Happy days

Another reason to be happy, isn't this
sunrise glorious? What a joy to wake up
to scenes like these

Our youngest is now a happy boy, his computer got fixed and best of all they recovered all his data. All he lost was a days work whilst he waited for his computer to be fixed. The nice people at Apple even fixed it for free, because he had had previous problems with his computer. Phew! We were happy too, our glass bowl which we had sent with our friend filled with a meal for her husband, who hadn't joined us for last week's meal, because he had to work, came back with a rather nice dessert in it. No idea what it is, but it tasted good! I also got lots of interesting books to read this week, "Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley," "Conflict and Cooperation in Participating Natural Resource Management" and "Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflicts" - you can spot the theme can't you? These are all books that have either been recommended to me, or came up in my literature research for my Master's thesis and so hopefully they will all be useful in my write up. At least they will help me while away the winter evenings with a little light reading. Our vet wasn't left out too as we bought her a book "Alpaca and Llama Health Management." I know we are not getting alpacas until next year, and we haven't even been to see the guy who we hopefully will be buying the animals from - that's next month - but we need to be laying the groundwork now; it is no good waiting for something to go wrong with our alpacas to then try finding out how to deal with it, and winter is a good time for reading. She seemed happy enough to be getting the book anyway.

Tate Modern here we come! I spent a good afternoon's
work on these objects of great artistry, commonly
known as wrapping trees up for winter to stop the deer
eating them or sharpening their antlers on them.

We finally made it once again to the Farmers' Market in Straupe (link in Latvian), where a brave group of people are endeavouring to create a market for local farmers and businesses and at the same time increase the quality of goods sold. It is hard trying to get the concept going, as it is not as simple as importing the idea from elsewhere, although other examples are useful, but it is working and the market place looked busy while we were there. In fact there are many companies/farmers from further afield who would like to sell their goods at the market. It is difficult to balance the concept of a local initiative with the need to have enough stalls to attract people to come to the market and one that they are still working on. It is also hard trying to work out who is a genuine trader of goods produced by them or their family and those who buy in goods from abroad. Having contact with the organisers of this market, I hope will be useful for our own area when the roads are tarmacked making travel easier for traders and customers alike. I did buy a couple of presents while I was there, and I didn't go for the cheapest, but I bought my goods from a lady who was making the goods while she was there - so I know she produced the things I bought. What are they? Well I can't tell you, I know the recipients will be reading this! We also bought seeds and beans, partly for consumption over the winter but also for plants for next year, as it will be interesting to see how well they do, compared to the beans and seeds I buy in from the UK.

Not so happy to find this! This is the
kind of damage those dear little pigs
can make. I have to admit though that
it is quite incredible the depth of holes
they can dig with their snouts, and
the size of stones they can move. 

We also finally made it to a little craft shop that we have passed many times. The owner started out as a stone mason for gravestones but he is a creative soul at heart, so the website says,  and so some of the stones ended up as ants and tortoises. The best one I saw was a wild boar shaped stone, complete with wrought iron ears, snout, tail and legs - the best type of wild boar, apart from one on a plate, I think at the moment. Unfortunately it was a lot of money, and rightly so, but I was seriously tempted to erect this as a dire warning to the wild boar that traipse across our land. I bought an angel instead to add to my Christmas decorations from around the world, not that they will be going up again this year, as we are away in England. Probably a good job though, as I think our dear little kittens would have a field day with decorations. Better to wait till next year and they maybe (only maybe) a little calmer.

These are four Capercaillies, which we came across when
we took a detour just for the sake of it. Amazing what
you can see when you get off the main roads.

It has been another amazing week in the news, some of it is just downright depressing, but some of it is quite exhilarating and powerful. I was horrified to see a policeman casually spraying sitting students with pepper spray. I am not quite sure what horrified me the most, the fact that he sprayed obviously non-violent students, or the casual manner in which it was done. However it was amazing to watch how each student present was recording what was happening, no longer can incidents take out the journalist to remove any chance of recording it, all have the opportunity to record an event with the use of phones, video cameras, ipads and computers - many uploading the images as it happened. If that fact was not amazing enough to see people bringing accountability to the situation, it was more impressive to hear the rise of the chant "Shame on you" and the students peacefully but firmly causing the police, armed to the teeth, to fall back. Not a rock was thrown. The police appeared to only have two options, carnage or retreat, and they chose retreat thankfully. When the chancellor of the university, where the students belonged, decided to leave the campus the following evening, despite the presence of many students outside she was treated to a most powerful sit down silent protest that lined the route to the car. There was an atmosphere of restraint and yet somehow there was also the force of an unspoken argument, disapproval that hung in the air. Is this what was meant by the New York Mayor, post Occupy evictions at Zuccotti park, when he said "Now they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments?" I doubt it, but those students certainly occupied the space in a very powerful way.

"I think I'm stuck again!"
She is up there so often now we are going to have to install
something to stop her walking across the fleece lining,
preferably before it gives way underneath her.

More wood chippings for our garden, as Ian continues to
thin out our forest to provide us with firewood for next year
but also to improve the health of the forest.

Alder oxidises on exposure to air and so
you get these bright orange stumps when
they are cut.

Our raspberry bushes with their fir coats. Looks like they
needed it!

It snowed again this week, not much but still a reminder
that winter is on its way.

Roasting

Don't these make fantastic Christmas
trees, we have nicknamed them star trees

Well while the Northern hemisphere is shivering in the winter we are roasting in Australia, about 40C today and around 37/38C over the Christmas weekend. This meant that Christmas day was spent inside, in the air-conditioning, but it was a lovely relaxing day all the same, with our daughter and her fiancé. Needless to say the roast dinner was left until well into the evening, Christmas dinner mid-afternoon didn't seem quite so appealing somehow but the salad and fruit lunch did. We closed the shutters mid-afternoon to shut out the light to watch the Muppet's Christmas Carol and remind ourselves of cold winter Christmases. Once again Christmas down under seems topsy turvey to a Northern hemisphere lass but the good news is that from tomorrow it is due to get cooler - around 33C, much more bearable.

The tree top walk, not particularly good value for money
as it is so short, and would be much better opened early in
the morning or at dusk to see the animals and birds but
fascinating anyway as you get to see the trees from a
different perspective.

Our holiday in Denmark.... remember Denmark, a small town on the south coast of Western Australia not the European Denmark, was a little wet and when it wasn't wet the flies were a nuisance but all in all it was still a great time, at least the rain was warm. We stayed in a youth hostel, The Blue Wren, which was a fascinating experience, meeting so many people on journeys. It was a microcosm of life with some who we connected with and some we didn't, some we spent hours chatting too and still don't know their names, some who just left and we never said goodbye and some we did, and it was all so transient and yet ...... very real. I think sometimes we hold onto relationships and people so tightly that we are not able to enjoy the pleasure of those just passing through, or we don't even make the time to enjoy those people that doesn't mean I don't value long term relationships that go deep, I do but not all relationships have to be long term. As a Christian from an evangelical-ish background your sometimes made to feel that unless you get the gospel through to at least a dozen people and three come to know Christ then the trip isn't worth it, fortunately I don't see it that way. I believe that God will work through us, definitely, but I do not feel the need to finish God's job for him, but to merely be a part of his plan. If something about our life, or our words, touches someone and draws them closer to a loving Father then great but we are happy to let God travel with the people and for them to meet someone else along the journey who opens their eyes a bit more to the reality of that heavenly Father who loves them intensely, we don't have to do the whole job in one night. In life some people take the plane flights along to their destinations, some take the slow train and some walk, but they are all on a journey and that is something we really took away from the week and the sense of freedom that comes with being able to travel when you feel like it. These folks we met weren't lazy, they work hard, in the fields, in the restaurants, even in the banks but they work and then travel, moving on, experiencing different cultures, letting it change them; and yet so often they are thought of as irresponsible or it is fine to do while young but at some stage they have to settle down and get a proper job. Not so sure I agree with that. It was good to read Paul Leader's article on journeying and how they echoed our thoughts about those who travel and how inspiring they are, it is not just us then who think that way. I particularly liked how Paul pointed out that the Bible is full of sojourners and not settlers, food for thought!

So cute! Alpacas

We didn't spend the whole week in the hostel though, we did get out and about and visited beaches and towns, galleries and a sandalwood factory, natural attractions and farms. The things that stood out to us was the warm welcome from Mark Hewson of Torbay Glass Studio who we spent quite a while chatting to about his work and his life as well as our life. I love talking to craftspeople who have a passion for their work but also a passion to share and the glass he makes is inspiring, I really loved the glass water lily fountain, it was so delicate looking due to its transparency and yet robust looking, unfortunately we couldn't fit it in the suitcase. I also loved the idea, that if you wanted to, you could come up with your own design and work with Mark to make the finished product - now I would love to do that. We also went to a pet farm, which seems an odd thing to do when we don't have little ones with us but we did have an ulterior motive. We visited a shop in Denmark that sells alpaca wool products and they were so soft and light and yet felt so warm that we did wonder whether it was feasible to actually have alpacas ourselves in Latvia and so a visit to the Pentland Alpaca Stud and animal farm seemed like a good idea. It was a great visit and the lady owner was very helpful and gave us lots of information, so much so that we are seriously going to look into it when we get back, especially as we know that there are spinners and knitters in the village back home in Latvia. We also got to feed the alpacas and the kangaroos too, well you have to don't you!!!! They were all very sweet and good natured and we loved the alpacas, especially when they talk to you with their humming voices. 

Our daughter driving us down the 4x4 track

We didn't quite manage the barbecue on the beach on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas for my American friends), it got too dark and the charcoal wouldn't light, added to which we only had my torch to light up the meal, so it got abandoned, but it was still lovely on the beach at night with the crashing surf and the millions of stars twinkling overhead, I even got to see a shooting star. The barbecue was meant to be the finish of a day where we went 4x4ing, I hadn't realised that there lots of tracks that 4x4s can use, but it is a regular hobby for some here in Oz, especially to get to isolated beaches. It was funny to see our future son-in-law taking on a family tradition of towing cars out of messes, this time it was a family with young children towing a large trailer which had got bogged down in soft sand on the track. I didn't get out of the car at this point, as the 40C heat meant instant burn for me and sand that was so hot that it was too hot to stand on, even with sandals on. We got close to the beach and the last section we walked but by the time I got to the sea my feet were burning, so it was straight into the water for a plodge and I spent the rest of the time either plodging in the water or sitting in the beach tent they had bought specially for me and my delicate northern skin. 

An emu coming for a closer look at the pet farm

I know in England there has been some disquiet at the student protests and some of the rowdier elements have been disruptive but I found the fact that students are willing to protest as encouraging. There are a few things that fill me with despair and one of them is the apathy of the younger generations, even my generation were pretty apathetic with few who have fire in their bellies. We need the youth to challenge our pre-conditioned way of thinking, we need them to not accept the status quo but to continually question, otherwise the powerful will takeover and people acquiesce to mediocre lives without even thinking about what they are doing and why. Even if at the end of the day we do not change, at least we should know why we are not changing and that is why I am encouraged by the students' protests. The youth with fire in their bellies, with questions as to why their future has been sold down the line by greed. Let's face it the generation that are making the decisions for the future are the ones that have squandered the resources of this planet, and squandered the chances they have had meaning that there is not much money now for our children's future. The generation that had free university places are no longer willing to pay for the next generation to have the same benefits. Yes the system needs looking at, why does everyone have to go to University? What kind of education is important? What do we need to take us into the next millennium? All important questions, but we should not rob this generation of their future and one young man on youtube shows what fire in the belly can look like, he doesn't have all the answers, but he's thinking, he is beginning to take an interest in the world around him and I am encouraged. Will be interesting to see where he will go, may he retain the fire in the belly for years to come.

Some more photos for you

Feeding a kangaroo

Vegetation near the beach

Sunset on the beach