Last sunset of 2007

After a miserable day yesterday 2007 is going out with a glorious sunset. The top picture shows it as from our terrace in Ponzano. However the weather is only supposed to last for another day and according to the lunar calendar it’s vine pruning time before full moon on the 8th. So no rest for the wicked, off we rushed to Villa to prune the vines. We counted about 75 vines alive. I pruned and Susan followed tying them to the supports. They are mostly white wine varieties and I’m hoping they are mainly Vermentino, which is the quality variety of the region. They had not been pruned for a year so it was a bit of a mess. Also we need to weed between them, but I’m glad we got the pruning done. Hopefully it will result in a few gallons of wine next year.

The terraces are South-west facing and the sun really warmed up the terraces as you can see Susan in a T-shirt yet again. There is plenty of room to plant some more vines, but we are probably not get around to do that this year. We are planning to clear 2 of the wider terraces to plant potatoes and maize. I just asked Susan how she rated 2007 out of 10 and she reckoned about 8. It could have been better financially, but all in all positive. I was tempted to give a lower score as the financial side has been weighing on our minds, but hey, we are healthy, we have friends… I’d love to hear some of your comments on how you rated 2007.

Happy New Year to you all!