The Sisterhood and the Travelling Grape Juice - Fleur Lind
A short story from Warwick writer Fleur Lind
Warwick
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The Sisterhood and the Travelling Grape Juice
It was 'that' time of year.
A year had flown by, as I kept an eye on my grape vine in the backyard.
When I saw those tiny green leaves pop out from the buds dotted along the vines, I would nod with a calm but expectant smile.
I knew the weeks would fly by as they grew, stretching the vine, grasping onto anything in it's path for stability.
Eventually, tiny pinhead sized beads of grape clusters would appear.
The comfortably hot Timaru sun in NZ shone down and those pinheads grew plump and juicy.
The rain fell just enough to benefit their growth.
The weather Gods always played nice for my grapes.
As time went by I would tend the vines, trim back the leaf growth to allow maximum growth into the grapes.
On my daughter's birthday and the end of daylight savings, they were ready.
My 2 preserving pans came out of hiding from the back of the cupboard.
I would allow up to a week to make my juice.
It was always a labour of love and usually a messy one.
Thanks to our dear friends Rex and Helen in Nelson for their guidance on juice-making many years ago; deep red, scrumptious juice would flow from my organic Ebony Beauty grapes.
I filled 15 750ml bottles that year.
They were boxed up and put in a dark cool place, with the remainder of the previous year's pick.
When we packed up to move to Warwick, I took a box and the remainder was stored at our son's place.
Fast forward two and a half years.
Like history repeating, our son was selling his house.
On a recent holiday we rescued the juice and one sip told me it was as delicious as ever.
It had to be re-homed, so off it went to Anne's, for drinking and storage.
I contacted more friends, offering a bottle.
My juice was on the move again.
The juice was bound for an awesome sisterhood I have known for years.
We had shared each other's 'pot-holes' of life, so from health issues to house shifting and hectic work schedules, my grape juice will help pump up their tyres.
The elixir of Life.
Fleur Lind
Originally published as The Sisterhood and the Travelling Grape Juice - Fleur Lind
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