A Blue Moon

We finally succeeded in stringing the wire in the vineyard. I have about 70 vines and they are planted on a rather steep slope. Most of them have been in the ground for about 5 years. Ideally, one plants the vines after installing the posts and wire! The shifting hillside and poor layout were all brought to light when we started to hang the wires! Overall, I am very happy with the system I designed and am looking forward to many years of service from it. We used lightweight red 6' t-posts for the support of each individual vine, except for the end posts which were fitted with 8' mid/heavyweight green t-posts. The vineyard rows are not straight, but planted at an angle. So the point of tension mid row was fitted with a heavyweight 8' t-post. ( I wanted heavyweight on the ends as well, but through a mix-up at the lumber yard, I only received 10 or so. So, whatever, I used what I had.
Details: 11 gauge wire, awesome stainless crimps and an 8-1/2" turnbuckle affixed to 4' foundation posts driven into the ground at an opposing angle to the t-post. It was a puzzle to put together but I am loving it. (So are the vines!) I've still a bit of work to do on it. I will need to tie up all the vines, and attach the rest of the cross wires to the t-posts. Much thanks to Sean. He is young, strong, and very adept at homestead chores. I could not possibly have done it without him!
Chapman Ranch Old Homestead Rose....This is a climbing rose that I planted in the vineyard towards the top. It is free to ramble over the steep hillside.

Snoopy...HE is bound for camp BroDoFed this coming week. A local animal trainer has agreed to house him and assess his canine aggression. She has 8 other dogs, so there will be plenty of opportunity for him to find his place in the canine realms. Poor pup, but it is for his own good, and others. Our last trip to the river almost found me facing a lawsuit for my "snappy" puppy. ...not really, but things do get tense if your dog tries to attack other dogs...
Garden Blooms...notice the heavy hardware cloth in rear of photo. I create shallow (8') boxes of hardware cloth and sink them in the dirt to prevent gopher/vole/mole activities. They work beautifully. Then Linda D. Informed me it has lead/aluminum in it? Great....
Roses...Loving the Roses...


The Bearded Iris...I have so many great pics of the iris. They are an amazing show of color and textures. Some are scented. Beautiful!!

Good Cherries above, Bad Cherries below.... The light filled image is a Queen Anne Cherry. A yellowish, almost bird proof variety, that is just starting to bear. The sad, burned out, shriveled up specimens below, are from a Bing variety that had a few good cherries last year. This year, its 4th in the ground, it was FULL of fruit, which is now basically all a loss! :( Must google cherry failure. These two trees stand side by side, go figure...
Good Canine ...Pepper

My insect love affair continues...
Pears, Pears, Pears, Everywhere Pears!
I had more ....but since my last efforts at virtual housecleaning/organizing , my computer seems less than happy. I think I have an internal conflict between dueling duplicate program files in separate drives....Must post, before it freezes again! Love to all nature lovers, gardeners, and the folks who love them. Happy June.