We finished picking in mid- November, with a final total of 3 tons of olives. Pretty small amount for us, especially following a year with 23 tons. But if it's any consolation, all the farmers in our region had similar yields. Some did not even bother to pick. Jan and Ruth arrived soon after, and we started pruning together with Elan. It has been going well, but then 10 days of rain put things on hold. Yesterday we finally made it back out to the olives to continue pruning.  As you can see in the picture, the lower part of the grove got pretty flooded as it does most years. Doesn't seem to cause any problems, since it dries up w/in a few days.  The days now are sunny and cool- perfect weather for being outside.  The trees seem to like it to. Getting a little winter nap time.

December 13th, 2013. Israel is in its second day of a major rainstorm, and snow in Jerusalem and the higher elevations. And at Gezer- is that snow? Hail? Whatever it is, the kibbutz this afternoon was coated in white cold stuff that is something we don't see very often.
After a November that was a continuation of the summer, we have had rain for 8 out of the last 9 days. About 170 mm, which is over 1/3 of our yearly average of 450 mm. And cold too, reaching down to about 5 degrees Celsius. 
Two weeks ago we celebrated finishing the olive harvest with our annual olive party. For the 2nd year we held the party in the FUBU, Gezer's new pub.  You can see pictures and read a transcript of Jan's version of creation at the Olive Party sidebar.