The Journey: Everything changes

Brencis chewing on the idea obviously

I started this blog on the 18th March but didn't get far. The title was "Everything Changes" even back then, but how little did I realise how much it would change less than a week later. I had had a hectic time, trying to fill in for a sick colleague and also having to help Ian deal with Turbjørn our alpaca that suddenly died and so I ran out of time to write a blog before travelling to the UK to see the kids and grandkids.

Between him and a few of the girls they were
determined to give Ian a hard time while I was
away. Ian thinks he was having an argument with
one of the others and slipped on the ice. The
bandage came off today and he seems fine now.

Karla on look out duty.

I mentioned in my last blog that I was getting a bit anxious about the travel. It just seems so much more of a hassle. I wanted to commit to not travelling by plane but spending hours on a bus to get to trains or ferries just did not look like a wise option. On the Tuesday before I was due to fly on the Friday we both got sore throats. Fortunately a friend of ours had two home Covid tests so we could both do a test. We were negative. I recovered quickly but Ian was ill even after I left. It did mean that Ian didn't get the blood tests the doctor wanted him to have, but at least they were just regular ones and not for any particular purpose - just our age. I had mine done in August last year for work, so not a problem for me.

Ilvija always seems to have straw in her mouth
for her pictures just lately.

Some of the girls were struggling with the wet
kind of snow we've had just lately and ended
up with infections between their toes.

So to get to the UK I had the plagues to deal with - Covid era regulations and illness - sore throats. Then there were the storms and floods. The floods did not affect the roads we were travelling on, so that was fine, but storms were forecast in the UK. Yippee! I thought (sarcastically of course). The plane from London to Riga set off just before the worst of the winds, but it arrived about half an hour late in Riga. There also seemed to be some delay in getting the plane ready, but that was fine as the flight back was then after the worst of the wind had passed over. It was a bit of a bumpy ride, but I've known worse just flying into Denver when we lived in Colorado. In fact the landing was text book perfect.

Lolly has had her last bottle feed yesterday.

So much snow, this was the 5th of March.

My sons had organised between them where I would go and when, so it was my youngest's job to come and pick me up. He had further to travel than my older son would have and so a bit of concern as he would be travelling during the storm. I told him not to set off if it was too bad and to stay safe. I could have waited if necessary and my older son could come and pick me up if the journey was impossible. He did make it down though and the roads were relatively quiet as the lorries were off the road.

And this was yesterday. The marks are from
Ian dragging a Christmas tree over to the boys
so they could have tasty snacks.

It never ceases to amaze me to see caterpillars
crawling across the snow at this time of year.
Usually they are these very furry ones, sometimes
brown and sometimes black.

I had aspirations to write a blog while in the UK but forgot to pack my camera (I did remember the charging unit but not the camera itself). My camera on the phone had a cracked screen and was no use and the phone I had ordered as a replacement was not due to arrive until after I got back (although it arrived the day I was flying back and that was almost a story in itself - I'll spare you that one though). So three weeks and no pictures of the UK. Mind you, a lot of the time it was wet and windy - typical for March.

Brencis enjoying his snack

And a scratch - just under the chin

and a scratch under the neck.

After a tasty snack, some ice-cream perhaps?

My first week went well. I had a great time playing softball inside with my young grandson and showing his much older sister how to do embroidery stitches. My grandmothers also taught me to embroider so it was nice to be carrying on the tradition. We watched films that they thought I might like and I did. We walked the dog, who I met for the first time. So all went well until near the end of the week and time to move on.

Snow sculptures.

Ginger Tom on the prowl

I had been keeping an eye on the events in Ukraine but I really didn't think that Putin would order his troops in. I felt he was just bluffing for effect. It was a strange feeling to be in the UK while Ian was in Latvia with all its history and baggage connected to Russian invasions. So it seemed Putin wasn't bluffing and Biden wasn't over stating the case after all. As I've read some of the back stories and thoughts from experts, I wondered how much it was to do with oil and the threat of the world weaning itself off the black stuff. Time is running out to prove something, although proving what is beyond me!

A military helicopter but fortunately not that
much activity overhead

These are the kind of flyovers I would rather
be seeing at this time of the year, especially
if they are heading north. Everything changes
but somethings are stay the same in those changes
as the seasons turn.

So that was rumbling on in the the last couple of days at my youngest son's house. On the final day though, I had what I thought was a disagreement with a Chinese meal - not used to it I thought. Unfortunately I managed to pass something on to my oldest son's family during my first week staying there. It was only a 24 hour thing but went progressively through most of the family. Whoops! Well that kind of curtailed some activities but we got through and I also helped my son move his bike workshop to a different location. The work I do on the farm is obviously helpful to build up my muscles so while he carried stuff into the building, I carried it up a spiral staircase and we shifted larger stuff together up a regular staircase.

The day before I left for the UK

Somethings change but not as much as we'd hope.
Over a month later and the snow is still with us.
It is going but very slowly.

See there was a wood pile under the snow.

Another fly in the ointment, as we say was my mother got Covid and we weren't able to go up to see my parents as we had originally planned. Good job since I was also infectious with something else. Fortunately my Mum recovered quickly and my Father didn't get it and so we were able to see them the following weekend. It just meant more driving. Mind you, I think I did a good job of keeping the kids entertained in the back of the car, sorting out any minor squabbles and teaching them to draw 3D pictures.

Josefs enjoying the sun.

Meet Dora the explorer, aka my new car. She's
looking a bit worse for the wear as Ian's car
first struggled with a cold snap we had while
I was away and then the brakes, so this has been
his primary mode of transport. Good job
we had a second car after all this year.

The war rumbled on in the background though and there was a sense of frustration of being in the UK while all of this was happening. I was reading of refugees heading to Poland and people I knew were organising aid. What could I do? I knew though that this was not going to be over in a few days and so there was time to get back and make some decisions. My grandson had been wanting to do something to raise money for charity and so with his parents they decided on a run of 2km each day for 8 days and the money would go to refugees through an organisation that I knew of. Normally they raise funds for Syrian refugees but they put their knowledge to use in helping in this closer crisis. His parents suggested he aim to raise £100 but he said he wanted to raise £1000. We thought that might be a bit ambitious for a 9 year old, but he did it and also ran more than 16km, he ran over 20km and finished with a personal best time on the junior park run. So proud of him.

Freddie looking surprised as usual.

Top right-hand corner - that is grass!!!!!! Spring
is coming, I think!

So the world is doing some crazy u-turns and in the space of a few short weeks it returns not to normal after the lifting of some Covid restrictions but to a world teetering on the edge of war, fuelled by a oil and a maniacs desire to cling to power and prove he's a world leader. As I headed back to Latvia I was turning this all over in my mind but I spotted a quote on a mural by Jules Verne, “The chance which now seems lost may present itself at the last moment.” I'm sure that for those suffering in Ukraine at the moment that last moment has already gone, as it has for those in Yemen, Afghanistan and Palestine amongst many of the places of conflict, but for the world as a whole as we stand on the side of an abyss we still - just - have time to step back. There's a lot of work to do, but together we can do it. Let's wean ourselves off the oil and consumption that often fuels these conflicts or at least like adding petrol to the fire. Let's work towards a kinder world.

Our three ponds. They are there somewhere.

Silla walking on top of the snow. It is going
because she would have been able to just step
over the fence about a week ago. Fortunately
she didn't try.