Could be better

Winter sunsets are often glorious

It has been one of those weeks. Nothing catastrophic happened, but it could have been better at times. Yes we had some cold windy weather, which wasn't pleasant but we didn't have much in the way of snow, even parts of the UK got it worse than we did, a real beast from the East as opposed to the poodle in the East for some. We have about the same 25cm of snow we had last week. It certainly wasn't melting much in the sun, it was too cold. This did mean the first issue we had was frozen heating pipes or at least on the way to being frozen. The wind was causing a north facing wall to cool the pipes to near freezing when we discovered it, when a radiator refused to warm up. That meant three days in a row up at our other apartment during the day to run the wood fired heating to defrost it. The first day was rather chilly, the second day was pleasant and by the third day the heat had been absorbed by the walls and the pipe unthawed. At least we escaped any burst pipes this time around. At the same time Ian also tried to fix a leak in water pipe. Let's just say the pipe is fixed, but now the new valve leaks. There were certain utterances about the quality of components that you get here and not being good enough - or at least that is my translation of the utterances. Being slightly deaf is wonderful at times.

Yes it was cold and no you shouldn't take
selfies in the cold. The phone does not like it
nor do your fingers. Hehe! So here I am with
about five layers under a fleece lined coat, a
thermal hat with my hood up ( a rare sight)
alpaca scarf and a thermal layer under ski pants.
It was just about bearable because the buildings
sheltered me from the wind

Ian had taken the precaution of ensuring the battery was
always topped up so it would start on cold mornings. The
short runs to and from our land, of course are not good on
the car. Unfortunately it was not enough

Just as we got the pipes sorted the car started acting up again. By then we were seeing highs of around -8C. As a friend pointed out, that feels very spring-like when temperatures have been dipping to the low -20s with one night down to -28C. But for some reason the increasing temperatures sets off our intermittent fault that we still haven't worked out the cause of. I say "we", what I really mean is Ian and various other folks that at least have some knowledge of cars, I merely nod knowingly and don't usually have a clue. I understand if it is explained to me, but I don't really tend to be very interested in the inner workings of a car, until it goes wrong on me of course. Anyway the car spluttered for a few days in the mornings, until one day it decided not to splutter into life at all. It would of course be a day when we were expecting a visit from someone.

You just have to scratch that itch. Alpaca yoga

It sparkles like a field of diamonds

Fortunately we have some very good friends around here and were able to call someone for a lift. It could have been possible to catch a bus, but we have to take out water and supplies for the day and carrying 25 litres of water all the way to the bus stop is not easy. Ian has been taking warm water out, as some animals prefer it - some prefer the snow! The car, however, is still sat outside our apartment and Ian has had a lift in on the the last few days from one of the neighbouring farmers who also lives in the village.

George trying out his new harness. So far, so good. This is the
start of halter training in preparation for taking them on walks.
Also life is simpler when they are halter trained

Freddie sporting his new harness too. He was so calm

Our visitor turned up as planned and we took him around our land to show him various oak trees that we were worried about. One of them was a reasonably mature oak, maybe about 80 years old, with a rapidly spreading fungal infection. He showed us several places of concern on the tree that suggested it was indeed starting to struggle. We will have the oak removed because it is likely to end up on the barn in the future, otherwise. He also noticed that fungus was starting to appear on another oak nearby.  The other one may have some other trees removed from around it and then we can see if it recovers - depending on what the fungus is though.

Mum and Auntie V looking on

The two unbalanced oak trees are in the centre of the
picture and yes I am out on a ski run. My third time this
year. I have only fallen over once too and that was
because this section was icier than the other side that had
filled with snow on my first run round.

Two oak trees on our land have lost large limbs at some stage but our visitor says they are still okay, but they will be topped to balance them up a bit and give the tree some stability. Also it should encourage some of the new growth from further down. Another oak tree will also be removed as it is fairly close to the road and is hollow. As we were going round our visitor explained how we should trim the small oaks to help them grow into balanced trees, which was really useful. He loved our large oak tree and said that it was protected since it was over 4.5m circumference. We thought they were protected above 5m but apparently that changed. Not that we would even consider cutting that majestic tree down and Ian is working on clearing around it to keep it healthy too.

Snowscapes are so amazing I think. The way they cover the
landscape and change it and smooth out the contours

Chanel licking the salt block. She has been enjoying the
warm water that Ian has brought in from home. Aggie
meanwhile, continues prefers to eat the snow.

Later on in the day we discovered another issue to deal with. Chanel is still struggling with her health and her skin was looking rather scabby. When I got up close to look though I found out it was actually worse than we thought and her fleece was falling off on her legs. Whilst the magic cream I make up had worked really well on the others, it was not having the desired effect on Chanel and so we have started on the big guns now and given her an injection of Ivermectin. In a few days time we will also give her Fiprinol - not something I like to do, but sometimes drastic measures are necessary.

Ice crystals

I still feel amazed to think that this is our
place, our land. It almost feels like a fairytale

This year is a special year for Latvia, it is 100 years since they first declared independence and it is also now our 10th year in Latvia. We arrived on the 4th March 2008. It seems appropriate that we went to the hotel this last week to meet up with a friend who we have been going to see for ages. Not quite a celebration but it is somewhere we used to frequent more often when we first arrived. Unfortunately our friend's husband had flu and so we didn't get to see him.

The alpacas are getting fluffier

The sheep are putting on a lot of fleece too

It is also Estonia's 100th year and the former President in celebration of their Independence Day likened Estonia to a wild strawberry - not well known but when you get to know them they are well worth the find. I can relate to that, both the fact that wild strawberries are quite amazing, so fragrant and Estonia is quite a precious jewel of a place and worth the find. I am pleased I have had the opportunity to get to know more about the place and some of its people. A friend of mine had posted the article and she asked me how I would describe a Latvian farm and my first response was like a garden tended with love and care, because a Latvian farm is more than just a farm (actually that is true of many farms if people would only stop and talk to the stewards of the land), it is a home where people are rooted into its fabric. It is why when a farmer loses his land, he loses a piece of his heart, his history, his work and maybe the work of generations before him.

Tellus in reflective mood. The colours are like those in the
renaissance pictures - not that you would see many alpacas
in renaissance pictures though 

Tellus practicing his ballet dance steps

The moon at sunrise

I am not sure if it is the winter sunshine, or just turning a corner in life somehow, but once again my thoughts are racing away. I feel less like thinking through treacle and more like trying to swim with a tide of thoughts that threaten to carry me away, or coming at me so fast I hardly have time to catch them and examine them. Fortunately somethings are coming together and starting to make more sense, which is good news for getting my papers written - well as long as I can keep myself focussed on those. I think part of the reason for unstopping whatever was plugging up my thought processes is getting back to the ideas that first sent me in the direction of doing research. I feel like I am beginning to tie my faith back into my discoveries about communities. Another aspect was meeting someone else whose faith guides her politics in our area. I met her last week for the first time and she inspired me and helped me to realise I'm not alone in my desire to see the best for the area.

There's a pond in there somewhere

Eyre in reflective mood. 

On a blog I follow by Martin Scott there is a section called "The Stages of Faith" which makes a lot of sense to me, especially as it is possible to go through more than one revolution of the stages, as we go deeper. It mentions hitting a wall, which seems appropriate at the moment as that is kind of what I was trying to describe last week. I'm not sure if the wall only appears at one point though, as the schematic suggests; I think there is a possibility of struggling through to the next phase due to hitting other walls too. A friend of mine on Facebook picked up on my comments last week about just coming out of a place of struggle. She asked some good questions and prayed for me too. What was fantastic is that she deliberately tried to avoid making suggestions but focussed on those questions, which is definitely helpful to me.

Aggie

Freddie is quite a sweetie, and you can see a video of him on
our Facebook page here

Other events that have got me thinking is firstly I am in the process of applying for a job with a Christian charity. The application process also asks some good questions that take me back to my core and make me ask, "What is important to me in my walk with God?" Secondly was joining in a forum of Christians who are interested in making a difference politically. Whilst I do not want to be a politician, I do believe in engaging with the political process and encouraging the younger generation to do so too, so that has been a good for stimulating the old thought processes. At least these have been positive steps forward mentally, even if we could do without the other issues.

Getting things done!

Our sheep are climbing again!

I managed to finish my homework after the blog last week, but boy was it late for me - 11:30pm. Talking with some of the other students in class, it appeared I wasn't the only one. Typical student I suppose, only I hadn't left it to the last minute to do the work, it was just that it was a difficult topic to do and I had other priorities first, much like a lot of my fellow classmates. You don't usually do a PhD course just for the fun of it, although doing something you enjoy or are passionate about is fun, but because you are very interested in learning and are quite committed about it, just the compulsory courses are not always high on our agendas.

Who? Sweet innocent us?

At least my classmates from Latvia were heading back after the lecture and so I got a lift back to Valmeira and treated to lunch. I had had a sandwich on the way down, so decided just soup would do. The soup of the day was lamb soup, which is not common in Latvia and so I decided to go with that, only it turned out to be more like a stew than a light soup. Tasty though and the lamb was very tender. The trip back also involved two buses and meant a longish wait again in Cesis, but the discovery of the cafe in the supermarket near the train station and even better I discovered it has internet access and that makes the wait just fine. A cup of tea is also just 50c, so not bad! After two cups I was feeling human again after my late night and even better I got to get home one day sooner.

One of our balls of fluff. No wonder they didn't want to
come home to a centrally heated flat, they were roasting
in these coats. Only problem is that they are not the
most practical for barn cats and need a little disentangling
at times.

We went to the big town again this week to take the paperwork for our greenhouse. Amazingly the paperwork was fine this time! I was ready for a fight if it wasn't. Our translator did say that the lady did get a bit worried last time when I asked her to write down the things she was asking for. She refused to do that and insisted that we write down what she said, obviously she had no wish to go down on record. I wished I had remembered that I had my audio recorder in my bag, that would have worried her even more I think. At least the process has begun again and they will leave it until nearly the last day, before sending out someone to survey the greenhouse. What a performance for a plastic covered greenhouse! It even costs us more than the barn, because it covers a larger area.

The new Estonian trains on the right at Valga station. The
old Latvian trains on the left. 

We had a house meeting this week. It wasn't a pleasant affair, as it was a meeting to remove our house manager. We are now in the stupid situation, where there is no house manager to take responsibility for the household dealings. We do have a treasurer who will take the money and she should be receiving all the paperwork, which really makes her the de facto house manager, but she doesn't want that job and who would when people can be quite nasty with their bickering? Fortunately one older man, spoke up and although the majority vote was to remove the house manager, he did say that we need to be kinder to each other and take more responsibility for the house, instead of leaving it to one person. He even volunteered to take on the responsibility of making sure the heating is regulated properly and since he is an engineer, he should be able to handle that okay.

Sitting in the sun waiting for the bus

I went out to the land twice this week. Now it has warmed up a bit and feels more like April than February, it means that it is warm enough to work in the caravan, which also means I can go and help Ian for a few minutes. He needed help giving one of our alpacas an injection, as he has an infected eye, probably the result of bumping into something or banging heads with one of the other boys. He had managed the day before, but an extra pair of hands is always useful for these kinds of tasks. The following day I didn't do any studying, as it was supposed to be a nice day. I say supposed to, it was a foggy start and the sun didn't put in an appearance until late in the afternoon - unlike today which has been glorious of course and I was travelling. All the alpacas needed their toe nails cutting and that is not a job for one person. We decided to halter each alpaca up and tie them up to a hook to make it easier for me to hold them, while Ian trimmed their nails. It is a tough job, as those nails are hard. I half wonder whether they should have a gravel path to walk on to wear their toe nails down, but wonder if this might in turn damage the soft pads on their feet. The alpacas are much better now since Ian has been reading up on how to train alpacas. A lot of it seems to be working, at least most of the time, but like the book says, sometimes you just have to manually restrain the animal to get things done, not everything can be done by coaxing the animal to cooperate and cutting toe nails is one of those jobs. Maybe in months to come, even that job might become easier, but for now there is a certain amount of resistance from time to time and so a little alpaca wrestling was in order, when they started bucking a bit.

The gouges left in the field as Ian pulled the horse box.
At least he got the horse box off, which is more than he
thought he would do at one point. At least we know the
ground will heal, it usually looks worse than this after
winter

As I said, it feels more like April than February and so our snow has disappeared and the land is thawing out, which means mud! Our winter barley looks like most of it did not make it through the winter without its protective coat of snow and parts of the fields are full of moss - not good. Ian has been manuring the fields with alpaca poo by hand and that should help and this year along with the sheep that poo everywhere anyway. He is also going to try rotating the animals faster through the fields, so that the grass has a longer chance to recover in between being munched and he will also let the grass grow longer - which possibly means more fly problems, but some you win, some you lose. We'll see how it goes. Ian has been busy trimming trees in our fields over the last couple of weeks, he doesn't like removing them all, 1) that would lead to erosion and 2) it provides shelter and feed for the animals. He has also helped move one of our neighbours calves for them. Calf? This was no mere youngster though, it was a strapping 18 month old calf. The roads were also muddy and Ian was worried about getting stuck or sliding off the road a few times, but he managed and the neighbours were happy.

Trimmed tree and trimmings ready for shredding. The sheep
will be put down here as soon as the grass is growing properly
then it can be manured and weeds held back in check - well
hopefully, that is the plan. By putting the sheep on early in
the season, we also hope to set the cutting season back a bit
on this section. It is north facing so takes longer to mature
anyway and with an early munch the time to having to cut it
will be longer. Again that is the plan, to make it easier for Ian

The newly refurbished Valga train
and bus station

Today (Monday) is Estonian Independence day which is why I have only travelled up to Tartu today, as there was no GIS training this week. I wasn't sure what would be open and what would be shut. I also thought the buses maybe quieter than usual - not likely. It was busier in Latvia because it was not a public holiday and it was busier in Estonia as people were returning to the city after a weekend away, and students were returning to universities and colleges. The roads were especially bumpy on the first leg of the journey because they are not tarmac roads and that makes annotating pdf files very tricky and made me sleepy into the bargain. The other legs were either too short or too cramped for working on a lap top, so not much work got done today. Still I got some done and that's better than nothing.