Russell in Spain
Sunday, July 7, 2024
ANOTHER JUNE IN PARADISE!
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE!!!
Friday, June 7, 2024
MY 70th BIRTHDAY!!!
Monday, May 27, 2024
40TH REUNION OF THE DREAM TEAM AT JOSEPH PHELPS VINEYARDS!!!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLAWsGxzSR5p6dFdDtKmp4m6Jh60Ag_EkRCYMDQpZenGD3a3Hsoz_ZacdFGbiKCQzltRq5cMreE0RAvmt4-Q-uD2B846IlCbyMmKa-s8IILAHcLQZ-25Rv0hJC-fpzLc9V6FiNk1D7hjilLAG_2Gg0bPvm3NaUXXPQ1orNFEJlx6T8PoVnw7sRNVJ_98/s320/2024%20Russell%20&%20Eric.jpg)
Sunday, January 7, 2024
IDLE HANDS ARE THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND
IDLE HANDS ARE THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND
One of my father's favorite expressions was: Idle hands are the devil's playground. As the years have passed, I've come to appreciate the wisdom of this. Most of you know that I try to stay busy. For whatever reasons, that doesn't seem to keep me out of trouble.
About a year and a half ago, I decided to try my hand at writing lyrics for country songs. It's much slower work than book-writing. By the way, I started my second book in September. Anyway, I wrote three songs. Because I can't sing, someone had to be found to put the words to music and record the songs.
I was so lucky to find Charles Stewart of Houston to do this. Charles and Ross Jackson have been playing music together since elementary school. You'll agree that Charles did a stellar job with the music, vocals and production. Thanks, Charles!
I hope you like the songs because I'm working on some more. To listen to the songs, just copy the Google link and paste to your browser. Don't forget to click "play"! I'm trying to get this uploaded to Youtube. It may take a couple of days.
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I Like Your Dog
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aA6sGnfB1qT41Ohke0qDnlyZPtXH_QKI/view?usp=drive_link
Sammy's Song
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T3mF17T27-2SfpTGKS-mYx4JcJVYPxTI/view?usp=drive_link
Devil In The Choir
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rD_DB_HXKljUFFo2TmuhoSddUahuMhfj/view?usp=sharing
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Harvest 2023 is in the barn!
Saturday, September 2, 2023
back in the village and waiting for harvest.
I got back to the village on August 22nd. Ended up with three seats to myself on both legs of the trip which is pretty unheard of these days. Weatherwise, the first few days were as hot as Texas. As usually happens, the season changed abruptly last Saturday. Daytime highs are in the 80s so it's very pleasant.
Freya came down to visit just before her birthday so we had a little celebration. Salvador Burgos came over later in the evening. He brought a bottle of his Mas Sinen rosΓ© and some home-grown tomatoes. It was a fun pairing! Salvador is a lively lad and ended up staying past midnight.
Siebe and his childhood buddy Sam came last weekend. Sam is also from Australia and is touring Europe for a couple of months. These guys are a lot of fun. They were headed to the Tomatina near Valencia. It's billed as the world's largest food fight with 20,000 paying attendees. Siebe described the event as "mental". Apparently, it's very popular with Australians. For complete info, go to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Tomatina
Although it's raining right now, the historic drought continues. Most of the farmers I talk to are reporting yields of 25-30% of a normal crop. This year has been a disaster. Everything is ripening at once. We will pick my vineyards on Tuesday. The fruit looks pretty good overall but we're noticing some dehydration in about 15% of the clusters. It's time to bring them in! I've been able to irrigate so my yield will only be down a little (hopefully!).
Sam and a blurry Siebe at the Tomatina.