The moment has arrived!

The last two weeks have been fun but busy here on the farm. Jon left for a holiday so Aldo and I pulled double duty at the riding center and the kiwi farm (we just had to walk the dogs everyday). Both of us are becoming skilled horsemen and we have slipped quite nicely into a routine.

Sayer with a Skyrian

Attila constructing an oven made of clay and horse poop

Last Thursday, we had the day off for "Ochi day," one of Greece's national holidays (Ochi is the Greek way of saying no). During World War 2, Benito Mussolini demanded that Axis forces be allowed to enter Greece and fortify positions to aid them in the war. Greeks took to the streets and yelled "ochi" as a protest to the request. The Italians invaded anyways, but the day is commemorated all the same.

We headed down to Corfu Town to watch the festivities. For some reason, we were under the impression that there would be a huge parade and plenty of shenanigans to hold our attention. In reality, the entire celebration consisted of different groups of school children marching by in matching uniforms. After they passed, everyone left. With nothing else to see, we retreated to George's for lunch.

Our only other note-worthy adventure last week was Halloween! Jon got back on Saturday night and we each set aside clothes and ideas to be used. We talked George into letting us come to his restaurant for dinner and karaoke (oh, no....) and on Sunday night we stormed in and took over the place.

Some of the costumes: Aldo as a Scotsman, Sayer as Wolverine from X-men, Attila as Rambo, Jon as a Judo master, Sharon as a cat, Ann as Morticia, and Sophie as something. Captain George had on a fake nose, but the winner of the night was Mrs. Steen. She came down a few minutes after us and walked in with a mask and several shawls. No one could guess who would come dressed as a hag, and when she ripped off the mask we all laughed a great deal. What a great sense of humor!

The night was full of horrible renditions of the classics, great food, plenty of wine, and a good deal of fellowship. Our playlist included "Barbi Girl," "YMCA," and other hits by O-town, Boys 2 Men, Garth Brooks, and Joe Cocker. It was one of the best halloweens either of us could remember (now we want to forget it...).

Us with Captain George

Us with Attila and Jon after a hard night's rockin'

Monday we headed across the island to Pelekas beach and Kaiser's throne. From the vantage point we could see both sides of the island. We taught the guys how to play beteyah and spent an hour or so on the beach before coming back for dinner.

Kaiser's throne with Corfu Town in the background (We decided to shave and get haircuts!)

Life has resumed as normal this week, with the exception of one thing. (Drumroll). We started the kiwi harvest! The last two days have been spent picking the largest fruits from the tree and storing them in the shed. Our tractor broke so we are pulling carts by ourselves, but we are still making good time and bringing in a good haul.

The kiwi farm

The fruits of our labors

The picking should last about 4 weeks due to the inconsistency on each tree. We can't just go and grab every kiwi because some of them still need to mature. We make an initial pass for the big ones, then in a week or two we will double back and collect the rest. As it stands at the moment, none of the kiwi are ripe. We pick them when they are quite firm and they ripen after being separated from the tree (this makes it hard to snack during work).