I, Kim, returned after a month away to a very different landscape. The mountains are capped with the fresh snow.
The homestead has been trimmed of all vestiges of our fruit bounty. It's been picked for the season. Art kept very busy trimming the vines and trees, making raki from our grapes, and planting new hazelnut and plum trees while I was away. He cleaned up bramble and old trees along a fence line in the back of the orchard and made room for a few more pomegranate trees inside the orchard. Plus Art collected the remaining persimmons for a small batch of raki to brew in the spring. The garden producing a winter bounty of broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, peppers, fresh parsley, cabbage, and leeks.
Over a year ago, we dropped off mulberry wood from the garden to be crafted into a barrel to age wine and raki. Art picked it up while I was gone and the pictures really don't do it justice. IT IS GORGEOUS! The finish on the wood is so smooth and shiny. Art says we may use this for raki only, we'll shall see.
Next up on our agenda is to complete the cleanup of the vines and the rest of the trees. I insisted he waited to trim the large mulberry trees until I returned. It's back to rain for the week and we'll start recording the audiobook Who Is Maggie. Cheers!