Mowing and Cool Sightings in the Vineyard

My husband gave me the keys to the tractor yesterday and had me mow the tall clover that has grown up in the vineyard alleys. I did a little mowing last summer so I was familiar with what I needed to do but initially, my husband gave me a little refresher: (1) select the rpm driven PTO, (2) engage the PTO, (3) lower the Ferri mower to the proper level, (4) slowly bring up the revs, (5) put the tractor in gear while stepping on the brakes, (6) take off the parking brakes and then go! Yikes, I was going fast. I made one pass and my husband was waiting for me at the other end. I'm shouting, "How do I put this in creeper gear!" I put on the brakes and my husband put me in creeper gear. Much better. So, I'm going up and down the vineyard alleys mowing, mowing, mowing. Why? Because it's so much easier just to keep on going than to remember how to reverse the instructions so that I can stop.

I was able to stop the tractor and by the afternoon, I could start and stop the tractor on my own. I'm hoping that this blogpost will be a reminder for the next time I need to mow the vineyard. It's looking really good, but you can be sure that I'll need to mow the vineyard again, probably in about 10 days or so.
Now that the clover has been beaten down, it is much easier to walk the vineyard alleys and look at some cool stuff. The grape flowers are getting larger compared to the first time that I took a picture of them. Also, when I was walking in the vineyard I saw this bald faced hornet probably engaged in making a nest.

I found an interesting article on the Internet on the bald faced hornet. These nests get pretty large so I don't think this little grape leaf stalk (petiole) will accommodate the hornet nest. But it was pretty cool to see.