Tommy
Senior Member
- Location
- New Hampshire
I'm glad the picture brought some memories @Radish Rose. I enjoyed hearing about Quan Than! 
Thanks YOU for your response.
Thanks YOU for your response.
The vineyard
- Thread starter Tommy
- Start date
Tommy
Senior Member
- Location
- New Hampshire
Mole
“As he hurried along, eagerly anticipating the moment when he would be at home again among the things he knew and liked, the Mole saw clearly that he was an animal of tilled field and hedgerow, linked to the ploughed furrow, the frequented pasture, the lane of evening lingerings, the cultivated garden-plot.”
Kenneth Grahame
The Wind in the Willows
This was NOT really what I wanted to find. I’ve begun seeing what appear to be mole tunnels in our vineyard.
It isn’t a surprise; we’ve had moles throughout our yard since we moved here, but still . . .
My first response (after stomping down the raised tunnels) was to do a little research on the furry intruders.
What I learned: It turns out that moles are pretty interesting little critters. They’re not rodents, as commonly believed, but rather are closely related to shrews and hedgehogs.
Aside from popping out once a year to find a mate, they’re very solitary animals and pretty much spend their entire lives underground. Their unique anatomy allows them to thrive in the low-oxygen environment of their tunnels and borrows.
Moles have very poor vision but a keen sense of smell. They’re one of the few animals that can smell in “stereo”.
They have an extra thumb on each of their front paws to allow them to dig. Six fingers on each hand! (I once knew this girl … oh, never mind). Their fur is short, soft, and doesn’t lie in any particular direction. This makes it easier for them to go both forward and backward in their tunnels.
And they don’t eat plant material, just worms, grubs, and insects. That’s GOOD news! If my vineyard mole will eat the larvae of Japanese beetles and the like, then I guess I can forgive it for munching down a few beneficial earthworms.
The one downside as I see it is that VOLES (which ARE rodents and DO eat plants and roots) often use the tunnels of moles to get around underground. Maybe I need to post some “NO VOLES” signs around the vineyard.
Some wisdom from the vineyard.
When I first realized that a mole had moved into our vineyard, I was really quite put out. I mean, how dare this destructive little “rat” presume to threaten our vines! It was only after I learned more about the animal that I came to appreciate its virtues.
This event started me thinking of various people I've encountered in my past. People who, I’m ashamed to say, I looked down on (or looked past) as being … well … lowly and just not worth my attention. Instead I was more often drawn to those who were well educated, sophisticated, attractive, well off, powerful … the “pretty people”.
With advancing age, I’ve finally come to realize how truly superficial and downright trivial appearance and sophistication are; that the world’s idea of education is grossly overrated; that wealth and power are totally meaningless unless they are used for good purposes.
How many opportunities have I missed to share time with some truly wonderful and worthwhile people because of my own ignorance and vanity? Opportunities to do good. Opportunities to grow and gain real wisdom.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 "But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his presence."
“As he hurried along, eagerly anticipating the moment when he would be at home again among the things he knew and liked, the Mole saw clearly that he was an animal of tilled field and hedgerow, linked to the ploughed furrow, the frequented pasture, the lane of evening lingerings, the cultivated garden-plot.”
Kenneth Grahame
The Wind in the Willows
This was NOT really what I wanted to find. I’ve begun seeing what appear to be mole tunnels in our vineyard.
It isn’t a surprise; we’ve had moles throughout our yard since we moved here, but still . . .
My first response (after stomping down the raised tunnels) was to do a little research on the furry intruders.
What I learned: It turns out that moles are pretty interesting little critters. They’re not rodents, as commonly believed, but rather are closely related to shrews and hedgehogs.
Aside from popping out once a year to find a mate, they’re very solitary animals and pretty much spend their entire lives underground. Their unique anatomy allows them to thrive in the low-oxygen environment of their tunnels and borrows.
Moles have very poor vision but a keen sense of smell. They’re one of the few animals that can smell in “stereo”.
They have an extra thumb on each of their front paws to allow them to dig. Six fingers on each hand! (I once knew this girl … oh, never mind). Their fur is short, soft, and doesn’t lie in any particular direction. This makes it easier for them to go both forward and backward in their tunnels.
And they don’t eat plant material, just worms, grubs, and insects. That’s GOOD news! If my vineyard mole will eat the larvae of Japanese beetles and the like, then I guess I can forgive it for munching down a few beneficial earthworms.
The one downside as I see it is that VOLES (which ARE rodents and DO eat plants and roots) often use the tunnels of moles to get around underground. Maybe I need to post some “NO VOLES” signs around the vineyard.
Some wisdom from the vineyard.
When I first realized that a mole had moved into our vineyard, I was really quite put out. I mean, how dare this destructive little “rat” presume to threaten our vines! It was only after I learned more about the animal that I came to appreciate its virtues.
This event started me thinking of various people I've encountered in my past. People who, I’m ashamed to say, I looked down on (or looked past) as being … well … lowly and just not worth my attention. Instead I was more often drawn to those who were well educated, sophisticated, attractive, well off, powerful … the “pretty people”.
With advancing age, I’ve finally come to realize how truly superficial and downright trivial appearance and sophistication are; that the world’s idea of education is grossly overrated; that wealth and power are totally meaningless unless they are used for good purposes.
How many opportunities have I missed to share time with some truly wonderful and worthwhile people because of my own ignorance and vanity? Opportunities to do good. Opportunities to grow and gain real wisdom.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 "But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his presence."
Tommy
Senior Member
- Location
- New Hampshire
Update
“Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to, while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
We had a very nice summer here in the lakes and mountains region of New Hampshire. More blue sky than clouds, daytime temperatures in the 70s to mid-80s with cool, comfortable nights, and just the right amounts of rain at just the right times.
The vines in our little vineyard were gorgeous (at least to me). They grew like crazy, more than making up for their seemingly slow start last year.
Other than a little bit of weeding and picking off a lot of Japanese beetles, there hasn’t been much for me to do for the vines. Now the days have become cool; the nights frosty. In a couple of weeks, I’ll add their winter mulch and put them to bed until spring returns.
The “understudies”. You might recall that when I ordered these vines two years ago I also ordered a duplicate of each to serve as backup in the event that either of the primary vines did not survive. These were planted in 5-gallon buckets in the corners of the vineyard.
Somewhat to my surprise, those two vines also survived the winter. When it became clear that the primary vines were doing well, I gave those “understudies” to my neighbor, Andy, to plant in his garden. Although they were a bit on the small side, once he planted them in the ground, they too began to grow and thrive.
One day in August I was visiting with him and he took me out to show me his grapes!! Yes, just a few, but one of his plants was actually producing fruit!! Now, in theory, vines are only supposed to produce grapes on two year old shoots. Hehe, it seems that this particular plant didn’t get the memo.
Some wisdom from the vineyard.
I am absolutely delighted that Andy’s vine has produced fruit! It must be encouraging to him, as it is to me as well. That is the way things are supposed to work. The successes of others encourage us and, in turn, our successes encourage others.
On a much grander level, if we live in the Lord and He in us, then through His power we will be able to produce fruit as well . . . fruit of a different and better kind. The fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we produce these kinds of fruit we please the Lord and we encourage our brothers and sisters as well.
Galatians 5:22-25 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
“Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to, while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
We had a very nice summer here in the lakes and mountains region of New Hampshire. More blue sky than clouds, daytime temperatures in the 70s to mid-80s with cool, comfortable nights, and just the right amounts of rain at just the right times.
The vines in our little vineyard were gorgeous (at least to me). They grew like crazy, more than making up for their seemingly slow start last year.
Other than a little bit of weeding and picking off a lot of Japanese beetles, there hasn’t been much for me to do for the vines. Now the days have become cool; the nights frosty. In a couple of weeks, I’ll add their winter mulch and put them to bed until spring returns.
The “understudies”. You might recall that when I ordered these vines two years ago I also ordered a duplicate of each to serve as backup in the event that either of the primary vines did not survive. These were planted in 5-gallon buckets in the corners of the vineyard.
Somewhat to my surprise, those two vines also survived the winter. When it became clear that the primary vines were doing well, I gave those “understudies” to my neighbor, Andy, to plant in his garden. Although they were a bit on the small side, once he planted them in the ground, they too began to grow and thrive.
One day in August I was visiting with him and he took me out to show me his grapes!! Yes, just a few, but one of his plants was actually producing fruit!! Now, in theory, vines are only supposed to produce grapes on two year old shoots. Hehe, it seems that this particular plant didn’t get the memo.
Some wisdom from the vineyard.
I am absolutely delighted that Andy’s vine has produced fruit! It must be encouraging to him, as it is to me as well. That is the way things are supposed to work. The successes of others encourage us and, in turn, our successes encourage others.
On a much grander level, if we live in the Lord and He in us, then through His power we will be able to produce fruit as well . . . fruit of a different and better kind. The fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we produce these kinds of fruit we please the Lord and we encourage our brothers and sisters as well.
Galatians 5:22-25 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
Great and timely text for me to read...and reread.....and reread.
Thank you for this, my brother
Grape vines look great!
Tommy
Senior Member
- Location
- New Hampshire
“Life Does Not Have To Be Perfect To Be Wonderful”
It’s a saying that has been floating around the internet for quite a few years now. I know it’s true even though I might tend to forget from time to time.
Many years ago, my young bride and I had an unexpected opportunity to make an extended road trip around the western United States. It came about in the summer of 1978 when my employer asked me to attend a two-day meeting in Denver. A plan began to take shape in my mind.
I asked if I could drive to Denver rather than fly and, somewhat to my surprise, he agreed. I would get several days of travel time and be paid mileage for the round trip. On top of that, he agreed to allow me to add several weeks of my vacation time to the trip. It was an adventure that we could not otherwise have afforded and we were thrilled.
So the planning began. To keep costs to a minimum we would be tent camping most of the way. This would mean packing everything we would need, including all of our camping gear and personal items (including dress clothes for the meeting) into our little Triumph TR7.
This was when I learned that my wife was an expert at packing.
The first day of our trip went well . . . well, up the point where we discovered that the camping site we had chosen for that night was intended for trailers and truck campers only and had no bathroom facilities. We drove on and at the end of a very long 15-hour day we found a site in Kearney, Nebraska where the overnight winds threatened to send us and our three-man pup tent flying back into Iowa.
Several days later, after driving across the Nevada desert in 100+ degree heat, we ended the day having to camp in deep snow in Yosemite National Park. We hadn’t even considered the possibility of snow in late June.
In Montana we were awakened in the middle of the night by a terrible storm and had to cram all of our wet gear into the car and flee. We drove for over 20 hours outrunning the storm and then couldn’t find a motel with vacancies until we rolled into Sioux Falls, South Dakota around midnight.
A couple of days later, it might have been somewhere in Wisconsin, my tired wife managed to grind first gear off of the car’s transmission.
In spite of these and other unexpected challenges during that three week trip, it was a glorious trip and there were hundreds of priceless wonders. By comparison, the setbacks we encountered were trivial. Indeed, life need not be perfect to be wonderful!
Some wisdom from the vineyard.
So now, fast forward almost 40 years.
It’s mid-March and our grape vines need to be pruned before our 40-50 degree days force the buds to begin to swell. Nature, however, seems to have a different plan.
Overnight we received 15 inches of wet, heavy snow. This is definitely not going as I had intended.
Scripture tells us that we will all encounter adversity in this life. Most of us will at some point face huge problems that are far more serious than a simple freak snowfall or broken gearbox.
Man lives in a fallen world of our own making and it isn’t for us to know why God allows difficulties to happen to us. But I am certain that, as His adopted son, His plan for me is WONDERFUL. Through faith I can endure everything this imperfect world throws at me because He is my strength and I know that His strength will never fail me.
Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
It’s a saying that has been floating around the internet for quite a few years now. I know it’s true even though I might tend to forget from time to time.
Many years ago, my young bride and I had an unexpected opportunity to make an extended road trip around the western United States. It came about in the summer of 1978 when my employer asked me to attend a two-day meeting in Denver. A plan began to take shape in my mind.
I asked if I could drive to Denver rather than fly and, somewhat to my surprise, he agreed. I would get several days of travel time and be paid mileage for the round trip. On top of that, he agreed to allow me to add several weeks of my vacation time to the trip. It was an adventure that we could not otherwise have afforded and we were thrilled.
So the planning began. To keep costs to a minimum we would be tent camping most of the way. This would mean packing everything we would need, including all of our camping gear and personal items (including dress clothes for the meeting) into our little Triumph TR7.
This was when I learned that my wife was an expert at packing.
The first day of our trip went well . . . well, up the point where we discovered that the camping site we had chosen for that night was intended for trailers and truck campers only and had no bathroom facilities. We drove on and at the end of a very long 15-hour day we found a site in Kearney, Nebraska where the overnight winds threatened to send us and our three-man pup tent flying back into Iowa.
Several days later, after driving across the Nevada desert in 100+ degree heat, we ended the day having to camp in deep snow in Yosemite National Park. We hadn’t even considered the possibility of snow in late June.
In Montana we were awakened in the middle of the night by a terrible storm and had to cram all of our wet gear into the car and flee. We drove for over 20 hours outrunning the storm and then couldn’t find a motel with vacancies until we rolled into Sioux Falls, South Dakota around midnight.
A couple of days later, it might have been somewhere in Wisconsin, my tired wife managed to grind first gear off of the car’s transmission.
In spite of these and other unexpected challenges during that three week trip, it was a glorious trip and there were hundreds of priceless wonders. By comparison, the setbacks we encountered were trivial. Indeed, life need not be perfect to be wonderful!
Some wisdom from the vineyard.
So now, fast forward almost 40 years.
It’s mid-March and our grape vines need to be pruned before our 40-50 degree days force the buds to begin to swell. Nature, however, seems to have a different plan.
Overnight we received 15 inches of wet, heavy snow. This is definitely not going as I had intended.
Scripture tells us that we will all encounter adversity in this life. Most of us will at some point face huge problems that are far more serious than a simple freak snowfall or broken gearbox.
Man lives in a fallen world of our own making and it isn’t for us to know why God allows difficulties to happen to us. But I am certain that, as His adopted son, His plan for me is WONDERFUL. Through faith I can endure everything this imperfect world throws at me because He is my strength and I know that His strength will never fail me.
Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.