Keep it simple

Our Christmas tree, complete with the
parcel I tried to post before Christmas

Christmas is an emotionally challenging time as everyone knows and such was the case in our household. The first challenging time was the christmas tree! Not sure why this is an annual ritual for minor irritations, but it is. First there is finding one, not so hard now we have our own land and plenty of weed seedlings to choose from of various sizes. The challenge this year was finding one that was not too big. Isn't it funny how they look much smaller out in the field than they do in the house. I remember once earmarking the tree that was growing in the middle of our hedge outside our house one year in Denmark. It was part of a bush where it seemed like it was starting to revert to a different type of tree - hard to explain, but there it was growing out of the middle of a bush and I cut it out and brought it inside, only then did I realise how tall it actually was and it touched the ceiling. Fortunately in this case we had more than enough room for it and it looked rather splendid in our large Danish lounge. Now we live in an apartment the room is smaller and not so much room for a tree, not without blocking the light from the window anyway and that is too close to the radiator anyway. This year we got it just about right and hauled the thing home. Our white and very cold start to winter though meant the tree was covered in a thick layer of ice and there began our troubles. Ian was stood in the hallway with a now dripping tree and we couldn't think where to put it for it to melt. We have a basement, but didn't really want a puddle down there and so in the end we decide the shower cubicle would make the perfect place to put it, only the tree was wider than we thought - well something had to be wrong with the size didn't it! After removing the shower doors and much huffing and puffing from a certain someone we had the tree in the shower and I mopped up the floor from ice that had already melted.

Made by some ladies from our Danish Church

Another Danish Christmas ornament

A Latvian walking stick and a wooden ornament from the UK

One of the angels I bought whilst in America

Oh yes and he makes an appearance
every year too now. A freebie
from Denmark during a shopping spree

Well the saga continues, we had intended putting up the decorations on Christmas Eve, as I mentioned in last week's blog and my traditional day for putting up the tree, but as it was a Monday I decided my blog came first and got that done and dusted, then the problems started. As I mentioned before our electric supply has had one or two issues just lately and this day was another such day. I had just started to finish off making some croissants from the dough I had started during the day when the electric went off and I ended up finishing them off by candlelight and putting the ones I wanted to freeze outside on the balcony under a box as we didn't want to open the freezer while the electric was off. At least there wasn't a huge amount of difference in temperatures to a freezer at the time. It took a little longer than anticipated as it is not easy working in candlelight and there was no way we were going to be able to sort the tree out in the dark and so abandoned the job and went to bed a bit earlier. On Christmas morning we gave each other our presents and when I gave Ian his, he opened it and said "Oh a toaster!" My first thought was, "oh he doesn't seem to appreciate it as much as I thought he would" and I was a little disappointed. He continued to open the box and he exclaimed "Oh it really is a toaster!" and then the penny dropped. He thought I had done a common trick in our household of wrapping something small up in a lots of wrapping inside another box. Not sure if he was secretly disappointed that it wasn't a Tupla bar (chocolate bar) though. At least when we get electricity out on the land, he can have some warm toast to eat. Still waiting for that, but it is Christmas after all.

No Christmas is complete without a nativity scene is it,
with of course a few onlookers like Dally Llama, some
rather oversized fluffy sheep and Bagpuss

We also had a poorly pussy cat! Mind you she deserved it entirely. She is in the habit of eating too fast, if you put something down it hardly even touches her lips as she hoovers it up. We resorted to giving her the largest dried cat food we could find in order that she doesn't wolf it down in three scoops and actually has to crunch at least some of it. Well she got in the kitchen and wolfed down half a small margarine tub of turkey fat. A little later she was a bit antsy and then proceeded to do a projectile vomit, narrowly missing the embroidery I have been working on, on and off, for the last year for my parents. It was all cleared up but the sofa cushions needed a wash as she puked on one of them and then walked through the greasy patches and onto the furniture - or she had it on her feet anyway not sure which. It wouldn't come out with sponging and so I had to resort to putting the covers through the washing machine with the worst cushion taking two attempts to wash it out. The floor needed two further washes as I could see little greasy marks all over it! Not what I planned to do with my day. Question is, will she learn her lesson? I doubt it, although she didn't eat anything in the morning - guess she didn't need any extra calories after all that. Whilst cleaning the furniture though I also managed to spill half a pint of cleaning fluid over the area with Ian's computer on and to say I was panicking would be putting it mildly. Fortunately nothing actually got to the essential components and it was fine, but not my heart I think! Oh boy! I can do without shocks like that.

The embroidery that the cat narrowly missed. This includes
all sorts of textile memories from grandmothers. There is
even an unfinished bit of hairpin lace, still on the hairpin

I mentioned last week that the post office was shut for longer than I anticipated but finally this week some books I had ordered had finally turned up, but the one ordered at the end of November didn't. We are still waiting for for my Mum's present to us as well, although that might have turned up Friday but guess what! The post office is shut until Wednesday. One of the books that turned up and was ordered from The Book Depository was not in perfect condition when it arrived. It had four loose pages in it and yet no other obvious signs of damage. I decided to email them right away and see what they would do and, to give credit where credit is due, within hours we had an apology and promise of refund. Pity I can't say the same for the book ordered from Eurospan, I haven't had a reply from them as to where the book is from my November order, despite sending two emails now. I have tried again today using a different way of contacting them, so hopefully I will get a response soon.

This close up shows the hairpin lace (top right), a crinoline
lady, one of many to grace tablecloths and mats as well as
a reminder of the crinoline lady cakes my Nan used to make.
There are also some bits of embroidery done by me at the
age of 16 and some of the multitudes of lace crocheted by
my Gran (or at least I think they were done by my Gran)

We did get a little Christmas present from the wild boar again, fortunately not as bad as the last time and the hunters have been notified but since the wild boar haven't been back and it is Christmas we haven't hassled them. We weren't really wanting to receive presents from the wild boar but I don't think the melting snow has helped. Deep snow keeps them in the forest but the receding snow due to the increasing temperatures tempts them out. We went from  a nice but chilly -15C during the day on Christmas Eve to a rather horrid wet rain hovering up and down around zero for Christmas Day. Not nice at all and that has been the pattern for the week and means we now have some rather slick conditions.

A gift winging its way to the UK for the arrival of a
grandchild due ever so soon!

Well our Christmas was quiet and wasn't without incident, but really it wasn't too bad at all and we can laugh about it. In fact it went rather well, not only was our Christmas meal rather tasty and mostly local grown from the free range turkey from one of our good friends, to the sprouts we unearthed from under the snow during our extreme gardening expedition last week, to the parsnips, carrots and potatoes from our stores. All went down rather well with our Yorkshire puddings followed by a sticky toffee pudding. We got to talk to friends and family over the Christmas period too, thanks to the wonders of Skype but best of all we got to hear of our youngest's engagement to his lovely partner.

With a teddy in a knitted cocoon. Well every child should
have a teddy

So what do I hope for in the next year? One of the issues I picked up on this week on the internet was the issue of healthy farms. The answer is not necessarily to go to a meat free diet, although a reduction on the amount might not be a bad thing, but to get back to grass fed meat, where the animals are part of an integrated system on the farm. Animals are an important part of the ecosystem on a farm and reduce the need for bought in fertilisers that then pollute the water table. Animals in large industrial units lead to their own problems of waste, which would be far better utilised if they were spreading the waste themselves evenly over the grass land they were feeding on. A study by Iowa State University has shown the value of a more integrated system, not necessarily a return to old fashioned farming, but close. Farming that integrates animals is not a step back if used intelligently

The results were stunning: The longer rotations produced better yields of both corn and soy, reduced the need for nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides by up to 88 percent, reduced the amounts of toxins in groundwater 200-fold and didn’t reduce profits by a single cent.

Another blog argues that animals are needed not just for our emotional well being, but also our spiritual well being. Well we have introduced animals into our ecosystem this last year and it has meant some huge changes, but not the sort of changes that we would want to do without as we have observed and laughed at their antics. Hopefully our animals will also improve the fertility of the land with their waste as well as the chickens providing us with meat and eggs and the alpacas with wool. We are already planning on increasing our chicken stock for next year and seeing where we are going to go with the alpacas. We have much to think and plan for next year, that's for sure. At least we had progress on the egg front, we got another egg this week, the first since our debacle of managing to cull the only productive hen we had.

Close up of teddy made from an old
woolly scarf

What else do I see in the year ahead generally? Well I see more things coming to light that people have tried to keep hidden, but beyond that - not much! We have made life too complicated, something that seems to be a recurring theme amongst a few bloggers (Paul, Liz, Diane and here, Steve). We have looked to celebrity pastors/prophets etc., we have looked to them for words for us, looked to them for guidance. Jesus came to break down the divide between us and God, not institute a new hierarchy. If I have one word for any of you it is this, seek the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and love others as yourself. Unpack that and listen to the voice within. God has given us his Holy Spirit to listen to, he is closer than anything we will ever know, we don't need constant words from others to know what God wants us to do, although he may use others to speak to us, and sometimes he surprises us by the people he uses. Just as Elijah was surprised that God would feed him using crows to carry his food, don't despise the way God chooses to speak to us, it may not be as glamourous as we would wish but it will sustain us.

So on that note I wish you all a very Happy New Year, and my God bless you richly in love, and peace.

Happy Blooming Christmas to all of you!

Huddled together for warmth

Spent lots of money again this week and it was nothing to do with Christmas, but with -23C predicted and Ian out there in the cold, without electric then he needed some warm clothes. We managed to find some thermal wellies rated down to ...... get this ........ -70C. Can't even imagine what that would be like, -32C last year was bad enough. He also got some warm underwear, not sure they are rated down to those temperatures though. Unfortunately we didn't find any good gloves that will take the hammering of handling wood though and so he has had to make do with some cheapies for the time being. Previous years it wasn't too bad as we didn't have any animals out on the land, but this year has meant a change in routine and this early winter has meant our animals are having to put up with some pretty low temperatures rather early in the winter. Our alpacas are putting on quite a bit of fleece now in response and are sensible enough to stay inside their stable when the temperatures are really bad or when it is blowing hard. This week it was the chicken's turn to look a bit miserable, especially the males with their fine tails, which kind of looked sad when they are shivering - mind you it was -17C outside and not much warmer in the greenhouse.

Turn the heat up will you! Our alpacas, expectantly
waiting to see if Ian has brought some more food for them.

The good news is that on the electric front we are close to getting connected, they just have to get a counter in and then we are good to go. Mind you today's weather might not help as it has been blowing. If it blows the snow off the laden trees it might be okay but if it is just the last straw for trees hanging over wires then it will mean the electric guys will be busy again. I'm sure they will be looking forward to a Christmas rest if the weather will let them.

Frankenfeeder 2. Have you noticed how
people have latched onto the Franken concept?
There is now Frankenfish

I was a bit naffed off today as I had made my way twice to the post office this last week to collect a parcel that had arrived on Thursday and the post office was shut. We decided not to rush to get the parcel on the Friday when we got back from our shopping spree as there wasn't long before closing time and I thought that I could collect it on the Saturday instead, wrong! The post office shuts on Saturday, not sure when that happened, could have been a while ago as I haven't tried to go to the post office on Saturday for a long time. I had hoped that it would be open Christmas Eve too but not the case. I wouldn't have tried if I had realised that it was shut but didn't see any sign in the window. I have now been informed that all Latvian calendars give the government days off in red and they usually have the 24th, 25th and the 26th off and the post office follow the government holidays. Hmmph! I will not know until the 27th if the parcel is a present from my Mum, a book for my studies or a book for extending our gardening year or a surprise. So it will be a bit like the 12 days of Christmas in our house I think.

A Russian orthodox church in Jekabpils

Mind you I did get one present through by email, one from Oxfam unwrapped. When our daughter asked what we wanted for Christmas I said that they could take us out for a meal when we visit in April but she sent us a present as well, well a donation on our behalf to the farmers in Timor to learn more sustainable farming practices. It made me smile! Even if our presents haven't got through by post, one got through.

Driving in a winter wonderland

It has been a bit of a mixed week this week. I have just finished a present for our first grandchild due in January (sorry no pictures until they have seen it though). I am still finishing my parents' present. I thought I had nearly finished it, but it didn't look finished and so it needed more work doing on it. So once again the present will be late - not very good at getting presents to people on time any more. I have also still been doing more international trade negotiations. It means I am finding out lots of interesting facts like there isn't that much Ash in Latvia (not that there will be much Ash in other countries with that new disease), probably due to the colder climate. I have also been working on increasing understanding between the two parties of how each group works - that can always be a source of tension when trading partners don't understand the restraints or cultural differences and so just trying to smooth the path for both of them is interesting.

A winter wonderland walk to the shops

We have had more snow this week and so there have been plenty of snow clearing duties, keeps me fit anyway. I have also been doing some extreme gardening! Ian found a box with some garlic bulbs in and garlic seeds in the caravan- I had wondered what I had done with them. Anyway they needed planting now or there would be no point at all. In England it is said that garlic is planted on the shortest day of the year and harvested on the longest, so still time, the only problem was to find the ground to plant them in. Fortunately I knew where the other garlic bulbs were that I had put in earlier, as there was one of our A frame hay ricks standing over the top of them and so it was easy to work out where the bed was and where the paths were. So after digging down about a foot through snow we found the ground, which wasn't too frozen and so with frozen fingers I planted the bulbs and scattered the seed about. We also saw some leftover brussel sprout plants and so pulled them up as the chickens will enjoy them and we even managed to harvest enough for Christmas dinner. Who'd have thought we would be gardening at -15C, not recommended though.

A sunrise winter wonderland outside our home.

Taking apart a large hay bale in these kinds of temperatures is interesting, especially when the hay bale has been sitting around outside for two years. The inner bit is fine, but getting to it is challenging. We prised frozen outer bits off using a fork and a machete. It worked anyway and when we got down to a small enough core we were able to roll it directly into the greenhouse and just used a hay fork for all the loose stuff. At least we have plenty of hay for bedding inside now. We don't want to use the ones we've baled this year for bedding, at least not yet as we don't know how many we are going to get through yet and so we want to save it for food for the alpacas. I suppose we should be grateful that we didn't quite get the -23C forecast, otherwise it would have been even more challenging. At least the weather has been good enough to do some showshoeing around the land and we were able to check to see if there had been any recent damage from wild boar and I'm glad to report we didn't see any. We did see some other interesting tracks though and not too sure what they were. The problem is that the snow is powdery and so doesn't show footprints very well, but it did show an animal that could run and it wasn't a deer and certainly not a boar. It is possible it was a hunting animal of some kind which is a bit worrying now. Obviously we will have to continue to monitor the situation.

Nice of the wind to blow around the stable where the
alpacas sleep and not up against the door. The rest of the
field is knee deep in snow

Our car was in for testing this week too, as it hasn't been starting too well even at -15C. Ian has been taking the precaution of bringing in the battery at night so that at least it is warm. We found out that it was the two of the glow plugs that have stopped working. This is not good news in low temperatures. The glow plugs are heating devices used to aid starting of the diesel engines in cold weather. Not necessary in summer but crucial in winter. The car is running a little better since Ian changed the oil but still not happy in these temperatures first thing. Of course being Christmas it won't get sorted until the new year as they need to order in the parts. Good job the forecast is for warmer temperatures.

A windswept road

I forgot to mention last week that the tower on top of Gaizinkalns, the highest mountain (sorry hill, Latvia doesn't have mountains really) was blown up last week. It was built in the Soviet era to make the hill higher than the rival hill in Estonia which was 6m taller at 318m. The tower was badly built and never really finished and has been unsafe for many years. It does make me wonder though what other tall towers in Latvian life will come down? You can see the action here on this link. There are certainly some towers that need to come down in the area, particularly where people dominate others as if they still lived in the 1990s, just after the Soviet era, before the rule of law really got better established.

The site for our extreme gardening

A comment by someone this week led to one of those weeks where I feel compelled to ask "who am I?" and "what drives and motivates me?" I am a researcher, almost obsessive I guess, the desire to know and understand is deeply ingrained in me. My motive and desire is for truth and justice. I am passionate about truth, I don't mind stories, but I don't like it where a story is dressed up as truth, if it is a story say it is a story, if it is not then fine. Some emails and facebook posts are nothing worse than the old chain letters and should be treated in the same way, binned. There is no excuse for manipulating people to get a message out, it should stand or fall by its own merits and I know that means that some will fail, not because they don't contain truth, but just they get missed somehow. I get sick and tired of lies and half truths passed along with no one questioning of their validity. Why are people content to do this? Why do people not check? It doesn't take long, once you get the hang of it - 5 minutes perhaps!

The bridge across to the forest over the stream

My other passion is justice. I hate to see people labelled, ostracised, picked on. I have been described as a terrier before, a little dog with a fierce loyalty that won't leg go - I suppose they could be right. There are times I won't let go, not because I am always right, but I want to be sure I'm right at the end. I don't mind changing my mind, but convince me to do it first. Prove it to me, that is why I ask questions and lots of them. Asking the awkward questions makes people feel uncomfortable, and sometimes I make no apologies for that. I guess it just makes me the way I am!

One tree down due to the winter weather. Next year's firewood

My friend Mavis was musing on Christmas traditions recently and this week she commented on the tradition of Santa Claus. It reminded me that when one of my children was 5 he asked me if Santa Claus was real, so I asked him what he thought and he really didn't answer. Two weeks later, clearly having thought it through, his answer was "no." I don't believe in telling lies to children in answer to genuine questions and so I admitted the truth, but warned him not to tell anyone at school as it might upset some of them. He managed to upset one of the dinner ladies instead, who thought it was awful that a child of that age didn't believe in Santa Claus. I was somewhat amused. The dinner lady created the myth of Santa Claus to keep her child believing in it for years, even to the extent of putting "reindeer tracks"on the roof one year. It was almost as if her whole Christmas was dependent on her child believing in Santa Claus. No idea what happened when he finally worked it out, poor guy.

A little too large to take home for Christmas! The tale
of the Christmas tree will wait until next week

On the subject of Christmas I have to admit it, we as Christians can be grumpy, particularly around Christmas time, we don't like it if you say holiday and not Christmas, despite the fact that holiday is actually a shortened version of holy day, we don't like leaving the Christ out of Christmas despite the fact that it still leaves the cross, as in Xmas, and don't you dare mess with our nativity, that embellished story of our Lord's birth. We are also touchy on numerous other subjects and believe that we are in the right all the time, of course, well we have God on our side don't we? We want to pray when and where we like, even if it offends you and insist that you pray, even if you in all honesty don't believe. Yep I admit it, we Christians can be pretty bad news to many around us, unwilling to spread peace and goodwill to all men, irrespective of belief, irrespective of culture, irrespective of whether you are being honest enough to say what you do or don't believe. Sorry! So why do I still believe when seeing such grumpy behaviour and animosity to others because of the season? Why do I cling to those old stories as you might call them? Well it is because I look around at an awesome planet that we are in the business of trashing and still see the awesome creative God breaking though, I have walked a path where I have known my God and my Saviour walking by my side and whether I feel it or not, I know he is there and at the end of the day I still trust God to work his way through a lot of horror, evil, stupidity, ignorance and greed to weave a story that speaks of, to quote an old hymn, a guilty world being kissed in love and using a lot of broken people to weave that story.

On that note I, in the words of the immortal Raymond Brigg's Father Christmas, wish you all a Happy Blooming Christmas and on that note I shall now go and put up some Christmas decorations.