My back, My back, my back

Yes we are still picking apricots (and occasionally cherries - but they have now finished). The picking gets easier on a strip pick as you take everything off the tree and it is sooooooo good. the bags also seem lighter by the time you have picked many days worth. Yesterday I picked 83 bags 830kg of apricots and made about $100 yippee! today we were not strip picking to begin with but on first pick - colour picking. This is definetely not fun as there is too much to do in checking the colour before you put it in your bag or worse still take it off the tree. However that changed later to a strip pick - thank God!

A few of our number have left us and we have new people in who don't like mixing or even trying to talk to us so the 'oldies' tend to keep to ourselves as well - but not by choice. Two nights ago Giacomo, an Italien, had a birthday and we made a cake (lots of fun making a chocolate mousse) and decorated it. It looked very nice and he was so surprised it made it all worth while. However when it came to eating it (I had jelly to contend with as I can't eat the cake even if I did help make it) we managed a lot of it but got slightly distracted when it turned into a food fight in the garden. Cake, chocolate mousse, jelly, cream, chocolate sauce went flying everywhere - it was so much fun. Then once the 'newbies' had disappeared and we were sitting outside still enjoying the night we got soaked by a game played by all of us suggested by Chris (the little terror) She was the only one not soaked as she was the one who soaked us!!! We didn't know about the soaking to begin with and Matt, Steven, Seira, Giacomo and me got quite a shock - but it was utterly hilarious. Then we watched the stars and caught the occasional shooting star sitting up very late and still being tired by the time we went to bed (and through the next day). Yesterday was pancake Tuesday - upheld even if the rest of the country and most others have never heard of it. There were loads of pancakes and lots of toppings so it was nice to bake togehter again (something we haven't done for a long while together) I had to go to bed early as 2 nights being very late in a row and picking apricots dring the day is not good for you!!!

On a not so much fun note. Fraser the manager of the hostel is trying top chuck out the 'oldies' - he has being hinting at it for a few weeks and has taken the liberty of pencilling in the dates we are leaving even if we haven't said anything. Not because we are trouble makers or are causing any trouble at all but (we think) because we're not interested in our big days out sitting in coffee shops and marvelling at the baristas style of serving - how ruddy boring can you get! Or the fact that we don't over marvel on the fantastic dishes that are in the hostel that he buys - it's a backpackers has nobody informed him - matching white plates and Italien glasses don't quite suit us!!! So this is our last weekend together (the 'oldies') as we are sick of him and next weekend we will all be leaving if we haven't already left (a very, very sad thought) So we are trying to have the weekend off and go a trip together one last time.

So enjoy lent and all the fasting - I know you will do your best!!!