The final push!

A panoramic shot of rain clouds on the way. Noooooooooo!

The field is cut but what are the strange shaped
clouds?

I've said it before, but haymaking time is nerve wracking. We have EU subsidies to cut hay on some of our fields and the cut off date is August 15th for regular payments. The weather has been so unpredictable this summer that there has been times when the forecasts said no rain and we had rain, then there have been times when they said it would rain and it didn't. This does not make an already unpredictable but vital part of our calendar a nightmare to plan. Haymaking can occur any time between the end of June till mid-August and of course depends on the weather. If it is very hot, it can be done in a few days, or like this year it has dragged on and on and on. We have three main areas to cut, these are the main part of our land in the areas not eaten by our alpacas, our meadow - or what used to be a ski hill and a neighbour's land. We managed to get the neighbour's land cut, the main section of our land cut, albeit we lost maybe a quarter of the hay when the weather turned but the ski hill was left till last. 

Amanda does look tired. Hopefully she is pregnant, she certainly
does not like to see the males going past now.

Ian's boots were falling apart. He forgot to take them to the cobbler
in the big town, so he decided to fix them himself

They are very robust boots, so he drilled some holes and fixed 
them with wire

Surprisingly, they don't look that bad.

Potato beds

Finally the weather stabilised and the forecast was for no rain for a good long period of time. It was also forecast to be fairly hot and sunny, so perfect weather to get going. Ian started the process as soon as the grass has dried out after the overnight dew. The following day he turned the hay in one section and then the next day he started on the steep section, meanwhile I was in the garden cutting the tops off the potatoes to reduce the risk of blight getting to the tubers that will carry on maturing in the ground until we get around to digging them up (they are still a bit new to get the out just yet). I was surprised to see Ian but no tractor. The tractor had died. It just stopped working in the middle of the field. 

My companion when I was cutting off the potato 
tops. I don't think he/she was happy about me removing
his cover and certainly wasn't happy about me 
relocating him or her to somewhere safer. It peed on me

Another companion and an unwelcome one at that. 
Colorado beetle larvae, a significant potato pest. I was
only telling someone the week before that we hadn't 
seen any in a while and most potato crops are too far away.
Anyway it and its companions have now been dispatched.

The visitor attraction has now been cut. The flowers had gone
over anyway and it has to be done before August 15th

Josefs got a telling off from me tonight as I had to put them
away, since Ian was baling, and he bumped into me.

We managed to get some neighbours to turn the last bit of hay before we had a couple of showers of rain - not great for hay but with continued fine weather, not the end of the world. Thank goodness for good neighbours. Ian then spent Sunday working on the tractor to try and find the fault before the rain stopped him as the tractor was still stuck in the middle of the field. He thought it might be a faulty ignition switch, but after taking it out, that turned out not to be the problem. He finally traced the fault to a wire between the ignition switch and the fuse box. Apparently the wire must have rubbed on the fuse box bracket over the years, until it rubbed through the insulation and shorted out. He has never been so relieved to find a singed piece of metal that confirmed his suspicions. So the bracket has been altered so it doesn't rub on the cable and the cable re-insulated. The tractor is now working and Ian is in the middle of baling as I write this blog. Hopefully he will be finished soon and we can eat. Tomorrow will be a hay shifting day to get it all undercover before Thursday's predicted rain.

How many bales? 269 off the ski hill you say? Good job, I'm 
eating for two (at least we hope so!)

A knot grass moth

Freddie with his bandage on.

I've worked hard this week. Most of the blackcurrants have been picked and processed. I also started the process of preserving the tomatoes for tomato sauce for over winter. As I mentioned above I've been cutting off the potato tops and weeded the plots while I was at it, which took me a bit longer than I would have liked. I've also been spending quite a bit of time fixing alpacas. The hot weather has meant an increase in flies and all the alpacas with vulnerable skin have been struggling with attacks from the flies. Each one seems to have a different reaction. Herkules has another growth on his leg, similar to a reaction he had a couple of years ago. I thought we were getting on top of that, but now the bandages keep working loose. Freddie seemed to have developed more of an ulcer, but some cream from the vet's and the bandages seem to be working on him. Veronica was developing a few red spots on her back legs but that has been sorted with my cream mixed with clay, the same with Aggie. Well until tonight when the flies have now got to her leg. Another one to bandage up in the morning.

Herk's bandage is slipping down. We've tried the t-shirt but he
knows how to take that off. For goodness sake Herk! It would
be much better if you kept the bandage on. The growth will 
go away much quicker.

I extended a flower bed for the irises that a
friend gave me. I also added some lavender
that she has grown from seed.

Who me? Would I do a thing like that? 

Now Chanel!!!!! Oh my goodness! She is a sensitive and spitty soul at the best of times, more so when she is pregnant and she seems to be now. The plan was to get some oil on her back legs overnight and then to wash it off in the morning. No chance! Ian could not keep her still long enough for me to get her scaly skin covered in oil. We had to abandon that idea. Normally she improves over summer, as she gets out in the sun and onto the fresh grass, but this year she didn't. So we are now trying Vitamin D (with a few other vitamins because they are in the bottle), some metabolites and Vitamin B complex to try and boost her immune system. She does seem to spend a lot of time indoors and she is a dark alpaca, so she may not be getting the full benefit from the sun this year, plus it has been overcast. It is weird, but giving her injections isn't as much of a problem. She didn't seem to bother as much about that, but she was not going to let us in to look at her legs. We'll just have to see how she responds to that as the stress could just exacerbate any other type of treatment. Sigh!

Sunbathing again!

Yup! And this group are all at it!

Such a hard life.

Angelica

Other than that! We've picked mushrooms from the forest and dried them. We also been backwards and forwards to the village for bandages etc. for the alpacas, diesel for the tractor, to do washing, get plastic to cover the hay bales, fuses for the tractor, the bakery, shopping - it's a good job it isn't far. Normally we don't do that much running backwards and forwards to save diesel and wear and tear on the car. We try to keep it to once a week. Ian also had a trip to the big town to get baler twine. Annoying now there is not a tractor supply place in the village now. 

These mushrooms are easy to find, they grow in 
our greenhouse. Very tasty too.

We think Aggie's pregnant, not only is she spitting off the males,
she's very grumpy and here she is getting ready to spit at Ian if 
he gets any closer. 

Miss laid-back Mari. It's hard to tell if she's pregnant as she isn't
the spitty sort at all. We thought she was, then maybe not and
now Ian's not sure at all. Let's see what she does next time
Mr. Tellus pays a visit.

Mr. Tellus sure has a spring in his step. Not bad for an old chap
and the girls do like him, when they aren't pregnant.

Mr. P. has finished on mating duties for this year. 

Finally! We had visitors, or rather we didn't have visitors. Ian had an email for a visit from 25 children and four adults, he responded and then the night before but no confirmation, then the night before there was a flurry of communication and they were coming, but later than originally planned. We tidied up the greenhouse a bit, so that there would be more washing stations and then Ian got a message to say they weren't coming. The greenhouse needed tidying but we both have other jobs to do than prepare for visitors who then change their minds. It is amazing how many people ask to visit and then change their minds or turn up late - as if we have nothing better to do than wait around for visitors. It is a good job that the vast majority of people are not like this, otherwise we would seriously question whether we open for visitors or not. Rural areas are supposed to benefit from tourists, but I sometimes wonder. So many of our friends are seriously cheesed off with visitors who do not behave or do not do as they are told or do not obey notices. It is not as if the hosts are being awkward, we just have other things to do, we have our animals to keep safe and we have visitors to keep safe. Maybe people should go on courses before they are allowed to visit farms.

Looking for shade

Daisies are pretty

Fortunately not as many hornets (pictured here) or wasps this
year. Mind you, hornets are not quite as aggressive as wasps

Turbjørn is doing okay. Not as good as we would like, but he seems to be better in himself

Bee balm

There is a vegetable garden in there somewhere.

Marshmallow flower

So happy with my waterlilly. It's still blooming away.

Blueberries are ripening

He looks like such an in charge chap! Apart from he isn't, he's
a coward really. This week when I was doing something in the 
greenhouse when I heard a commotion from the chicken arks.
There was something about the noise that made me think that
the pine marten might be back, so I ran down and next thing
I see is an eagle flying off. I went to check on the chickens and
I think it had been pulling at the netting to get to them. No wonder
they were freaked out. 

Not a plant I wanted to find. I think it's ragwort
which is poisonous to alpacas and many other
animals. I pulled it up.

Grape season is on us. Plenty of little ripe ones to snack on.

More strange clouds and you can see more of the field where
Ian has cut the hay

With love - tomato style

I think the tree must be sick, but with what.
The insects are going mad over it. There are 
flies, lots of musk beetles, hornets and butterflies

They seem to be feeding off something but what?
The grass is also dying around it.

Step by step

The Christmas tree that delayed this post.
I have the Christmas tree rash to prove
it too. This tree was growing in my
garden and it was starting to get a bit
big for being in a herb bed.

We used to sing a song at a kids clubs that I used to help run, "Step by step we're moving forward, little by little we're gaining ground". Politically it doesn't seem like it and I was appalled that the UK British Government can go into recess having delayed any decision on Brexit. Less than a 100 days to go and they go on holiday after putting on the most awful pantomime first. I was not impressed to say the least. Fortunately apart from that, this week seems to be one of going forward.

As you can see though, Christmas trees grow like weeds
around here and we won't miss the odd one or two.

The view of a graveyard from the bus. Always with trees
and well kept plots - well they are well kept under the snow 

Tuesday of last week was spent getting ready for my trip up to Tartu and then in the evening travelling to another village to pay the final instalment on our new chimney. I have to say the guy is persistent in trying to communicate to us in Latvian. I got the gist of what he was trying to say and we managed to explain that we would email our friend who recommended him to clarify the details. Even if we had understood what he'd said, I think we would do the same, so we were sure.

Amanda

Valeria

I set off to Tartu on the early bus as usual. It takes a while to get up there and lots of changes of buses but I get a little extra lie in that way. It is also more scenic than going through Riga and hanging around there for hours. Due to the connection timings there is always somewhere I have to hang around, no matter which bus I actually catch. I lost count of the number of permutations I have tried and in nearly each case the buses or trains miss each other by a matter of minutes. It is quite frustrating really.

The oak tree on our land always looks more dramatic in winter

Ian has been getting the wood chopped and stacked ready
for burning next winter. We are getting an idea of how
much we need, now that we are in the apartment full time.
Still at least this is a lot cheaper than paying the heating bills
that we were paying last year.

There were two changes to my journey this time around though. As usual I arrive Valka in Latvia and walk over the border to Valga in Estonia. My usual watering hole though was shut for the day for a function, which was rather disappointing as there are not many places to eat in Valga or at least there didn't used to be. However to my surprise about three doors up there was a new coffee shop. I only really wanted a drink and not something to eat anyway and it was a bright friendly place to have a cup of chai. My usual place has good priced food, but the service is a little dour, although efficient enough.

This will not be a Christmas tree for
the house, but it looks pretty with its
dusting of snow

George with his dusting of snow. Shows the insulation
qualities of alpaca fleece anyway

After my chai and a cup of tea, I raced up to the bus station to catch my bus. I had more time than I thought though. Eventually the bus turned up and I got on, I told the driver where I was heading to and he pushed some buttons on his ticket machine and the ticket was printed. The strange part was that he didn't take the money I was brandishing and he had his hands folded as he said something to me. I was perplexed. The lady behind tried to tell me something and I apologised and said I only speak English. She shouted something up the bus and someone shouted back "Free." She then told me in English that the ticket was free. The penny dropped. I knew this was something that the Estonian government had planned but didn't know when. Not all of the buses are free, but at least this one was. Pity that the only way back on a Saturday morning was by train and those definitely are not free. Still it saved me about €5, so not too bad. I felt a bit of a nana (rhymes with banana) though as I explained in a message to my friend who met me in Tartu.

Is that a wistful look Mr. P?

The view from the boys paddock. I should have gone skiing
but I didn't. 

On the way up I had a nice early Christmas present, I finally got an official acceptance for my second academic paper. I had been told unofficially a short while ago and was actually close to sending a message to find out what had happened to the official email when this one came in. That takes me a step closer to finishing off my PhD. I need three papers, so two down, one to go. My supervisor jokingly said "Is it really true?" because it has been a strange and rather convoluted way of getting it through the process.

Ian had to get the snow blower out this week to clear some
paths. He also managed to fix the handbrake on the tractor
which got broken while he was away. 

Walking into work

It was a bit weird on the way up to the university from my friend's house this week. It is one I have walked a many times before, but this time I was actually going into work. The only time I have actually walked into work before is at conferences when I was heading for the children's venue, as I used to be a children's worker at Christian or church conferences. I did have a small cleaning job once when I was short of money, but that was a long time ago. Usually work for me is on my computer or on our farm.  So heading into a room to sit down with colleagues to discuss a project was rather novel. Quite nice for a change. I was still a little unsure about the project details, as I have never worked on a joint university project before and so I was encouraged to find out that neither were my colleagues and that it is common at this stage of the project. So even though I joined in a little late, I wasn't as behind as I thought I was. We managed to make quite a bit of headway and have a plan for the new year, so all's well.

The view from the room where we were working

Vanessa's crew have been outside a lot using the outdoor
feeder. They are the only ones that do. It is not so bad in
the cold as the snow shakes off rather than wets it. This
one is Silla 

One of the suggestions by the university HR department was to apply for Estonian residence. It took a little while for this to sink in that it is actually possible to have residence in more than one country. It is just if I am in the country for more than 90 days, which would be unusual, I would need a residence permit, so it is better to apply now and have the permission, even if I don't need it exactly. Seems daft having two formal places of residence but it just means I can work in Estonia without having to watch the number of days spent there. I'll still be resident in Latvia though. Not sure what happens in the event of Brexit, but not even the UK government can make up its mind on that, so we just keep on hanging on waiting for a final decision (I'll stop there now, promise!) I got as far as making an appointment to meet with the border police anyway, but that isn't until the end of January. Not a quick process obviously.

Vanessa's crew all outside

Vanessa looks really pretty in this photo. You wouldn't think
she was 10 years old and the boss of her crew.

Tartu square in festive array

My friend whose house I was staying in, asked if I wanted to eat in or out, so I suggested out, since I haven't been out for a meal in ages - eating on journeys do not count. She invited some other friends and we headed into town. My friend and I arrived first in the square and had a wander around the stalls and looked at the decorations. All quite festive. The decorations are up in our village too, but they stay up for ages to offset the winter gloom and so I don't tend to think of them as festive. It's one of the reasons that Christmas tends to sneak up on me, as I am not surrounded by all the reminders of the date. After a bit of dithering around by all of us, we settled on an Italian place. It was a nice way to round off my first day at work and a present to myself.

Chanel also in wistful mood

Eyre warming up on the radiator. She doesn't look like she
appreciates the privilege of being allowed in. She is usually
evicted pretty soon, once she has warmed through she goes
investigating for bread and cakes.

On Saturday I set off back home. I had to go through Valmeira for definite as I had managed to leave a new pair of gloves on the bus on the way up. Thanks to bus Wifis I was able to contact the bus company who managed to locate my gloves and they were left at the bus terminal for me to collect on the way home. I ended up in Cesis for rather longer than normal in the process though, so I went and did a little shopping for the kinds of things that you cannot get in a small village like cornflour and large bags of dried fruit to make a Christmas cake. After that with still about three hours to kill I went to the cafe where I can get cheap cups of tea, but they shut at 4pm despite the fact it said 8pm on the door. I was asked to leave. I felt like one of those homeless people as I had to go back to the station to wait another hour and half. It wouldn't have been so bad but a bus that could have got me within half an hour of home where Ian could have collected me left two minutes before my bus got in. Oh well!

Freddie has been eating the snow

I love the splash of red of the car in this otherwise
monochrome picture

When I got to the bus station the only people there were work folk. It looked like the whole place was going to shut down early too. Fortunately that was not the case. At one point a young guy came in who was well and truly drunk. He struck up a conversation with me, or at least tried to in Latvian, but switched to English when I told him I only spoke English - not quite true but true enough when it comes to a conversation. His opening words in English were "I'm f*ed up!" Not what I would consider an acceptable conversation starter for me, but I had to agree it certainly looked that way. We had an amiable conversation before he asked me for 50c, which I refused, then he asked for €1 - the logic escaped me. He said he needed it for the bus. I said "No!" He laughed and said, "You know I'm lying don't you!" I smiled and said "Yes!" He said "You are a good woman" gave me a buddy handshake and toddled off.

Mari

Mari's son, Jakobs. Oh he's looking cute and cuddly. He's also
turning into a friendly little soul too

A rather nice shot of Sofie. Our neighbour was telling us how
she turns up to her place and often sleeps in her cow barn.

The next day was the day before Christmas eve and so I thought I had better go out with Ian to the land and cut our Christmas tree. It had been growing in the garden and was getting too big and so we had already planned to use this one for Christmas. Of course it was covered in snow though, so spent the night in the bathroom to thaw before I could put it up. The first job for Christmas Eve was to tidy the apartment. Of course I had brought home all the seeds that needed cleaning up as they had got dusty and they needed sorting out into a couple of robust boxes rather than falling apart ones before I could even start on the other unsorted boxes in our living room. Eventually I managed to get some order into the place and shunted boxes around so that we had places to store them.

It amused me that the boys decided to all go outside when
Ian was around with the snowblower, trying out the paths
he had just cut.

Out for a stroll on the freshly cut paths

The only problem with the paths is that you can guarantee
that Turbjørn will stand in the middle and not let anyone
else get past

I love the startled look on George's face. Caught in the act?

Which brings me to the reason the blog is late. I was still decorating the tree in the evening, preparing some baking and so on. There was no big rush though, as we didn't have company for Christmas day and it would just be the two of us, but it was nice to finally get the living room in some sort of order and get rid of the boxes that had been lying around for too long because I was too busy. I get there eventually!