Show and Tell

We've been watching the rain clouds a lot just
lately

Well it is two weeks since I last blogged and a lot has happened and not much has happened. It's rained a lot, that is for sure. Yesterday (Sunday) I worked as there were students who needed an English check before they submit their theses this Tuesday, but that was okay as it rained for most of the day and so not much else to do in a caravan. Even the greenhouse is showery in that kind of weather as the moisture collects on the plastic and then flaps down in the wind, sending a fine drizzle onto anything below. We make sure that anything that needs protecting from rain is under a table these days. 

One of our visitors this week. Fortunately he and
his Mrs. decided it is not a good place to raise
ducklings and went somewhere else. The pond is 
not reliably full enough to make sure they would be safe
from Mrs. Fox who is somewhere nearby. Another 
visitor was a hare that I stood and watched as it
made its way across our field. I couldn't believe that
it couldn't see me in my bright red coat, but I was
standing very, very still with a watering can in one
hand, hardly daring to breathe while I watched.

More rain on the way, fortunately not much
today though.

The rain started late at night and then carried on until well into the afternoon. It was also pretty heavy at times. We could hear the rain on the greenhouse plastic and then a steady and irritating drip onto the caravan. Yes the caravan is still inside the greenhouse, even though it is near the end of May. The weather has been that cool it is better off inside the greenhouse. I think there's only been one uncomfortable night so far this year. when the temperature was too hot to sleep well. The weather forecast though did promise us that the weather would be better next week. We'll see, but then again the Ieva or bird cherry tree has nearly finished flowering and they do say that it is often cold when the Ieva flowers.

Someone has a sunny smile anyway

Lockdown haircut

Although it's been cold we have been shearing all over Latvia. We still have Estonia to do thought. The problem with shearing in Estonia is that there are still restrictions on travel across the border, so that does not make our job any easier. To get a test we would have to travel to the big town about 45km away just before we head north. Theoretically we should then self-isolate - but we cannot do that when we have our own animals to take care of. Once we have our second vaccination, this should help, but then some of our animals are due to give birth. 

Poor Mr. Tubjørn, he has bad days...

And he has good days. The yellow around his 
eyes is from eating dandelions or lying around
on a field of dandelions. As you can see it is 
definitely dandelion season.

 

Jakobs always looks a bit of a rascal and that's 
probably because he is. He's always up for a
play fight and being the smallest, usually comes
off the worse. 

Fortunately the weather cooperated reasonably okay for us while shearing. When we had to shear outside it was dry and on the other days we had shelter. In fact at one place they have had a new garage built last year, that meant we could shear inside for the first time Normally it has been really hot and we sheared outside in the heat. We were always worried about cooking the alpacas on the shearing mats. It was a good job they did have the new shelter, as it did rain. They also had a new metal construction for the llamas and so Ian was able to shear them standing up. A steep learning curve but better than trying to pin them down, one year a llama went unshorn because he couldn't be restrained. The construction was too big for the alpacas though, so they were restrained on the floor as usual.

Ian has another order for handspun yarn, so he's in
the process of cleaning Chanel's.


It ta
kes a lot of time but it's lovely when it is done.
The fleece here is a bit dusty but it will be fine
once washed. It also has a slight purple tinge to
it. Not sure if it is the light or what, but it is 
interesting.

Mr. Tellus, the old man now but suave as ever.

The Internet has been really bad, especially after a rainstorm the other week. I complained to the company and it did improve to some extent, but when I pushed them a bit they said there was nothing they could do about it. Funny how it can change a bit but not enough to get a steady access. We use our mobiles and we have anything from 0.2 to 17Mbps. Not helpful when I work so much online, as do so many others obviously. Whine, whine, whine, but I was there first! I will talk to someone higher up at some stage and find out what their strategy is for the future in the rural areas of Latvia, i.e. the majority of Latvia. Our access is not bad compared to other places around the country, so I don't know how other's manage. 

Oh to be that flexible!

Sorry but I think that's just lazy
to eat while lying around on the
floor.

I was a bit worried about the internet access when I couldn't even do a Zoom call with video with just my Latvian teacher. Neither I nor my teacher had our video on that day. I usually have mine switched off due to the access issues but it is very bad when she has to switch her's off too. Fortunately it had improved enough to do an online presentation for a conference organised by a Lithuanian university. It is the first time I've done a presentation for a conference since the pandemic started. Then I was literally zooming around Europe nearly 18 months ago and now all the zooming I do is online. It worked anyway. I even did a "Show and Tell".

Brencis always looks content with life.

We have had some gorgeous sunsets too.

We were discussing food and where we get our food from in a workshop for the conference. In principle the other participants understand about eating home produce but in practice many do not and so it was just easier to take my computer outside, switch on my camera and take them on a quick tour of the garden. They also got to see the alpacas but not up close as it started to rain. That isn't something that is so easy to do in a face-to-face conference. 

I have a garden in there somewhere. Honest! 
Fortunately Ian managed to find it or at least
strim around the beds.

Amidst the sadness there was also the joy of
remembering a life well lived.

Sadly this week we had to say goodbye to a friend of our's. We've never been to a Latvian funeral but I guessed there would be flowers, at least I remembered at 3am on the morning before. I ended up sending an email to another friend to ask about the protocol for flowers. He kindly got some for us and brought them to the farm, he also explained what to expect and the order that things would happen in. I'm glad he did. Although it didn't happen quite the same because of Covid restrictions, at least we kind of knew what to expect. It was a moving time and the weather was kind to us all. The sun shone through the trees and warmed us through. Goodbye dear friend!

Ian found my veg beds. The peas are growing 
anyway. I also planted some broad bean plants
so at least it is possible to see something is
growing. Next I will need supports for all
the plants.

Today I finally managed to get some time in the garden, but first we had to go to the Immigration Office in the big town. We thought we were just going to pick up our ID cards. We didn't realise that we should also have our passports with us. I fortunately had mine with me but Ian didn't, so he has to go back tomorrow. I thought the whole point of an ID card is that it is an ID, or am I missing something? I handed in my old ID so not quite sure why they needed our passports too. They already have a copy of them anyway from previous trips. They also looked at our passports when we went the first time to apply for the new card. Sigh! 

I lost count of the number of storks we saw on the
way back from the big town. Ian had to slow 
down for one, to give it time to get some height
as it tried to fly off. 

Sunbathing at last! Not that the alpacas really like
sunbathing a lot at this time of the year, they do 
after they are sheared.

Normally by now we have the tomatoes in the greenhouse, but the chickens are still in there and even if they weren't the tomato plants are still rather small. It's just not been hot enough to make them grow much. I even started them off with heat and had bottles of water to retain the heat of the day through the night. I haven't lost any to frosts this year, but neither have they exactly rocketed away. The weather hasn't stopped the weeds though. All the moisture has meant they've grown but all the moisture falling from the sky has meant that Ian hasn't been able to get out very regularly to strim them. At least today he managed to sort them out and I can find my veg beds again.

Summer!

Okay the absence of leaves suggests it's still
spring but the warmth says summer.

Summer arrived! At least for now. It's hard to believe that even on Sunday we were still wrapped up against the chill winds of wintry-like weather. It was bright but we'd still had the odd snow shower during the past week. Anyway, that is now over, we've even had temperatures in the 20s. Of course the alpacas have now started suffering in the heat and Ian has to make sure they are topped up with water and have access to the shade. 

The red grapes are coming. These are the ones
we love to eat as they are so sweet. The blue ones
are taken by some friends to make wine.

Cowslip wine anyone? We have lots of cowslips
but they became quite rare in the UK as people
picked them too much.

Our ski hill is greening up.

At least the grass should now take off as it is well watered and the heat should help. Our well water is certainly dropping as the growing plants take up the water and drop the water table. In fact it is already starting to take off and Ian got the strimmer out - oh the first sounds of summer, the annoying whine of a strimmer. Still it was for my benefit as Ian was strimming the grass between my vegetable beds. I would like it to be kept under control this year, not sure how long that will last though.

My veg beds are beginning to fill with seeds
and plants.

Our first mushroom of the season. This
one is new to us, we've never noticed
them before on our land but Ian found
quite a clump of them. These are edible
morels. 

Spot the planes. Two fighters with a refuelling 
plane that circled around and around and around.

I was meant to be on holiday last week and we hoped to start on the shearing but it was so cold and wet that we abandoned that idea and with my bosses' permission I worked a few days last week so I can be freer this week to get the shearing done -well for other people anyway. Ian has been hanging on to shear ours as he needs to empty out the alpaca houses, but could not do that until the ground was hard enough and he'd finished using the back hoe to level off ground at our neighbours. Once that is complete (hopefully tomorrow) then he can take the back hoe off and then it's due to rain of course, so back to square one. Sigh! At least the alpacas will be happier with the cooler weather.

So wet after the rain there were 
puddles in front of the loo, err
I mean the office.

Snoozing as only cats know how to.

The streams on our land do not
run all year long. This is the
run off from our field that
floods.

One of the other issues we have is that we are due to shear in Estonia, but currently we are not supposed to travel there. Theoretically I can for work, if necessary but since it's not necessary.... oh the roundabout ways of this current pandemic. Ian has emailed the health authorities in Estonia to see what the situation is, but still no reply. We might have to get someone from Estonia to phone them and see what they say. The problem is that it is also edging closer to our girls giving birth and then we don't move from the farm except to shop in the village. 

Oooh! Girls! The girls do not seem particularly
interested about the boys though.

Our two youngest boys staring intently, but are 
they genuinely curious about the girls or just the
fact they are other alpacas? We won't find out
until next year at least.

This is the view I usually get. Refusing to look at
me, or prancing down to fend me off. I just 
ignore her when she does that and she backs off.

Aggie is still not my friend. We do three days of cream and three days off as she gets a bit stressy about it and that will not help her with the mite situation. This time we put diatomaceous earth on the bottom of her legs where the mites are most likely to be - we don't shear down there with the machine, we use the hand shears, so it won't ruin the shears in the process. She wasn't terribly happy about that but it could have been worse. It could have been Chanel who does not like anyone touching her legs at all and will dance about, sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up and so on. Chanel needs her skin looking at but the best thing to do is to wait just a little longer and then we can make sure she gets a good covering of the powdery stuff after shearing. 

The girls have had a lot of fun exploring each
other's paddock. They still pretty much go into their
own place, except Mari fancied a change one night 
and took a lot of persuading to go back to her 
own place.

Mari can be a bit of a minx at times

A mixed group! Amanda, Ilvija and Valeria.

We took a trip into the big town. Normally we would have a list of things to do at the same time, but this time we just went in and got out again. We had to go and get a new ID card because those are the terms that the Latvian government have decided on for the British population living in their country. There mustn't be any other Brits who need new cards in the whole of the region as they hadn't got a clue about what to do at first. First of all they asked why we wanted a new card as it had not expired, until we pointed out we were British. Eventually the penny dropped and they started working on it, all five of them. They even phoned up to get more information.

Silla is a bit unsure about this unfamiliar 
water trough.

A gorgeous sunny view.

Just how is that comfy?

Getting the photo done was good fun. I had to angle my glasses, presumably so they sat better on my face for the sake of the photo. Ian was told to make his eyes more smiley, which made me giggle. Not like the British passport photos where you are expressly told not to smile. We also had to have our fingerprints done but I think the time in the garden has made mine a bit difficult to pick up on the machine as they are worn almost smooth. The lady had to press my fingers down so it would work. We were supposed to go back in 10 days but I have a conference to attend, even if it is online and I'm presenting in it, so we had to arrange for the Monday of the following week. 

Ginger Tom or GT for short is so cute. Also he 
seems to think that coffee time is affection time.
The rest of the time, he's back to his shy self and
runs off. 

The currant bushes flowering

Ian has been chopping wood this week ready 
for the next heating season.

So this week we got the first shearing done. It was a very pleasant day to do an outside shearing between two apple trees and with plenty of shade from lots of spruce trees. We did wonder if it might be a bit windy but they also provided a nice shelter belt. The spacing between the apple trees was absolutely perfect, as if they had been planted specifically for that very purpose. Ian also got a very good finish on their coats and so they look very neat and tidy. A good start to the shearing season.

He hasn't finished by a long way yet, although this
hopefully is for the following heating season as 
this wood is fresher.

The lawnmowers are in.

Next job. They made short work of the grass 
around the car and trailers. Now they are keeping
the grass down between the trees.

Plenty to go at? Well maybe, but there is also a lot
of ground elder, which they will eat in spring but
not that keen on.

Freddie has obviously found a leaf of grass anyway

And Brencis has found the dandelion leaves.

Tellus the wise old man now.

Mari sat in the shade of her own house.

Blue sky and a swallow - yes they are back and 
fighting over the alpaca houses. I'm sure there is
enough insects for all of them and plenty of room
to nest.