The beginning of September saw the blooming of joe pye weed on the sides of roads and in ditches in Lumpkin County. The dusty pink blossoms were the signal for the beginning of the grape harvest, and also for the month of pandemonium that has been our moving experience. Through the month of September, the harvesting progressed through the various grape varietals as the joe pye weed faded to brown and the golden rod flourished in its place. And we have been frenziedly busy with the move. So this is yet another two weeks rolled into a single blog – again the pressure of events has overtaken me. It is fortunate that we have a chance to try everything out in the new house so that we can identify snags and get them fixed whilst we still have a financial hold over the builder and contractors.
The grape harvest commencing with picking early ripening Seyval Blanc and Vidal Blanc at Wolf Mountain and lasted all month. The last weekend of September saw the culmination of the pick for most of the vineyards hereabout (I heard of some late harvested Mourvedre picked in the first week in October). Then one exception to this are the sad vineyards at Blackstock. The vines are looking more and more ragged nearly two years after the banks foreclosed on the property with no sign of a new owner emerging. Higher up in the Appalachian mountains the vineyards at Crane Creek and Tiger Mountain are a couple of weeks behind. The general opinion is that, in spite of some frost damage in late March, the grape crop has been better than average from a volume perspective. The weather remained relatively cool and dry through the harvesting period, giving the grapes a good opportunity to slowly ripen, so the crop may be good quality too. The cooler weather was also welcomed by the pickers, especially as it reduced the numbers of yellowjacket wasps.
Now there are small purple blossoms of native asters in the place of joe pye weed. With the grape harvest is gathered in (and last year’s production is starting to be released), this is the time of the year for the other cash crop – tourists. The forests are starting to change colour, and late October should be the peak of “leaf-peeping” visitors. Obviously the wineries look to this time to be a significant revenue generation operation. Similarly, we are expecting our stream of visitors to start imminently. Pamela and Tony are arriving on the 13th or 14th on their tour round the Deep South. And the following week sees Paula and Peter, also from Ealing, arrive. Peter is on a tour promoting his latest book, and will be giving a guest lecture at the local university.
The familiar pattern of life continues. Up early to open the house for whichever workmen were coming that day. Updating the snagging list as other problems emerge. Leaping up and down and making threatening noises at Bill the builder and other tradesmen over the latest issue disasters of the previous. Unpacking and sorting, and trying to lead a normalish life amidst the efforts. Collapse exhausted at the start of the evening prior to an imaginatively cooked dinner (we still don’t have a cooktop or oven). Bed and round the same loop the next day.
I would love to say that the snagging list is now almost gone. But, no, as soon as one thing is fixed, another issue appears. A lot of what has gone wrong seems to be electrically driven, and it almost all leads back to the high tech trip switches in the main board which are definitely not of a serviceable quality, far too sensitive for their own good. Jonathan the electrician has decided that they all have to be replaced with standard reliable switches. A lot of the lights are rather dim, and we are embarking on a program of replacing very ecofriendly bulbs with more powerful (though still energy efficient) bulbs.
There is also a lot of tidying up of the trim and paintwork, and we are putting the pressure on Bill the builder to get this sorted before our guests arrive. Plumbing problems are also a concern – some of the showers are less than powerful, and there is a concern about a pipe sticking up out of the septic tank that needs a proper cap. Work on the fitted cabinets needs to be completed, and we have had a couple of visits over that, and progress is being made. Overall, we feel that our guests will have a comfortable time with us, and there won’t be a host of builders on site with them.
The mountain of boxes has diminished significantly, but there is still a lot to be cleared (just opening to check the contents is nowhere even complete). And every carton unpacked generates a volume of packing paper and a cardboard box which have to be disposed of. We’ve done a number of runs to the recycling centre with very full cars.