August Update

Life as we know it has come to a bit of a standstill. Over the next two weeks we will become nocturnal beings glued to the television for all the excitement of the Olympic Games in London.
But we have worked extremely hard over the last month getting things on the farm in order so we could take some time off.
The spray program against the bracken seems to have gone well with huge amounts dying off over the last few months.

Because of our late nights we needed extra firewood so we have been attacking some of the larger fallen trees around the place.
Cutting it up with the chain saw is an easy job but splitting it into usable size is a harder one.
I am well supervised by the co driver who obviously has inherited some lumberjack skills from somewhere and is sensitive to the dangers of dealing with big trees, even those lying on the ground.
Suffice to say that one did roll suddenly (luckily away from me) during the cutting so her concern is justified.

We also revamped the Pinot Noir vineyard. The initial netting height was too low making it uncomfortable to work under and somewhat limiting the growth of the vines. It was also in two pieces which meant constant repair work along the seam.

So with the help of Stirls, we took off all the old (and rotting) netting, put in higher stakes and threw one piece of 10m wide netting to cover the whole area. Now we can work in comfort and the vines will be able to grow longer shoots ie. extra leaves, to improve their fruit ripening capability.

 Stirls also helped in the clean up/burn off which gets rid of all the non usable fallen timber and is part of a bush fire prevention tactic recommended by the authorities. This is a huge job and he will be back soon to continue. We need to do as much as we can before fire restrictions come back on on the 1st October.
And last but not least, the vegetable garden has been dismantled and will be left to return to grass. I managed to salvage a lot of star pickets during this exercise despite it meaning a lot of extra work. But as my father used to say "many a mickle makes a muckle". 
Phew! Enough work already!
Where is the remote?