One might refer to "a kid in a candy store" as pure delight and excess.
Well Tuesday night I discovered the ferret version. "A ferret in a
winery". My SO and I make wine in the fall the old fashioned way, we step
on it. Well my grapes came in at the worst possible time, and it was cold
outside, so we did our stomping in the kitchen instead of the patio. Well,
the ferrets loved it!
I carry in 6 boxes of grapes (36 lb each). Ferrets running around
underfoot. What excitement, BOXES!!! Then we (SO and I) remove ferrets
from gaps in boxes. I could see the gleam in their eyes. Esef had to
explain to Albi, Merri and Mint that these are what raisins are made from.
Then things got rough as understanding set in. I tried to pour the grapes
into big tubs for stomping. Well wouldn't you know it, Ferrets were
clinging to the side of the tub. Albi jumped in. Repeatedly! As grapes
fell out of the tub, we would scoop them up as fast as possible, but those
occasional licks were almost starting a feeding frenzy.
Then when our first batch was ready to be stomped (72lbs of Cabernet &
Gamay grapes) I started getting thoughts that weren't my own. "Are they
raisins yet?", "Sun dry!", "Pour grapes on floor!". I resisted mostly. I
chopped two grapes in half and passed out bribes. Then Sandy (SO) climbed
into the tub and started to stomp. I could almost feel the tension.
"NOOOOOO!!!! Don't step on the raisins!" Pop! Albi and Mint were hanging
off the side of the tub trying to get in to help stomp. Sandy was
stomping, and I was removing ferrets. I know I only have four, but it was
flying fur time! After a little while they stopped trying to get in and
moved to circling. They kept circling the tub, with an occasional stop at
the washbasin of water (for cleaning feet and the occasional ferret).
After we did the Cabernet, we moved on to a Chardonnay then a Muscat.
Between batches was probably the ferrets favorite part. Sandy would step
into the wash basin while I moved tubs around and got grapes ready. Well,
some of you probably know how much ferrets like to lick water off your feet
after a shower. Imagine if that water was grape juice! And not just grape
juice, but wine grape juice which is much sweeter. Sandy was hopping.
Four little tongues sure do tickle. My arms and hands were fair game also.
Happy Happy Ferrets! Sometime during the second batch, Albi, Merri & Mint
wandered off to dream about raisins I suppose. But not Esef, the little
chunky one. Nope, she patrolled the kitchen non-stop for about three
hours. One of my favorite moments was when Esef caught a Muscat grape.
Half crushed, but still almost too big to fit in her mouth. Sandy held up
Esef, and it was obvious that Esef did NOT want to let go of that grape.
The grape was to big for her to chew without dropping, so she just sat
there as juice flowed down her mouth and whiskers. Her eyes were saying
"just put me and the grape down and no body will get hurt".
I didn't have the heart to tell them that I wasn't making raisin soup. I'm
not looking forward to their litterbox tonight either, although I don't
think any ferret got more than two grapes. I guess this year, Chateau
Coffey earned the right to put a little picture of a ferret on each bottle
of wine. Yes, I took pictures, although I'm sure I missed the most
exciting ones. I think that Merri is working on a story for their web
page. I'll have to see how that goes.
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Bryan P. Coffey - Boston, MA
[log in to unmask]
http://www.gis.net/~bpcoffey
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Weasel Warriors - Albi, Esef, Merri, and Mint
http://www.gis.net/~bpcoffey/furball.html
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[Posted in FML issue 2462]
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