Harvest 2009

The grape harvest was yesterday, and Katie, Tiffany, and Jill drove up from Auburn to visit and help out. It looked like it might be a rainy day but it turned out nice. We started off the morning rolling up the netting that goes over the grapes so birds would stay out. Our four-man team was amazing at this. (See picture below). After the netting was up, we started the harvest, cutting the bunches off the vines and toting them up the rows in buckets. Nathan and the guys drove around picking up the bins and loading them onto the trailer. Lunch was barbeque and dinner was Bistro. So yummy. We got cleaned up in the afternoon and then went out for drinks with friends at The Miller House. It was a great weekend. I miss my friends. :(

Jill, Tiffany, me, and Katie...cleaned up after the harvest.

Nathan and Kerry on the tractor picking up the grapes.

Nathan, Kerry, Bruce, Jenny, and AJ.

AJ and Jenny.

Nathan and Lyndsey in Auburn hats.

Tiffany clipping grapes.

Jill and Katie working.

Tiffany getting a kiss from Millie goat. Best picture of the weekend.

The netting...see how small the roll on the right is? That's ours. We were the best.

Putting the grapes through the de-stemmer.

Valley View Red

This last year, Bruce decided to officially bottle, label, and sell his wine that is made from his Chambourcin grapes. The timing was so that the wine was going to be ready around the time of Rick and Julie's wedding. Rick and Julie are getting married in the vineyard tonight. Their reception invitations were in the shape of a wine bottle...more specifically, Bruce's wine bottle. The wine will be premiered tonight at the reception. Erin drove in seven cases last night from Nicholasville. Rick and Bruce had been up to the winery to decide the exact flavor combination for the wine. We sampled the first bottle of Valley View Red last night...

Bruce with his bottle.

Rick, Bruce, and Nathan.

Mammoth Cave

Before Scott left town, he wanted to go to Mammoth Cave so we drove down Sunday. None of us had been since we were little so it was fun remembering some of the spots in the cave. For those of you unfamiliar with this infamous elementary school field trip spot, Mammoth Cave is the largest cave system IN THE WORLD. That's right...KY is awesome.

The three of us above the River Styx and another opening to the cave.

Scott couldn't get over how big the trees were. We were walking and he kept saying stuff like, "Check out that trunk! It's huge. How old do you think that tree is?"

"Check out that trunk! It's huge. How old do you think that tree is?"

The opening of the cave where the Historic Tour begins. The temperature drops about fifteen degrees as soon as you walk up to this entrance. The cave is always 56 degrees...year round.

Fat Man's Misery - a section of the cave that is a tight squeeze. We all remembered this from our childhoods but walking through it in our adult bodies was a little different. It was much longer than I remember also. Fun Fact: Fat Man's Misery was named by an old slave tour guide named Stephen Bishop. My brother's name is Stephen Scott Bishop. Weird.

Me in Fat Man's Misery. It's also incredibly dark in this cave. The flash on my camera was not fun while trying to walk in the dark.

Scott and Nathan in Fat Man's Misery. You can see that the ceiling is pretty low too. Some places we really had to duck and crawl through.

Nathan and I at the end of the Historic Tour. After, we went to the "hotel" and had lunch in the dining room.

Family Fun

While Nathan was in Louisville for Jeff's bachelor party, I got to hang out with my family. Everyone was in town! My brother Thad and his wife Katie were in from Shelbyville with Molly and Drew. Scott is in town since he has time off from his back surgery. Tomorrow we're going to Mammoth Cave. More pictures tomorrow...

Baxter, Molly, and Drew watching Cinderella.

My brother Scott giving Baxter a pep talk during his game.

Me and Erica.

Dad, Brendan, and Thad watching the football game.

Baxter in his gear.

Drew swinging at the cross county meet.

Molly swinging.

Mom and Molly ready for the cross country meet.

The whole family - Scott, Erica, Molly, Katie, Dad, Baxter, Mom, and Thad.

Brendan running for Owensboro High School.

Kicking at the finish line.

Go Baby Go!

Nathan worked all day yesterday so we didn't get to do much, but today he wanted to go to Ellis Park since it was the last day that it would be open...ever.  They are closing the park because they don't make enough money, and KY won't let them install slot machines.  It's pretty sketchy.  Nothing like Keeneland.  There were no khaki pants or sun dresses.  Just lots of skin and lots of babies and toddlers.  We only stayed for a few hours but it was fun.  We took $40 with us and ate hotdogs and drank beer.  Nathan bet a few times, and we ate peanuts and shared a beer.  He bet one last time and did well.  We left with $37.  Entry to the park was free so it was a nice, cheap afternoon.  

I have lost my sunglasses.  I never, ever lose stuff.  This is really weird.  I suspect they are floating around my mom's house somewhere.  Anyway, I had to run into Kroger before we drove to the track and buy some new sunglasses.  I got some aviators like Nathan's so we could be cool together.  Note the cool sunglasses picture below...

Only a Few More Weeks

Oh Yeah!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Extreme Makeover is starting a house in my county this week and the kick-off was today.  Because Bruce is a county commissioner, I got to tag along with him this morning to a meet and greet with the crew and the caravan out to the house before they informed the family.  There are hundreds of people in town for the production.  Anyway, here are my pictures from this morning...

Starting this season, a "famous" person will be at the construction site for the duration of the episode.  Turns out, Xzibit is the celebrity for the Owensboro show.  You might remember this rapper/actor from film classics such as 8 Mile, XXX: State of the Union, and the new X Files movie.  Here he is, running after the RV right before they knocked on the family's door.

Hello Ty!  Ty only made this one quick appearance to say hello to Xzibit.  The man who rents the RVs out the show informed me that Ty isn't a morning person, and he doesn't get crazy until the afternoon.  Mr. Skaggs (the RV man) knew a lot because he worked with the show when they did a house in Louisville.  Remember the U of L student in a wheelchair whose dad pushes him around during the marching band performances...

The crew and local authorities eating breakfast outside the Hampton Inn that they are staying at while in town.

The man in charge.  I don't remember his name but I think they interview him on the show during the process.  Here he is in the huddle, informing everyone about the family's story.

Move that bus!  Here's the bus loaded with the designers and celebrities just before rolling down the hill to knock on the door.  We weren't allowed to go down to the house but we could hear the screaming from where we were up the hill.

The caravan driving out to the house.

Bruce getting crunk.  As I'm writing this, he's back out in the country watching the "Braveheart Walk" where all the volunteers march to the house.

 

Everyone walking down the street to see the bus before it went to talk to the family.

Yucky Grapes

This is how much fun it is to pick rotten grapes off the vine. The white grapes sat in the sun a little too long, and Nathan and I had the pleasure of sorting through all of them. We'd pick a bundle, clip off the bad ones (bugs and all), and throw the "good" ones in the buckets. Most of the time, my hand would be covered in the tiny black bugs that come crawling out of the rotten grapes. So gross. I'm predicting that the wine made from these will be the best yet. Note to friends: It is much more fun clipping the red grapes on harvest day.