pink nail polish and motor oil

I have dirt under my fingernails. It's that kind of stubborn dirt that despite scrubbing, soaking, coaxing, or poking, I cannot get out. I think my nails are just french tipped black with dirt.
Usually there's no problem with my dirty fingernails. My vines don't mind cosmetic things like that. But now I'm serving food and suddenly noticing my weathered hands are a bit unappetizing.
So as I prepared to work the tasting room, I called back to my feminine tendencies that I've so long ignored to think of a way to become more presentable again. Hair pins: check. Fresh new shirt: check. Nail polish.... hmmm. I don't think I've worn that since that homecoming dance in high school and I think I bit it all off on the way to the dance.
Alright, that sounds a bit neanderthal, but I guess it's been over a decade and I was ready to try again. I settled on a light shade called "Italian Love Affair" which both made me giggle at it's ridiculousness and have fond memories of Italy at the same time. I only once found myself biting it off when my nerves started getting the best of me later in the night.

So now I feel super and feminine again. I'm not busting out my old heels for serving wine this Friday or anything, but my Italian Love Affair pink polish looked really good covered in motor grease as I checked my oil on Monday morning. Next step - purchasing nail polish remover.

opening and blooming

The vines have already bloomed and have commenced their yearly stretch up to the sun until their little arms give in to gravity and start their beautiful canopy over the trellis.

The rain finally let up for a bit and the vines are really responding to the sunshine and plenty of water with lush green growth. At the same time, the fax came in and everything came down in a flurry of work and preparation and mulching and figuring out computers for our first opening of our doors.
The kitchen was buzzing for most of the night and meat and cheese trays were carefully arranged just as we'd planned. There was only one point in the night where Karl and I were staring at some Bruschetta that wasn't browning up at all and we were completely perplexed until we found that it wasn't even plugged in. Oops. But otherwise, the food went out pretty much on time.
The wine was flowing throughout the whole night. We had 3 people serving behind out little bar and Chad went out onto a table in the tasting room to pour for another group.

The tasting room is amazing when it's full of people. It just really comes alive and everything just clicks.

Oh man. I'm still exhausted. 12 hour days trying to get open were a bit rough. I started using the wrong words and my brain really got muddled by the end of the night. I'm not sure how doctors do their residency. That actually makes me more nervous than anything. Rest is really important and it took me all day on Sunday to get over the stun that was opening. On Monday it was back out to the vines to wrestle with the lush new growth that they are pushing out.

Fax?

My heart is in my throat and I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. The anticipation in the air is as present as the stuffy humidity after these summer showers we keep getting pummelled with.

I've jumped through all the hoops, met all the inspectors, followed every request down to the T and now there's just one thing left before we can open..... a fax.

I didn't buy a fax machine. I bought one of those 3 in 1 printers, but it was super complicated and I thought, who the heck faxes anything anymore. So I took it back and went for a streamlined and wonderful wifi printer with a scanner. No fax.
So now the last step before getting a license and a green light to open is one more permit that got sent to Columbus and the fastest way to get it back to us.... a fax.

Anyway, I'm getting a fax machine today and trying not to sit by it, waiting on the confirmation that we're good to go. We've got bands booked this weekend, but it doesn't matter if we don't have this fax. The singer and guitarist may as well play for us as we wash bottles or maybe wash bottles with us if we don't have this fax. It's so funny to think we're so close.

The vineyard is the same as it's ever been, which is nice to go out to and just relax in the repetition of perfecting the pruning on one vine and tying it up and making sure all the blossoms of future grape clusters are where they need to be before moving on to the next vine and the next and the next for acre after acre. With all this rain it's going to be tough to keep the diseases at bay this year. It's crazy to think that we're just a few months away from harvest. Time has been flying in a flurry of work and perfecting the menu and making sure the apple crop will be a success and protecting the newly planted grapevines. And heck, even planting new vines to replace the ones that didn't make it over the winter.

I just can't imagine after 3 years of working here and talking about opening and planning for the opening and thinking about the opening.... I can't believe it's just about to finally happen.

Eek. The humidity is making my hair curl. Or maybe that's the anticipation.....