Recovering the Shiraz Pots

Looks Like Nature Abhors Dieback
New Growth After Mildew Attack

I bought a "new" compound based on copper to fight the recent mildew attack on the Portable Vineyard vines,  notably, the Shiraz/Syrah vines. Since the first two sprays, separated by ten days as recommended, the old infected leaves and any new ones that have also been seen to be infected, have been removed by hand. This has been a painful lesson, as each vine has a few leaves... But what especially annoyed me last week was the rubbish collection service! The bin was emptied, but all the infected leaves and canes fell out as the truck emptying mechanism, or the operator, let leaves (and cat litter gravel and poo) actually spill over the street as it was emptied! Hmph!!

Anyway, it looks like the canes have enough energy to put new sprouts out on them all! There is still more to do, and I think a daily walk through the yard should keep the disease out!

poor old shiraz

This weeks losers
NO GRAPES

a new borrowed cat

Pinot Noir, not bad

Garage Foxey grapes- look at the berries!

Should get about 30kg foxey grapes

Cemetary for goners

Only Shiraz doing ok

Woeful Syrah/Shiraz, pruned all mildew infected canes and removed as many leaves as possible

looking for suggestions on mildew

Help?
If anyone has a treatment after mildew attacks the vines?

If you are up to date, then you know I have been treating the vines with sulphur and then copper the other day to fight off the Downy and powdery Mildew. I have not as yet identified which one, maybe ave both.

So have made the decision to prune the most infected canes or strip off the odd infected leaves.

The syrah/Shiraz is the most badly affected, and starting to look like no crop will eventuate at all. the clusters are nearly all affected, and looks horrible.

keeping them all together has been the worst mistake I have made this year for that variety. The Pinot and the Garage Grapes are doing fine, the odd spotted leaf or cluster removed here and there. Fingers Crossed everybody.

If you have some other suggestions, please let me know?

New family member

We have a live in cat
Borrowed?

I slipped a suggestion to my sister-in-law the other week, noting that it was just a suggestion that she may not have realised could be pretty effective and help her out. A lot.

I could "board" their cat while they were away for a little while, other wise it would be a hard decision about what to do about the 16 year old male cat- Oscar. Poor bugger had been upended from Sydney to the country, then back to suburbia, then left "alone" some time of the year while they were OS-where her dad looked after him.  I think our 11 year female cat Fluffa should survive him. The gels loved the idea! So here is the temporarily live-in-cat:

Obviously an update...

Struck down again

Looks like we will have a poor harvest for the cellar next year,
the Vintage to be is half gone already- mildewed/marvined- after being warned last year. By Me!

The only up beat for the fortnight, no, one of them, was watching the Queen doco and where They had been and gone- and was glad I was in it almost from the start with Night at the Opera, when I was in 8th year, or Second Form back then... Really really enjoyed taht.

And having a meal and some liqor oot the NuHooseNuHoose meals and drinks- Initiation!
And some more here and there too.

Oh woe is the Syrah

Wish I had more attention to detail
Or just followed a plan.

I did not follow the hints of spraying as soon as or even just doing it asap anyway when it was hot and slightly humid, rainy even. Woe to the beginner.

Last week I noticed that the shiraz/Syrah plants were getting slightly discoloured.
No seeing the humid conditions, or where the clusters were, Missed Out the chance to avoid the most horrible occurrence I have seen here- Mildew. Either Powdery or the other one Downy Mildew. Just thought that some fertilizer was required...

Looks like I did not follow the protocols, but fer shure, will be to protect the rest of the yard from now on with a regular spray weekly at least.

Looks like putting them together was the worst thing to do, but they were crowded due to lack of room in the first place, maybe the car will have to be exiled to the street...

I have yet to find right advice, but if all the clusters are buggered, will have to separate the pots and do a premature prune, leaving some foliage and hope that new sprouts will occur so they do not all die off

So for the other newbies, here is today's so sad pics of the shiraz yard:

 Almost all the shiraz clusters are affected, less than a few mm in diameter, and probably will have nothing left to harvest.
Compare these pics to earlier. I think these two should have some fruit:

The Pinot is affected slightly, one plant particularly, but I have cut it out of the herd for the moment. keeping a close eye on them all now!

The  Foxey Garage Grapes are fine, the berries almost 1cm!

Bah Humbug

Freezer check
Oh oh.

Looking for inspiration for the weegen menu.

Open freezer door.

Steak, chicken, mince, roast, bacon dim-sims... peas, corn, chips. Bread. Ice-cream.

What the? How much is in there? How Old too? And the "ones prepared earlier"?

Hmm, interesting. There is enough for a fortnight!

Viola- for your "edification", some meat products to be sorted and consumed...

I mean, four people, I am not buying a lot, but seem to be Not Cooking A Lot as planned at the start of the week! As the holidays are starting soon, I better get my ass into gear and turn out a few good meals, get some mates around, I dunno- Oh yeah, the last mass invite was a sham, three guests- at late notice too. But we did do a few homemades and had a cajun time! Thanks A-bell and Jen and AJ.

So the frozen pre cooked can wait for party- there's a few lunches. Some steak- and chicken- for stir fri, and the roast for another slow cooked Cajun/Mexican night.

Just gotta remember man! There is savings of at least 14 meals for four- at roughly eight to ten dollars per meal- say nearly $150 sitting there, not doing ANYTHING but consuming Power. Argh! A whole weeks groceries!

So egslaente, go shopping and ..member, remember, remem...

Slack, and disaster in the offing

Waited too long
Spray Schedule amuck

The leaves of the Shiraz/Syrah plantation were looking funny the other day- say three days. Added a fishy fertiliser the next day- a cap full with 2L of water per plant, [and have to get more]. Yellowey, spotty maybe from a distance. Did not look closer at the future crop... Mistake.

We had had the wrong weather. Rain Humidity. Mild nights.

This added up to prime attack time of the Mildews.

I had tried to wait for 100% caps and bloom, but there was a mixed bag of development through the yard.
Hence I slacked off the sulphur and insecticides pre-emptive strikes too long.

And the yellow signs on the leaves by yesterday, Friday, and suspiciously, grey signs on the clusters hinted broadly at TOO LATE YOU IDIOT.

A mixture was made up , and sprayed, as the forecast was no rain as such over the weekend.

Saturday- further inspection- A repeat of last years lack of close attention.

The reminders was there- low productivity goes with low attention to detail.

This is not good, for the yard or my future careers in anything. I wonder how I am managing bringing up children or even coping with growing older myself!

Anyway, the spray regime will have to be upped, and weather conditions monitored closely.

The Pinot Noir looks okay, as does the Foxey Garage Grapes. Fingers crossed. The same with the greenhouse cuttings- a good spray on them all  should do the job.

Slack.

Hmm. Tight. Good. The Foos

And OMG

Sucked into a FooFighters Concert.

So I was thinking I did the right thing a few months ago, buying some concert tickets for the 16yr old and his mate, seats at the December 2 FooFighters concert in the Big Smoke at the Aami Stadium
But boy was I wrong. They wanted the mosh pit, so the mate bailed out.

Pissed me right off.

So for the next few months I was on #2's back- get me my money! $120 is not a sneeze- it is about three slabs of beer man!

By the 1st december, no takers....

Talking about it to a mutual friend- A Father and Son Outing!

Riigghhhtt. Me and the boy going together to a Foos concert.

Suggested by SMS to #2.

No answer.

After school- "Yeah, good idea", cos I did say he could drive us...

!!!!

Okkaay then. Organise the gels so the boys could take off.

Tight

So then I had to finish work early, grab #2 from school early, and get to the city by 6pm...

Worked dragged on and on...

Left home to pick #2 up, but had to return for the reading glasses... Off to pick Him up. And returned home yet again so he could FINISH packing things he did not pack in the car before school...

Arrived a little later than imagined, the Learner driver being booted out of the driver's seat at Springvale Rd,  then after panic attack about parking the car, as dropped idea of staying with #1 at the campus flat, set off around the MCG, over the railroad, and could hear the warm up bands from a mile off.

Walked all around the concert stadium - 359° - to get to our assigned row and was ready for Tenacious D. Who ever. But the Screens- Man, they were BIG!

"Jack Black?" I asked the expert, with shock.

OMG, am I out of the loop!

So that was enjoyable.

Then the show started in earnest.

OMG II- Out of the loop or what. Really this time.
I only knew a few radio hits, but tapped along anyway.
As far as it went, I would rate it loud.
Like Pink Floyd 1989 Adelaide, Springsteen 86 Melbourne and U2 in 84 Perth.
And Tommy the Movie, mid 70's...

The drummer did a Wall song, something I vaguely knew in the first bar, and then, OH YEAH, somethin' to Tap Along To!

Well, I reckon #2 enjoyed it anyway.

We have just arrived home, getting through the 11:30pm traffic jam and home by 2.30am, and here I am, looking at the $45 dollar concert tee-shirts at 3am and wondering, sometimes life is worth it.

Another Save

Just walking around the yard
Another reborn vine

My good friend Travis was down to stay a few days last week. He has been in on a few vintages, and has a little interest in the Portable Vineyard. 

He also loves the cat, and she loves him, specially when the brush comes out!

I showed him around the PV, and to my surprise, I found another vine regenerating! Two in a fortnight.

The vineyard is expanding incrementally as the adopted vines stir into life finally, and there are a few to go yet [fingers crossed]. There looks like some fungus growing on the little ones, and some on a really vigorous adoptee- which also looks suspiciously like a chardonnay bush after all!

Pictures this week:

 Shiraz/Syrah

Pinot Noir

seemed odd afterwards

A family run around
Busy or what?

Last week, we had fish n chips n ChikoRolls midweek at my inlaws D and PD at the NuHoose

Friday, she picked the gels up from school for the weekend because I was off to see my mum, so did not catch her Friday arvo.

At 6 pm. dropped into see my eldest son in The Big Smoke for a coffee and to drop off of xrissy prezi.

At 8pm (late cos had to pick up some flowers!), arrived at Mum and Dad's place, by the sea and  river, not far from a 13 hole golf club!

Saturday, saw Dad off for his trip to help my sister boy and my broinlaw for the Garmin 24 at Redesdale, where the little guy got a third in his division. By the way, it bucketed down and the nobby tyres caused the portable showers a problemo, if you know what I mean...

For the weekend, sat around with Mum, fixed this up and that, installed a new weather station, formatted a slow laptop that they had given up on and hey presto, it just ZINGS along Now! Cos everyone wanted to put something on it for Nana to use, it was very cluttered, and glacially slow that they got another one... Should have taken it home to fix- for meself- but thought the better of it, it would be something the grand-kids can fight over when it rains...

Sunday: Did the leaves in the gutter thing, took dog for a walk once- cos it rained and rained and...Dad gets back and I take off home, with a washing machine for my brothers girl that has moved into a share house in the Big Smoke with mates and three dead laundry machines... cannot believe she has finished study and ready to work in the real world of Nursing. Their place was not too far out of the way, and a simple [NOT] drive home to pick the gels up. And catch up with D and PD again, and collect my gels.

No radar flashes or hidden traffic cops the whole weegen, cos I was Very Watchful of my poor empty wallet... And collected two nice hand knitted jumpers made by Mum for my gels!

The point: face to face time with family. Just doing it.

seemed odd after

A family run around
Busy or what? [repost from the family blog but fits anyway]

Last week, we had fish n chips n ChikoRolls midweek at my inlaws D and PD at the NuHoose

Friday, she picked the gels up from school for the weekend because I was off to see my mum, so did not catch her Friday arvo.

At 6 pm. dropped into see my eldest son in The Big Smoke for a coffee and to drop off of xrissy prezi.

At 8pm (late cos had to pick up some flowers!), arrived at Mum and Dad's place, by the sea and  river, not far from a 13 hole golf club!

Saturday, saw Dad off for his trip to help my sister boy and my broinlaw for the Garmin 24 at Redesdale, where the little guy got a third in his division. By the way, it bucketed down and the nobby tyres caused the portable showers a problemo, if you know what I mean...

For the weekend, sat around with Mum, fixed this up and that, installed a new weather station, formatted a slow laptop that they had given up on and hey presto, it just ZINGS along Now! Cos everyone wanted to put something on it for Nana to use, it was very cluttered, and glacially slow that they got another one... Should have taken it home to fix- for meself- but thought the better of it, it would be something the grand-kids can fight over when it rains...

Sunday: Did the leaves in the gutter thing, took dog for a walk once- cos it rained and rained and...Dad gets back and I take off home, with a washing machine for my brothers girl that has moved into a share house in the Big Smoke with mates and three dead laundry machines... cannot believe she has finished study and ready to work in the real world of Nursing. Their place was not too far out of the way, and a simple [NOT] drive home to pick the gels up. And catch up with D and PD again, and collect my gels.

No radar flashes or hidden traffic cops the whole weegen, cos I was Very Watchful of my poor empty wallet...

The point: face to face time with family. Just doing it.

Lawns- carbon UNsink of the West

"I Need The Lawns done BEFORE your aunt lands"
Yeah but no but.

!

Grreat. I really dislike the job myself [ mowing the yard ] and have an aversion to using the whipper-snipper brush cutter thingo too. It does not always start first off. A pulled shoulder hurts, man, for a week!

If the lawns have to be done by yours truly, then Someone is going to lose an hour or two of driving with the Old Man. Or a month of it if it aint done by next week. Zero privileges. So the warning and stuff goes.

And the rain comes down.
The mower is left in it,
the wannebe money maker slash learner driver is Still sleeping in- 1:30pm...
Obviously pitterpatter on the bungalow tin roof Does Not a Sleeper Awake.
Ho Hum.

[ a muttley sound may be heard though... sky? the sleeper?]

A Lazarus Effect

Reviving slowly?
A catch up on some lucky lucky vines.

A walk around the vineyard tonight, and a vine I have nearly given up on has revived.
Depending on how the weather treats it, it may survive summer.
That makes five adoptees adapting to their new yard.
One has bountiful grapes-to-be, one is vigorous, and three maybe okay by next year.

The rest of the Portable Vineyard is very vigorous- looking just great.

Shira/Syrah

Older Shiraz

Possible rivivees

Pinot Noir

lazarus A, B and C

Garage Foxey Grapes

Cuttings Collection

Close up on the lazarus vines

NuHoose Inhabitated

They're Back
And the heater is on

As is the usual seasonal happenings occur, some close relatives flew back to the new coop the other day, as mentioned before.

If this is a family blog spot, then I better get on with it.
So far we have shared a few meals and drinks, and cousins are enjoying each others company.
The weather has been a typical free for all- wet, dry, bright, dull, windy, warm, cold, beautiful.
Dee has used her new expensive heater- and kitchen- and The Decking.
I think she has enjoyed it so far- but the moving out of the old place to the new is tiring.
As PD puts it- just one trip per day...
And they will be off again in the new year, like swallows following the summer.
Which means lots of laughs, meals and good wine, heaps of iced confectionary and sweets between now and then! A bbq or two.
 Good wine. Oh yeah. That moderately, after last weekend- but welcome home times are like that.

I received a compliment too, via Dee, that the kids are so good, amazed[?] that I have done it.
Thank you. I will leave it at that. Nearly.

It has not been that hard- to me. I set my standards on what/how I have grown up with, and what others' expectations of how participants in a social and democratic and secular society are expected to behave so we can all live well, happily and together, supportive of each other.

You can tell I am a bloke, because "love" has not come up.

Cos it has to be there for the other stuff to happen I suppose.

In other news, #2 has been on a surfing camp at the Prom, and now we are after a wetty and board. Great. The lawns not been done and expects a handout like that? Hmm. And driving time?

The gels are nearly out of primary school, last few concerts... Hard to believe how the time is passing.

Son#1 should be "home" again soon, after completing his first year away at uni.

Should be fun, watching the four of them, verbally dueling- I mean- FOUR teenagers under the one roof!

Well, not quite, 19, 16 and two  @ 11 yrs.
There is a shared love of music too, they all have done Taiko drumming and City brass band time, and the iPods get a Workout...

Between the lake and the bush

My place, the Highway
But not for a feed

The other day, we had a drop bear drop in....

Can you see him?

The boys were riding their skateboards around the yard, and #2 came in and said something about "outside"!

Hmm.... what?

A koala had somehow made its way into our yard from the little town lake four of five blocks away, where it itself is not far from the river. And was definitely making its way North. 

After posing for us out the front, he/she jumped onto the fence and then onto the roadside, then after scaring an overawed audience, it scampered into someone else's property across the street.