The ducklings are doing well. Jean was
performing the recommended imprinting during incubation i.e. speaking
to them every time they were turned. Indian Runners are supposed to
be a flighty nervous bird. Obviously something has changed as these
insist on climbing on her and cuddling up. Wacky the last one born
who still has little fits of throwing his head back seems fine other
than when he has these little episodes.
Jean loves to sit with them to continue
the bonding. It's a worthwhile investment. Karl mentioned in
yesterday's blog comes to the call because every night when he was
locked up Jean would cuddle him and whisper his name in his ear.
Wacky is closest to the bottom with his head back |
There were a few opportunistic fruit
damaging birds around the vineyard in the last few days and veraison
has commenced i.e. onset of ripening. Just a few bunches showing tinges of red.
We lost all but one of the early plums
this week to fruit bats who tore open the paper bags. I don't want to
lose any grapes intended for wine.
The presence of birds is a good
indication that it is time to put up the nets something we'd like to
leave as late as possible as it is not ideal for grapes. The
Chambourcin and Isabella mind less as they are a hybrids but the
Tannat is more susceptible to mildews.
The white netting always looks pretty
with the backdrop of green when it is up at first. Later as the vines
grow through it and the grass gets untidy it is less attractive. If
it doesn't rain too much the mildew stays away but too much rain and
high humidity is a killer.
The nets are stored in 200 litre drums
to avoid rat damage with each net labelled with its row number as no
two rows are identical in length. Twelve trips to and from the hay
shed and then both of us lay out the nets and with one of us on each
side we drape them as neatly as we can. Later The ends will be
stapled shut and a few rocks to hold down the base against strong
winds. Surprisingly even though we don't have a fancy mechanism to
put up the netting it takes very little time.
The coconut yoghurt was not going well.
After 24 hours it hadn't thickened and the souring wasn't apparent.
It still tasted like coconut milk. More thickener was added and some
more culture. Then last night I left the burner running too long and
it overheated. In an attempt to take out the jars before they
overheated I accidentally unlocked the clip lock and the contents
spilt out. Bugger!
No comments:
Post a Comment