March 9th, 2010

Post bashing, using some 9' intermediates - lot more difficult than the 8' ones. They also need a lot more hits with the weight therefore much a longer job.

Still no rain and the ground is drying up well.

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info@chafor.co.uk

March 8th, 2010

-5DegC this morning, still very cold under the clear sky's during the night. The day was glorious with lots of sunshine.

Spent the day on our test site of 50 vines planted in 2008. We have 25 Chardonnay and 25 Pinot Noir. They were planted to test the ground and be a test bed for all aspects of the vineyard. Today I pruned them back and bent them down for the first time. Picture is not that clear. I also completely finished the trellising.

You would think that the field behind our house is on fire from this photo, but no it is just a red sunset!

Lost 5:2 to Buckingham Badgers. Dissapointing as they are a team that we can beat. No subs and all tired out with 10 to go. Lost shape chasing the game. I scored a tap-in on the line.

March 5th, 2010

Not had rain now for several days and the ground is drying out. From the pictures you can see how the soil is changing to a much lighter colour and cracks are appearing and in the last picture you can see that the texture of the soil has become much more crumbly. Perhaps this is the start of summer soil conditions?

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info@chafor.co.uk

March 3rd, 2010

Managed to rip off the rear mudflap yet again today. Decided to mend it properly so went to Quick Sharp, bought a mending strip and a riveter. Good job! Still getting on with the box sections. My Old McCulloch chainsaw has finally given up. Not only will it not start, but the chain break drum has snapped so several hundred pounds lighter I am now the proud owner of a new Sthil. I knew that I was going to have to get one sooner or later, but I would have preferred later.

More box sections.


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info@chafor.co.uk

March 2nd, 2010

Warm days and cold nights. I think that I got a touch of sunburn today. Perhaps you can see in the photo how frost can kill fragile shoots soon after bud burst. This was taken in our garden recently. As you can see the shoots are black and shriveled up. I am just praying that the vines do not burst until after our last frost day. Early May...

Put the trailer on the landrover today and got stuck in the mud - nearly!

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info@chafor.co.uk

March 1st, 2010

Spring is in the air. This morning I watched a hen Blackbird gather up some moss for a nest liner. Won't be long now to bud burst and the hedgerows back in full green. The news is talking again about how we get spring earlier than decades previous. The snow drops are out and the daff's have started to grow have not diarised this before so ??? The news also reported that it was the coldest winter in England for 31 years.

Today turned out fine and dry, back on the trellising. ~80 box sections to make




Went to the Cricket nets at Bicester, had a 45 min bowling session. Dashed to Buckingham and played football. We had a 2:2 draw against iChat. Disappointing as we were 2:0 up, very positive as we are now at least matching these skillfull, quicker and much younger teams.


My big issue is that now I am back into sport my Mind, Enthusiasm and Hunger is that of a 20year old, My skill, speed and most importantly my body is that of a 40something!




I am going to hurt tomorrow - Just keep pushing

February 26th, 2010

Finished the pruning. 5000, average 15 snips = 75,000 snips in total. Can't wait until the vines are in full foliage and it will be 10x the work.