The aftermath

The grape harvest seems to be complete. In the vineyard parcels where harvesting is done by machine, you can see the naked stems where there once were grapes. The machines vibrate the vines and suck the grapes right off the stem. In the manual process, the stem is cut at the top and goes into the press with the grapes. The ghostly bunches seem fitting for this time of year.

What's left after the harvester passes.

I'm having problems with my chainsaw. It starts up, but after about a minute it stalls. Then it takes nearly a hundred pulls to get it started back up again (after which I'm too tired to cut). When it finally does start up, it makes a lot of smoke. There's probably a problem with carburetor, but I'm no mechanic and can't imagine taking the thing apart.

I will take the machine to the shop to see if they can do anything. The chainsaw is twenty years old (I bought it used and have had four good years of use), so I may have to face the facts and retire it. We shall see.