Back in Sport Mode

I got the snow tires taken off and the summer tires put back on the car yesterday. Now I can drive in sport mode again. That should make a certain young man happy.

A vineyard manager is a member of one of the homesteading groups I belong to. I asked her to explain grape pruning to me in a way that a six year-old could understand. She pointed me to some great resources and I spent two hours yesterday afternoon pruning grapes. It makes such a difference to be able to visualize what needs to come off and what needs to stay. My grapes will never look like they live in Tuscany, but hopefully I will be able to get them to be healthy and produce well.

Today looks like it will be cool and showery, so I might be working on some inside projects. This arrived yesterday:

It’s the foam for DD#2’s new patio furniture cushions. I found a place online called Foam Factory where I could order exactly the size and thickness of foam I needed, and it wasn’t much more expensive than what I would have bought at Joanns. I have the fabric and a roll of zipper tape and I am all ready to go.

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We’ve had a tom turkey hanging out in the yard for the past couple of days. He has been trying—unsuccessfully—to woo some hens. I would love to get a video of him when he’s got his feathers up. He makes a fascinating thrumming noise in his chest, too. (He’s so single-minded about his pursuit that he has been coming close enough to the porch that I can hear him.) The hens, of course, are indifferent. Watching him strut around the yard has been very entertaining. And the little flying roosters—the two male hummingbirds—are back in town and strafing anyone who happens to be outside.

The husband saw a bear yesterday. He was at a jobsite about 20 minutes south of here, standing in the yard talking to the homeowner, when a black bear casually wandered through about 30’ feet from them and climbed a tree.

It’s not wilderness unless there is something out there that can kill you and eat you.

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I ordered a yard of this fabric from an Etsy seller last week:

It is even prettier in real life. This is UPF 50+ fabric, often used to make swimsuits, rash guards, and yoga clothing. Some companies are also using it to make gardening sleeves, which are basically gloves for your arms. I thought I might try making a few pair to see if they are something I might make for market or to incorporate into one of our gardening fundraisers for the community center. They’d be almost ridiculously simple to run up on the serger and coverstitch machines.