GenUwine at One Month Old!

GenUwine and his nurse mother Enduring Flight

Genuwine was born on Thursday April 19, 2012. His mother Kool Valley was a first time mother at twelve and we were quite concerned about her giving birth so we watched her very carefully and put her in a paddock each night and checked her every few hours. She gave birth in the early hours of April 19 and we were there to help her with the birth. She gave birth to GenUwine a beautiful colt who has the markings of his two grandmothers!  Our excitement and joy was soon tempered by health problems that both mare and foal were experiencing. Kool Valley was in a lot of pain and we had our local vet Dr. Gold come up to see her and GenUwine. Dr. Gold gave her pain meds and she seemed to be improving that Saturday evening, but on Sunday morning she took a turn for the worse and Jim loaded her on our van along with Genuwine and headed to UC Davis. The hospital had been alerted of our mare's condition and were ready for his arrival, but when Jim opened the back of trailer, she was dead and Genuwine was crouched in the corner.
The vets tried to get Genuwine out of the trailer but he wouldn't leave his mother. So Jim got inside the trailer and carefully walked him through his mother's legs and down the ramp. He was escorted into the vet hospital and examined thoroughly. He was admitted to the hospital and put on an IV.

Sundown at RustRidge after a great Kentucky Derby Day!

Chris & friends

Watching the prelude to the Derby

Enjoying the fabulous "First Saturday in May."

Lovely hats for the Derby

Happy Kentucky Derby Day!

Wine Thief is preparing for his run for the roses in 2015!

Spring Chores

Chris working in the winery racking last year's harvest.

Cellar work happens in the evenings at the ranch

Its time to mow the rows between the vines. With  dry weather this week,   Jim will be able to make some headway.

I took a hike with Susan and it was so beautiful in the hills of Chiles Valley.

Spring has sprung!

And the work goes on

So much to tell you, so little time...
Lets start with Chris, this guy loves to make wine and is helping Susan in the eellar
and he wants to know everything about the vineyard so Jim is showing him how to prune vines.

Here is Chris with George (the cat)

Jim is explaining the finer points of pruning

Getting down to business

Good cuts, Chris!

More technique

Doing good, Chris!

What do we do after supervising the pruning crew, soak in a few rays  of course!

 But it is not all about vineyards, there are horses here after all.

"Angry horses", this photo is not appropriate for the RustRidge website. But it is so funny I had to include it here.

Lost in the Fog (A famous racehorse had that name) can you spot the horse?

Angry horses can become excited horses

Writing a blog can be exhausting

Between storms

We are happy that the rains have finally arrived and surprisingly, we had a beautiful Saturday after over an inch of rain during the night. On Sunday the rains came back but we are enjoying the change in weather. After all, we need to fill our reservoirs so we can go swimming and all the plants and trees need a good drink so yes we are glad  that winter weather has finally arrived.  Bring on the rain!

The best part about going out in the vineyard during pruning season

is laying in the grass and soaking up the rays

or digging for gophers and chasing rabbits