Isn't this the most beautiful Grape Arbor you have ever seen? Maybe this will be George's retirement carreer.
Simply Wonderful! Now all I need is a bench to sit under this so I can enjoy the shade.
Grapes
A quick story....when we moved here a year ago (my how time flies) the grapes had been pruned and the arbor was two uprights with a single connecting 4 x 4. It was well weathered and had a nice patina. A sprinkler was attached to one of the uprights and as the grapes grew they covered the sprinler head so most of the water went on the grapes and none went on that area of the yard. The grapes also spread into the neighbors blueberry bush and plum tree to the point that it was difficult to tell that they were not grapes. Unfortunately there were no grapes on the grapes last year.
Sometime last fall the upright with the sprinkler attached decided that it did not like standing straight so it began to list. It was breaking off at ground level. So did the Rachors repair it then? Of course not. We didn't even attack this problem during the spring when the grapes had no leaves. No, we waited until the grapes had leaves galor and in fact had lots of miniature grapes. We decided to not only replace the old arbor but to build a second one in front of the current one which we also replaced and then tie them together. Actually I am taking much too much credit for this one. I drew up the plans and convinced George that he really is George, the Tool Man Rachor. We bought the supplies and then George proceeded to build the masterpiece. First he moved the sprinkler head out to the edge of the yard and the grass was thankful. Then he built the new arbor which was beautiful. Then he removed one side of the old arbor and replaced it. Then he removed the otherside which was very intertwined with Grape vines and replaced it while leaving the cross piece (10 foot long 4 x 4) held in place by the grape vines. I worked to untangle the grape vines and with George's help finally managed to remove the cross piece. George finished adding all the new cross pieces and then I wove the grape vines around the new arbor. Amazingly the grapes now cover the arbor and so far are not in the neighbors blueberries and plum tree. Time will tell if we are successful. But the question still remains, what kind of grapes are these anyway?