I decided I would take you all along with me gathering my grapevines. Too bad you couldn’t help pull and tug on them. ;) I took some pix of what us country folks call a holler. ;) It’s suppose to be a hollow…. but everyone says holler. Some pretty shots of the holler. ;)
In this next pic you can see just how long these grapevines are! They have these trees just wrapped up!
I wanted to show some of you that haven’t seen the grapevine in the wild…… see those things hanging off the vine? This one had it all over it. I put it against the tree so you could see them better. It’s like strings…. I’m not sure but I think the vine clings onto things with these.
Some on the ground that I have actually cut and gotten down out of the trees. These things had went into like 4-5 trees and were really hooked on.
I am behind the pond dam taking the pix and getting the grapevines.
See what a tangled mess? Some of these vines have been here for many many years. I have gathered grapevines here many times. I always have a good selection to choose from. lol
Wanted to show you this because you will be able to see this one good since it’s against the tree. Not a large vine but still neat how it has hugged this tree. ;)
And another shot so you can see on up the tree.
I need to come rake up some of these leaves and put in my flower beds! lol
Anyway I had tugged and pulled until I was about to pass out when I heard my cell phone ringing in my coat pocket that was hanging IN the tree. ;) I had gotten hot and taken it off. So I managed to get to the phone before it stopped ringing and it was my DH. He was wondering WHERE I was. hee hee….. so I tell him I’m in the holler behind the pond dam and I need some help pulling this vine out of this tree! I was gasping for breath while I was trying to talk. He had went to town and came back and I was gone. Anyway he said he would be right there.
Well he and I together still COULD NOT get that vine out of that tree! Actually it was in TWO trees and we pulled and yanked and pulled and yanked until at one point both of us was sitting on the side of the hill! ;) We were rolling in laughter because I just sat down when it let go of the tree just a little. We finally gave up on it and decided to cut it apart so we could get at least SOME of it out. I wanted the bigger vines since I was going to be putting them around the poles on our front porch. We finally wound up pulling 3 bunches out of that one vine after I cut it but never did manage to get the bigger vine out of those two trees. I hated that to since I had cut it and couldn’t get it out of there. But the way that thing grows it will be covered again by next winter.
Anyway we did manage to get enough for the porch poles and a little extra I do believe. ;) DH and I made a wreath out of a little of it this evening while we were trying to get it all separated. We piled it up and pulled it home in two batches, he pulled one and I pulled one. It was suppose to start raining this evening and also rain tomorrow so I was trying to get it fixed as far as I could go with it. Then my plans were, if it’s separated out here in the yard and I need one-two more pieces of it to wrap around the poles I can just run out there and grab it when it’s not raining hard. I did get all 6 poles wrapped with a little of it before I had to stop. I was afraid after the freeze we had AND the snow it wouldn’t be pliable but it was. It really needs to bend really well to be able to do anything with it. Once it dries it will break and not do right.
I bet we both will be so sore tomorrow after all of this but it WAS FUN!
I am going to wrap some more of them around the poles tomorrow I hope and then add the ribbon in them and be done! I have the wreath I bought already to hang as well.
Then MAYBE I can put the lights ON the tree! I don’t think I have EVER been THIS LATE getting my house decorated for Christmas!!!! It seems every time I get started on it DH comes around and says, let’s go some place. So there goes my decorating! DD is going to be home tomorrow so maybe she can help me get it finished.
Hope you enjoyed your trip to the holler with me. ;)
Rose