It happens!

7th October and the trees were glorious, now 
after some breezy and frosty days the leaves have
all gone.

Another month goes whizzing by and I'm left wondering what happened in all that time. The nice thing about writing once a week is that I could remember what I had done. I also used to write everything down on an excel sheet for work, now my calendar is my memory because I have had so many meetings just lately that there hasn't been much time to sit down and read or tick off jobs to do. 

Vanessa looks more and more like her mother.
This was a typical, "We are not amused!" look
that her mother had.

There have been lots of wet miserable days but 
some days are glorious. A fog bow

I have been so busy that there are times I'm feeling rather scatty. It feels like a maelstrom of ideas whirling around my head most of the time at the moment and it feels a bit frantic trying to fit everything in, but it's a process. It doesn't help that a project is still running on from last year, another one started in October and I'm teaching on a new course, which has had to be built from scratch. Keeps me out of trouble - well that's the theory. I also got elected to a new role at work, a role I actually started in September, so it was good to get the confirmation that I could carry on in that role.

Ian has been doing lots of fettling just lately!

The girls. Won't be long before they are confined
to the paddock for winter.

In my scattiness I managed to leave my hiking shoes in a hotel in Poland, even though I thought I had packed them. It cost me €40 to have them couriered to me, which was nearly the price of the shoes. I also managed to lose my car in the car park, something I have never done before. I do remember looking back and trying to estimate where it was parked but had to hurry to the airport due to the time. It was also only just getting light when I parked up. When I returned the car park was still jam packed with cars due to the work being done on the RailBaltica terminal. I went up and down the rows many times and gave up. I talked to the guys at the carpark and bless them they were good. Apparently it beats having to sit around doing nothing. 

Betty is not quite so bossy now and they are all
getting along fine. 

Queueing up for the evening feed

All snuggled up on the fleece together

I wonder what Norman will make of his first
glimpse of snow? Or will there even be 
snow this year?

One of the guys took me in the courtesy pick up van to cruise up and down the car park. After a few minutes of doing that a lady came up as they were stuck and told the guy they couldn't get their car started. The car park attendant dropped me off at the entrance again to see if his colleague could find the car on the cameras and he also gave the lady my car number for her to look while he and her husband got their car started. She found the car and it was not quite where I was expecting it. Sigh! Not really like me at all. I used to be able to gauge where I had left a car quite easily, but I think I used to pay more attention to my surroundings, as well as having a good sense of location. I could worry about it being a sign of old age, which I guess it could be, but I think it is more a sign of me just being very busy.

Our conference room all summer. It has served us
well.

But, packing up time had to happen

Nearly all done!

It looks so bare! All ready for winter now...maybe

Karla looking bemused about something

On the plane on the way back from Spain, I caused a stir amongst the staff. I ordered a chicken and cheese panini. I opened up the package and tore a piece off the top. It was a bit hot, so I thought I would open up the sandwich to let it cool a bit. I was little shocked to find that my sandwich had no filling whatsoever, it was just hot bread. I called the attendant over and showed her, whereupon she exclaimed, "Oh my God!", which I thought was a little over the top, but I guess she was surprised. Pictures were taken for the record and I ended up having to pay another €1 to get a lasagne instead. I was a bit disgruntled at that and thought a small offering by way of apology would have been nice. I think the staff were new and so maybe not sure about the methods of keeping customers happy. I had no problem with the staff per se, they were attentive anyway and it was amusing. 

I love those mornings where the spider webs are
wet from the dew and capture the sunlight in a 
dazzling, sparkling display.

I especially like it when the whole field sparkles..

... where the dew drops look like a million crystals

One trip up to Estonia was a magical journey, 
where the sun burst through the mists making
the autumnal trees glow. 

As I mentioned I've been busy with meetings, more meetings, conferences, meetings, teaching and meetings, and so the autumn passed with barely a leaf on the trees now. The wind was blowing cold today too and it felt like a whisper of winter, although to be honest, up until today it has been incredibly mild. At least I managed to get my potatoes all dug up this last month. It took two weekends to get the job done, but at least that is finished. The tomatoes and the cucumbers were all picked and stored in our apartment and the chickens were put in the greenhouse for winter. They should be in the arks in the greenhouse, but I was greeted by two of them at the door this evening. They had managed to dig their way out under the side. I must sort that out tomorrow morning before letting them out of the hutch part when I feed them in the morning. 

Mari looking quite mucky as usual. Her fleece though
along with Jakobs her son spun up into a lovely 
speckled light-brown. I made some more hanks up
today to take to a shop.

The nights are arriving so early now. It is dark
now by 5ish but this was taken at 7:18pm on
the 24th October. It is amazing how quickly
the days get shorter at this time of year.

It did feel like I was processing grapes for ever though. We seem to have a lot and it takes time to cut them down and then steam them for juice. We talked about possibly getting them processed next year by a company that processes fruit into sealed bags and pasteurising them. It would save a lot of work but we would need 60kg of fruit, we might have half that in grapes if they are ready at the same time so we would also need to find apples and plums probably to add to that. It's a thought anyway. Either that or I need a bigger steamer or a fruit press. 

All the grapes in this picture have now
been processed. I'm sad to say quite a
few of the other types went to waste 
this year as there was just not enough 
hours in the day.

Of course, the autumn didn't last but it was a
colourful one.

Marvin and Norman just chilling on a frosty
morning. For some reason Marvin seems to be
feeling the cold in this damp, soggy November

I've been up to Tartu twice this last month, firstly to attend two small conference and meet with staff and then the second one to prioritise talking with students to see how they have been finding the courses at the mid-way point. The idea is to catch any issues early before they escalate if necessary. There will be a final review at the end of the semester too. It was good listening to the students and their opinions. It was a mix of good and some bad but it was encouraging to hear, that despite any issues we might have, one of the students is thinking of staying an extra semester rather than going back to his home university because he feels it's better in Estonia. The issues we do have are the reason for creating my new role as we need coordinators for the programmes we run. It is not to say we have major issues necessarily, just things can drift after a while and now there is a need for a re-evaluation - not surprising after two years of COVID restrictions. COVID of course has presented us with shifting challenges for education and workplaces in general. It will be interesting to see what universities all over the world will look like after a period of time to reflect on how much has changed.

Freddie with his mouthful. So pleased he's been 
castrated as he has calmed right down now and
doesn't start fights. He tends to stay out of them too
which is a relief. Not to say he never gets involved
but he doesn't generally start them and he doesn't 
really continue them.

Josefs on the other hand, tends to be the one
who starts and carries on the fights now. He might
be the next for castration but we have to see
what kind of babies he produces first I guess.
It was easy to make the decision with Freddie
as his fleece is not so good, but Josefs is 
rather nice.

I usually stay at a friend of mine's place while up in Tartu and it is lovely to return home after a day at the office to some hot food ready prepared - it kind of spoils me. The last time though my friend took advantage of me being around more for some cat sitting while she went on holiday. The cat and I got along okay and she would come and sit on my lap for a little while and let me stroke her. Every night I would kneel on the floor by the bed and bend my head forward towards the ground, this was not in prayer but to say goodnight and have a little chat with the cat who by this time was under the bed where I was sleeping. I wasn't so enthralled therefore at some very loud middle of the night, meow's on two of the four nights.

Despite his age, Tellus can alls start fights, 
usually with his son Brencis. Fortunately they
don't happen that often as generally they are both
fairly chilled alpacas.

The boys in their field

I've been on more field trips this last week and got to see more of Estonia. The first trip was to the very north near the capital Tallinn. It was just three of us, myself, my PhD student and her co-supervisor who has been working with her for much longer than I have. I'm just helping in the latter stages to help her finish up. We were looking at the characteristics of the landscapes in that area. I had never seen juniper as the main shrub to first take over a neglected field. It was quite fascinating. We also found a bog in an area that was private, but the owner let us in anyway. There were some fabulous cranberries that we snacked on while looking around. I also got to see the coastline and drystone limestone walls - something I'm familiar with from when I lived in Derbyshire. 

Maybe not so clear on this photo but the roots
of this tree were so interesting, Kassinurme, Estonia

Not such a nice idea. It might look pretty when 
these ribbons are tied to the tree but not so
nice later on in the year once they have faded and
worse some of them seemed to be made from
plastic so will not rot away. My colleague
was explaining that it is part of a neo-pagan 
ritual where people say they are reconnecting
with the pre-Christian past but often they are
imported rituals. Kassinurme, Estonia

Looking very mysterious in the mist, 
Kassinurme, Estonia

Who is this fellow rising out of the 
mist? One of the many carved
statues on a Viking site, Kassinurme,
Estonia.

The other field trip was closer to Tartu and quite different to the northern area I visited the day before. The weather was glorious on the trip up north, but damp and foggy the next day. The students all laughed when the organiser explained that on the right is - whatever he was talking about (it was in Estonian, so I didn't get what he said at the time) and all the students could see was a bank of fog. The fog lifted by mid-day though, so it wasn't too bad. It actually was quite appropriate for our first visit which was to a Viking settlement with the carved wooden statues rising out of the mist and an eerie Viking style wooden fort. The wooden steps were treacherous though and the handrails wobbly. I went down them, very, very slowly. We also saw typical villages, a restored windmill, some good views over the valleys from the drumlin and of course, since it is Estonia, another bog.

Breakfast anyone?Kassinurme, Estonia

A model of a Viking fort, Kassinurme, Estonia

Camping anyone? Kassinurme, Estonia

This last month has been a month of reconnections. The first one was from a PhD student who I had met a while ago at my university when I was still doing my PhD. He was studying bears in Latvia. He came with his family to see our alpacas on his wife's name day. I had forgotten what he looked like, but I did remember his topic. They had a good time and seemed interested in what we were doing. 

I love the use of non-straight timber for these
covered areas, Kassinurme, Estonia

A map on a wooden board, Kassinurme, Estonia. 

The other reconnection is with a pastor of the church we went to in the US. We last talked to each other nearly 15 years ago. Not that we fell out or anything, it was just we hadn't really connected in all that time. I sent an email with a concern I had and he suggested we talk. It was really refreshing to hear how he still has a heart to give people space to talk and connect, so important in this era of division. 

Entrance to a cemetery in Estonia

Restored windmill, Kuremaa, Estonia

Our other reconnection was with some friends we have seen a little more recently but not much more. They were a couple who came out to Latvia the year before we first did and they came back to our church to tell everyone about what they had done. We enjoyed it so much that we decided we would go out the following year and the rest, as they say is history. It was the start of our journey towards living here. Something we didn't really think about in that first year, even though we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was hard work and Latvia was not as developed as it is now, but it did sow a seed in our heart and 8 years later we made the country our home. 

Walls of a manor house, Kuremaa, Estonia

Manor house, Kuremaa, Estonia

Kuremaa Lake, Estonia

Laiuse, Estonia

Laiuse, Estonia