Better late than never

Our chicks were getting quite big and smelly and so it was
time to move them out to the land. This time they weren't
going straight outside, still a little too cool in the evenings
so we put them in the greenhouse

Right now where was I? I had some time off this week at last. So what did I do on my first day off? Cleaning! Oh I know how to enjoy myself. I got so far through the cleaning though and realised I wouldn't have enough window cleaner to finish, so I had two options, the first was to nip out and buy some and the second was to look on the internet to see what I could make up for a spray on window cleaner, rather than make a mess with lots of water and washing up liquid. So the internet won and I found a recipe that actually worked and was better than the bought stuff, as I now have smear free windows. Only I didn't have rubbing alcohol, as in the recipe, just some cheap lavender infused vodka - well it worked and I have lavender smelling windows. Here's the link if you want and you do have to shake the bottle otherwise the cornstarch (cornflour for us Brits) does settle and don't spray too much on the windows if the sun is shining, otherwise it is harder to rub off the cornstarch and may need a re-wetting.

Amazing how fast they grown in just a few days. They are at
the silly stage where they are strutting about and facing off
with each other, which looks very amusing when they haven't
got all their feathers yet and the last ones to grow are on their
heads

The woods are beginning to green up now with a wonderful
carpet of flowers

I also got my academic paper submitted this week, one thing less to do. My supervisor was happy enough with my re-write that I didn't have anything further to do on it. Yeh! Now I just have to wait and see what the journal editor says and then probably wait months for the reviewers to finish with it. Maybe by next year it will be published, maybe!

Here's a close up. I know this is an annual event

Ian's water filter, to filter the pond water

I also finished off an exam or rather a series of questions related to making maps for one of the courses I have been doing this semester. It was an open book without time limit type exam, the only criteria was not to cooperate with another student. Easy enough as I don't know anyone else doing my level at this point in time, even if I had got the inclination to collaborate with someone, which I don't. Now I just have to write a review article on a topic of my choosing, so I am going to write on making maps with people and for people - well that's the gist of it and not exactly what I am going to call it, although maybe that would be a good strap line. I downloaded lots of papers to help me write the review and I can look at those while travelling later on this week, not up to Tartu this time but Tallinn - somewhere I haven't been yet. At least it feels like I am finishing off projects and they are not all mounting up the other end.

The cherry tree is beginning to open its buds

It is my birthday today, half a century old. Even sounds old when you write it that way and I wonder how I came to be 50. Time hasn’t slowed down since moving away from dear old Blighty either (England for those who haven’t heard the term Blighty before). I had my 40th birthday in Denmark and it doesn’t seem that long ago, but that’s life. I certainly would never have dreamt that we would not only be living in Latvia, which is what we hoped when we left the UK, but farming - even if it is hobby farming and that I would be studying for a PhD. I would have laughed if you had told me, probably hysterically at that. 

Mizuna seeds coming through in the greenhouse

My two cookbooks from my daughter. One is about bread
by Elizabeth David. It is a book I've heard a lot about and
now I get the chance to read it. It is more than just a lot of
bread recipes but also about making bread in general with
lots of information. The other book is in a similar vein and
is a book called Prairie Home Cooking and has plenty of
anecdotes sprinkled amongst the recipes. Fascinating reading

Since yesterday was Easter Monday, I thought that it would be a better day to celebrate reaching this milestone and I invited a few folks out to our land for tea and cakes. I didn’t want to stay in all day back at home, although that would have been easier for entertaining, as it wouldn’t have worked well for Ian and I would have been bored, so that is why I chose a tea and cake do. Cakes at least can keep in a cool barn, well in a fortress of plastic crates, weighted down to keep the cats off they can. Or maybe that should be cat? One is worse than the other, exemplified by the evening bbq where the dear little darling, kept creeping in to nick off with what ever she could before anyone noticed - only we did and she was evicted numerous times. Still didn't get the hint though.

Of course this is Latvia and so there were flowers

Not just one lot, but three lots and some hyacinth bulbs.
There was also sweets, chocolate and wine. Along with
more cake and so Ian has plenty to keep him going over
the next few months or weeks or maybe days.

Anyway, apart from the eviction of said cat on numerous occasions, things went rather well. Although I said anywhere between 10am - 8pm as I wasn’t sure what people’s plans were, most turned up in the late afternoon. Some of my friends are farmers and so fitting in visiting with animals requires a certain amount of flexibility. In fact everyone timed their visit so nicely that we were only just seeing off one group when another group turned up and we only eventually left the land as the light was definitely disappearing from the sky and we could only just about see to get packed up for the night at around 9.30pm. Oh the long days are upon us.

The annual picture of the caravan outside for the first time
of the year

At least the timing of people’s visits to wish me happy birthday worked well with Ian. We got the caravan out of its winter quarters in the greenhouse and outside in the morning, which also gave me time to give it a bit of a clean. That job is always a sign that we are heading into our busy time of the year. He also got most of the land graded or flattened out from all the pig damage and molehills and just needed a bit of time this morning to finish it off. This afternoon he switched to harrowing, which is like a big comb to just break up any clumps left after the grading and it also helps to clear some of the thatch of grass.  Now we just need a bit of rain to be forecast and then he can spread grass seed on some of the bare patches and it will mean our pasture will look much better. Hopefully the pigs won’t dig it up again, but there are no guarantees on that.

We have green grass

On a different note one of the things I have learnt over the last few years is the importance of transparency. It is a difficult balance between respecting people’s privacy and giving access to information of interest to others, but it is so necessary in public life. Vulnerable people, of course, need to be protected and those wielding power for their own benefit be exposed; too often it is the other way around. There were a couple of calls for transparency in Latvia recently, one was an open letter calling for the Maxima tragedy to be investigated transparently albeit partly so investor confidence can be restored, but at least it does mention others who need to know too. Another call for transparency was from Madara, a cosmetics firm that makes their product from natural ingredients, which has called on both businesses and the Latvian tax authorities to be more transparent in their dealings. The businesses may or may not be hiding something and unfortunately is a possibility - but where isn’t it? The state tax authorities seem to assume that everyone has something to hide though and can be quite aggressive in their practices and this doesn’t help.

Fence posts at the ready. We let the girls out for a bit of
spring tonic. There isn't a huge amount of grass, but one is
 still sick and two are pregnant and so need all the vitamins
they can get. The boys are still confined to quarters to give
the grass chance to grow

It doesn’t help when the Corruption Bureau is having issues, but this is between staff members who don't appear to be able to get on. If those at the top cannot sort themselves out, how is it expected those further down the line will? Not only have Latvians to contend with internal issues of lack of transparency and inability to get on, they also have to contend with outside interference too. Russian speaking activists have been defending the need for Russian speaking schools. Fair enough, you may say and I maybe inclined to agree with you, but not when it comes to aggressive policy of misinformation and propaganda from Russia. There is a greater need for encouraging integration of the Russian speaking population, so that there isn’t a repeat of the issues that Ukraine are having, but it won't happen with aggressive finger pointing from Russia. 

One hen nestling under the cover of the hay feeder. Our
dear alpaca here is being so lazy that he can't be bothered
to even lift his head or stand to eat.

Our lovage is beginning to reappear to as well. This seems
to have burst through in the last day or two.

Having said all that and recognising that it is hard for ordinary citizens to show the way, it would be a start. It is a risk when the state tax authorities breathe down people’s necks and people must account down to the last cent and I kid you not on that. Not the nearest $10 or £5 but the nearest €0.01. But there has to be a better way forward and trust will only be gained when there is a great deal more transparency in dealings and not the sort that costs a lot to obtain, which is often the way here. You can have all the information you want but it will cost you dear! Oh! Does that mean you don’t want the information? Sorry can’t help you there then! - Well that's just not good enough I'm afraid! Information needs to be out there and people need to be more transparent all round, then we can start to move forward. Well here's hoping for a more transparent future.

Autumn days

Autumn days are definitely drawing in, as the temperatures drop, the rains finally arrive and the geese head south for winter as they were doing today (Forever Autumn lyrics floated through my brain at this point). We saw three groups fly over making a racket as they flew overhead. Now to see if the old wife's tale of geese flying south ten to fourteen days before the first snow holds up again. So far they have been pretty consistent - but that is because we usually do have some snow fall mid-October anyway. Well as our agricultural season turns I should mention that Ian has not been idle while I was away, as you can well imagine if you have followed this post for any length of time. He has now finished the second alpaca house and started back on clearing the woodland of weed bushes and doing some thinning out to improve the health of the forest, that is all alongside regular chores such as looking after the animals, moving electric fences, bagging up our 8kg of grapes for the freezer, bagging up the tomatoes I didn't manage to freeze, digging out bulrushes before they take over the pond and goodness only knows what else. At least the shorter days means getting home earlier though.

Not on our lunch menu in Tartu, but an out of season
strawberry growing in our garden. It even tasted nice, which
was surprising since it is so late in the year. We are going
to replant the plant from which this strawberry came from
as it is a plot that is to be cleared out, as the plot is past
its best. We are hoping that maybe we will have more late
strawberries next year

We had a nice drive up to Tartu last Monday, as I was meant to sign a paper. I wasn't sure exactly what paper this was, but I had to sign it. When I got up there I was given a paper and told to take it to the other university in town, where my university has an arrangement for them to teach didactics to International doctoral students. I had to look up the word "didactics" and even then I'm not entirely sure I understand what the aim of the course is, but I have to do it and I will just go along with that. In the end all I did was hand in the paper, along with a photocopy of my passport and that was it. Seemed like a long way for nothing, but since Ian came along for the day out we took the time to enjoy ourselves and a lovely day it was too. We ate in the cafeteria at the uni where I usually eat, and then went to a cafe near to the place where I had to deliver the paper that someone recommended to me called Werners. The cake was fantastic, not quite worth the three hours it takes to go there, just for that, but close.

The wild boar came back again and re-dug the ground.
They have also started digging in other places.
Hopefully the hunter will make a difference again

I suppose it kind of made up for the fact I abandoned Ian on his 50th birthday. While in Tartu we did some thinking and decided it was going to be better for me to travel to Riga by bus and stay in a hotel overnight. The cost was almost the same as Ian taking me and driving back and meant we both didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn plus it saved more wear and tear on the car. Fortunately our friends did us proud. I confess to letting them know it was his birthday and that I was going to be away and one couple rang early evening and invited Ian to eat with them after he had finished out on the land.  Before he left the land, some more friends walked over the hill to where he was, singing "Happy birthday." Ian said it was like a scene from the "Sound of Music." I wasn't all on my own though, I managed to meet up with a young friend of mine whilst in Riga. We maybe years apart in age, but we really enjoy each others' company and always manage a good old natter. I'm so pleased that the thought crossed my mind to text her and see if she was in the country and if she was free - she has been gadding about just lately, rather like me I suppose. She showed me a lovely little tea and coffee shop that I didn't know about and had a proper pot of tea for the first time in ages on nice comfy sofas. Perfect!

Hamburg town hall

My destination this weekend was Hamburg and I arrived there about an hour late, as there seemed to be a few problems with the weather, with some flights cancelled and others delayed. Couldn't work it out when I looked at the weather satellite and there seemed to be nothing in the news, so I have no idea what the problem was, even my Latvian travelling companions didn't know. My impression of Hamburg is that the public transport system seems okay, with plenty of trains and an underground at relatively low prices, but the city itself, I wasn't so impressed with. Maybe it is because folks are so tall and seem to smoke a lot, that it seems quite claustrophobic. Maybe it is because it is a Saturday afternoon and that is not a good day to explore a city when you are used to the quiet countryside. There were also lots of folks sitting around drinking, begging or just sleeping on the floor. I haven't seen that for a long time and it disturbs me. There were also a lot of flyers on the floor, presumably from the German election, making the place look a mess. Just to add to the surreal nature, or at least my perception of it, there was a gospel choir playing outside the main station as I neared our hotel and on a stroll around there was a guy pacing around with a huge book in his hand, presumably a bible and he kept lifting it up to his mouth and singing. Just as I walked past the guy sang "Jesus ist hier" (Jesus is here), at least my German stretches that far to know what he was singing. I felt like turning around to him and saying "I know that, but right now it is difficult to grasp in this seething mass of humanity and with you pacing about without much sign of peace." A bit later on though, as I sat to eat a pastry there was another guy playing a cello, it seemed an oasis of peace in that place for which I was very grateful- I put some money into his bag.

A close up of the town hall

A balloon over the town hall

I didn't see much in the way of lovely architecture in
Hamburg, but then again my own nation's bombing during
the war didn't help. 

Although I wasn't too impressed with Hamburg as a city - wouldn't like you to think that I only go to warm sunny places all the time now anyway - I did enjoy the course I was attending. It was aimed at getting doctoral students together from different universities to talk about what they are doing and to provide help, support and some guidance along the way. I was greatly encouraged by a professor from Portugal, she loved what I was trying to do and thought it was very much needed in the field of Landscape Architecture (just in case you've missed out on what my studies are, it is aimed at finding ways to encourage people to participate in decisions affecting the place where they live). She appreciated the fact I have studied in another discipline to the one I am now in and therefore bringing different skills to the subject, including my life skills. If Landscape Architects are going to make a positive difference to the environments where people live, they do have to find good ways to engage with the local inhabitants and so she encouraged me to stick with it and she stated quite emphatically that she thought I would be able to do what I set out to do. I guess it's nice to be believed in from time to time.

Autumn leaves against a fading wall

Within the field of Landscape Architecture (and conservation like the previous course I was on) the application of the African proverb "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together" is very relevant, especially when dealing with places that people use or live in. This saying resonated back through my head this week for another reason though. I heard it at the course in Peyresq (where my previous course was held) and thought that's nice, but sitting in yet another house meeting to deal with issues arising in our apartment block, it became more relevant. I was beginning to wonder that, if I cannot see a way to help resolve some of the conflict amongst my own neighbours, how can I hope to comment on conflicts at a wider level. After re-reading through some profiles of speakers from my time in Peyresq, it dawned on me that much of the conflict centres around a lack of hope and shared vision of the future. That looks a good place to start then, a visioning exercise. Sounds dreadful but it is not as bad as it sounds. It basically means thinking through how you want your life to be, what do you want to see happen and then working out how to get there. It is about envisioning a more hopeful future, rather than one locked in the conflicts of the past and present. Well it might be a start!

Any clues as to what this little fella is? I rescued it from
the road near our apartment block as it seemed determined
to kill itself on the road