Ho hum, another month, tho’ it must be admitted its entry passed without comment. Mr K came along at an early hour, while I was still in bed + Val was only half-dressed. However, he assumed we were raring to go, and offered us a ride up to the house to collect our bags. When he realised we weren’t quite ready, he offered to fetch them for us. Meanwhile, I leapt out of bed + we grabbed a hasty breakfast before trotting out to start work.
We were setting out on Golden Delicious. The disadvantages of them are that they bruise incredibly easily, so have to be treated with great delicacy, yet can be real buggers to pull off the trees. However, on the plus side, they are bigger than the Macs we’d been picking, making it easier to fill a bin. Mr K gave us a couple of pairs of gloves, so that we wouldn’t bruise the apples with our fingers, + off we went. And very well we did too – we quite amazed ourselves. By about 4.30 we’d filled 4 bins, + this despite treating the apples gently. Mind you this was mainly because the apples were so enormous., especially next to the track leading up to old Mrs Kuipers’ house, which was where we started. We were disappointed, in fact, when another couple turned up – an older pair. We’d rather hoped the 3 of us Britishers would be allowed to do them between us, but still. By the end of the day – 6.30 is about as late as it’s possible to work now before it gets dark – Val + I had amassed 7… a new record. However, we certainly felt the effects of a hard day’s work again.
We had a good meal of leeks + beans on toast, + then just about collapsed around the room, reading – we didn’t even have the energy to play dice or cards. I’m reading a book called “Killer” at the moment – it’s a biography of a guy called Carl Pazram, + a very nasty piece of work he sounds too.
Apologies for the clumsy English. I should point out that these diaries were always written in one go, without the benefit if any editing, so sometimes it’s remarkable that they make any sense at all.
There will be regular reports on our reading matter. We had very little choice in what we read, pretty much exchanging books as we went, but always carrying four or five, to avoid the disaster of being without. Kelowna offered a little more choice, of course, but I have no idea how I came to be reading such an unlikely book… for me, at any rate.
Leave a Reply