The Journey: Well that was close!

Our dear sweet Freddie

The forecast was for a drop in temperatures, so I thought I had better make an effort to dig up the root vegetables this weekend. The cabbages, broccoli and Brussel sprouts would stand some frost and I would still be able to get to them. Root vegetables once frozen in the ground are not so easy. It was a good job I did, not because they were in danger of being frozen in the ground after all, but I would have had more difficulty locating them under a blanket of snow. We were expecting some snow, errrrrr.... but not quite so much. Not that it is a lot of snow by Latvian standards and we've known more to fall in one day, but the consistent fine snow that fell all day today means we have a reasonable accumulation that we weren't expecting.

George in a festive frame. No the snow was not
that high but the shot was taken from between
accumulations on the gate.

Beetroots

I started off nice and easy digging the vegetables with the beetroot. I was quite pleased that the majority were a reasonable size, especially as I use our own beetroot seed mixed in with some new ones. They are now all in a crate snuggled in a blanket of wood chippings. The beetroot leaves are drying in or on top of the oven. I have some leaves in the freezer already that will be used as a spinach substitute. I find spinach hard to grow because the summer is not kind to it and I always remember too late to grow some at the end of the season, so this will work instead. The beetroot leaves I have drying will add to my dried vegetable powder stock. I find that there are quite a few things that take up too much room or not quite right for eating directly because they might be a bit stringy or too strong in taste but dried out and ground into a powder they make tasty low salt stock. I dried out bean pods and ground them up. This was not a total success but I sieved it to separate the powder and the flaky bits, we get the powder and the chickens will be quite happy with the flakes added to their food, so nothing will be wasted.

Brencis does like to come up close and personal.
He can be a bit intimidating at times as he's so
big, but he's a gentle giant really - as long as
you don't touch his back legs.

A barrow load of parsnips

I also dug up the parsnips. I've had a couple of years where I've managed to grow these successfully but it is a bit hit and miss. This year was absolutely amazing, I've never, ever, grown parsnips as big. The ground was possibly a bit rich for them and they sent out lots of side roots, but even so, they were enormous and not woody at all and they tasted nice and sweet. I hope to save a few for next year to get seeds from or at least re-sprout the tops for new seed plants. I also dug up a bed of Jerusalem artichokes. I save a few for us and give most of them to the chickens -they are fine under a mulch and then they can be fed on a regular basis to them. We like Jerusalem artichokes but not so keen of their smelly effects. If that was all we had to eat, I would certainly do that no problem, but we have so many other things to eat we don't need to bother. I will have to do some research on ways to reduce their aftereffects though as they are super easy to grow and take no care at all. I dig them up in autumn to use in winter and then again in spring as soon as the ground defrosts. They are some of the earliest vegetables of the year for us.

Meet Pete the Parsnip. The fork and
my old wellie is for size comparison.

My view from the apartment window this
morning

Of course work takes up much of my time now and this week I've been searching for photographs for a book and database - easier said than done when some companies do not even bother to respond to emails. Anyway, I persist and that usually gets some results. We have a database launch date this week and so I've been making sure that is sorted. It will still be a work in progress but there is enough there to create interest and it can be added to over time. There is still a paper to finish and so I've been dipping into that, which kind of feels like getting blood out of a stone as it is such a slow process. I shall be glad when that one is done. I put on my diplomatic hat on this week too as I had to finish peer-reviewing someone else's paper. I needed to be kind and constructive with that. I feel sorry for the authors as they will have a lot of work to do on it. The science writing aspect is a tricky path to navigate especially if they do not have access to a native speaker to help them.

Ian's morning view out on the land

George, Mari's oldest son had been outside in
the snow

There was a break from work on Thursday when I went out to the land with Ian one morning to help hold alpacas while they were scanned. We had 8 of them scanned and five were pregnant. Vanessa we were fairly certain was not due to the fact she was very adamant that she was not going to sit down for any male alpaca, well not for Mr. P anyway, as Tellus and Brencis are too closely related to her to be mated with. We were disappointed that Valeria and Antonia were not pregnant again this year and we'll have to try early again next year. Aggie and Chanel we were fairly certain were pregnant as they have been horrid, spitty and temperamental and so it was a relief to know they definitely were pregnant and not just obnoxious for no reason. Mari was definitely not as far on as they were, so due much later but at least she is pregnant - she does have nice babies too. Amanda and Silla were easy to see too, so it looks like most of them are due earlier rather than later.

I love this shot as it would make such a good
subject for a detailed drawing showing the
way George's fleece covers his face, especially
around the nose.

The detail on Lady V's face would be a good
one to try and capture in pencil

We went to see some friends on Friday. One of them has been very ill for such a long time and we know he's vulnerable to any infection. You could guarantee though that even if we thought about going to see them I would get a tickly cough or start sneezing. Then there are the days when trying to get work done means I finish too late. We also didn't want to go and see them if we had been in contact with others where we weren't sure about their Covid bubble either and so time just stole away. To take Covid19 germs to someone already reliant on oxygen is not helpful though. Finally we found a time when we hadn't had contact with anyone other than in the local supermarket and so went up to see them.

Hay stacks with a blanket of snow

Have you been out in the snow Mr. P?

Life used to be so simple when we didn't have to factor these things in. At least we are more confident of not having come into contact with the disease due to being tied up on the land means we don't see many people and our trips to the supermarket are relatively safe due to there only being a low incidence of cases in the area. In the whole of the time since the disease came into Latvia there has only been twice when there has between 1-5 with the disease in our region (they don't give numbers below 5). The numbers in certain parts of the country are not looking good though with huge spikes in numbers and the hospitals close to being full for allocated beds. There are additional restrictions in several places but not in the capital, which has the highest number of people and the highest incidence - just not the highest number per capita and that's how they get away with not placing the additional restrictions there. Unless the numbers come down quickly there will be a lockdown according to the murmurings.

Hmmm! I can see you have. He looks like an old
grizzled man

I see our Christmas tree is ready decorated

On Saturday we took a trip out to see someone with some alpacas. She was a relatively new owner and needed some advice and guidance. The alpacas' toe nails also needed cutting and so Ian demonstrated the correct way they should be done. It looks like we will have more customers in the next shearing season too and so Ian was explaining how to prepare the place ready for the shearing process. It is worrying though that she needed the advice on simple things like toe nail cutting, body scoring to ensure they are not too fat and general ideas on how to make sure they stay healthy. Ian wouldn't let any of our alpacas go without the people knowing how to care for them, as any responsible breeder should. `He would find selling them hard enough as it is and even harder if he wasn't sure they would be looked after properly with the correct after care services too.

So bright despite the gloomy skies. Makes a change
from dark and dreary we've had.

Little Ilvija doing her best to look like a unicorn

One of the things I've been spending time on this week is sorting out Christmas presents. I haven't finished yet but I've been trying to think of presents that will be of use, but fun and where the profits do not go into the hands of the temple of mammon, aka Amazon. Buying local becomes a bit more tricky when you are many miles away and they are not always ideal anyway. I've been putting together some sites for myself of places to buy local foodie items and things we might need and so that was helpful to send to my daughter when she wanted ideas. Maybe that would be useful for anyone who has distant relatives, a bit like the wedding gift list but packed with details of greener, more local companies, especially when it will not be so easy to pop over to deliver presents yourself.