All finished?

The last of the bales stacked for winter. A bit wetter than they
should be, but they will be used first

Well haymaking is finished, that is for sure. We finished collecting and stacking the last of the hay bales from our neighbours land. Ian still had grass cutting to do but he was not baling it, as it was full of weeds that rot too easily. Now we can concentrate on other jobs to do. It is easier for me because it is computer work and it has been raining quite a bit. For Ian that is harder as much of what he needs to do now still depends on dry days, such as fixing the boys' leaking roof or putting the boards on the new alpaca house. Even preparation requires some dry days as he needs dry wood to prepare the pieces for the new roof or dry boards to nail onto a dry framework. A dryish autumn would be good for us.

One of the jobs to do before the rain was to empty the well
so that we could let it flush through to see if it improved the
flow rate. Well that was the plan. We got a container so we did
not waste the water, but after about half an hour of a trickle of
water, the water was all stirred up by the pump and instead of
a well full of clear water, we had a muddy mess. We now need
to let the well settle again and try with another pump. It also
started raining - not too good with electrics cables outside 

This is one of our chicks that has a punk hair do. It is also a
complet dipstick and is often stood there while the others are
chasing about after some tasty morsel with a look on its
face of complete bewilderment.

The school year has already started in some parts of the world and so some of my students on the online school where I teach Sociology and Development Studies have started sending in assignments for me to mark. Most only start back in September though. They have been told that they cannot expect work to be marked in a timely manner as I do not officially start back yet, but since it was raining I managed to do it anyway. I also managed to write an abstract for a conference that I had said I would attend and will take place in Riga. I was not going to send in an abstract but I was talking to one of keynote speakers at the conference last month and he suggested that I should do a presentation on some work he knew I had done. I thought it was not sufficiently complete and needed more responses, but he said it would be fine as it is. I had missed the deadline but the organisers were happy for me to send one in late. I had hoped to complete it a little earlier but life has been too hectic and I forgot about it.

Our cats appreciated the new places to sleep, well when it
isn't raining

This is supposed to be a path over the ditch
with a wooden bridge in the middle.

This week we have seen rain like we have never seen before. We have known some pretty torrential downpours here in Latvia, but never have we seen a storm where the rain has meant the visibility was practically down to zero. Our ditches all overflowed and even the wooden bridges across them were under water. It rained a bit into the caravan because we had left one of the skylight vents open and the seal had gone on the other one . The rain and wind also dislodged the plastic on the hay bales meaning rain got in and it also blew the plastic off a bag of sawdust, which we use for our composting toilet. At least we have had some dry spells too and so Ian took off both the skylights on the caravan and repaired the seals and cleaned them.

Old fashioned long stemmed barley. I'm amazed this is still
standing

My poor Marshmallows took a hammering in the wind and
rain though

This time the storm didn't wreck the greenhouse as much as a previous storm did. I forgot to mention that during one particular thunderstorm, there was quite a crack as the wind whipped up and we thought it was a tree brought down. Later on in the evening I needed to nip to our outdoor loo and found a window from the greenhouse on the floor. It was one of the high windows and I thought they were all shut, obviously not. That was another job for Ian to fix the next day.

After all the other jobs, the wind and the rain, my garden
looks a little worse for wear. The bees are enjoying the
flowering marjoram 

Aggie in friendly mood

Mating has continued this week, although we are now fairly sure that Chanel and Mari are pregnant. Chanel was compliant at first and now she spits and kicks Mr. P if he comes anywhere near, which is alpacaspeak for "I'm really not interested!" Mari is a little more laid back and just runs away in a more determined fashion than before. Ian will take Mr. P. to them again in a couple of week's time to make sure they are pregnant. Meanwhile he has started mating Mr. P. with Aggie. It seems such a shame in some ways, as she has been so nice and incredibly friendly again and we know that as soon as she gets pregnant she will be more aloof, but we also need our alpacas to be productive. If she is successful this next year in getting pregnant then she will get a year off, so we can assess her offspring. The other's might get a year off too, as it depends on when they give birth. If it is too late in the year, we will need to wait to reset mating time to earlier in the year.

The rowan berries have been amazing this year, we should
get a good harvest from these and plenty of sharp, tangy
rowan jam

This apple tree in our orchard is finally beginning to bear
more than two or three apples. Not exactly a bumper crop
yet but progress anyway

Our grapes are beginning to turn quite fast now

We have spent a few hours away from the farm this week. Firstly we went to the farm of our young helper who has been with us over the summer to practice her English. She was still a little shy and would only take Ian for a look around the farm and not me. We did get to meet her grandma who was a very interesting lady. Our interpreter who is an English, German and French teacher had not realised that our young friend, who is one of his pupils, was the granddaughter of a Professor who had written a methodological book for teaching German. He explained that he had been taught using her methodology and he thought it was a good way to learn. I think it explains why a farm girl seems to be so good at sorting out practical problems.

Not all my squashes are doing well, but this one is certainly
happy in its position on old hay bales under an old oak tree

It is even starting to produce squashes. 

Preparing our evening meal

Although our young helper denies it, she is very clever and a creative problem solver, which fits with her grandma's ability to teach a methodical approach to learning a language. It is the same logical approach to different problems. We also came away from the farm with biezpiena (a type of curd cheese), 3 litres of raw milk, a jar of honey and two cockerels to improve our chicken flock in exchange for a jar of home made English style chutney.

Kale seed for another year

Our onion harvest drying. A rainy day job will be to string
these up so they can continue to hang and dry

We also went to our friend's open farm day. There weren't as many people this year, but then again the forecast for the day was not good. In the end the rain held off and the afternoon was very warm and sunny. It also held off until well after everyone had gone and just enough time to get everything in, except the tent, which unfortunately collapsed. We met a German couple and their family there, who had family links to Latvia and were holidaying in the area. Of course we invited them to our farm, so maybe they will pay a visit.

Our tall bush blueberries are also starting to produce fruit now.

The herb garden I created last year out of rotten wood is also
doing okay. I lost a variegated sage plant and only one
lavender survived the winter, but all the other plants are
starting to take off now

Now the chicks are unable to escape. It is nice to have free
range hens, but Mr. Fox also likes free range, as do the hawks
and other birds of prey of which we have plenty 

We had planned on getting the cockerels later on in the week, but our translator friend was heading off to Germany so it had to be earlier. We weren't quite sure where to put the cockerels at first as we needed to do a change around with the chickens in the arks. We needed to get the chicks in one ark, as they were getting far too adventurous and escaping far too frequently from their hutch, but to do that we needed to cull some chickens. We had planned on doing that before getting the cockerels but couldn't. In the end it worked out fine, because we put the cockerels in the old chicken shed that now houses windows and door and that meant the cockerels could be quarantined for a few days - one of them seemed a bit snuffly and we needed to know it wasn't something more serious. Eventually we did the cull of some older hens who were often difficult to put away in winter and were past their best egg laying days and a cockerel that was too inter-related with the other chickens. That might seem a bit harsh, but in reality they had had a longer life and better quality of life than your average supermarket chicken and they are tastier too.

Did I say it had been wet?

The echinacea is a glow of sunshine in the garden though
on a dull day

Well who could resist when they are as cute as George

We have had more visitors to the farm this week and we have had another family who were interested in owning alpacas. This is the third group within two weeks who are serious about having alpacas. I am beginning to wonder if we should have an introductory course on alpaca handling and husbandry. Nothing complicated, just a getting to know the alpaca type and a chance to find out about the routine jobs that need doing. Too many ideas maybe....

It's greening up... or maybe not!

A particularly dark day. This photo was taken at 10:36am

The snow finally departed this week .......for a day or two. Hovering around zero is not pleasant, it is neither winter nor autumn and the days are dark, never mind the nights. Yesterday we had snow flurries on and off and then today it snowed gently most of the day, so once again we are back to the monotone white of winter again. I usually try and get out to the land at least once a week and try to pick the best day weather wise to go, normally I pick the wrong day though. If the weather forecast is good one day and not the next, you can guarantee that they have it wrong if I opt to go out to the land. I have been known to spend the day in the caravan knitting because of the dreich weather, when the day before had been relatively pleasant. Admittedly it is better than stopping at home all day.

Oh look! The technical school and accommodation block.
How long have they been there? And all that green stuff

It didn't last long though. This was taken today

Not that happy to see me. Actually I was stood in the
doorway of their side of the alpaca house and were waiting
for me to move.

The animals are not fond of me turning up. They think I will be doing something. I did take the chance to have a look at Herk and Aggie's feet to see how they are getting on after their problems earlier on this year. Aggie's are not brilliant, but they are not as bad as they were, same with Herk. We are trying to leave them alone, because putting oil on when it is cold is not always the best move, Aggie's would just provide a nice moist environment for bacteria and Herk's would probably freeze his skin. There is fine line between stressing the animal and not allowing it to get worse, so we will continue to keep an eye on them and try and catch any deterioration before it gets too bad.

Veronica is more nervous of me than all the others. Not
sure why though as she is rarely the one that needs
attention these days. She moans all the time I'm in the
alpaca house though.

This is Bella, although she is not looking quite
so grumpy in this picture

Our cat Bella has disappeared. She has done this before in winter time, but not for so long. We think the last time she found a willing person to take her in, because someone had cut a chunk of fur off - that sounds bad, but actually with their long fur and propensity for going into the sort of vegetation that clings, they often end up with matted fur and sometimes it is just easier to cut it away than try to comb it out. She has been away that long now that we will need to ask our neighbour to contact others to see if they have seen her. At least she is quite a distinctive cat - think multi-coloured grumpy puss.

Ian put up feeders in the youngsters section of the alpaca
house. It should stop them eating off the floor - in theory

We went off to school again this week. This time we were talking to an older group and so could add in a few more details and up the pace a little. It was funny that the teacher sitting in for the four lessons we took, would chip in and remind us of little details we missed from the first run through the talk. I also got to tell them a little of the research I am doing and explained the reason I was doing it was because we both felt that there was great potential in Latvia but people needed to be able to grasp it and collaborate to get there. Some of the students seemed to really connect with the comments, which was inspiring.

A dusting of snow for a change! 

It isn't just because I see great potential in Latvia I am doing the kinds of research into people led development, but also because I have a faith in a good God who will bring about a renewal of this earth. I also believe we have a part to play in that. In the Lord's Prayer it says "May your kingdom come, may your will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven." God's kingdom here on earth, now! Today! Not some airy fairy time in the future. I don't believe in the earth burning up or Christians disappearing off and leaving everyone else in a mess. How horrid is that! I'll be honest and say that was an important concept to me once but not now. What is the point of doing the research I am doing if it is all going to burn up in an end time holocaust? What is the point in seeking long-term solutions to society's problems if it is all going to end soon? None at all. But what if we are meant to be part of the solution, part of the process of renewal? Then there is a point. The Left Behind Series has a lot to answer for and I don't think it portrays a loving God who sent his son to die for a world to be redeemed.

Diamonds in the trees. Yes I did actually
see some sunshine, in between the snow
showers

When I got to the land, there was no
snow and I managed to dig over the
new Jerusalem artichoke bed. Then it
snowed and I wasn't sure what to dig
over after that. I knew there were a few
spaces that needed a bed of straw on
them, so Ian and I did that, but I
couldn't do any more.

Whilst in school we also got into a chat about a hot topic, immigration! I find it odd that some Latvians find the issue of asian people in the UK a problem, why do they seem to care so much about it? It is not their country after all. There is obviously a fear of the unknown, as Latvian society is not a particularly diverse one, although there are a mix of nationalities from ex-Soviet countries, just not further than that (although the Soviet sphere did extend to quite a few countries, which is difficult to remember sometimes). It is almost as if they forget that many of their compatriots are regarded as unwanted immigrants too, by some people in the UK. There seemed to be more to their objections though and I didn't understand it, until this week. One lady described the feeling in Heathrow as "like an occupation." So while I had been viewing the issue as a historical one from the UK's connection with primarily Commonwealth countries, i.e. ones that were ruled by Britain in former years, she was viewing it through the lens of the Russification of the Baltic countries during the Soviet era.

Our errant sheep have not escaped this week. Then again,
they've been penned up in there all week. No escaping from
that then.

There is a big difference though between the Russification by the Soviets and people coming from the Commonwealth, for a start Russification was imposed, but many of those from the Commonwealth were originally invited. The roots of British Asians also goes back further in time than when people were encouraged to come to fill roles left vacant by fallen soldiers in the Second World War and to staff the new NHS service. In fact the first Indian restaurant opened in London in 1810 and seamen from asia were settling in the UK in the 1600s after they were marooned there when they were refused passage back to their homelands by the East India Company. They had filled in vacancies in the crews sailing from India, but were not expected to travel back. Wikipedia has a whole section on British Asians and it is quite a fascinating read.

I love the colours in this photo of the grass  just covered in
snow and the dark clouds.

The topic did remind me though how we view many issues through different lenses. I understand quite a few of the issues that have stemmed from the Soviet times, for instance the coping mechanisms that means that people do not always deal with issues well, because to deal with issues in Soviet times could be dangerous, but obviously I still get caught out at times. The fact is that I haven't lived through the Soviet era, I have only studied it, so I cannot possibly understand all that it means to everyday people. I wonder though, how many times the Latvian youngsters fail to understand their elders, because they haven't lived through the Soviet era either. What tensions does this create! Something else to look out for too.

Surprises

Never seen this before, a rainbow in the
morning fog

I haven't been doing so well with jars just lately, thankfully this time the jars I managed to smash weren't full, unlike the full jar of tomatoes that I smashed not so long ago. This time one was at home, but embarrassingly one was in a shop. I picked up a pack of 8 bottles and at the bottom was a hole that I didn't know about until I picked it up. Oh boy! I am feeling rather clumsy at the moment, especially as I have also managed to walk into the handle of the chicken ark and have a wonderful bruise on my leg now. Must be my age! Anyway all I could do was gesture at a lady that there was a bottle on the floor and leave her to it, felt more like running off and leaving it. Today I managed to redistribute rather a lot of grape puree, leftover from making grape juice and put through the vegetable strainer. I'm not sure what happened really, but bits flew in different directions and the bowl tipped onto the counter. Thank goodness not much went anywhere else. I decided to freeze the puree since I didn't trust myself to make jam out of it just yet. Good job we went today to go and get a large chest freezer because our upright freezer is full to overflowing, as is the section under our fridge and I have hardly even started freezing things like broccoli, which is just starting to get going and beans.

"How's your children, errr I mean alpacas" said my friend
last week! Haha

It has been a smashing time from other angles too, but this time in a nice way. I got to see the 20 week scan of our first grandchild which was really exciting. It is a little difficult at times to remember that our daughter-in-law is pregnant, as we are not in constant contact or get to see them often - just one of the downsides of living far from family (although that depends on the family I guess, I am sure sometimes it could be a blessing). Planning to see them will be a challenge, especially as we are aware that our animals need to be looked after too, but I'm sure we will manage it. The scan pictures though are fascinating, especially the one where we could see the spine curving around so beautifully of the little one all curled up in Mum's tummy.

We have a squash plant. Last year we had a whole load by
this time in the year as you can see here

This week hasn't been the sort of week where we get done what we planned. The forecasts have been completely useless for us this year. The weather has been just far to unpredictable and that makes planning jobs a nightmare and that includes this week. For instance today the weather said light showers, which was the case out on the land apparently but over the apartment it was a torrential downpour for at least half an hour and some showers on and off. At least we did get one side of our land cleared of hay bales earlier this week and now they are all stacked or dumped as the case maybe. The stacked ones might be useful for bedding but we won't know until we open them but they seem like they maybe okay. The rubbish ones are stacked in a line for growing pumpkins over next year or dumped in a pile while we decide what we are going to do with the one particular part of the land. We are now debating whether to put another pond in and see if that helps to drain a field, as well as use the spare soil to raise the level of the rest of the area. We were completely whacked after clearing the bales, even though they are small there is a lot of them and by the time we had cleared around a hundred of them we could barely lift them, so we finished the job off working together, at least that way we could lift them. Awww! Sweet heh?

Not the best photo in the world but as you
can see, autumn has arrived here with this
glorious maple

I mentioned last week that our friend said autumn is the time of year for escaping animals, well it appears she's right. Not only have our alpacas been stretching the limit a little, but our neighbours cows escaped. Ian was working in the barn and I was in the greenhouse when we both heard voices and we looked out to see the neighbours cows and two of our neighbours looking rather flustered and frustrated. All of their cows had found a hole in the fence that some wild boar had made and decided that we had better grass than they had and came for a visit, or maybe as Ian said they had heard about the alpacas and fancied a visit. Our alpacas weren't impressed and disappeared off to the workshop where they live (I know we still call it the workshop, even if now it is the stable really) and one or two of the cows decided to try a closer inspection, but fortunately Ian got to the gate first and shut it before they could get in. There is no telling what sort of a job it would have been if they had got in there as they trampled over the fencing that keeps the alpacas in their extended area. We then helped our neighbours to herd the cows back to their land and then they kindly took us back in the car as we had tramped over quite a few fields to get them back to where they belong. It gave us a chance to show the husband around as he had not seen our land, or the alpacas.

Some better behaved cows on our way back from getting the
freezer. If you look hard you can see the lady in the horse and
cart who is driving them

Arriving at their new destination (photo by Ieva)

The other change of plan was due to helping out some friends with transport. We found out that they are moving and there wasn't much notice, but they needed to do something with their sheep as they weren't taking them with them to their new place. Another of our friends decided they could take them and we ended up moving them from one friend to another at short notice, i.e. we only found out in the morning and we moved them that afternoon, but at least we got a nice meal out of it - the mushrooms picked from the forest were heavenly.

Ian trying his hand again at herding, this time sheep not cows
(photo by Ieva)

Enjoying the sunshine in their new home (photo by Ieva)

Our combination microwave is quite old
now but still works well, if you can get
the tiny microswitch to work that is. It
is frustrating that for the sake of a small
switch the microwave might have to be
thrown away. We've tried looking for
parts but it is so old it is not helpful.

It was back to school today for the children and it was fun seeing so many of them in their smart clothes and carrying flowers. One of our neighbours is a teacher and he came back carrying some flowers even though he is male, it is quite normal here to give flowers regardless of gender. It wasn't a full day back at school, just a sort of celebration of the beginning of the year, classes should start tomorrow. It did mean though that our neighbour turned up just as we were trying to manoeuvre the freezer down the stairs and he offered to help. Although I managed to help get it down the stairs the wrapping started to disintegrate badly and it was more difficult to hold and so I was really pleased when our neighbour reappeared having changed to help get it into the basement room itself.

Herkules

It is interesting on a day when children go back to school after the summer break that we had been talking recently of the difference between work and toil. Physically we both work harder than we have ever done, but some people wouldn't class it as work, because no one employs us and no one pays us. So many people though go to work and it is a burdensome thing to do - is that toil? Were we toiling when we were putting bales of hay away? It was work and it was hard work, but it was a warm day and we were out in the fields and not stuck in an office. We even had time for discussions to try and work out the best way to deal with the bales so they are useful for next year, even if that means only useful for compost. So what do you think? Is there a difference between toil and work? Or are we just nitpicking?

Updated photos to properly credit the photographer, our young friend Ieva