BY GUEST BLOGGER PETE

For my Fathers' Day present, Ruth had booked a photography excursion for us both in a nearby vineyard.  It was a good day out, but unfortunately, although much larger than Ruth and John's the vineyard was no where near as attractive.

There were 5 of us in the group - led by Dave from Rohnert Park, who had been a wine maker.  It was a bit disappointing that he spent so much of his time telling us about grapes and wine-tasting and very little about the art of photography.  That could have been because 2 of the 5 participants weren't photographers and came to accompany their photographer daughter. 


Ruth and I enjoyed the day and found some great shots to take.  I overdid the bunches of grapes photos but with a digital camera that's not at all important.


Almost unbelievably, it was a cloudy day.  This was fine because the lack of sunlight made the taking of photographs a lot easier than in conditions of bright sunlight and dark shade.


About three quarters of the way through the tour, Dave reminded us to look out for snakes, adding the rider that they wouldn't be out in the overcast conditions anyway.

Some of the most interesting shots were the rows of vines leading the eye up to a feature in the hills beyond.


The vineyard - B. R. Cohn - is situated just out of Sonoma.  Bruce Cohn, the founder and owner, had at one time been the manager of a group of musicians - The Doobie Brothers. The group had broken up and Bruce had then bought the acreage for the vineyard.  A few years later he arranged a charity music festival and his old group reformed for the occasion in order to take part in the concert.



That night was so successful that the group have stayed together and the one off concert is now an annual event.  The vineyard is a perfect setting in which to enjoy music.


When we returned to the visitor center a huge lunch was given to us. I'm sure that my lunch along would have fed all 5 of us!


After lunch, Ruth and I took some floral photographs and also four unusual and attractive fun sculptures by an artist living nearby in Sebastopol - Patrick Amiot.  If you are ever in that California town - hunt out Florence Street where the sculptor lives. Almost every house on that street has a piece of his work on display in their gardens.


A good, enjoyable, fun and even unusual day. And the sun broke through the fog at lunch time.

Bud break has just started in our vineyard.  This is the time when you first see the tiny little leaves unfurl.  It starts at the top of the slope of the vineyard and only the very top row is showing those little unfurlings.


It'll be a few weeks before the rest of the vineyard catches up - especially the vines on the flat ground, but it's a lovely  time to see all that regrowth.  We've just had what look like dead sticks since November - and now, signs of new life!

We also had other "signs of life" spottings today in the vineyard.  John was on a conference call - but while he was paying attention to the call (!!!!!) he spotted what he thought was a mountain lion just outside the vineyard.  So I got the binoculars out and had a look and it was in fact a bobcat.  It looked pretty big though - but with the obvious markings on it's body, black tipped ears and a short tail. 


It looked like it was taking a leisurely stroll......Every few minutes, it would sit down and take a rest....which meant that we could watch it for over half an hour while it walked just a short distance.

A little later, we drove out to a meeting and I jokingly said to John "watch out for the bobcat so we don't run it over" and 2 seconds later, there it was on the lane.  To begin with we both thought it was a different bobcat - as it looked so small!!!


The one above the vineyard had looked like this biiiiiiiiig cat - but we then had to face it that in reality, it was just a cute little cat!  We stopped the car -and of course, I got out to have a closer look.  It stood watching me for a while - really quite close so we got to see it so well.  Then it ambled off over the creek.  Unfortunately I'd only had my camera with me when it was outside the vineyard and not on the lane so the photos aren't that clear!

So a good vineyard day today!

What new signs of life have you seen today?

We were sat eating lunch today when we noticed this tiny little deer wandering the vineyard! Now the whole vineyard is deer fenced so that (in theory) they can't get in, because they love eating the vines - but these tiny newborn deer can squeeze in such small places! He was so sweet...wandering among the vines........then he walked over our little bridge......

and down to the pond to get a drink.......


(look at those neat lines of spots on his back!)



then settled under some grasses for a little afternoon nap!


It all looks very sweet - but it is actually quite sad when the babies get in. Often times the mother is outside of the fence looking in and running back and forth calling for "Junior". Junior doesn't seem to remember how he got in and so can't get back out. We try to help and open the gates - but they aren't the brightest of animals and panic easily - so whilst we want to encourage them in a certain direction to the outside world.....they just get frightened.....

As this little fella settled down under the grasses, I'm thinking his mum is off foraging for food for the afternoon. They leave their young napping in the afternoons to go and feed. She'll cover too much distance for Junior to come too - so you can frequently see the little guys taking their afternoon snooze while mum is out for lunch.

We are keeping an eye on him for now and also checking for mummy coming back and will see if he finds his own way out without being scared..... fingers crossed......

We came back from England last week and it was so lovely to see the garden and how it had progressed in the few weeks we were away. This year we planted some rhododendrons that my parents bought my husband and they were all in flower. In few years, they will just be gorgeous as they edge the wooded area.



Of course, the vineyard has now greened as well after all those months of black/dark brown. Those leafing vines are so fresh and vibrant.


We did quite a bit of work about our pond a few years ago with plantings and this year they are really looking established.


Notice the little bird on the fountain below! We switch the fountain on every day around 5pm so they can have their shower....


So enjoy a few garden photos. This last one is my husband John on our little dock at the pond. We try to have "cocktail hour" at 5pm every evening - a time to stop what else we are doing and partake in a little drink! It's a great habit and whenever we have people staying with us - it's one that they always so easily slip in to!!! And tonight our time was spent wandering around the garden with our cocktails in hands, making new plans, seeing what we need to do over the weekend, and me taking a few photos. How does your garden grow?