The poet, Henry James, summed up life nicely. He said: "Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind."

The grapes look ready...but are they? You are supposed to base their readiness on the sugar content and the ph level. Using a little tool called a refractometer will measure the Brix level, which is the sugar content of the grapes. The other little tool you need is a ph meter. So, we know what our levels are and we are ready for some to be harvested!

This is the man that taught me everything I know about grapes, growing, harvesting, being a good friend and neighbor, life, and living and being kind. I can just look at his face and see the kindness stamped on it. I learned so much from him. His wife and he are my neighbors at the Shore House. When I want to get away from the rat race of Washington, DC, I come out here to hide for a while.Did I mention hs is Norweigan? He is. He was also in the Foreign Legion. So many other things. But, most of all, he is kind. So very kind.

He is actually a retired teacher, but never really stopped teaching. He fills in at school and fills up his life helping those in need. He is the first person I see when I go to the shore, he wanders through my yard on the way to the post office. Yes! It is a little town and we all go to the post office to get out mail. You can put up a mailbox and the next town over will deliver it, but, we like the social life at the post office. Seriously. We have one widow who dresses up like she is going to a fancy lunch, and drives her old Lincoln two doors down to the post office. No judging, she is 96 and her heels would hurt to walk that far. Okay, maybe we smile a little, but, she is well loved and we would miss her if she didn't do the daily diligence.

If you look closely, you can see that the grapes are not all being harvested. We will get a few bottles of wine and perhaps a batch of jam. If not enough for the jam, we will mix it with something else. We have picked all the fruit, save the pears, which should be ripe and ready the next time I go there.

We already have a variety of jams made and some fruit frozen and ready to be made. Summer had been extremely busy and I haven't had time to finish it up. Fall will be a little kind with time. One can hope, right? So tell me, what is your favorite kind of jam or jelly? They are all my favorites, but isn't that cheating? So tell me, do! What does it for you?

Little miss Muffet she sat on her tuffet, eating her curds eating and whey
Along came a spider who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away
~English Nursery Rhyme

To be fair, I not only screamed like a little girl, but I also ran away. Across the lasn anyway...I don't like spiders. Truth be told, or snakes. I almost want to break out in song.

All I have are my words, armed in my mind, written in pen, stand by stand. Oh, yes. Still by hand. It has a different feel. Altered not by keys, backspace, and delete, I write, erase, tear it to pieces and start all over again. And again.

It’s my way. I walk out to the deep end of the page and dive right in.

Flowers. Always. To color my world. #alwaysaflower. As always, keep on singing that song!! And just like that, this post is done. Thank you for stopping by and saying hello, leaving your words behind... and just so you know, although much sun and shine were used up today, I can guarantee that there is still a little left in my heart. Have a fabulous day! And keep on Hiving! That never gets old!

Thank you for visiting my post 💖 Because of you, I come back to post, again and again. Keep it classy, people. Kindness counts. Wherever you go, whatever you do.

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The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost