I've got a sock tan

We've pruned for 8 days now, and we've all got some very sexy sock tans. I know you're all quite jealous, and all I can say is that getting a sock tan is hard work. You have to really want it, work hard and it will come to you. Our pruning outfits got more and more curious everyday. We started out in shorts, flip-flops and raincoats. They've got these damn weeds here that stick to everything. If you were cotton, you're doomed. Day 2 there was no pruning because there was a faint drizzle and Roy made us go back to bed and sleep in. On day 3 we gave up the flip-flops and started wearing our boots. This continued for a couple more days before we desperately needed to do some laundry. At this point Jen started wearing Roys clothes for pruning, and I doned a skirt and one of Roys t-shirts. Roy is 64 years old, maybe 5' 10" and you wouldn't call him skinny. Needless to say, we looked ridiculous. But we continued to wear these things for the rest of the week, and they were great. Then I had a bought of stupidity and reverted back to my flip-flops, which resulted in an ant bite on my left big toe. Now, I didn't think ant bites hurt that much, but my toe was stinging for the next 2 hours. Won't do that again. Overall our experience has been great. We pruned nearly Roys whole vineyard inluding Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Durif and Chambourcin.

Today we worked at the Broke Fair. Roy hosted a Wine and Tapas event where he as the winemarker talked about all the wines. He had the easy job. Jen and I worked liked crazy people. The food was created, cooked and prepped by an absolutely wonderful and organized woman named Wendy. But we swtill had alot to do to get the food ready to be served and to serve it at the event. We've been washing our hands and dishes for the last 24 hours. I think we need a vacation now :) The downside to all of this work is that we virtually missed the Broke Fair. Australia is crazy. The fair really started going around 11:00 am, but it finished up very promptly at 3:00. Wierd. But we did see some really cool vintage cars. Maybe next year...

We're now off to our next host. In Broke. This little town has the ability to suck any body in. Everyone is so nice, and they all invite you to dinner. How can you say no to that? Marion, our next host, who happened to already have us over for dinner (great cook!) will be putting us the work in her gardens and at her sons 30th birthday party. We'll let you know how it is.

And I keep mentioning food, so I'll share a little bit about Australian food with you. If somebody uses Australian as an adjective for a dish or food item, what they are really saying is "with beets." Like so:"
"Would you like to try an Australian salad?" "Why, what is an Australian salad?" "Ay it's just a regular salad with beets." Right.
"Would you like to try an Australian Big Mac?" I think, no. But say "Why, waht is an Australian Big Mac?" "Ay, it's just a regualr Big Mac with beets!" Right. Of course it is.
Jen is in beet heaven. This country was made for her.

And as a last note, we had so many comments in the beginning, and it was so nice! Now we don't know if nobody is reading or you've all just stopped commenting... Just so you know (if you're reading) we really like the comments. They make us feel loved :)