Squelch!

The weather may have warmed up, but it is still
rather dreary. I think Silla is singing a lament

The weather warmed up a bit after the wintry blast of last week when we had a good frost, but only a bit. At least it has dried up somewhat and we have stopped squelching around in mud. I was getting to the stage where I thought I had better dig out those ark plans and start building or looking up special shoes for walking on mud. It isn't even winter yet and I've already perfected the penguin walk, arms out, feet pointing outwards (kind of like this Youtube video). I suppose it's good practice for walking on ice. I hope I don't need that much practice though.  

Ginger Tom is still a shy cat. Rocket Ron will 
jump up onto our laps and loves a good cuddle,
Ginger Tom though is more likely to run away.
He also prefers Ian but that is cupboard love.

The soft lighting and damp conditions makes 
Josefs hair look super curly

Ilvija with her pack lunch

Amazingly we still have so much in the garden that is keeping us going in fresh veg. The brassicas are looking amazingly well, so green and red cabbages, Brussel sprouts and broccoli. My parsnips are humungous and the turnips and celeriac are coming along nicely too. We've only just started on the beetroots, one was so large I'm going to feed it to the chickens tomorrow - it looks suspiciously like a cross between fodder beet and beetroot anyway - which it might be. I have a mix of beetroot seeds and plant some for seeds in the following year and since some are for the chickens and some for us, it doesn't really matter that there are a mix of sizes. I've also just remembered that there are the Jerusalem artichokes to dig up, or at least another bucketful for the chickens. They do have some rather smelly repercussions if we eat them, but since we are supposed to be social distancing it doesn't really matter that much I guess. 

Ilvija looking like she's had one or two rather good
pack lunches too many. She isn't starving for sure.

Poor Turbjørn. He's struggling and could do 
with a massage, the problem is that he is beginning
to hesitate coming in and so Ian's had to stop. We can't
have him stopping out at night with the risk of dog
attacks. Ian's possibly found a source for a heat
pack that goes on horses though, so that
might help enormously. We have to find out
though how the battery does in very cold temperatures
as the deep cold kills batteries as we've found out to 
our cost.

Lady V trying out the new minimalist headwear

This weekend I finally got some more pickling done. So now we have jars of piccalilli, pickled red cabbage and I pickled the last of the cucumbers and green peppers. Something to pep up the main winter diet of squash, potatoes and beetroot. It's a good job as I don't think I planted enough onions this last year and the carrots didn't do very well either - although the ones outside are doing okay, they are nowhere near ready for picking yet. Not sure how they will fare over winter, but we'll see. I might try and put a protective bank of hay around them and plastic over the top, like a protected mini greenhouse. My pantry and freezers are full to overflowing too, so we won't be short of food. Ian's a bit worried that it is a portend of a bad winter. I like to think it is just good planning but in reality it is just I did manage to get a lot frozen this year. 

A bit bleak these days.

Ian has been busy chopping and stacking wood
ready for the next year

Not the sort of evidence of wild animals we like
to see. Obviously the wild boar are getting active
again.

The drier weather has meant we have finally got our caravan into the greenhouse. We had hoped to make a permanent construction around it this year so we wouldn't have to, but just didn't get around to it. I was a bit worried about getting it in because of the new flattened area just outside the greenhouse that meant there was now a very large edge to reverse the caravan over. Ian found some substantial pieces of wood that had been intended for a bench and used those and it worked well. There was one hairy moment when I had to get Ian to stop quickly, as it was a bit close to the edge, but once we worked out a system for directing we managed it fairly smoothly. In fact, despite my reservations, it went smoother than normal. 

That's ma' boy! Tellus at the front, father of 
Brencis at the back

Is that my girlfriend over there?

The caravan in the greenhouse. With only the
chicks in the top corner this year and the older
ones out in the new greenhouse, the caravan
has been pushed further back. This is partly
because the greenhouse now leaks rather
badly where it used to go. Another thing on the
list of jobs to do. 

I'm pleased we are under some protection now as the wind today was vicious and it felt like sleet in the air. We can hear the plastic flapping about a bit and it is a bit cool in the caravan at times but on the whole not too bad. My Granny's old Arran cardigan is working well, it is so warm and keeps the wind out. We manage quite well in the caravan for most of the year, but it is getting close to needing to move back to the apartment. The apartment needs heating for a start, but also the nights are getting too long and cooking and washing up becomes a pain in the greenhouse as it is cold and damp. 

My view is not so interesting while I work these 
days. No longer can I look out and possibly glimpse
an alpaca. All I can see now is my washing that is
taking ages to dry. In fact we now are putting it on
the radiator in stages in the caravan with the
dehumidifier going.

The caravan in the greenhouse again!

Finding green grass at this time of the year is
tricky. We don't want them to completely scalp it
but they do generally prefer the grass to hay,
although Ian thinks they may be starting to
prefer the hay now, which means they can stay
in their paddock areas for winter.

We are still not on lockdown here in Latvia, although the numbers did climb rather quickly and new restrictions were put in place, so we managed a little road trip to see someone who has new alpacas. Outside of the cities the numbers are generally fairly low, so still relatively safe. It was nice to get out for a bit and see someone. Ian had mentioned I had graduated last week so they gave me a bottle of apple juice as a present. Very nice it was too! 

The reason these girls got some extra green grass
is due to moving the caravan into the greenhouse
(that bare patch in the middle of the photo).
We couldn't move them to this area until the
caravan had moved as Ian needs the space to swing
the caravan round to back it into the greenhouse.

I think we can safely say the new pond is full

I had some good news today from work. I'm getting a pay rise as I they found I wasn't being paid the rates for a PhD graduate, so that will be a nice Christmas bonus. I also have extra hours and some new challenges for next year, so I'm quite looking forward to that. It certainly takes the pressure off trying to work out how to make sure the farm pays its way. It will be still nice to find out how to do that, but for now in these uncertain times we can relax a little and try to think of what we want in place for welcoming back people to our farm to be able to enjoy our alpacas with us. 

Rocket Ron looking super cute....

....on top of the caravan with Ginger Tom. It didn't
take long for them to work out it is warm up there.
Don't be beguiled by these super sweet kittens, they 
are little rogues and tormenting Eyre. Sofie has 
gone to our neighbours again. She likes the
warmth and her hunting skills are greatly appreciated.
Probably good for her as she is starting to get old,
she is over 9 years old now and the warmth of the cow
barn will be good for her over winter. She did
pop back to say hello yesterday afternoon though.

Mari looking a little crazed here.

Phew! Back to her normal smiley face

He definitely gets his cute looks from his mum.

Not much grass left there.

At least Ian found somewhere that could do with
a quick bit of mowing

They're up to something, I'm sure

See they're even whispering to each other.
Hmmm!

No catastrophes!

A rather dramatic sky and sums up the weather 
this week. Sunshine and showers and now the
ground is soggy and our caravan not under
protection for the winter yet.

No catastrophes for us this week, thank goodness. Just regular work and preparations for winter. Of course there were a few late nights to catch up with work after missing a day to prepare chickens for the freezer after the massacre by an unknown critter last week. The winter woollies and thermal leggings are definitely out now though and a sign that winter is approaching. Apparently there was snow overnight but we missed it or it didn't reach us, so I guess the geese were right again. 

More of the rainbow

Jakobs is such a dapper young chap

Such a sweetie too, but don't be beguiled, he can
be quite the troublemaker.

Herkules, our treasure at the end of the rainbow

We were expecting a frost that didn't materialised - well not that we know of. Still we needed to be safe rather than sorry and get the veg in from the garden that won't take a frost or more rain. So the weekend chores involved bringing in the beans, as they would have rotted if left outside. The beans were then podded and the beans and shredded pods are now drying in the dehydrator. I'm make the shredded pods into bean powder for soups and stews. I also sorted out the squashes, tomatoes, apples and potatoes and we then took them back to the apartment to store overwinter. While we were there we also topped up the basement with the old wood from the woodstore, so the basement is now full to the brim. Hopefully we will be toasty and warm.

Herkules not looking his best. His wound at the top
of his leg was still healing very slowly and I was
dismayed to see it looking a little weepy one day. I
had a brainwave and put some turmeric powder on
it. It seemed to do the trick. I have applied it one
about three days later, but so far so good. 

Turbjørn has been having daily massages with a 
heat pad. He seemed to be reacting to it and 
becoming more uncomfortable. We are not sure
if that is because he's got more movement and so
it's sore, or because of the massage, so the physio
recommended giving him a few days off. 

While some produce is just stored in the basement and some is frozen, some of it is processed into jars, particularly applesauce and tomatoes. The problem is that I had run out of jars that were of a reasonable size. I have quite a few small ones but not the medium size ones. As I mentioned, last week we made an attempt to get some from a large DIY store but it was chokker and decided we wouldn't bother. Ian ended up having to go on a jar hunt this week though. He went back to the DIY store and got a few things he needed, but not the jars, there weren't any of the size we needed the most. The next day he tried again at a different store in the opposite direction. Success! 

Poor guy does spend a lot of time like this, but 
then again, so does Herkules sometimes.

Socially distanced alpacas.

Latvia has seen a spike in Covid19 cases this last week, from single figures or low double digits to 188 on one day. So the second day that Ian went on a jar hunt, he had to take a mask to go into the shop. It is only a small rural place but he noted that just about everyone was being very dutiful and wearing masks in the shop, unlike in our village. Little did he realise that one of the reasons was that this particular place was just beginning to see a large increase in numbers, from zero to 68 today. Most of the infections in Latvia have occurred in educational institutions, like this one. Next source of infection is from family members and the last workplaces. Masks are now mandatory in shops and such like places, so I guess I need to make a few more masks, although a scarf might suffice and it is getting to that time of the year.  

The grass is dying off and so the alpacas have
to work harder to get the green grass. It does
Brencis good as he is a little on the porky side.

Lots of autumnal colours this week

I mentioned last week that the remaining chickens were put inside the little greenhouse in case the critter that decimated the other ark returned. You would think they would be grateful, but instead they've been a pain. They seemed to spend a lot of time inside their box during the day only coming out for their grain in the morning and not going in for their feed at night. This means that I've been having to lock them out during the day so they will go in at night and still I have to physically get into the ark to put some away. At least it is not a problem to lock them out of the box during the day as they are not laying anyway. Contrary blooming creatures. 

Yes it's been wet!

I laughed! Josefs is a little soggy

Yes the winter coat, the winter wellies and the
polo neck jumper are all out. 

Two kittens have been into lots of mischief. They get up on table tops and into pots and pans. They meow because they want what's in the pans, which drives me potty. Along with the chicks who are the noisiest chicks ever! And we've had quite a few. Rocket Ron though does like to sit on our knees at coffee time and Ginger Tom sits nearby meowing, not quite brave enough to jump up, but not running off so much either. The four cats now mainly tolerate each other, although Eyre gets fed up and I swear that Rocket Ron deliberately winds her up sometimes. At least there are no serious scraps, just some keep away from me swipes with the paws from Eyre and some bemused kitten looks as if to say, "What's up with her?"

George is also looking a little damp. He managed
to ping the wire netting off a pole this week. 
Luckily I noticed it and tied it back on with good
old baler twine. Baler twine is great for all sorts
of things. Ian did sort the fence posts out and nailed
the wire back on later on in the week.

Mr. P looking a bit toothy again.

"This is my best side, though," he says.

More autum colours

Chanel is still looking a bit shaggy from her skin
issues but the cooler temperatures means it is more
difficult to deal with. 

We sometimes wonder if Aggie's face is a bit 
swollen again, but it seems to come and go. Here
she is just sunbathing

Here she's having a good scratch on the post.

Little Ilvija is a bit of a Houdini but she's still a
Mummy's girl too and will run to her Mum if 
there is the slightest hint of trouble. Then her Mum
gets all protective and starts spitting. Sigh! Fortunately
little Ilvija doesn't seem to have inherited this
characteristic.

Now is Mari looking pregnant or not?

"Who me?" You can see where her son gets
those sweet looks from

Hehe! Wouldn't you like to know? So I guess
we will just have to wait for the scans.

Tonight's sunset lit up the autumn colours

So I wonder what next week will bring? Hopefully no catastrophes.