30 September 2023

October: spider webs and blackberry brambles

October is spider season around here. Out in the yard, out in the vineyard, and in the house. Most of the spiders in the house are daddy long legs. I vaccuum them up when there are too many of them. Out in the vineyard spiders build elaborate webs in which insects get caught and then, I assume, eaten.



Autumn is also berry season. Sometimes I think we are fighting a losing battle trying to keep blackberry brambles in check. The long bay laurel hedge that surrounds our property is full of them. There are many brambles but not very many blackberries, actually. Even with the hot weather we had this year... we would have needed more rain than we got to plump up the berries. In past years we picked some, but those days are a distant memory now.

4 comments:

  1. We have a few big spider webs in our garden this year, too. Fortunately, neither of us have unintentionally walked into one! I'm not used to having them around :)
    Regarding your question about when I had last seen Ann: that would be spring 1982, in Paris! We didn't really know each other well during that year, but we've become friends following each other on FaceBook since we connected when I started that Alma College Year In Paris FB group years (and years!) ago (it still exists, but we all only communicated in there a few times, back when I first created it). Now, we just enjoy seeing each other's posts about whatever we are up to with our families :)

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    1. We saw Ann in Chicago in 1982, in Washington DC a few years later, and again in San Francisco once in the '90s. Now it's been years....

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  2. Looking for info about Domaine Podor, I came across an importer in NY, that has several of your pictures in their description of the domaine, as I immediately recognized the sky blue Peugeot in the vineyard landscape. I don’t think they currently import Podor anymore.

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  3. This must be the first year i never even ate 1 of Oregon's tasty blackberries. I had planned on walking in some of the residential alleys to pick some, but it never happened. So sad, they are truly the best! I can't remember ever seeing spider's webs like in your photo! So intense!

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