Now where do I begin? Part 1

Shadows of their former selves

Well the last two weeks have been a bit of a whirl and so this will be a blog in two parts. For those who follow our Facebook page you will know we finally got the boys sheared. They do look funny and were a little cold when the temperature dropped again.

Hard to tell which is Mr.P and which is a shadow

Two boys waiting their turn. Not happy as there was a lot of
humming going on

The cold weather really set us back with shearing and planting and meant we were running behind for  preparation for the felting course. Fortunately our felting tutor, Heather Potten, came a few days earlier to set up. I'm quite sure that weeding the greenhouse wasn't on the her list of to dos, but she was great and pitched in. We did get most things done but left a few jobs for Ian to finish off when we went to collect the participants. One of the jobs was to make a coat hook and he made a very nice one. He wasn't too happy though about cracking his head on it.

This is my best side

No this is!

Looking Sphinx like

One of the things we had to sort was some insurance and I asked a friend who does translations of formal documents for a translation for liability insurance. It was funny to see the look on the insurance agents face when we went with the translation. There ay have been a formal translation for the term, but it was still not something she had come across before.

Need to get the energy levels up after losing a fur coat

We were hoping to vote in the general election in the UK and thought we had registered for a postal vote. Unfortunately we didn't receive any voting forms. The area we could have voted in also voted in a Conservative to a seat held by Labour for many years and I thought it would have been a safe seat, obviously not. At least the difference was not just two votes. We did get to vote in our local election though, so we are pleased about that.

Smooth! He is hard to shear as he is difficult to see in the shed

We had some very keen visitors the previous week. They asked lots of questions, which Ian loves and they even took Brencis for a walk. They were here for two hours and gave us more for the tour for the extra time they took, which is always greatly appreciated. After the visitors went Ian came to fetch me, Aggie was not happy and making a lot of noise. The timing was worrying because it could signal she was in labour and an alpaca birth late afternoon is not good news. I crouched down at the door to watch, so that I did not stress her out and saw her baby

having a very good wriggle around. Ian moved in slowly, avoiding her gaze so she did not feel threatened and talking gently to her. Eventually he managed to get hold of her and then I went in to help. I held on and Ian had a feel of her tummy. We decided that she was probably okay and just uncomfortable from the baby. She perked up later.

And this is what they do after shearing - a good roll in the
dirt

Trying to get work done for the course was uppermost in our minds, but naturally there were also other jobs associated with managing land and animals. Ian spends a lot of the summer keeping grass under control and this year was no exception. We have moved quickly from the slow growing grass of cool days to rapid growth with the warmer days and rain we've had over the past few weeks. Ian has also made progress on the next alpaca house, but not as much as he would like, especially the day when there a few short sharp showers, just as he got everything out.

At least these don't sting, but they don't half cling on

Well that will do for part 1, especially as I am typing one handed due to getting a hornet sting from one that landed on my coat and wasn't happy when I picked my coat up. Thank goodness I'm not allergic too them

New life

From Kaziņas Bonijas siers which translated is
Bonijas Goats Cheese

We finally got to see our friends new goats this week and I forgot to take our camera. Fortunately she has a Facebook page, so you can hop over there and see some really cute videos of little goats jumping about (link here). Goat babies are exceptionally cute, but the climbing antics of one in particular did not make Ian feel like we ought to have any goats at all. One climbing alpaca and three nervy sheep that occasionally make some extraordinary leaps are enough for us to handle. Still it was fun to visit.

We've had some rather nice days. Today was not one of them.
Today the snow was melting and it was foggy. This picture
was taken yesterday (Sunday)

You did what? Argued! Well I never!

I told our friend we had had a humdinger of an argument last week and she was shocked, even more so when I explained that we had only had maybe around four such arguments in over 31 years of marriage. She couldn't believe we actually raised our voices to each other anyway. Like I said last week it isn't normally our style. We have been much better this week, we've still had our disagreements but not as bad. I even let Ian drive the car this week and be on his own out on the land. I will still go back and help with the hay shifting. He did tease me the other day and said he got the snowblower out, which he hadn't. He had got the tractor out though and used the spring tine tractor attachment to scratch the road as it was getting rather slick with ice. At least putting some grooves in before it set solid will help to prevent it acting like an ice rink for now. Why none of us had thought about that before, we don't know, although it is not the normal use for a ground preparing implement. That goes with other lessons learnt this winter of why we shouldn't put the hand brake on in the car when it gets down to the low minuses and why most people here leave the car in gear instead. Doh! We live and learn!

Kiss and make up! Hah!

Our boys have actually been arguing a bit this last week or so.
It is to do with the Spring. They are the same every year.
Don't feel too sorry for Peedo in the middle though, he is not
always on the end of it, sometimes he starts it. Nothing too
serious though.

We did joke that we wondered if our neighbours thought Ian might have lost his driver's licence when they saw me doing all the driving. You know how rumours can fly about. It is so rare that I drive the car these days and I have to say I was quite relieved to hand back the keys and get back to my own routine. I do enjoy being out on the land, but I also enjoy being able to set my own plan for the day at my own pace (I guess that has added to some of the friction over the past few weeks). Therefore today was spent writing messages, answering emails, reading for my studies and marking someone's homework for the Sociology course I tutor. I also downloaded some information for the Development Studies unit I will start to tutor in September. Not too bad for one day's work.

Looking artistocratic

Soaking up the sunshine. It's nice to see them outside for a
change

It was amusing to read some of the sections of the book for the new course. In one of the case studies I fundamentally disagree with their assessment of the outcomes from the development project. From my previous studies I know that hydroelectric projects are rarely good development projects for people or conservation and are often mired in controversy, so to say it had achieved certain millennium development goals (the standard set for development projects by the UN, that actually finished last year, but the new ones are still under development) seemed rather trite at best and downright untrue at worst. It will be interesting encouraging students' critical analysis of development projects and I would hope by the end they will be able to see that even if the World Bank is behind the project, it does not guarantee a good project. I am quite relishing the challenge.

Ian has been working with Chanel and halter training. She is
quite jumpy - literally. 

Slowly but surely and little by little, the former laboratorytechnician is helping her to become calmer and starting to
walk on command - but only in the alpaca house at the moment

It is now 13 years since we left the UK this last week and eight years since we arrived in Latvia. A lot has happened in that time. Three children have left home, we have gained a son-in-law and daughters-in and out of law and five grandchildren. We also mustn't forget the 10 alpacas, four sheep, upteen chickens, two cats and 13 hectares (33 acres) of land. A bit of a change for a stay at home Mum and a laboratory technician. Also in that time I have got a Masters degree and nearly finished a PhD. Ian has learnt to shear alpacas, cut their toe nails, trim teeth, learnt to card and spin the wool, learnt how to plough, dig ponds and a myriad of other land related tasks. It has been fun and amazing that we have been able to do so much.

While I was trying to take photos of Ian halter training
Chanel, Aggie was nuzzling my neck. She wouldn't talk to Ian
at first after his absence but she has now more often than not
switched allegiances back. I think here she was just being plain nosy

Someone else enjoying the sun

We have become so very comfortable in our lifestyle out here that we could not really ever envisage going back to live in the UK. The very thought of getting stuck in some traffic jam on the over busy roads sends shudders down our spines. Being determined not to go back was one of the reasons I decided not to ever vote in an election in the UK. How could I vote for something that did not affect me personally? Why should I make a decision that would affect someone else and that they would have to live with and I wouldn't? However, I registered to vote this last week and got the confirmation of registration today.

We couldn't work out why Veronica had straw on her back

We wondered if it was to encourage Brencis to be weaned.
I'm sure it isn't really, but he will be by the end of the week
or at least we hope to move him up to the boys place soon.

Plotting something? Or just having a natter? 

I will be voting in the EU referendum, because it could affect me personally and not only those back in the UK will have to live with the consequences, but so will I. Not just me but our neighbours too. The integrity of Europe is under threat from so many sources and the peace and stability of the last few decades is wavering (this article from by the Guardian is an interesting article and reflects our thoughts too). I feel that now more than ever there is a need to draw strength from each other in unity, but not the sort of artificial unity, but one that debates and grapples with the future issues in a meaningful and respectful way. Anyway, in short I shall be voting.

The first signs of Spring in our greenhouse.

This rather stylish looking carder is called the Ekelund and
designed by a former Volvo engineer. One day we may
get one.

I mentioned that Ian has learnt to spin and he cards the wool by hand at the moment. We realised this wouldn't be a long term solution and so we decided we needed to get a drum carder. There is a wonderful electric version, but a tad expensive for us at the moment at £2100 + vat - if anyone feels like investing in one for us, then we will gladly accept donations

In the absence of an emoticon, here is Aggie's thoughts on us
getting donations

A wide carder by Classic Carders

For the time being, we decided to opt for a hand carder. Not as fast but this wide drum carder means we can card the fleece for felting, spinning and to make fluffy linings for clothing at a reasonable speed and certainly faster than using hand carders. It also means that even if we were to go for an electric one at a later date, we can still use the hand carder for demonstration purposes and felting classes.

Our new cockerel from our friend at the goat farm. We didn't
think we should breed for egg layers from our cockerel that
has frost bitten feet, so we needed a new one. The comb on
this one is a bit of a mess and he has a few feathers missing
on his back after a run in with a male turkey. He didn't come
out of that very well and was separated. It has been amusing
watching him trying to exert his authority over the females.
He's not particularly aggressive, but just enough for the
females. We do have one particularly aggressive female
in there and she has been testing her boundaries by
nipping him on the back where he has lost his feathers. It
hurts, bless him, but he is standing up to her. She still tries
though and she circles around him trying to get to his back
 and he circles around to stop her - a bit like a dance.

Proof that Spring has sprung, well in the greenhouse anyway

Ordering it wasn't without issues though. For some reason the system didn't like Ian's card and it ended up getting blocked. Several days later and we managed to get it unblocked - I'm sure it would have been quicker to phone, but I preferred to use the internal bank's messaging system, rather than sit in some interminably long telephone queuing system, listening to some awful tinny music. Once the card was unblocked I was also able to order some felting needles and silk in preparation for felting scarves and little animals (making little animals from felt you understand, not felting little animals, which would be cruel). I just hope it all works well. Having never done dry felting before. I have also heard that the small felting machine that someone has given to us has set off on its journey. It has travelled down the country from Northumberland to Sheffield and should set off on the next leg of its journey sometime next week (I think that's the plan). I should have asked for transfer pictures to watch its progress.

Spring? Remind me what that is again!

Not what I wanted to see today, more snow showers

It's April! I know you know that, but I'm just trying to remind myself that, as the snow continues to fall, which it has done pretty much all day today. It takes a lot to make me winter weary, but I am today. I opened the curtains this morning and uttered an "Oh no!" as I saw the carpet of white unsullied by human prints, yet again! It was melting quite nicely yesterday, even heard the drip, drip sounds that seem such distant memories. It was a lovely sound, the promise of warmer days ahead, the promise of a more colourful future and not the monochromes of winter. Even the Vitamin D tablets couldn't banish the winter blues this morning. I suppose that it doesn't help that I have been sick pretty much all week too. Ian even came down with the dratted bug too and we have done rather a lot of sleeping. In fact we haven't done a great deal of much else.  I went out with Ian to the land and we both sat in the greenhouse and slept in the caravan on a couple of nice days, the problem was that Ian recovered quicker than me and ended up tip-toeing around, so I wasn't much use as company out there. 

Our new crocheted coasters

I was meant to go to Tartu again this week to finish off the practicals and lectures in statistics, but I was far too sick to travel up that far, in fact I even ended up sleeping on the couch for three nights so Ian wasn't disturbed by my coughing. So as you can tell, it hasn't been the best of weeks here. Easter sort of came and went. A neighbour of ours made some lovely coasters for our cups of tea, such a lovely idea and I know how busy she is, so much appreciated too. I summoned up enough energy to make some teacakes, they were going to be hot cross buns, but I just couldn't quite summon up that amount of energy to do the pastry/paste crosses on the top, so they ended up as teacakes. Latvia has a similar tradition to one I used to know as a kid of rolling eggs down the hill, that is a bit of a joke this year, it would be more snowballs that they would end up with. 

Ian chipping away at ice, in preparation for
the thaw!!!! Now filled with snow again

To cap it all our favourite chocolate bar has changed their recipe. We could pretty much guarantee being able to find Tupla bars in our local shops and they were chocolately enough to really satisfy a good old chocolate craving. They had little bits of almonds in the chocolate outer layer and that was fine, but they have changed to peanuts last month and they taste awful. Not only that but peanuts brings Ian out in cold sores, which is not exactly helping when our immune system is pretty low this week too. I am just grateful that we managed not to pass on the bugs to our visitors of last week, I think they have had pretty much everything going this winter and been far worse than we have with the viruses. I suppose I should be grateful, just it is rather hard when I feel so tired and my arm still hurts quite badly after the fall three weeks ago. So where do we now turn to for our chocolate fix? Some serious investigation will have to ensue and maybe this is the kick we need to get us back on the fair trade stuff - not that they sell it locally of course!!!!!

Ice on our pond. Ian used the chainsaw to cut away the top
layer. There was a layer of water and then another layer of
ice. At least oxygen can now get to the pond. Who would
have thought, using a chainsaw for cutting ice blocks!

Well it hasn't all been doom and gloom. We were rather surprised to receive voting papers this week, which means we can actually participate in the local up and coming elections. I am quite excited about this, as we really feel there is a need for change in the local politics and we can get a chance to put our two pennyworth in. Okay two votes aren't going to change the whole system, but it's a start anyway. Now all we have to do is to find out how to go about it and get someone to show us how it is all set up. 

After several years of locking each other in or out of the
greenhouse and having a problem if it was windy of the
latch dropping down on the inside of the greenhouse,
Ian came up with a brainwave. The double sided latch.
Now it does not matter whether you have fastened the
door on the inside or the outside, you can still get it.
Clever heh! Now why didn't we think of that before?

The other exciting piece of news is that the international trade negotiations seem to be paying off nicely now. I am needed less and less now help, as understanding grows between the trading partners and I'm just there if there is a problem. We are so excited for our neighbour as her company gets a good boost and there has even been another link developing. They work so hard to create the links and ensure a quality product and it is good to see that hard work paying off.

Tomato seedlings started off. I started repotting them today

In between sleeping, I have as usual spent far too much time on the internet and an article about the anger amongst teachers in the UK grabbed my attention, particularly this quote

"The current annual rises for teachers, intended to reflect their growing experience, are to be replaced by a system linked to performance."

Now do pray tell me, how does one measure performance without subjecting children to endless rounds of testing? Which I thought they had decided, fairly recently was not ever so healthy for children. Also how does one measure a seed planted in a child that germinates into a desire to learn? I know that at times you can train a child till your blue in the face and they still don't respond/learn etc. then a few months, years, decades down the line they suddenly get it. Now how do you measure that? When I made a similar comment on facebook, a friend of mine retorted that maybe they should put MPs on performance related pay and see how they fare under that. Would be an interesting exercise indeed. We would soon find out who are the hard working members of Parliament then.

The trees are showing signs of life,
honest! They are starting to bud now

I then began to wonder how they would measure the success of some of my old teachers. Mr. Sharrock is one that stands out as a giant amongst my teachers. A very strict disciplinarian, but as I discovered a soft heart too for those who weren't so fortunate in the academic circles. I didn't go on to study history, his subject, but I did come away with a love of the subject and a fascination for the industrial revolution and the transformation it wrought - not bad for a 16 year old. Okay in my case I also came away with good results, but in many ways that wasn't the point, I could have got good results and no love of history. What is more important? I came away knowing without a doubt the importance of getting out to vote. I came away with a respect for the social pioneers that helped me forge my passion for justice and is resurfacing in my studies over 30 years later. How on earth do you measure that? I came away from my secondary schooling with a love of learning and a hatred of exams. I did well, I was a good and hard working student, but I was so tired of exams by the time I had finished. I would much rather that students finished their studies with a continued desire to learn more, to have a wonder of the universe around them and a love and care for their environment and people around them. That is far more important and yet so elusive to measure.