James, hold the ladder steady*

Joyce and Judy left on the plane from Kyiv this morning at 7:00 am. Tanya and I put them on the train in Dnipropetrovsk last night at 5:00. We'd had a great visit (more on that in a bit) and all four of us were tired out, I think. We drove home and were in bed by 9:00. They got to the airport at midnight and had a five-hour wait to check in time.

Today we picked apples. About 300 kgs or twenty 20-litre buckets worth. Of course, that pails in comparison to the amount left on the trees that we can't reach. Anything over 4 meters up remains unpicked. Tanya did the climbing and picking as she doesn't think the ladder will hold me. My job was to steady the ladder and haul buckets of apples to the passageway room where we will sort them into eating apples and juice apples. Lucia has an apple press which we will borrow to make juice. Steadying the ladder was no simple task as the ground is all soft and muddy. Tanya only needed me once when the ladder started to tip and I had to rush to the rescue. (I'm trying to work something in here about ladder reign but think I'll leave it).

Tanya can get Bobik to eat an apple if she bites it and gives the bite to him. Volk wants no part of it. Lucia was over picking windfalls which she takes to a neighbour lady in trade for milk. The neighbour's cow quite likes apples and she won't let her milk down now until she gets her apple treat at milking time. Cows learn quickly what works.

* Obscure reference. Who recorded it first and in what year for 50 poinjts and entry into the BIG draw? Bonus points if you don't have to use Google.