Les vendanges continuent

I haven't had any more hurricane-recovery news from North Carolina. From what I see in the papers, my friends and relatives there probably haven't had electricity restored yet. Here's an article from the local newspaper (not available in Europe). I'll try to get my sister on the phone again today. The good news on this side of the pond is that Tasha is doing much better. She's already walking normally again, and we're trying mightily to keep her activity to a minimum. No running, no jumping. I carried her down one flight of stairs this morning, but she did the second one, which is not so steep, on her own.

I have to say I've missed my walks in the vineyard with Tasha these last few days.  Maybe we'll start taking short walks again this afternoon. I might have to take her out on the leash, to prevent her from getting too excited and injuring her leg again. You can see how beautiful the Gamay, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec/Côt grapes look right now. I took these photos three or four days ago.

Yesterday a tractor pulling a trailer loaded with red-wine grapes passed by our house. So the red-grape harvest is under way. I understand now why the harvester came in and started taking in grapes yesterday morning at six a.m. It rained beginning at mid-day. I think the grape-growers have some kind of direct line to reliable weather forecasts that the public doesn't have access to. Or maybe they are just really cautious.

It didn't rain much, however. It wasn't enough to get the ground wet, that's for sure, but it was refreshing. Maybe just that little bit of humidity would be enough to cause mildew to start growing on such ripe grapes. I didn't see the harvester again during the day. But then Patricia and Bruno have vineyard parcels all around the area, not just near our house. So they could have been working elsewhere.