Presents from the Vineyard
Don't you just love presents? I know I do. Birthdays, holidays, giving, receiving... I like it all. And we've been blessed at Sokol Blosser by so many little presents lately, all from a very unlikely source...
Yep, those are our Vineyard Rodent Patrol feral cats (Baby Girl, Filbert [aka Tweedledum], Sniffles, Big Tig, TJ [aka Pickles]), and the gifts we've been getting have been of a unique sort. Every morning, as I walk from my car to the offices at Sokol Blosser, I take a deep breath of the fresh farm air, watch the vines on the hillside swaying gently in the breeze, and try not to step in a present. Voles have been the most common offering, followed my moles and then birds. Often not whole. Often not recognizable. But hey, presents are presents, and who am I to turn my nose up at a gift? Our vineyards are certified organic by Oregon Tilth, and our Rodent Patrol does a very efficient all-natural job of "managing" the rodent population in the vineyard.
I like to think that my shrieks are like saying thank you to our feline friends, in a very loud and horrified way.