Feels like a lifetime

Our little fluff ball, Jakobs

It is funny how quickly we have settled back into our summer routine. There are still some hitches to sort out, such as things left at the apartment that we need. Things like scales to make sure our porridge is nice and thick and not runny. Cakes and bread I can make without scales, but the amount of porridge to add to the milk I kind of misjudged. Shall we say Ian was not amused. We make porridge in the evening and eat it cold over the following mornings. It might sound awful, but when it is made with the rich, creamy milk we get, it is delicious, at least when it is made properly. Probably only appreciated by the sort of people who like cold rice pudding though.

Now the snow melt has gone, the pond is receding. It hope
it is only disappearing so fast because it is the first year
after digging it out some more. Sometimes it takes a year or
two to settle back down.

Our morning coffee view

One aspect of moving out to the caravan is that I have enjoyed being able to sit outside to enjoy a morning cup of coffee with Ian. It is just about warm enough most mornings, even if it means huddling in a coat and lots of layers, but the benefits of being outside in the sunshine outweighs getting a bit cold - at least most of the time. There are days when the wind blows too strong or from the wrong direction to be able to do that though. One morning we witnessed the arrival of the wagtails, back from their winter holidays. They are cheery little birds that often torment the cats. Whilst they resident in places like the UK, here in Latvia they are definitely migratory and could have been down to the Mediterranean for their holidays. Ian had only said the day before, he wondered when they would be back.

One of the wagtails that returned this week

The view from our Oak tree hill

It has been an odd sort of week. I spent the first part of the week trying to put together some work that needed to be done for an online workshop that was happening for the project I'm working on. It should have been the whole team working together on it, but the other members of my team were away on conferences and so I had to try and figure out what we were supposed to be doing. I went to our apartment to make sure I had good internet connection for the Skype call and put the fire on to warm the apartment through a bit. I muddled through the workshop and at least have a clearer idea of what now needs to be done for the next stage. That's progress at least. I even got the report for my colleagues written before setting off back to our caravan.

Chanel is starting to look big. She did with Freddie too.
Either that or it is all the fleece she is carrying and not
just a big baby.

The new girls are also enjoying spending lots of time
outdoors and even getting quite a bit of sunbathing in.

My article for Dispatches Europe and its subsequent translation into Latvian is still causing a bit of a stir. One ex-neighbour rang Ian, since it is his details that are on our webpage, to ask if I would be interested in teaching English at a school about 30 minutes away. It is definitely not something I am able to take on at the moment, as I need the flexibility to work on the university project and not enough hours in the day to teach English, continue working on a paper for my PhD and start the garden off as well. That wasn't the only phone call Ian took from someone trying to contact me. He also got a call from Latvian National Radio asking for an interview with me about my views on the EU. Not because I am some world expert but because they were doing a series, which included various nationalities who are now living in Latvia.

Signs of spring. A miniature daffodil making an appearance

The cowslips are coming through

Mr. P

The presenter came to the farm on Saturday and we sat outside in the sunshine with storks flying over and the alpacas peacefully eating hay in their paddocks. The interview went well and she said she got more out of it than she anticipated. Not quite sure what she anticipated or what on earth will end up in the final cut. The interview I can handle, but I am a bit nervous as to what will come out in the broadcast itself. She was thrilled to see the alpacas and is talking about coming to see us again in the summer with her family, so looking forward to that.

The winter wrecked the tarpaulin. They really are not good
when they start to disintegrate and we are finding plastic bits
everywhere.

The peony is starting to poke through that I planted last year

She asked if she could interview one of our neighbours and so I contacted our nearest neighbour to see if she was willing. It turned out to be a good story, two neighbours who are neighbours in part due to the EU. We can't speak each others' language well but we communicate and get along, helping each other out as best we can. In a country where mistrust can sour relations, it was a positive story for the broadcast. I think my neighbour came out with the best quote of the day though. She was asked for the first thing that came to mind when she thought about the EU and she said, "Family." I think that is a brilliant analogy. As in all families we don't always get along, but we try to find the best way forward. At least I think that is what we should be trying to do.

The elder tree is starting to bud

The swamp at least still has water in it. This is Ian's makeshift
bridge he put in last year to make a section of our land more
accessible

He found our cranberry patch is still under snow though

Brencis and Herkules enjoying time outside in the paddock.
Mind you they are itching to get out on the grass but it
hasn't grown enough yet.

She wasn't the only visitor this week. We've had a couple who came to take the alpacas for a walk and they have uploaded a video to page that discusses different places to go in Latvia. It will be interesting to see if we get more visitors through that. We also had a visit from another neighbour who owns land but doesn't actually live on site and he wants Ian's help to dig foundations for a cabin he is planning on building this year. So that's a job for Ian this coming week. He won't be bored.

The weeds are doing well despite the lack of rain. Here you
can see the docks and ground elder coming through

Sigh! And this is cow parsley that we don't want either

The pig damage harrowed. You can see how dry the ground
is though

This week Ian has been busy harrowing the land to deal with the mole hills, the pig damage and to scarify the moss a bit. It is looking better now than it did but not as good as we would like as we've hardly had any rain. It is hard to believe that we are worrying already about a lack of rain, when the snow has only just gone and we are not even half way through April. We also both went to the camp/sheep farm where Ian will be working part time. We were putting plans together for a new vegetable garden and to sort out the plans to rework the old vegetable garden so that it doesn't wash soil down the hill. Because Ian has a two wheel tractor he can work across the garden, whereas a large tractor can only work up and down making ridges - which is why the soil was washing down the hill. By mulching and slight terracing he should be able to make sure that doesn't happen. We will also make sure there is a good herb garden and start on organising raised beds with the sheep manure.

More greenery

These were last years potato beds. We planted the potatoes
into the manure and then after we pulled up the potatoes
heavily mulched the plots for over winter. I pulled off the
hay that hadn't rotted down and raked it. The only digging
I did was to straighten the edges. The right hand side has
got parsnip seeds in and the left-hand side has another type
of parsnip, hamburg parsnip and a salad mix.

I've been working on other little projects. Another article for a webpage but it needs mulling over and a project for my grandson that is taking far more time than I would like. It has been one of those projects that sounded like a good idea at the time and involved a bit of filming. I then tried to download the iMovie but my software was out of date, so I had to upgrade my software to Mojave. Well that went okay and I'm getting used to the dark side. It is easier on the eye to have more black and less white on my screen but of course it takes time to sort things out. I also found out that my computer could not read the format of my sound recording, although my old computer never had a problem with it and so that was another piece of software to download to make that work. Pah! I'm getting there now. I just need to synchronise visual and sound. Hmmm!

I cut back the autumn raspberries and mulched this with the
hay from out of the alpaca houses that Ian has stacked over
winter. It has alpaca poo in too, but it doesn't need to compost
to be added to the garden, so this should make a good mulch
for them.

Another view of our rather parched looking land

Something has been busy doing a bit of
woodwork. Possibly a deer or an elk. Wish
they would stick to trees like this rather
than our orchard.

The boys looking for the tiniest bit of grass. We are not sure if
they are eating the moss too. Don't worry, they still have plenty
of hay to eat.

Ian has been busy chopping and stacking the wood for next
winter

Errr! The cats busy sleeping

Success

Jakobs is changing colour. He started off almost startingly
white but now he seems to be getting more creamy coloured
like his mother

This week has been a case of returning to normality. A chance to get back on with my academic work in relative peace, with my own routine. That's not to say it has been all plain sailing but I can explain about that later. First of all the good news. I actually signed a contract this week for some academic work with my Estonian University. I shall be joining a project that looks at wellbeing and the Baltic coast. Not quite rural, but at least it has nothing to do with cities per se. I can also work from home and it means employment for the next 18 months. It is only part-time and so there is time to finish off my PhD and still do my chores in the summer on the farm. The income is not huge, but enough and takes the pressure off our dwindling finances. It is a relief to being part of a project finally, as it hopefully also gets my foot in the door.

He's getting almost as big as his mother too. Ian had to put
sand down on their paddock area when Jakobs did the splits
on the ice. All's well now though.

It is no wonder that Aggie is thin when Josefs is also getting
big. He won't eat from the tray yet like Jakobs, but he will
eat the hay while the others are all eating from the trays.

Tuesday I went out to the land with Ian so I could show him all the things that had broken while he was away or are in need of fixing before they break at least. The sudden drop in temperatures didn't help and somethings have got fragile out in the sun in the greenhouse during the summer and then broke due to the freezing cold and perhaps a little cack-handedness on my part. I managed to break the door handle on the greenhouse, the plastic water jug and the rim of the loo. I even managed to break the handle on our halogen oven on the day I was showing Ian all the other things I had broken. The oven had got very fragile out in the sun in the greenhouse over summer. The problem though is that it won't work now, as the handle has to be down to turn it on. Other things have just got old, like the string on the chicken ark that regularly needs replacing -a simple enough job but just one I didn't have time for last week. The tractor hand brake cable also snapped, but not on my watch, or kind of because I was there and not Ian, but it wasn't me, honest! At least I found two of the bits, not sure if that was useful or not, but at least meant the problem could be identified. I also managed to lose one of the small kitchen knives, but Ian found that today.

A blinding flash!

ET phone home! Blinded by the light! Hahaha

That's better! Herkules bless him

The rest of the week I was safely in our apartment and managed not to break anything else. It feels though like a time of shunting files around my computer, trying to organise them for the next writing phase and sorting them out in terms of importance. I have also been trying to clear some files off my desk top to give me more space. Not an issue I've ever had on other computers, but obviously one I have now. An absolute pain.

Guarding the treasure of our village

The apartment is not as confining as being in the caravan but still I hadn't been out much for most of the week, so it was nice to get an invite to a presentation and a craft day. The presentation was the culmination of an outdoor installation, so a bit of a cold event. Fortunately it was finished off with tea and cakes inside to warm up with. The installation consisted of a walkway to a pagoda to overlook the river and two ironwork sculptures of Great Danes. The legend goes that they were to guard the treasure of the castle and to me they represented guarding the greatest treasure of the village and that is the hearts of the people who live there. There has been much division in the village and it is telling that the mayor was not there, even though this must be the most significant installation in ages. There were representatives from the municipality but they were people who are less contentious than the mayor has been. Having said all that, folks who turned up were appreciative of the good work done and the improvement to a largely forgotten and neglected place of historical importance in our village (you can see more pictures here, see if you can spot Ian and I in the crowd, we do appear a few times).

The models, blue Great Danes. I think we were all blue
by the end of it, blue with cold. 

Freddie getting in the Christmas spirit with a dusting of snow

The next day was a craft workshop in an old railway station that is being renovated into a tourist and information centre. I was asked to come up with something for a craft that anyone could do that would make a nice Christmas gift for the poor or lonely members of our community. I worked on some Christmas trees but I wasn't especially thrilled with those and in the morning I made a quick bowl. There was someone there to help me, especially with translation, and she was a felter too, between us we came up with some simpler ideas for felted Christmas trees from sheep's wool and some mug warmers made from alpaca wool. The alpaca I was using was not from one of our animals that make nice scarves, but from Herkules who felts well but is not so fine. The lady who helped me has only just moved back lately and so we will hopefully get to know her better.

Mr. P didn't want to be outdone apparently. What is it with
these boys, going out and getting covered in snow?

I think someone was intent on getting as much as possible
from the outside feeder

It was mainly children who did the felting, but it was interesting that there were more boys than girls there. They even took part in the Christmas table decorating craft made from bits of a spruce tree and Christmassy decorations. It was refreshing to see that, after all the years of children's work when I had to take care over the choice of crafts and being aware of what boys would consent to do in the UK, here there seemed to be no concept of these are things boys will make and these are things girls will do. We stayed on after most people had gone home and just chatted over coffee and biscuits. It was a nice way to wind down at the end of the day.

And point! A little ballet lesson going on here

Antonia and Vanessa having a little chit chat after a foray
out into the snow

I was looking forward to getting started properly on my job today with an online meeting with other colleagues from different countries. Unfortunately I was unable to actually hear or see anything. I could see there were other participants and I could write messages, but I could not seem to get the audio part working, something to do with the way the plugin worked or rather didn't with my computer. I wasn't the only one and she also had a Mac. It is so infuriating that even today there are problems between Mac and Window operating systems. I thought we had seen the back of those kinds of days years ago. I hope to get this sorted out later in the week if I can with our tech guys up in Tartu. Another day!

Turbjørn eating the snow

At least Chanel doesn't look like she was out for long

Sorry to bring up the B word this week, you know Brexit! It has been such a sorry saga. I am filled with a mix of incredulity about the whole debacle, as has most of the rest of the world by the sound of it. Theresa May seems intent on dragging the whole thing out now, especially when she backed down from getting the MPs to vote on the deal. I feel that the UK Parliament should not be allowed to shut down for Christmas until the vote is held, as it just drags the whole show into the new year. What is that going to achieve? Perhaps she feels she can have a nice Christmas while folks like ourselves are left hanging once again, while we wait to find out where we will stand in just over 100 days from now. 100 days to try and sort something out and she postpones the vote to January 14th. Unbelievable! So will we be left scrabbling around to find documents etc. come March to sort out residency? Please someone stop this madness!

Back in the old routine

A misty start to the morning

We were back into a more ordinary routine this week. We mainly did ordinary chores around our land. Our regular routine is to get up when we get up, anywhere between 5:30am to the latest 7:45am, but normally around 6:30am. It all depends on how tired we are and how well we sleep in the caravan. It can be a little noisy when it rains overnight, but usually we sleep pretty well, as it is so quiet despite having two cockerels, however they are far enough away to not bother us.

Our kitchen in the greenhouse

I pack away the bedding and Ian gets the breakfast out, which we now have in the greenhouse, since we put the second-hand kitchen in there. It is nice to have our breakfast in a bright and roomy place. I've never had such a big kitchen-dining room. Even better is that spillages on the floor don't matter as it is just the floor of the greenhouse with a scattering of straw to soak up anything. I had better not get to used to that. The downside is we can't leave food in there, because it gets too hot during the day and mice could get into it, or the cats. They do like bread, even when in plastic bags.

Our new animal feed preparation area is in the
corner. This was taken on our workshop by a
friend. No idea what I was trying to do, reminds
me of Tommy Cooper.

Marie on the floor at the back got into a pickle this week. She
must have been trying to get away from the male and ended up
head first with legs dangling in the feed section at the back.
Ian was a little panicky when he saw her and thought she must
have hurt herself quite badly, but no, she was just stuck. To
while away the time, she was tucking into the hay quite
contendedly. At least Ian managed to get her out okay

The daily routine this week has been for Ian to take the boys up to see the girls. A routine that does not need much encouragement and I feed the chickens. This got a little more complicated this week as we put the chicks in with a group of older hens. We were going to give them their own ark, but that meant culling some chickens that hadn't been producing, only of course they started producing again and the other chickens stopped laying. It seems like they have the idea the cooler weather means autumn, after our early and hot spring/summer. They got a reprieve, but we still intend on culling the cockerel because he seems to get in a flap too easily and we wonder if part of the reason for the low egg production is stressed out hens due to his panic calls.

Chicks of a different sort in the girls alpaca house. This is the
first brood of swallows to be raised in that building. They
are so funny with their big mouths and punk hair dos

The older hens have been a bit mean to the little chicks, but the little ones can escape under the ark, where the big ones cannot reach, so it isn't too bad for them. I also push a tray of food under there so that the little ones can eat in some sort of peace. One of the older chickens is particularly mean, but the little ones congregate around my legs when I am around and so I fend off the older one while they eat a bit. It was hard trying to get them all in at night though, but tonight I found a good system of getting the big ones away first and then opening up the side of the ark where we check for eggs and putting the tray in for the little ones in there. Since they congregate around me, they soon found the tray and all hopped in as good as gold - these are certainly the best chicks we've had for doing what we want them to do.

Morning fog hovering at tree line

After those morning chores comes coffee. We don't drink coffee that much, although our consumption has increased after our trip to Estonia earlier on in the year, but the morning cup is a must these days the rest of the day is usually tea. We often sit and chat about what we plan to do during the day, or is it I give instructions to Ian! Most often though we are putting the world to right before our regular daily chores of gardening, cleaning out the animals, moving fencing, or whatever other jobs are needed to keep all in shape.

The sheep behind the alpaca house and paddock area

Our visitors this week have been a motley crew. There have been our friends who wanted to learn more English and they helped us cutting alpaca toe-nails, well the husband helped with that and the children and their mother watched. It was so much easier with an extra pair of hands again, especially one used to larger animals, even Turbjørn couldn't get away, despite trying. The little ones did help at one stage when one of our alpacas looked like she might try and escape out the half door, by standing in front of the door and chatting to her.

The bought in food for our felting workshop last week from
the local hotel

Our next group of visitors were quite a surprise. We are not sure if we have met one of them before or not, but if we have they were young at the time. What was for sure is we know many of the people they know from the camps we used to do when we first started coming to Latvia. In fact they were off to do join a camp at the place we used to visit after their trip to our area. Small world, as they say. It was funny though reeling off names that we knew and they knew, even folks who used to go to the same church that we did back in England - all connected through camps in Latvia. It was really exciting to hear their plans to come and attend the local technical school in our village and use that to earn money in the countryside and run a farm - this is so much on my heart to see and one of the reasons for my research to see how that can be encouraged.

Dessert - rather nice

One set of visitors were more returnees, who had visited in May. The lady had suggested to her mother that since they were going past our place they should call in and see the alpacas, to which her mother replied "what's an alpaca?" Well she knows now and she thought they were lovely. Our next set of visitors were also enamoured with them. They hadn't intended to visit us but were wondering through our woods looking for mushrooms, as Latvians do. Private property is different here and something we have to just accept, which is fine. After all in the bible it talks about gleaning and not harvesting everything so we should not consider our mushrooms as just for us. It's hard sometimes when we haven't had time to look and someone else has got their first though. Unfortunately they came with a dog, which we are not happy about, especially a dog without a lead. It was not an aggressive dog, but we did insist it be kept away from the alpacas, for the alpacas' safety and the dog's. Alpacas have been known to stamp foxes to death if there is a big enough herd, so we cannot guarantee a dog's safety if they feel threatened. Fortunately the visitors were okay with that and they still got to meet the alpacas.

Lunchtime on the felting workshop

Not so ordinary or routine this week as a visit to the doctor's. A couple of weeks ago and again about a month before that, I managed to get a hernia. I have had one before about 20 years ago and so knew what to do and sorted it out myself without resorting to a hospital visit. However, with two occurrences in a short space of time I accepted that I should at least consult with the medics as to what I should do. I arranged for a friend to take me to the local family doctor, which we did on Friday. She got me into see a surgeon today (Monday), as she thought there was something wrong.

Looks like Lady V has found something amusing, she usually
has a Queen Victoria look "not amused!"

Today took a bit of organising, as the only person available was male and not comfortable about the examination, but we managed okay. The only problem is that the surgeon could not find anything wrong and said I shouldn't do such hard work and wear a belt to protect from hernias. Hmmmph! Not impressed really. It was not as if I was doing anything particularly strenuous the second time, just must have moved wrong. The first time was perhaps strenuous, as it was during the time we were shearing, but right near the end, after helping with the shearing of over 60 of them without a problem. Since the surgeon doesn't seem that bothered and I am not particularly wanting to have to go through surgery, I am going to try and see about strengthening muscles around my abdomen and hope that sorts it out. It could be that my stomach muscles are too loose after losing about 9-10kg over the last eight months. Hopefully I can avoid seeing the surgeon again in an emergency situation.

A cloudy sunset

I am not the only one getting articles published just lately, Ian now has an article in "Alpaca World" where he talks about our experience of having alpacas in Latvia. He thought they might shorten the article but they haven't or not noticeably so anyway. He enjoyed the experience and it will be interesting to see if anything comes of it in the future.