Near death experience....

well not really but it could have been.

I have been de-stressing grape vines, we have a block, block 1, which has not developed well over the last few years, mainly because we haven't had enough water. Many of the vines are weak. Some were only just re-planted a few months ago. Those that are a little older are trying to produce grapes. For some this is not a problem, for others it is very stressful. The vines put most of their reserves into the little bunches of grape, but some of these vines need those reserves for themselves and therefore get very stressed. I have been walking up and down the rows, removing bunches of grapes where I can see or can anticipate stress. Some vines show stress though yellow leaves, others through "shot berries" - very small berries, but others vines are just small and are unlikely to cope.

Yesterday, over the back of the vineyard, near some rocks, I heard, over my music, something rustling in the grass. Removing my head phones I listened more carefully. It was just as Dad had described, the noise of a snake moving through the grass. We mainly get one type of snake around here, the brown snake, second most venomous in the world and a very aggressive snake. As I continued up the row, I kept my head phones off and kept looking back. I'm sure it was as scared of me as I was of it. But it is more capable of killing me than I it.

Dad recently told me I need to keep bandages with me at all times in case of a snake bite. However he never actually got around to giving me the bandages. So I am fairly certain if I ever encounter a snake and am unlucky enough to be bitten I am sure it will occur at the back of the vineyard where no one is going to find me, so my options will be to stay where I am and hope that someone drives past - very unlikely or walk back to the house, during which time the venom will travel around my body probably killing me. I really should get a phone that has reception out here.....

As I was coming back towards the house - I completed that row but decided the other three could wait for another day - I encounter a large number of spiders and their webs, at face height! And to really make my day, I found a large number of bees were swarming near the house. All in all some very good reasons to stay inside!