Here we are again!

Antonia rocking the mud socks

Another two weeks and how much is done? At least jobs are getting ticked off. Slowly, but they are getting ticked off. It's also been a couple of weeks of weather. You know! Those times when you don't know from one day to the next what the weather will bring.

Mr. Stork out for an morning walk

Soaking up the sun by the barn

The greenhouse got finished in the small window of time when it was reasonably warm and not too windy. There were one or two hairy moments when the wind picked up a bit as we were sliding the acrylic over the greenhouse and wondered if it was going to flip up and break or whether it would just curl over like it was supposed to and slide down the other side. Fortunately it slid over. Ian has also put some sealant on the exposed holes before it persisted it down with rain and handles on the doors. So, now it is already to plant up with tomatoes, both my own and some more from a friend of ours. I'm looking forward to seeing these new varieties as they are quite different apparently.

Aggie also in zen mode soaking up the sunshine

Taking the sunbathing to another level. 

I got a haircut this week. Ordinarily not a remarkable event but in these strange times it is a privilege of living in a Covid19 free area. I had to sign a form and put my phone number on for tracing purposes in case a customer gets sick I suppose. I also had to say that I hadn't got any symptoms, been abroad recently or supposed to be self-isolating. My hairdresser knows all of that information anyway as we are Facebook friends and she won't cut hair if she doesn't know someone. Safe for both of us that way.

Ilvija also enjoying a sunbathe

Peedo, however, looks like it's all a bit too much for him. I
don't think the plague of little annoying/biting flies helped.
Fortunately they have now gone.

We are also in a region of Europe with limited numbers of cases and those are just about under control, so now we are free to travel to Estonia or Lithuania, just in time for shearing. Now we just need the weather to warm up a bit. At least the snow has gone but the wind is chilly and we've had a few hailstorms, wind and rain, so not exactly pleasant weather. We did get some more alpacas sheared locally but still not sheared ours yet and I think they are happy enough about that, until the sun comes out and they get a bit warm.

I think Lady V has had enough too.

And after the sunshine? Snow!

I finally managed to get the last of the potatoes planted - in between the showers that is. I took them out a bucket at a time so I could quickly get back into the greenhouse if it started to rain. I've also planted lots of bean seeds because beans are easy to freeze and last well. There will also be plenty to dry. In the old greenhouse I have pots of tomatoes and peppers that are growing well waiting to go in the new greenhouse. There are cabbages, Brussel sprouts, Chinese cabbage, chard and more beans that are waiting to go outside.  Cucumbers, squash plants and nasturtiums are just starting poke through now and I have planted lots of other seeds at the weekend. I hope it warms up by the time they are ready to go out.

The walk down to the "office" first thing in the
morning was a little chilly

Quite weird with the green poking through

And the spring flowers

Pastel colours

The snow went and we then had rain and hail and rain and
sunshine and rain and sunshine and hail and....

One of the most important jobs at the moment was completed last week. I have handed in my thesis for my doctorate. So one more step completed. Well it nearly was. Apparently the board weren't so happy with my summary and I had to do that over the weekend. A friend of mine who does my editing has been an absolute star for stepping in and helping me get it all finished.

Ilvija looking a little damp and very like a Suri alpaca

She even seems the right kind of shape for a Suri.

My project work is still plodding on, rather too slowly but it is getting there, which is a bit worrying when we need results very soon. I'm sure it will be finished on time, just! The problem with all this online work from our very rural location does mean that we are very reliant on our phones for the internet. The week before my birthday my phone started to cut out rather alarmingly for very little reason. 50% battery! Cut out! Phone call from someone! Cut out! I got to the stage of leaving it plugged in if I was doing anything important. I decided to get a new one, well a reconditioned one. I had planned on getting a Fairphone, but I couldn't wait the three weeks for a new one.

The three amigos looking a little damp. On the day we were
coming back from shearing at someone else's place, I got out
to undo the rope that blocks our entrance and Ian then drove off
without me, or nearly did. He get half way up the bank and
sheepishly rolled back. He'd been so busy looking at our alpacas
that he forgot about me until he saw me in the mirror. Hmmph!

Despite the rain, I think Herkules is looking a bit happier
these days. He's standing up to the other boys again and he's
able to get up without help from Ian. Such a relief.

This last week it was Ian's turn. He tried to get a video off his phone onto the computer and the phone went really weird and then started locking up. There is no time to be able to get it fixed and he's had it about 4-5 years, so kind of only to be expected. That is one of the reasons I wanted a Fairphone because they are repairable to a point of course. Still a reconditioned one is better than wasting resources on a brand new one for me, but Ian needs a robust one so got a new CAT phone.

George heading for a good scratch

A beautiful evening

An old tree

The boys enjoyed their week amongst the trees, apart from
when the flies were also out

It did mean they could have a good scratch though

Someone's not happy

Chanel also having a good scratch

The other girls coming in from their forested patch

Cool!

Vibrant colours against a dark sky

The wet alpaca house looks quite surreal

A time to dream

Look up as my friend in Colorado would say

This time more than ever is a time to dream. The weeks ahead are going to be tough, whether sickness comes to us or not. The worry etc. is going to be hard to bear, but we need to plan and dream for days  beyond the crisis. What's important now, should help us to focus on how we organise our life in the future. It's not about stuff, we are almost certainly going cold turkey on that. It's not about toilet paper, important though it is, but its about networks that help us to find dignity in contributing to a society and food to keep us healthy. Artists and musicians, we also need you now and we need you in the future, to help us get through the unsettling times and to dream and imagine a new future.

There is quite a lot happening up in the sky at the moment.
Migrating birds are returning

However, this has become a rare sight. A plane! An actual
plane! Normally our sky is criss-crossed with contrails 

One thing I think we have all learned is that we now know who the key workers are and we need to value them, not just the nurses and doctors of course, but also the cleaners, the volunteers, the supermarket staff, the delivery drivers, the postmen, the transportation folks, the bike mechanics - who knew!, the car mechanics, they are the people that keep our society running. We need to value them more. Then there are the scientists working on cures, not more pills to take for our obese society, important though they are. Cures do not bring in the money for pharmaceutical companies, so we cannot outsource our health to them anymore.

The storks are finally back. Ian thought they would come on
Saturday, but they didn't. It was so nice on Saturday with a
southerly breeze. But no they had to wait for a northerly and
a cold day. At least it wasn't Sunday which was freezing,
blowing a gale and snowing.

A very grumpy cat. We got most of the tablet down her, the
rest was frothed around her mouth, as usuall but then she
had no option but to clean if off. Hehe

There is so much more to think about, but adjusting to thinking instead of doing can be hard for many, especially when it is enforced. I've always been a bit of a daydreamer. Always had my thoughts on something else, as I'm going about daily tasks or getting lost in a book. I'm so absorbed in my thoughts sometimes that I forget to look up and take in the scenery. While I have my head in the clouds, imagining the bigger picture and trying to think what life would be like if we changed how we approached agriculture, the economy, community and trying to link it all together, I sometimes miss the bigger picture of our land in the sunshine. Ian the detail man is the opposite, he takes in the bigger picture of the land, while sometimes getting tied into the detail of how things should be done. It can make for some interesting miscommunications at times.

Cup of coffee anyone

This was taken on Saturday to show our grandchildren what
we had been doing. We had just sat down for our afternoon
coffee after spending the afternoon constructing part of the
new greenhouse that you can see behind Jakobs. After this
we had a WhatsApp chat and watched our granddaughter
blow out her candles for her birday

The weather warmed up at the end of last week and we managed to get a start on the new greenhouse.    These are part of our preparations in the downtime for the future. Little by little we are transforming where we live to be a place to gather and talk, to relax and contemplate, to visit our alpacas, to do courses. We don't want a constant flow of visitors, the introvert part of us would not cope with that, as we will need rest and recuperation between the busy periods, but we do want more people to be able to share what we have and to benefit from it.

3 sheets of 12m length polycarbonate. It is a
good job I'm reasonably good at maths and
problem solving. The instructions say to cut 4x
3m lengths to do the ends of the greenhouse, but
the problem is that if we had done that then
one sheet would have been too short to go over the greenhouse in one go. So we measured the arcs
and realised that we could only cut three sections
out of the four for the ends and the last piece
will have to be a patchwork quilt. There will be
enough, but there won't be a lot of wastage.

Ian finished off the ribs for the greenhouse today

One of our plans is to have a cabin for people to stay in, nothing fancy, just something simple. We even had a quote for it this week from one of the companies that we saw at the trade fair a few weeks ago. Unfortunately although they do not cost a huge amount, we still don't have enough for that, so we continue to work with what we have. At least we should be able to grow plenty of food this year. Our beds for the potatoes are ready and our garlic is beginning to poke its head through the mulch. They haven't been noshed over the winter by the mice this time. Soon it will be time to start planting outside, but not yet, it is still too risky.

A smiley and slightly toothy Josefs

It's greening up slowly, as it is still too cold. Most of what
you see is moss too. So the alpacas will just have to wait and
still eat hay.

My life hasn't changed that much beyond the normal rhythm of life we have here in our country place. We were out in our caravan a week earlier than before and we have spent the week adjusting to being out here. There is always something we have left behind that we suddenly find we need. I still have to travel back into the village anyway, for supplies and to tend to my little seedlings that are too tender to bring out just yet, especially with the heavy frosts we've had over the last few nights. I managed to pot up a few of the tomatoes now they have germinated and growing well.

Mind you, it doesn't stop them trying to eat the grass. Tellus
actually managed to get through the gate today. Ian doesn't
know how the gate came loose but Tellus was definitely on
the wrong side of it. Ian just about managed to get him
back through before all the others sensed freedom and
were heading for the gate. Soon chaps! Soon!

Mr. Tellus on the right side of the fence. His eye is also
better this week

Unfortunately on my last trip back into the village, I wasn't able to get any bread for Ian. They were completely out of that - then again it was a Sunday and not very unusual for out here. He does like toast in an evening and so he just uses the cheap white bread. Good job I did think to buy some yeast, to make some bread. My sourdough is great for buns for sandwiches but not so good for making a loaf. Mind you, the loaf I did make, wasn't quite right for toasting either. It was too thin. It tasted great and had a nice texture, just not the right shape, so I need to work on that a bit more. I'll have to bring out some loaf tins - of course they are back in the apartment.

Herkules got quite thin over winter and so Ian has started
feeding him extras. He gets his in the training pen, so he
can eat in peace. He now goes and stands in there waiting
for Ian. Smart guy! He seems to be losing his position in
the herd though. He was always the boss, but now the others
challenge him more.

Despite getting thin, Herkules is actually looking quite bright

I think Brencis looks like he's developing. a teenage
moustache

I have also travelled back into the village for an online meeting as the reception for my phone is better there. I'm used to online meetings, as I've mentioned before, I'm part of a project with colleagues in different countries and so we can only meet regularly via Skype. However, despite having regular meetings with my overseas colleagues, I'm not used to being involved in meetings with my colleagues from my own university, but since they are now all online and working from home, I don't escape so easily. Still it was good to catch up with them and get their perspectives on the next project that I'm involved with, which I officially start on April 1st, but have already been doing a bit of work for.

Mr. P is getting quite grey now and his black is changing to
a dark chocolate.

The face! It is just hilarious

One thing that I have realised during the Skype meetings is how long my hair has got. I did lots of preparations for a lockdown, but entirely forgot about having a haircut. When doing the Skype calls with a video on, I get to see how my hair looks and the longer it gets the older I look. I'm not generally so vain, but my hair is now really getting on my nerves and several times I have seriously thought about getting Ian's hair clippers out and cutting it very short. At least with three months in social isolation, I wouldn't need to show my hair so much, but then I would look pretty silly wearing a hat on a Skype call. Hmmmm! I do confess to doing some research on how to wear a scarf to cover up the shortness.

Jakobs is finishing off the tree I think. and Brencis enjoying
some downtime in the sun. I think he's missing the visitors
though. He's very chatty just lately. Hemdidn't come
for a chat though when we were chatting to our grandkids

George as smiley as ever. He looks like he might need a
haircut too

It always perplexed me why Latvians considered a hairdresser such an important part of the community. I enjoy my visits to the hairdressers and she does a good job I think, but it has never rated high on my agenda until I have a presentation to do. But even in a small place, you will often find a hairdresser. Now, however, when it isn't possible to get out and get it cut, I can see why. Here in the rural areas the price is not high for a cut, but it is priceless to not have hair in my eyes and to not look silly with a hair that isn't straight when it should be. So add hairdressers to that list of essential workers that keep the country moving. We won't die if we don't have a haircut, but we often feel better with a decent cut and that is worth a lot.

Another migrant who returned this week, a wagtail

Boo!

Mother and daughter staring at Sofie
the cat

Amanda, thinking! Dreaming! Planning...oh oh!

The new and the old greenhouse.

Bright but not green yet!