Just a little snooze

My purple rose has turned pink! Maybe it is from the rootstock
or maybe other climatic changes. No idea!

Having a little snooze was my plan for this afternoon, but a pesky fly disturbed me and it's sticky hot. I wouldn't normally be having an afternoon snooze but I picked up a tummy bug and virtually slept yesterday away. I'm feeling much better today, albeit lacking in a bit of energy and about 1.5 kg lighter into the bargain, so it's not all bad news. Weight had been creeping back on, so it will be nice to readjust my diet back to what it should be to maintain my lower weight.

You've heard of "Where's Wally?" Well here is "Where's the bee?"

Just in case you didn't find the bee, here is a close up of the
bee enjoying the marjoram

Hay cut and turned

Ian bless him, has been cutting for hay again, even though he got a slight dose of what I have. At least he wasn't floored by it. The weather forecast was a bit iffy, but we were determined to get the haymaking out of the way and we have had quite a few forecasts promising rain that hasn't materialised. Only today it did materialise and we had a short torrential downpour, right over us. The radar didn't show much else in either direction for miles or kilometres depending on what you work in. At least now it is not as critical as we have got the majority in that we need for a year and plenty of good hay for eating, which is all under cover as we managed to get the other half of the ski hill baled.

Rain bouncing off the cars and caravan. Not what we
wanted and while I write there is more.

A peacock butterfly also enjoying the marjoram. It sure is a
good insect plant

The apples are growing well on this tree this year. Finally! Not
sure how long we have had to wait for a decent crop

George is getting more curious now and braver

Hopefully the addiction to watching the weather forecasts and radar will be soon over, at least quite as avidly as we do when it comes to getting the hay in. We were watching the weather forecasts with trepidation earlier on this week and had hoped to get the bales in at a more leisurely pace than we did in the end. Ian had just finished baling and sat down to eat when I told him that there was a threat of rain for the following day and was likely to be earlier than we hoped, so straight after eating we were both back out in the field gathering up the bales. There were still 20 left out in a separate area but we were too tired to get them, we were just hoping for the best for good weather the next day. As it turned out, I woke early and saw the radar was not looking good and we were out before breakfast collecting the remaining 20. Of course the rain didn't really come to much at all but at least there was some and it didn't rain on our bales of hay.

Freddie is such a sweetie

Blackcurrant bushes are bending under the weight of berries

We have also been collecting the berries. I haven't had to do this job for a few years as a friend often did that. Our friends are coming later on in the summer though and the berries are ready earlier anyway. At least I got some jars of blackcurrant and gooseberry cordial done in preparation for our workshops. I have also been drying herbs, turnip leaves and hollyhock flowers. The herbs are for flavouring and teas, the turnip leaves for adding to soups in winter and the hollyhocks either for adding to soups, for teas (a nice soothing one for sore throats) or for dye. The dark purple, almost black hollyhock flowers that I have give either a lovely purple or silver grey colour depending on the preparation and the fabric used.

My slightly messy garden but you can see mallow, marshmallow
lupins, poppies, Jerusalem artichokes, some fronds of asparagus
Rosebay Willowherb for future tea making and lots of weeds

Lady V feeling warm

I also got some cleaning done at our flat in preparation for our run of visitors over the next few weeks. I even managed to clean the windows - well sort of. They are still a bit smeared but at least you can see out of them when the sun shines. It is really looking like a home now, as long as you do not open the door of the storage room, where there is hardly room to walk. That will need sorting again later on in the year when we move back to living in the village, rather than out on our land.

Mari looking large and yes, still no babies have appeared this
week and so the waiting continues

Aggie has been feeling the heat too and hogging the water
bucket. We had to give her shower earlier yesterday to
cool her down

While I was cleaning Ian stayed out on the land with our young helper for the day. He's a bit shy, so conversations can be hard, but he is a good worker. Ian and he moved a stack of old wood for another hugelkultur, cut off dock heads to stop them spreading even more seed and mowed the grass. There hasn't been much grass mowed just lately, as it has been so dry the grass has been growing slowly. There are some benefits to the drier weather anyway.

We had hoped that Chanel was pregnant but after her visit from
Mr. P this morning, it would appear not. 

It looks like Mr. P will be paying a few more visits to his
favourite hangout

The swallows have fledged their nest

The acorns are growing

That pesky fly

That's better

Snoozing and watching the rain

Waiting, waiting

Waiting for the snow to go

I seem to have spent most of the week waiting for someone or something. I started off the week waiting for the bus to get home. Ian collected me from the bus station to take me out to the land as we were expecting visitors. A family we had met to see their alpacas were making a return visit after a trip out to Sigulda. So after a quick change into suitable clothing, in other words out of my city clothes, and a quick trip to the bakery we set off. Well we waited and waited, we even gave in and ate some of the pastries we had bought specially - or more likely just in case they wanted a cuppa and something to eat.

Slowly but surely

You can see the frozen puddle though and it is only
the sun that is causing the melt, not the air
temperature, which has rarely got above freezing after
the mega melt earlier on in the week

We had just about given up on them and thought they must have found the roads too bad when they turned up. It wasn't the best of days for a sightseeing trip because, although it had warmed up quite a bit, that meant a mega melt, hence the bad roads. It was a very brief trip, as they had to get back to their animals and it was another hour and a half at least and that's on a good day. I hadn't even taken my computer so I hadn't been able to get on with any work while waiting.

Ice from our pond. Ian has to keep chipping away to get
water out of it.

There is more snow out on the land as it is slightly higher
in altitude, although even here it is going

I have also been waiting for my supervisor to report back to me on a paper. In the end I had to send him a list of things that needed doing and a priority list to get something done. I can't say I blame him as he is pretty busy, but it doesn't help me to get things finished. At least I got an abstract in on time for a conference, so that was one step forward. Mind you, he will probably end up presenting it as I won't be able to afford to go. Sigh! Still it was nice while the funding lasted to get to go to some rather nice places.

It is melting faster on our south facing ski hill. We still call it
a ski hill, even though there has only ever been one
person ski down it the whole time we have known it.
We don't know who it was, but the tracks were there

Peekaboo! With the sunnier weather, Ian has locked the
girls and their youngsters out to make them get outside in
the sunshine

I am still waiting for further news from the paper that has been submitted. I know it is now with the Special Edition editor, so hopefully that is a step in the right direction, but I haven't heard any more than that. It is so frustrating, as I could do with knowing whether that paper is complete or I have to do more work on it. It feels like the end is in sight but still a long way off and there could be a few twists and turns along the way. Still at least with all this waiting it has meant I could do some more felting and more preparation for our move.

A needle fetled picture with embroidery

Time outside

Freddie playing twister with mum

George out for a walk with his mum

Part of the preparations for our move meant tackling the cellar. I had to do that in two stints as it was pretty dusty. It was amazing what was down there. Lots of cardboard that had seen better days, some collapsible crates that were rather handy, three watering cans (why do we have three watering cans in our cellar I may hear you ask? No idea actually! One I could understand, but three!!!!), lots of bike bits, an overhead projector (anyone want one?), bags of soil, a gas powered bbq, electrical and plumbing bits and bobs, a folding camping chair, some gardening tools and a bag of something that was later identified as clay. At least we have plenty of room in our rubbish bin to get rid of some stuff, it usually takes us ages to fill a bin. I have had to cancel a collection several times because it is just not worth it.

George is getting a lot of fleece now, especially around his
face

Anyone need any coat hangars, I have a few

The boys like to get outside, apart from Herkules who is
probably still inside eating

Of course we recycle what we can, so all the old cardboard will go in the garden to suppress weeds and then we put manure on the top of that to make no dig beds, so that's actually quite handy. The bag of clay had me flummoxed for ages though, until I realised that it was the clay that I had used to show Latvian children the Derbyshire tradition of Well Dressings. The clay is spread out on a board and then flowers (or just the petals depending on which tradition you follow) are used to make a picture that is then used to decorate a well, at least that was the case in the old days, in more recent times they are purely decorations.

Tracks in the snow from daily walks with Ian

Mr. P enjoying the sunshine

Ian surprised me last week and said that he could bring the trailer back home and we could move somethings up to the other apartment. Well I waited and waited, in the end I asked when he was going to do that. He told me it was up to me. Communication is a wonderful thing when it works. Hahaha! Well it is getting kind of close to the time when I am off to the UK, so there isn't much time to get anything done before I set off, so we needed to get our act together. Despite the mega melt earlier on last week, it has been pretty cold here but fortunately without the snow, well not much more than a dusting anyway. However it is forecast to warm up and so that won't help with the state of the roads again and so we decided to get some things shifted today.

I think this might be a bit big for a Christmas tree in the
apartment

Sunset outside our other apartment

We currently live on the third floor (British second floor) and that feels like a lot of steps to carry boxes down, especially when we have as many books as we do. We took two bookcases and a writing bureau too. The heavier furniture will have to wait until we have some help of the younger, stronger kind. At least the other apartment is a first floor one (British ground floor) and so there are just a few steps up and so that stage was much easier, especially as my knee was giving me some gip (trouble) on the way down the stairs. Upstairs it is fine, but down not so much.

From the macro to the micro view. These berries are still
hanging on in there after the winter

Aggie

It was only possible to do the moving in the morning for two reasons. Firstly we were shattered from going up and down the stairs, but also the roads were melting, even though it was cold and that would mean it would be difficult to get the horse box onto the land. After picking up my lunch and laptop Ian dropped me back off at the other apartment before heading off to the animals. I spent most of the afternoon first cleaning the furniture and then filling them up from the numerous boxes we had brought in. I probably only sorted through about a third, if that. So I guess that will be my job again tomorrow. I do know that no further work will be done on my paper as my supervisor is away at a meeting. Oh well!

It amused me to see that some folks in the UK actually had more snow than we do. I guess that is what happens when the Beast from the East (or mini beast in this case) meets the damp atmosphere of the UK. The laments over the length of this winter reminded me of a poem I wrote about 8 years ago, so here you go!

I really like this view of our land

The Winter Sleep
The blanket lies white upon the ground
So deep,
Muffling sound
Hard to believe
What lies beneath
Colour locked in bulbs
So deep
Asleep
Waiting in their earthly dreams
For warmth to seep from above
To awaken and stretch
Their dress of velvet cloth
Refreshing drab senses
Dulled by the long winter months
Lethargy peels off
Hope arises
Winter loses its grip.

Ian has been thinning out the trees again this week. That
job will have to finish by the end of the month when tree
cutting season finishes so the birds can nest

Next season's firewood. We will need more this year
since we will be heating our own apartment and not relying
on the communal heating system

Sofie out for a stroll

Well someone's been busy

A sunbathing Brencis

I'm home honey!

Autumn colour

Yes! I have spent a whole week at home. Can you believe it? And the most exciting thing we have done this week is watch someone cutting alpaca teeth. Riveting heh! I can see you are on the edge of your seats. So what have we done all week? Well let's rewind a little. For a start the paper I have been trying to write for an academic journal was returned again and still requires "major modifications!" Sigh! I have done all the little tinkering about they asked for, but I still have to get my head around how to word the most important part. I won't bore you with the details, but it is hard trying to think of yet another way of phrasing the same material again, for the fourth re-write or is it the third? Something like that anyway. I think I'm getting there, but I have had other things to try and get my head around this week and they have taken priority - partly because I get paid to do that and not paid to do my doctoral studies.

Autumn raspberries

I have explained that I work for an online educational organisation and recently started tutoring the Sociology studies. There is only one student this year and bless him he was not up to speed in handing in any assignments. I was getting a little concerned and sent an email - nothing, sent another email to check if he had got it - nothing, sent an email off to my boss to see what he thought and he suggested copying in his mother. Oh that did reap benefits, two assignments no less, however, that then meant I had to mark the work. When preparing the lessons I hadn't got my brain into gear about how to mark the work and so that took me a little while to apportion the right number of marks to the piece of work that reflected the input required for the question. I also had to think about how to approach marking the work and what helpful comments I could put in. Tricky one really. I have been trained for higher education and not for 14-16 year olds, but the same principles apply. I have also had experience of teaching my own children at home but not in this subject. Still we all have to start somewhere and I know I will speed up as time goes by.

Part 1: This is a stockade that Ian built about three years
ago to store old hay, wood chippings and compost

The weather hasn't been brilliant this week, warmer but damp and dreary. One day it was forecast to rain for most of it and so Ian text me to see if we should go and visit a couple of friends of ours, who we hadn't seen in ages. They have a farm too and we just don't get much time to see each other in the summer months, there is too much to do, especially this year for Ian with the extra animals. The rain filled days though are a different matter, as the ground becomes soggier there just isn't the amount of work to do, apart from some winter preparations. Most of the harvesting has been done, there are only some winter brassicas, carrots and beetroots still left and they can stay in the ground until we either need them or until a hard frost is forecast. So nothing exciting to report, just sitting around drinking tea and chatting about this and that. Nice really. Nothing too academic.

This was the stockade this summer with the squash plant
taking advantage of the lovely compost

Gone! Ian has cleared up the area, as it was beginning to
look rather tatty and we would like the place to look
neater. The compost has gone down to the bottom end
of the new garden area, the wood chipping pile
temporarily moved ready for putting on the road way and
stones moved down to the forest edge.

I have also had the news that a Latvian student is willing to undertake the Latvian side of the study that I am trying to research (for any newcomers I am looking into how rural inhabitants can be included in development planning in the area where they live). That is a great relief and will make a good contrast to the Estonian research. I shall take a trip into Riga to have a chat and see where we take it from there. I was a little shocked though that the student in question does not do Skype and doesn't like the application. Not sure why that is, something to find out I suppose. For me Skype is such a boon and has meant I have been able to chat to all my children and grandchildren this last week. It was so funny seeing a picture of my grandson with an ipad on his knee whilst chatting to us, that his mum took with her phone. I still remember my own children pretending to talk to grandma and grandad on the phone and wonder how the two little ones will pretend to talk to us.

Our errant sheep back where they should be. Any remorse?
I doubt it. 

 The highlight of the week was a weekend of pottering. I pottered around the garden on the day when it was forecast not to rain and thankfully it didn't. I uncovered more of a strawberry bed that had got inundated with weeds and hoed paths to keep on top of the places I have already weeded. There was one point when I heard sheep. I looked out and couldn't see anything and thought it must have been my imagination playing tricks again, then I saw them run past the greenhouse. The only problem is that they were supposed to be about 300m away up the field and not running around the greenhouse. They must have got bored with their surroundings and came for a visit. Ian fetched some feed and off they all set back up to where they should have been. No drama or anything.

I'm partly adding this photo for a friend to see what we built
to trap our sheep in when we want to do anything with them
or when Ian wants to move them and he has to dismantle
their fence. It has proved fairly useful over the summer

Can you tell where the sheep have been? The grass is not
recovering so quick at this time of year

The strawberries are on the left of the picture in front of
the blackcurrant bushes and in the centre. Oh yes! We will
have two full rows this next year and I will work on another
for the end of the year.

I then pottered about the house and cleaned. The problem with communal heating is that they put it on when they should and not a day before, so no heating until October 15th (just realised that's only two days away) and even then it is always a debate if they will. It hasn't been that cold, but cold enough and damp enough to start stuff going mouldy. We had to bring the dehumidifier back from the other place where it was still drying out the apartment since the last flooding we had there. We have also been sinking under stuff here at home. Stuff that we are keeping just in case and I really feel the need either to sling it, or at least stash it better so we are not falling over it. I dread turning out like those folks who compulsively hoard. They don't tend to use their stuff though, just keep hoarding it, but we do use lots of stuff and need endless bottles to keep produce in, bottles for the home-made vinegar, bottles for jams, chutneys and dried foods. Then there are bags of fleece that needs processing and the time to process it. There was a child's car seat sat in the middle of the floor too and that will come in useful for when the little ones visit. As for the piles of papers on the desk! Well that's next week's pottering sorted. At least most of the windows have now been cleaned with bleach. I don't like using bleach but the mould was getting in and needs must.

The strip on the left has more blackcurrant bushes in and
we are trying some suckers from the five spice plant we
have in the greenhouse to see how it fares outside 

And that leads me onto today's riveting day. Teeth cutting! One of our alpacas needs her teeth cutting badly, but we have been struggling to get it done. On a visit to a camelid breeder we know, they told us that some of their animals needed theirs' doing. We got a text yesterday to say the vet was coming and if we wanted to watch then we could come over. An early start for us and we went across. In the end it was just as traumatic for them as for us. We are now seriously thinking of buying a tooth cutting implement that costs a lot of money and then Ian going to cut their animals' teeth too, as a way of recouping the costs of the machine. That and possibly learning how to shear the alpacas properly and he could have quite a viable business going. Well that's the theory, now all he has to do is go on a course and see where we go from there.