October 21st 1981

Of course, another day of picking, tho’ thankfully we are now approaching the end.  In fact, at one point today we did think it might be our last day of picking, since there didn’t seem to be many trees left, but that was not to be.  I broke the day at lunchtime to drive into town to perform some chores.  I had to post some cards to the mums; to call in at the library to check on West Ham’s progress (regress, in fact – they lost + slipped to 4^th or 5^th.)  Then to Safeway, to pick up a film we’d put in there for developing; to Woolworth’s to buy a new bulb for our torch; + finally the most important task of all, to deposit the cash we’d received from Mrs K.  It brought the total up to almost $1500 Canadian.  Pretty good, + more to come.  Then back, to join the merry pickers.

A few words about the silly things one does while picking.  Rob told us he frequently spotted an apple in the grass, + would bend down to pick it up, only to discover it was the red toe of his welly.  We would joke that he only discovered his error when he emptied his bag into the bin.  Val says that she has tried to pick her hand, + I once really confused myself by spotting an apple, grabbing it, turning it, + being disconcerted to see it wasn’t, in fact, turning – I’d clutched an apple immediately behind it.  But the best of all (I think) came today.  In the past I’d frequently climbed the ladder without wearing my bag, + very easy it was too.  But today, when I got back, I climbed the ladder, picked 2 apples, + dropped them down my front, before I realised I was bag-less!  Ho hum.

In the evening, I worked for an extra 20 mins while Val returned + lit the fire, + started the dinner.  We had cauliflower cheese, with absolutely masses of cheese sauce.  No we didn’t, we had curry – much too much of it in fact, so we shoved some in a dish + put it in the fridge.  A lazy evening – I finished “In Cold Blood” – an excellent book.

Managed to slip away for a bit, I note, as per usual, though at least it was me who stayed on for a while this evening.  Can’t say the apple adventures were quite as amusing as I clearly found them at the time – you had to be there, I suppose.