Naff week

Our Christiania bike finally made it out of the
basement to our land. I was using it the other
day to cart water and compost to the orchard
allotment.

If I had written this blog yesterday then it would have been a different tale, one of woe and misery because that is how we felt. I was so ticked off yesterday that I said to God that I really needed some encouragement to keep going and sure enough he sent blessings our way. Nothing has changed and yet everything has changed. The weather was perfect for working outside, not too hot and not too cool, on the way out to the land the clouds were so unusual; to me they looked like the tops of mountains and I just imagined it was like having the mountains that surround Jerusalem surrounding our piece of land. I also received two emails that were encouraging, which helped to buoy up my mood. The problems of the previous week are still there but I have more courage to keep going at them. I was clearing turf today to clear the way for a path that will keep the weeds down better and as I was chopping away at the turf bit by bit I felt God say that is what we were doing, clearing the way but it is tough at times and it is slow work but if we keep going we'll get there. That's good enough for me!

You can see the wing feathers are appearing. This is their
favourite pose - all huddled around the feed pot. I never
realised they could grow so fast, no wonder these could be
ready for the pot in as little as 8 weeks. 

Our final tally with the chicks was four, which is not exactly brilliant. One died at the pipping stage, which is a real shame as we heard it cheep and we saw it pecking it's way through but it just didn't make it. A little bit of me wonders if we could have saved it. Part of the problem was probably how we handled the incubation stage, so I have learnt from the internet. I don't like learning things the hard way when it comes to animals, but it would be worse if we didn't learn. I learnt that when it says that chicks can remain in the incubator for 48 hours without a problem, then it really means that do not, unless in extreme circumstances open the incubator until all the eggs have hatched, so they can bond together and possibly even help each other out. It also means that the environment doesn't fluctuate so much. Having said that it looks disconcerting to have a little chick floundering around in the incubator, bashing into all the other eggs and possibly banging into the section that keeps the incubator humid for hatching, it looked like it would hurt itself or the others in the process.

Our asparagus has survived the winter.
Unfortunately we have to wait until next year
before we try a spear or two and it won't be until
the following year when we get a proper harvest.

I also learnt that our broiler chickens are probably Cornish crosses, a hybrid that grows very rapidly and apt to keel over from a heart attack due to obesity. Judging by the ways these little ones grow and eat their food I can see that is no exaggeration, they are monsters already and to think they are only a week old. And eat! They are guzzling machines. I had hoped to breed from them, but I'm not sure if we will manage. I know they won't breed true but maybe we can cross them with something that will grow slower, but nearly as big and be less likely to have the flaws of the monster breed. They are still cute though. We have our incubator up and running with another 24 eggs but this time they are layers and we will see how much of a success we have with these. We will candle them (shine a bright light through the eggs) on Thursday to see how many are viable, hopefully in some ways not all of them as 24 chicks in the incubator would seem rather a lot.

Ian has been doing some more ploughing, this time with
the two wheeled tractor. Takes longer but doesn't use so
much fuel and gentler on the land.

I also found out this week that doing a PhD is expensive £3828 a year for the next three years, a big step up from my £1300 (or thereabouts) for the Masters year. I feel God set me on this path and so there has to be a way, but at the moment I can't see it. Spending that much money would dip massively into savings which is what we live off. If we use the savings for me to pursue the PhD then savings aren't going to last long enough. Hmmm! Back to the drawing board I think.

We may have possibly lost our orchard, but
this was the view on my coffee break one
cool day working in the greenhouse. Life
is still good!

We have also possibly lost our orchard, or the majority of trees from apples to pears to plums. One apple tree and one plum tree are the only ones that show any life on them at present, all the rest are dormant or dead. Ian jokingly said that he was cutting the grass in the graveyard today and we ought to have some tombstones cut for it. All around is showing signs of life and so it seems strange that we are seeing nothing on our apple trees, although I think that it does look like some trees may have canker which can kill young trees. I know it has been a tough couple of years for them since we put them in as the first year was very hot and humid, with rain every week and a half and last year we had a full month without rain and had to resort to watering them. We've also had some tough winters with record lows this year and so maybe they were just too stressed to survive. We don't know but if there are no signs of life after two weeks we will have to take them up and burn them.

The first of what might be a series of stone
pictures for a fellow blogger Diane, from
Digging in the Driftless. We were talking
about stone walls and how they are made.
So here is a Latvian example.

We made it onto Latvian TV again this week, well our car did as we drove past the cameraman who was taking a shot of our apartment buildings. We did wonder at the time what he was doing. The reason for the cameraman was to get a report on the fact that our local water company, who also happens to be our local heating company, have allowed a pipe to leak raw sewage into the pond next to the apartment block for the last two years, despite being alerted to the fact. They did fix the leak - the morning of the report though! How convenient! I must admit though, I wish we had known that whilst watering our veg, good job we water sparingly and only when we have a drought and to water seeds in.

I love patterns and this is the reflection of a
net curtain we have hanging over the
doorway of our caravan to keep out insects.
I can't show you the swirling effect as it blew
about in the wind but it is quite mesmerising

Talking of our heating company, that also contributed to the naff week. We have been letting the processes work their slow way through before settling up our bill for the first four months of the year, as we object to paying for heat that was inadequate, but the company have sent us a letter to say they are going to call in a debt company if we do not pay by the end of the month. They also wrote another letter that said, because people have complained about the quality of the heat they are not going to turn the heat on in autumn. The phrase that springs to mind is "if you don't play by my rules, you can't play with my ball." They have stated that according to the contract they can do this, but according to the contract they should supply us with heat that gives us 18C +/- 2C, which shouldn't be too difficult as we have double glazed windows and new radiators, but they didn't all the time. Well we have to work on a letter in reply to that! Hmmph! Not a happy bunny was I!

Still a lot of seedlings to pot on or out. Growing season is
definitely under way.

And last but not least naffness of the week. The alpaca saga, and saga it is indeed. It's sorted, it's not sorted, it's sorted, it's not sorted - it is driving us batty. Now someone has decided that we need to vaccinate the animals before they can come into the country, but we think this is different if we were getting them from Germany or Denmark, so we now have to argue the case and this is just making delay after delay. The problem with a vaccination is that they have to wait 42 days to see if it has taken, but that then leads to transport issues. The other issue we thought was sorted is the transport, due to the fact the seller is away when the transporter was available for all but one day. We also found out that the van to transport the animals doesn't actually belong to the guy we thought it did, but to a friend and it may or may not be available. Sorry if all that sounds complicated but it is! It doesn't have to be, this is the EU with common rules for all and there is not the need for all this complication, it would also be nice if we knew all facts up front, rather than bit by bit, but that's how it goes!

Ian has been doing a lot of sorting out of
wood piles this week. This piece would look
great polished up but I think it will just end
up on the fire. We also need heat in winter.

Like I said at the beginning, the problems remain but at least we have the courage to face them again. We just felt really tired yesterday and sick of the issues. So thanks to those who took the time to encourage us, it was greatly appreciated.

And that was the week that was...

Well can you see them? The wild boar. They are the black
specks in the very distance on the road. The road is
the white trail between the trees ie under the snow.

Picture the scene, we are travelling along a snowy track, going to observe feeding sites for wild boar in the forest. Suddenly in the distance a group of wild boar cross the road. Stop! Stop! Says the hunter sitting in the back. So we come to a stop and I take out my camera to take a photo, but of course they are too far away to get a good picture. They cross the road and disappear into the forest and the hunter tells us to move on slowly. At the point where they crossed the road he tells us to stop, and he tells us to get out of the car very quietly and not to make a noise with the doors. We change the lens of the camera for a long lens, and creep out of the car. It is at this point I was wishing I wasn't wearing red - well how did I know we would actually see some wild boar at 3pm in the afternoon? I also wished I wasn't wearing a waterproof coat and waterproof trousers, as we cautiously and as quietly as possible followed the hunter. Suddenly he motioned us to crouch down and to look through the trees, the wild boar were in there snacking on the beets and potatoes. Gradually we stood up and moved a little closer, one juvenile who thought he knew better than to listen to mum was still hanging around. Ian being taller than me started to take photos, but it was difficult to get a good picture due to the trees. The hunter made a noise, the wild boar looked up and Ian got his photo!

And there's the youngster who wouldn't listen to Mum

Well that was the start of a very interesting week. I have met some amazingly brave people this week, who are working hard for the good of Latvia. It was a real privilege to meet them and talk to them. I wish I could share more, but sorry I can't; just to say if you are the praying sort then pray for those who love their land and long for a better place for their children and their children's children and are willing to fight to get that. Also pray for our translator, he has been doing a brilliant job and has really caught the enthusiasm for what I'm doing with my research project, which makes the job a lot easier. I have seen people with passion from all sides of the debate over wild boar management and heard tales to inspire and sadden. It has been the most incredible month but now the hardest part begins, to condense all that I have discovered into less than 15,000 words that will help the debate as best I can. Not much to do then! I had to smile when I read this somewhere this week (sorry I can't remember where)

"To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects ... is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism ... kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful." Thomas Merton

Because it was Valentine's day when we went
to the hotel for our weekly meal

I long to see communities flourish and be transformed from hopelessness and despair to one of hope and optimism and it would be too easy to get side-tracked along the way by all things that could benefit from change. Every time I contact my tutor he reminds me to stay focussed. So let's hope that I don't kill the root of inner wisdom, but rely on God to help me stay focussed and on track to see transformation in one area of life here in Latvia, or at the very least be a small part of that transformation - I am not sure that I can play an important part, but if all I can do is offer a word of encouragement here and there to keep things moving I will be very happy.

Who are you looking at?

It has been a week of highs and lows - aren't such week's like that. Poor Ian has been on the brunt of most of the lows. Early on one day Ian was in the car and made a right turn, he glanced away to check traffic and when he looked back the old lady he had seen crossing the road had disappeared from sight. He suddenly realised she was lying on the road having slipped on the ice, he stopped the car in plenty of time and got out and using the international work "okay" he helped her up and she was laughing "normal" she said. Phew!  Well that wasn't too bad but later on in the day we were in the nearest large town and we had been to the supermarket and needed some diesel to get us home. The petrol station is right opposite the supermarket and so Ian just pulled straight across the road - bad move apparently. A few seconds after getting out of the car a policeman approached. None of us had seen the "turn right" notice and now Ian has a 20 Lat fine I'm afraid. Now we know why the police sit in that particular position on a frequent basis, a bit of a moneyspinner place to sit methinks.

A fine set of antlers on this one, although apparently
it won't be long before they lose them for this year.

Wouldn't have minded quite so much but the trip to the supermarket was a bit of a waste of time anyway as I managed to make a right hash of picking up some chicken for a quick meal. What I thought looked like some chicken breasts turned out to be the carcass of a chicken for soup. Here they often sell bones for cooking, you can get salmon scraps for soup stock, chicken bones for soup stock and pork bones for soup stock. I must, I must concentrate more when I'm buying food. We had a tasty meal, just not a lot of meat in it. Oh boy! I was in trouble because Ian hadn't eaten much that day and it being the night of the incident with the police it was not the best of nights to make a catastrophic failure in the purchasing department. Good job we can laugh about these things but it was close!

A hunting tower where they can watch
and wait for the wild boar to come

It was not the only incident with cars that week either. Ian had gone out to the land to do some work and I rang him to see what he was doing, and when he would be back for lunch, only to be informed that he was on his way to help someone out as they had crashed their truck. The truck had been on the way to make some deliveries of humanitarian aid around the village when another car misjudged a slippery road and the two vehicles collided. Ian had to take the driver back to his land to collect a tractor so that he could remove the vehicle from the road. So added to all that excitement one of our cats has managed to pee on our plinth under our woodstove. Not too bad you would think but it is a glass plinth inset into a wood surround and the pee managed to get under the glass and we can't move it to get to it. And finally to cap the week the motor that Ian bought for our Dyson vacuum cleaner to get it to run on a 240V instead of the 110V it ran on, was bigger than the one removed and took a little more fiddling around to get it to work than anticipated - to Ian's credit he got it in and working so we no longer have to plug it into a transformer, but what a palaver.

A winter feeding station for wild deer. 

Despite all the excitement of the week, I have managed to get some preparations for the year ahead done. First of all I have ordered an egg incubator and brooder so that we can raise our own chickens for meat this year. Not a bad idea after the supermarket fiasco earlier, also not a bad idea anyway, as the supermarket broiler chickens, as they call them, are not exactly the tastiest meat around. If there is one thing we are getting used to is tasty meat around here, even if it is a bit different to what we would have normally consumed in the UK. So this year it's looking like we will add quite a few animals to our two cats as we won't raise all the chickens for consumption and some will be for eggs. The other bit of preparation is to get our seed order in. We have ordered different kinds of chilli seeds although they are all relatively mild, but lots of different colours, some purple, some deep red, one brown, some orange and some a more normal red. There are also more of those squash plants that we have grown to love this year and we expanding the range of those we are going to grow too. One squash has what they called naked seed, so we can just go right ahead and roast them and not break our teeth on the husks in the process of eating them once they are cooked. Once we build up a big enough bank of seeds from the naked seeds, it might be possible to get oil out of them (and just in case you have absolutely no idea of what I am going on about, this link will show you what I mean). Another squash will be like baby orange pumpkins, just right for the two of us, so that we are not wondering every time we go to open up a pumpkin, how many different things can we do with pumpkin this time. Although at the moment they are starting to go over and so we are having to cut them up quick and freeze them - which is fine because it is much easier at this time of the year than in the middle of harvesting everything else, and they do make a great pumpkin cake.

A pile of tasty beets and potatoes for the
wild boar! 

So what have I also unearthed on the internet this week? One article was a fairly sobering article for my generation up to my parents generation - a span of 20 years. We are apparently the stumbling blocks for todays youngsters and not the stepping stones on which they build. For those about to retire, the times maybe good, especially if they have been employed all their lives, but for those who are younger, who have experienced unemployment the times are grim, and even if they have employment those jobs may not be the best with good working conditions and favourable pay. What legacies are we leaving our children? What future are we releasing to them? By the time I get to retirement age (goodness only knows when that will be in 20 years time or so) will things have balanced out again and brought a release of opportunity to the younger generation? Will they live in a fairer society? I do hope so, but if I have to spend all my energy to see that into existence then so be it. I want a future for my children, not a nice cosy life just for me.

Mineral licks for the deer too, to keep them
healthy

Many of you may have seen the news that the Latvians have sent a resounding no message to introducing Russian as a second language. I wonder though was this effective democracy in action? After all the last referendum ousted the last Government and sent a clear message that people are tired of corruption in Latvia, but referendums are costly and I am not sure the majority of people really wanted the country spending money on the latest referendum, when schools and hospitals are closing or barely surviving. At least that didn't stop them turning out to register their votes, 69% bothered to vote. That in itself was a good thing.