Doth gire and gimble

We’ve quit!!! YAY! Basically we ran out of good apple trees and had to go back to trees that we had already colour picked (colour picking is taking just the ripe fruit off the trees) .We gave it a go yesterday but only manage to pick 4 bins between us in 5 hours which was exhausting and soul destroying climbing up trees for 5-10 apples.
We aren’t too worried as there seems to be a lot of other work around and it gives us a break from all the hard graft and getting up at 5:30am.

Reading through the blog it seems like we have done nothing but work and sleep in the last month which isn’t true as we have gone on little adventures most weekends so I’ll try to fill in a few places now.

On the 28th February for our wedding anniversary we went a couple of hours north and camped at a site called Bestbrook which is mix of farm/stables with chalets and camping down by a creek.
We went horse riding which was Bel’s first ever time on a horse and my first time for 20yrs. It was a very gentle introduction except Bel's horse knew who was really boss so she had little control but the horse knew where it was going anyway and basically we got led around for a couple of hours along a creek and then in to the eucalyptus forest which was most pleasant and only left me slightly saddle sore for the next couple of days.

In the evening we had a meal at the main house (hmmm steak) and end up chatting to the owner and his friend Barney till late, then went back to the campsite with Barney to sit by the campfire we had prepared earlier in true Blue Peter fashion. Whilst talking to Barney, it turned out that Bel had worked for one of his mates many years ago so they gabbled on whilst I stared at the amazing array of stars.
The next day Barney drove us in his 4WD to the top of the hill to see the view down the valley which was awesome except for the combination of a hangover with the bumpy ride.

It was a great break away and left us feeling very energised.

For my birthday we went with friends Jeff & Katrina to the Steakhouse across the road for dinner which was lovely but subdued as it was a school night. Yummy more steak…. If there is one thing they do right here it's the steaks…..:drool:


Last Saturday we went off to J & K's plot of land which they bought last year, about 20Kms west of Stanthorpe. We had a very lovely evening around the camp fire with another couple Bob & Emmie who introduced me to campfire cooking (garlic mushrooms wrapped in foil & cooked on hot coals are superb) and then later Bel jammed on the trumpet (the nearest neighbour is a good few Kms away) with Bob on guitar & djeme.
It's a beautiful spot and J&K are planning to build a house on it so I have my first project as an eco designer helping them with the design.

Uphill struggles

OK, so the first week of picking was hell. Especially for Bryn cos he had to put up with me whinging about how hard it was. A couple of weeks later, when we were comfortable with it, we went from being paid hourly to contract. Contract means you are paid a piece rate, in our case $30 for a bin that is about a metre cubed, so we now have to fill 5 bins a day each to match our hourly rate, though while paid hourly managed about 3.

It's amazing how you can rise to the challenge when there are financial implications. On Monday we picked 13 between us without stretching ourselves too far and had reached a point where we were feeling pretty good about how well we were doing .. but then, right on cue, came the next challenge. Today we were moved to a new field where the trees are a lot taller than before, therefore requiring more time on ladders. This has slowed us down hugely and we only picked 9 between us and left feeling utterly frustrated. I know in a few days we will probably be coping with this as well as previous challenges but right now it seems to be a pretty tough call.

Anyway, that's about all I have the energy to write about today. Despite the hard yakka, we are enjoying being outdoors and being in touch with what goes on around us. In an office, you're very immune to the world outside.