Enjoying the "Fruits" of Our Labor

On the first day of this New Year, immediately after I completed a 5 mile run, the kids & I went to my mom's house on Mt. Helix to work in her grove while she was away.



This was an incredible task to complete! My mom and her husband have 10 orange and lemon trees. While Bea was napping inside, Wyatt and I picked over 2500 pieces of fruit from her overgrown trees.



As we picked the fruit, we placed them in a large tub, and then I carried this tub of 200+ oranges or lemons up a jagged outdoor staircase to the main level of her property. We did that 14 times.

Wyatt was a great help. And when he wasn't, he was perfecting the art of acting like a billy goat. My mom has some amazingly LARGE rocks/caves in her yard that Wyatt loves to perch himself on top of, and sing "The Sound of Mousic's, The Lonely Goatherd"...you know the tune...

"High on a hill was a lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo..."

After we picked the fruit, we brought a small portion of the oranges inside the house to begin juicing them one by one.



At this point, I was beyond spent! It took us an hour to juice 2 large pitchers full of orange juice...I threw in the towel.

Again, my mom has thousands of oranges and lemons that she would LOVE to give away before they go bad, so if you are wanting some fresh squeezed orange juice with your morning breakfast, or a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade with your lunch, boy do I have the hook-up! (Seriously.)