The 36th Friday of 2017

What a week!  And what a wonderful week!  I’m feeling really good right now: it’s Friday, the weekend is before me, and my guy is trying to play the guitar to one of my current favorite songs in the background.  I have all the good mood feels going on right now!

How was everyone’s week?  It was a short week for me, Labor Day with my guy home on Monday, but also a loooong and productive week for.  I started this week and ended it in the vineyard.  Surprise, surprise.

Sunday, I started my first batch of this season’s wine.  That went well.  I followed a previous recipe of mine that gave me some of the best Carlos muscadine wine ever, so here’s hoping that this one comes close.  (Note to self – the flavor has a lot to do with the wine yeast.)  I also cleaned up the wine room and sampled some of my secondary batches.

Monday, my boy and I picked and did we pick!  We got 36 gallons from only two rows!  The good thing about this was that I sold all 36 gallons of them.  Just when I thought I wasn’t gonna be much of a muscadine grape seller.  (I hope you all don’t get tired of these muscadine/vineyard posts.  It seems it’s my life lately.  Be warned now, the rest of this post is mostly about my time in the vineyard.)

Tuesday, oh there was that other thing that occupies my time, school with my boy.  And I made it to the gym this night – the only time this week.  I cannot do everything everyday and I am okay with that.

Wednesday, there was school and then off to the muscadine farm to pick.  My nephew helped me this evening and we got 19 gallons, from one row!  Yup, the vines are definitely producing this year.  I would have liked to have gotten another hour of picking in, but the evenings are finally starting to shorten.  The weather was wonderful and the evenings were pretty cool this week which was nice.  It almost feels like my favorite time of the year.

Thursday, it was off to Jackson for my yearly eye exam.  I really dislike eye exams cause I always worry that my eyes are getting worse, and I especially dislike my eyes being dilated.  It always puts me in a mood.  After this my boy and I went to lunch, our new Thursday tradition since we have to be in Jackson every Thursday for a class he is taking.  I liked that part of the day and we ate at an old favorite, Jason’s Deli.  We did find a few minutes of time to pop on over into the mural decorated alley by my guy’s work for a few pics.  Then, I got groceries and headed home to bag and freeze grapes before heading out to the property again.  This time I had to drop grapes off, and meet my guy who is helping to get things ready for this year’s hunting season.

Friday, today, I started the day off early picking and then home to clean a bit before meeting up with a couple of people for grape orders.  (I’m saying muscadines are grapes, as much as my neighbor disagrees – ha ha!)

I almost picked a spider, and I brushed up against a saddle back caterpillar.  Fun times!  At least it wasn’t a mega wasp that got me – I’m almost afraid of those things!

I was able to finish the day with skillet grilled salmon and steamed veggies and a semi-cleaned kitchen.  Win, win!  Now, I am where I was at the beginning of the post: still listening to my guy play guitar – oh, now it’s piano – and just enjoying the time.  Soon, I will be popping some valerian root and calling it a night.  Hooray for the weekend!  I’m making wine this Sunday with my brand new press, and no doubt picking grapes.  I love it!  As soon as the month is over, I should have something else to talk about, I promise.