Sign of the times

Translation: Griezites Farm

We have new signs, one is just a give way sign onto our rather muddy road. At least the snow clearers should know in winter to keep it clear - well we can hope. The other is the sign for our farm and translated is Griezītes Farm. There have been a couple of times now that I have been coming back to the caravan in the dark and it is quite eerie to see the sign stand out so bright in the headlights. At least now we can't miss the turn.

Autumn raspberries still going strong

It seems like this week has been really busy but I don't feel I have achieved much. We are continuing to pick raspberries, which always takes time and is not as much fun as it is in the sunnier times earlier on in the year with the summer raspberries. Mind you, it is worth it, as they are quite tasty and we have been enjoying raspberry and apple crumble. Today I packed jars with more raspberries and apple slices and then cooked them in the jars, ready for more crumbles in the winter.

This is where they should be, behind the fence

Part of the week has been spent trying to find our young chickens, as the little darlings (said through firmly clenched teeth) keep escaping. Chicken Run! comes to mind, theyŗe up to something. We have found them in the squash patch a few times and one rather large squash was well pecked. The problem seems to be that despite their clipped wings, they can semi-fly and scrabble up the fence or can fly high enough to land on the gate and then hop over. I sorted out the gate problem, by putting sticks in the gate to prevent them landing on it, but unless we get taller fencing we cannot sort that out. The larger chickens don't manage to get over as they are too heavy to scramble up the wire and cannot fly high enough to get over the gate, or don't bother, so eventually the problem should cease.

The gate with added sticks to stop the
chickens escaping. Failed!

Ian fishing for frogs in the well with a home-made fishing net

One day the chickens in Ark 4 as we call it, will be put in one of the covered arks for the winter, as that will be easier for us to manage them in the greenhouse where we always put them, but first of all one of the other arks has to be vacated (in other words hens culled) and then fixed. The arks have served us well, but they are requiring some maintenance now. We are definitely keeping the oldest hens as they are the most reliable layers. One of them at least is still laying every three days or so, whereas all the others have given up for autumn. We had to do some calculations to see who would be the ones heading for the pot, which kind of does remind me of Chicken Run! and that makes me Mrs Tweedy.

Releasing them into the pond

The well has been pumped out three times and so theoretically
it should be time to test it to see if it is good water.

It seems to be filling at a consistent 1.31litres per hour according
to Ian who loves keeping records like this.

Not sure what sort of birds these are, possibly starlings I
suppose, but flocking nonetheless.

There are many signs of autumn, from trees turning yellow or bright red, the blustery weather and flocking birds. Not so welcome a sight was the sight of geese flying south. Ian heard some flying at night too. They usually say that geese head south about two weeks before the first snows come, so it reminds us to get cracking with winter preparations. Fortunately the first snow does not last anyway, but does leave a sludgy mess. There will be road markers to install, markers to let us know where the ponds are so we don't walk into them or Ian drive the tractor over them inadvertently. We will need to make sure there is enough feed and tyres changed on the car. We will also need to get the greenhouse prepped so that the chickens can move in and then the caravan. We also need to gather in the apples and the amaranth as the last things to harvest before winter. We have a few plants outside but they will stand some cold and be even better after frosts anyway, such as parsnips and Jerusalem artichokes.

The blustery weather has caused quite a few willows to
snap this year. I was working in the garden one day and heard
one fall and looked up just in time to see it coming down.
Fortunately I was well out of harms way, otherwise I would
have taken more notice of the cracking.

Marie eating through the fence again! There is plenty of grass
and hay, but she makes a habit of eating through anyway.

The reason the blog was late though, was that we had help with toe nail cutting for our alpacas and as a thank you, we went back to our apartment and had a meal together. A young couple, who I have mentioned before, moved into the village for a short while and were willing to help us out from time to time. Since the young chap was a rugby player, unusual for a Latvian but there are clubs here, it seemed ideal to ask him to help out with the trimming. This time of year, the animals are not quite so well behaved, we think they sense the winter and tend to be a bit antsy, so it was nice to have someone who could hold the alpacas firmly. I had to get changed though at the end, as Chanel managed to dribble spit all down my leg and get a spray across the back. The alpacas were definitely not on their best behaviour, still at least the toe nails got done and it did not put the young couple off alpacas for life. As the young chap said, it was nice to get the chance to cuddle an alpaca.

Putting rather a lot of strain on that wire to reach those tasty shoots

Amazing that she can get her head in and out of those holes
in the wire.

Dark days

The sun! It does exist

At 8:30am in the morning it is only just beginning to get light, by 9:30am we have daylight of sorts. It has been pretty dreach here in Latvia (dreach is a brilliant Scottish word, to mean horrible, dark weather and pronounced dreeek) and so it hasn't been getting very bright, although we did see the sun yesterday, for all of five minutes and today I actually saw some blue sky for a bit longer than five minutes. It doesn't last long though because by 12:30pm you can tell the sun is beginning to head downwards and it is dark by 3:30pm At least now the days will be getting longer since we have passed the winter solstice. 

No more trudging the streets of Tartu for
a while

I finished my travels up to Estonia and back on Tuesday and there are no plans to go travelling again for a while, well up to Estonia and back that is. I have plenty of work to be getting on with anyway at home and plenty of papers and books I need to read, so I shan't be bored and I shall enjoy not having to take long journeys to travel relatively short journeys, like 10 hours to do a journey that would take 3 1/2 hours by car. I have some unexpected work to do, a review of someone's Masters thesis. Should be interesting to be on the other side of marking so to speak, but it is in my field of study and so I should be okay. I also played host today to a distressed academic, well not exactly distressed but someone looking for a bit of advice on the minefield of referencing, in other words making sure credit is where credit is due to those who inspired the written piece of work and looking for a bit of peace and quiet to finish writing an essay, away from the kids that hadn't quite got the idea of leaving mummy alone to work. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to try and get work done with a house full of children.

Munching away on green grass instead of hay. Ian had
taken the electric fences down before the ground got
frozen, but with the recent rise in temperatures, he put them
back up again and the animals are appreciating it.

Winter is still coming and going, but the animals are glad to be back on the grass, now the snow has gone again. The problem is that the ground is so wet that Ian has had to lay a straw path to our ladies alpaca house. The boys paddock is on a slope and so their paddock area drains quite well, but the ladies paddock is fine on one side but doesn't drain well on the other side. We were worried about that when Ian built the accommodation, but it was the only flat place to put it. At least the piece does slope away and so some drainage can be put in and that should do the trick. Another job for next year.

Just a pity so much of our grassland looks like this! This
isn't recent damage from the wild boar, but you can see
how much grass we have lost through their digging

Our last attempt about a week ago, to cut the toe nails of some of our alpacas wasn't completely successful. One of the boys managed to escape from me as Ian tried to cut them and his front toe nails didn't get done. We tried leaving a bit of the door open and so he escaped, this time we shut the door and used a torch - not easy. Estelle our youngest lady alpaca got almost all her toe nails cut apart from one back foot. Not quite sure how it got missed. The problem with toe nails is apparently particularly bad for white alpacas with very fine fleece. One breeder was telling us that the more they bred for the good fleece, the more likely their toe nails are to curl and get long pretty quickly, obviously a genetic connection there then. This week we tried a different tack, Ian held the animals and I cut the toe nails. Not sure which is easier though, trying to hold the alpacas or trying to cut their toe nails, especially in the dark. Their nails are very tough and it took two hands to cut them, only I was supposed to be holding onto their foot with one hand.  When I tried to cut Estelle's toe nails, she kept trying to sit down and so hiding her legs underneath her and then one of the chickens that has taken residence up there walked in front of the torch - not useful! Anyway it got done well enough to last a bit longer, to a time when we might have a bit more light.

These little chappesses went for a wander today. Ian found
them down by the hay store, but a rattle of food trays soon
sorted them out 

Talking of the chickens that have taken up residence with the ladies, one has disappeared and we are left with another pile of feathers. The poor remaining chicken was huddled under one of the feeders behind some hay that was pulled out and made a hidey hole behind. It obviously had a bit of a fright. It is a good job it is one used to being on its own, as it was the first one to take up residence there, the other one Ian moved when it kept getting left outside and looking rather sorry for itself. The missing chicken had a peculiar gait when it walked, a bit like a goose-stepping soldier and we only discovered yesterday that it had swollen feet that didn't bend. We were not sure if it had been stood on by an alpaca or it was due to it going out in the cold and now we will never know. Rather sad really! We are not quite sure what to do about the hawk, if that is what got this one and it would seem to make sense after seeing the one flying around last week. It is obviously not scared of the alpacas. I feel some research coming on.

Our goose-stepping chicken is no more

Back in the herd again!

Alicia our old lady (the black one) gave us a bit of a fright this week, as she seemed to be separating herself from the others and breathing a bit funny. It might have been just a pain in her tummy, but she carried on eating and the next day was feeling more soicalble. It is a worry when a pack animal separates themselves off, as it is not normal behaviour and can mean they are quite ill. Often with a pack animal, the first time you know there is something wrong is when they drop down dead and that is no exaggeration. Ian though is spending more and more time with the animals and getting them used to him - something he does in winter when he has more time. So hopefully he will know very quickly when an animal is not so well.

Another issue we are facing is the increase in moss in our
fields. You can see all the light green patches. It is going
to need a serious raking in the spring

Any guesses on what Ian's newest Franken creation is?

Judging by the increase in "What is Christmas all about?" comments and stories I guess Christmas is pretty near. It has kind of snook up on me. Christians can often feel that they have a right to the day and get offended when it is not treated with some weird view of respect. I am a Christian, but I'm not going to argue with anyone who wants to celebrate a day of feasting and family at this time of the year. After all many others celebrate winter festivities at this time of the year, how else do some people cope with the long winter nights? For some Christmas is just a name, for some it is the only time they think of Jesus and then only as a baby. I wonder how many other people in this world have their birthday celebrated, by only remembering their birth and not the other years they spent on this earth? We can't really lay claim to the day of Christmas anyway, after all for some Christians the celebrations really occur around January 6th - epiphany when the wise men brought presents, okay not really on that day, but that is when it is celebrated. I don't think we can impose our view of what Christmas should be, after all that has changed over the centuries. Presents? Feasting? They are all fads that have come and gone, with a spiritual spin put on them to suit the times. Xmas? Ooohh! Leaving out Christ? Yes but putting in the cross. Happy holidays? Oooohh! Leaving out Christmas and therefore Christ? No, after all holidays comes from Holy Days and that is what Christmas is meant to be, right?

Now what would you call this?

To finish on a more festive note, here it is! The tree Ian selected. We didn't even fall out over the tree, instead we reserved it for processing a bag of leeks - a bin bag full that is, not a carrier full. We were both tired I guess. Anyway as you can see, the tree is up, just not decorated. I will get around to that tomorrow. Must get the decorations out first though. So I hope you all have a super Christmas no matter how you chose to celebrate it.

It's quite a nice tree on three sides,
which is perfect. The slightly
flatter side has been arranged to be
at the back. Not bad for a weed tree