornings give way to warm, sunny afternoons. The vineyard is alive with a cover crop that is 3-4 feet high in some areas. Anything that is brown during the growing months is bright green. The gardener, who has been off for a month, mowed it all down tight yesterday. Will get a photo posted later (right now I have the biggest Black Cat you have ever seen in my lap between me and my laptop).
Well we’ve had some nice weather for a week or so but here comes some more rain. I haven’t said this in years but we’re not super behind on our pruning! I’ve been starting to meet with customers (one of my favorite duties) and take the temperature of the coming season/market. With 16-18 different customers it’s always a mixed bag. Most of my contracts are multi year deals so that we’re not doing all this dancing every year. Every year I have certain deals expiring that need attention. This year will be no different. Deer stew this Friday with pics!
Home bound today taking care of my sick spouse. Looks like the storm has peetered out? Maybe some showers tonight. I guess the next one is a dandy.
My ladies crew moving ahead prepruning has been a win. The guys are motoring along. No need for Saturday workdays so far. At some point we’ll shift the gals to tying but not for a while.
Did some deposits/payroll/data entry today since I was home. Things looking flush. I actually sold some grapes today. Market activity has been somewhat slow but it’s nice to have customers come forward and purchase early. I still have some folks who buy year-to-year that it’s just a formality that we’ll get it done. I definitely have Pinot for sale at this time.
I’ve been pecking away at the 2700 vine Gruner Veltliner field. I’m trying to be super cautious in there leaving little canes. Still guessing a half ton this year with 2 tons in '20. I need to wrap up and get into other fields.
I still have plans for South Dakota deer stew Friday if forecast holds. Might be time to pull out some old Syrahs!