Grapes

I apologize for my lack of posting as of late. I've been super busy with school, work and everything else that has to get done on a day to day basis. Plus, my laptop was out of commission for a while so I didn't have my pictures.

I took these photos at my grandparents' house during Labor Day weekend. This grape arbor has been in my family since my great-grandfather built the house and my grandfather has maintained it every since. Every September my grandfather picks the grapes and sends them to a neighbor/family friend who uses them to make jellies, jams and wine. On Christmas Eve, she sends my grandparents boxes full of grape jelly and red wine, but she is also kind enough to give us strawberry, peach, mulberry, mul-grape and raspberry jam! She's a very talented woman, and she takes the time to make labels for each jar and adds little embellishments on top of each jar!

I'll post the end result come Christmas time, but for now I have these photos of the grape picking process:

 We collected about 20 lbs on this day.

Unfortunately, I had school the day he collected the rest. He said he got about a hundred pounds this year! The past couple of years have been awful  for the grape, and some years we didn't even pick any at all. Luckily, the weather was right this summer and the grape starting blooming early!