Grape Full

Above is one of the bunches of purple grapes.  The grapes on our vines are all sweet and refreshing - and seem quite endless!

I bought a cold-pressed, slow juicer and over the weekend Andrew and I enjoyed experimenting with grape juice.  The juice we obtained from putting cleaned individual grapes through the juicer was lovely.   For fun we put some in a bottle and made our own label.

For now I'm stripping grapes from the bunches, cleaning them and freezing them in containers just as they are.  It's what I call one of those "zen" kinds of jobs, like podding peas - invariably slow so your mind seems to wind down and fall into the same sweet, soothing rhythm where you find yourself increasingly - and joyfully - present and grateful.

 Now and again little insects come out of a bunch of grapes - green shield bugs, anxious little black spiders, occasionally a beautiful golden spider.  They only add to the enchantment of the harvest, the connectedness to this rich banquet called life laid out before us.   I ensure them all safe passage back into their busy lives for the life of every creature is precious.

 In other news - at 84 years old Dad is still very fit (even after three knee replacements, beating cancer and other health problems) so it's a breeze for him to take his mobility scooter down to the bottom grape vines and come back loaded with buckets full of grapes.  The last of the sunflowers are still bursting into bloom.