Winter drama

Sun setting over Daria's Vineyard

Winter has arrived in the west with all the drama that later sunrises and earlier sunsets create. Today was a spectacular day, after the morning fog, crisp, dry for the most part, and still -- very still. The kind of still that recreates the landscape upside down in reflections on the water. I just love watching upside-down sheep romping along liquid green fields. 

In Ireland, winter arrives officially on the 1st of November by the Gaelic or Celtic calendar. Winter or Geimhreadh starts the day after Halloween (referred to in Ireland as Samhain). The Gaelic calendar also protends that February 1st is actually the start of spring.

Today's sunrise at about 8 AM

Starts                         Ends                              Meteorological Winter in Ireland    1st of December        31st of February Astronomical Winter in Ireland       21st of December      20th of March Traditional Gaelic Seasons              1st November          31st of January

The wispy clouds did their magic at both sunrise and sunset, turning hot pink in salutations to the sun. The occasional drip of showers created rainbows all day long without actually interfering with outdoor life. It made for solemn reflections about life for the planet's now 8 billion people, a landmark reached yesterday.

There is still a lot of activity in the garden. The bees were buzzing mid-day as the air warmed up. One rose bloomed in the vineyard in anticipation. Lots of wildflowers are still showing off. Yet storm clouds on the horizon foretell what's to come. 

The short days (sunset at about 4:30 PM now) make working in the garden a challenge. But every good hour is put to maximum good use. Yesterday, we made a new flower bed for the agapanthus we brought over from Ross House and cleaned up parts of the flower gardens. But the messages from biodiversity groups pleading to leave the leaves on the ground to provide shelter for bumblebees and other insects convinced me to stop short of sweeping them all up. It's all in the interest of pollinators, those they pollinate, and those that eat them. I can surely put some work off if it's going to save the world. 

Still sleeping

The vines are still asleep. I've been digging up docks daily - two buckets full of roots is my limit per day before my back is irreparably damaged. But I am making progress. The ground is very soft and my new shovel makes the work manageable. Alex gave me a beautifully crafted Harmony shovel for my birthday. Some may have thought he was crazy, but my favourite shovel had cracked and this one is a delight -- if digging docks can be delightful. It's actually a kind of zen experience. Maybe a bit of OCD -- I have to dig up every one in the vineyard so they don't compete with the grapes for nutrients. Their root systems are so massive. (I have to remember to order soil test kits.)

It's been the longest winter on record in distant memory. Farmers are desperate, importing feed from overseas to feed hungry cattle and sheep. The fields are too wet for the cattle to be let out and the temperature too low to enable grass to grow. It's been too cold for newborn lambs to be left outside. I feel for those farmers.

Pruning the grapevines

What a mess!

The job was daunting. We'd been gone most of the summer sailing, which isn't prudent when you are trying to start a vineyard, but hey it's all an adventure isn't it? Meanwhile, the weather had been mild and moist until last week when we finally had a cold snap. Frost, sleet, hail and snow finally put the vines to sleep and they dropped their leaves so we could see the structure of the vines themselves. And what we saw was not pretty. I kept going up there and coming back down without having done a thing.

March has arrived and winter is over

White grape vines still asleep. 

Red grape vines showing signs of life.

It is the 12th of March and winter hardly affected us this year. We had a few days of sleet and hail, lots of rain and wind, but very little snow and frost. It was generally mild the whole way. We did have about a week of cold weather that has just passed when there was frost on the grass so hopefully the much needed snap will have done its duty on insects and sleeping plants.

This week, warm dry weather has arrived. Lots of shrubs and flowers are budding. But the plants in the vineyard are still asleep. It's our first winter and I am anxious about whether the plants survived and if they will produce this year. I am excited about seeing them grow to the height of the stakes Alex erected. He wanted to buy more plants already but I stopped him until we see what happens in this first year.

The strongest El Nino on record and the warmest February ever are wreaking havoc throughout the world but mostly in the Pacific. There was little snow in Europe and we did not go skiing, opting to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and Alex's 60th birthday with friends and neighbors. I gave Alex a drone for his birthday so hopefully he'll manage to get some footage of the vineyard and we'll even be able to spot some of the plants from up high.

In the meantime, we've been starting lots of plants in the greenhouse and have prepared the vegetable beds in the garden. Alex even moved the lawn yesterday.  The climate report for Ireland was issued by Met Eireann last week and the effects are already noticeable. Our average temperature is 0.8 degrees higher than 100 years ago. The extremes are expected to get extremer. Let's hope that bodes well for our little vineyard overlooking the Holy Mountain and Clew Bay. Our guard cats certainly enjoy it.

One guard cat on the alert.