It was a busy time for me, as I had to clear the overgrown veggie patches, and also the poor strawberries that were struggling to get their faces to the sun. I also had to prune my rose bushes, as they should have been pruned in August already and looked a wee bit bedraggled.
I was now really scared at Bubby the dog, as he was growling more and more at anybody who came too near to him, but Nina laughed it off as just a puppy's whims, but when I went over there one day, and he wanted to come out through the gate with me, I had the fright of my life. I was trying to hold him back with my leg while I closed the gate, when he suddenly pulled back his lips and stormed my leg, with intent to bite! I screamed at him and managed to get my leg out of the way of his teeth, but he stood glaring and growling at me until I went into my house! I was now too scared to almost go into the children's yard, but I soon found that ignoring the dog was the best, but still rang the bell at their gate for one of them to come and fetch me.
The vine that I had planted the previous year was growing like something demented, and had now sent it's ramblers out in all directions. In about two weeks time I saw this tiny bunches with teeny green grapes hanging from my fast growing vine, and counted seventeen of them.
One day, as I walked passed the vine to get to the shower, I noticed that all the tiny grapes were covered with a fuzz, and as I was already struggling with the snails and the peacocks again, I did not need another pesty invader to destroy my grapes as well. So grumbling and hissing like a ready to explode pressure cooker, I mixed together everything that I could think of that will destroy the aphids, or whatever it was. My concoction consisted of dishwashing soap, and chilly powder, and spray that is used on the fruit trees, and bicarbonate of soda, and too many others that I have forgotten, and I then soaked every small bunch of grapes in this witches's brew.
After two days I sprayed the grapes again, but when the fuzz did not fall off showing that the beasties was dying from my concoction, I went to the co-op, and they gave me a spray to use, guarenteed, the man said, to kill any kind of aphid!
So I went home and sprayed the whole vine with this concoction, then decided to get my glasses to see exactly what the fuzzy creatures looked like, as I could not describe them earlier to the co-op man, not having used my glasses before.
Well, never had I been so staggered in my life, and there I was thinking that my eyesight was still almost perfect, because the fuzzy beasties on my tiny grapes was nothing but little flowers! Yes, little tiny bally flowers! I have never looked at a grape vine so closely when the bunches just started, so I had always thought that the grapes develop straight away and that when the little bunches appear, the grapes were already formed. Must say, did feel a teeny bit foolish, as I had alerted everyone with vines about this pest, and they were all spraying like mad!
I then hoped that I did not kill off the whole lot with my manhandling, but in another week, as I now looked at them through my glasses, I saw the tiniest of grapes forming where the flowers had fallen off! Very GLAD!
At first I decided not to tell my neighbours about my little boo-boo, but when Jan one day stood spraying their grapes again, I thought it prudent to tell him, and soon it was all over the valley, and luckily everybody just laughed about it!