A chilly week

My herb garden looking like a scene
from Narnia

I'm sitting here wondering what on earth I have done this last week. Sometimes I write notes to remind myself, but somehow they didn't get done this week. It has been a week of chopping and changing of plans, I remember that much. I meant to get on with sorting out the details for my evaluation that happens every year for my PhD studies and will be sometime before the end of the month. I managed a little of that today, but not much before. I meant to finish some Sociology lessons and I managed a few of those too one day whilst trying to warm our other flat through to prevent pipes from freezing.

One of our projects this week was to get black plastic on
some field plots before it snowed. The idea is that in spring
these will warm up quicker and encourage all the weed seeds
to germinate, which will then die off underneath the plastic
leaving us a cleaner bed to plant into, either in spring or later
on in the year depending on what we decide to plant in it.

My orchard allotment plot

It has been bitterly cold and we saw -28C (-18F) one morning. Fortunately the car has not let us down, even though the diesel in the car is only rated down to -21C (-6F). By now it should be rated down to -30C (-22F) at least. Our alpacas have been shivering a little but on the whole they are doing okay and certainly relishing the increase in temperatures to a giddy -9C (16F) today. As a friend of mine wrote on facebook, you know it has been cold when -9C (16F) feels quite warm. One of our alpacas, however, is not doing so well. I spent a few nights this week making first one coat out of an old sleeping bag and then another one lined with an old fleece underblanket. Now she is wearing both.

Looking rather cold and bleak

Coat number one. Not bad considering I don't have a
working sewing machine at the moment. I had to sew it all
by hand and my fingers are still sore. The edges aren't
finished either, but I reckon she is not that bothered about
that

I was quite proud of the result from my efforts. I had been wondering how to make an alpaca coat for emergencies for a while and this week we checked them out online as our poor Snowdrop started to really suffer in the cold. Although we found some reasonably priced ones, the problem was that we needed it right now and not next week. I suddenly had a brainwave when I remembered an old nylon sleeping bag that had seen better days. I halved the sleeping bag, then cut a section off the bottom - otherwise it would be too long - and used that to make some flaps for the front of the coat to fasten around the throat. I used some velcro straps from a fleece jacket that had started to look tatty and a strap from an old bum bag (I know I have a few followers from America and I suggest you look up the translation, as it is not a word I like to use in polite British circles).

The new alpaca house can be seen in the distance

Despite the cold there have been some glorious days too

Unfortunately it wasn't sufficient to keep her warm and Ian said it had never made a good sleeping bag anyway and it always felt cold. I used the other half, but this time I lined it. I had to use a strap this time off an old Garmin heart monitor that was no longer working, as I had no more bum bag straps. You can tell from that list that we keep rather a lot of stuff that normally would and perhaps should be thrown in the bin (trash can). There is a pile of such stuff in the middle of our living room floor that has been there a while waiting to be sorted, but the pain of throwing things away is weighing heavily. This is not helped at all by the above example of the possible ways to recycle broken and old things. It just makes the job doubly hard. From where I sit I can see the Christmas tree (yes ours is still up) and see the baubles made from old lightbulbs that were sprayed red and decorated with gold paint and the soft balls made from an old bronze dance dress and stuffed with the contents of an old pillow. I can also see two pictures where one is made from old scraps of cloth and the other made from torn tissue paper.

And some rather nice sunrises

Out of the apartment window, looking one way

It has been an eventful weekend. Firstly we met a fellow Lancastrian, called Andrew, who also lives in Latvia (I hasten to add that I am the Lancastrian, i.e. born in Lancashire, Ian is not, he is a Geordie, born in Northumberland). Andrew is more famous than we are, he made the Latvian news, which is how I came to find out about him. Our friend who teaches English and often translates for us sent us the link to the news article about his blog a while ago and so I posted a comment. Eventually we made contact which resulted in him and his wife coming out to see us (you can see Andrew's blog here). We had a lovely few hours and I made wild boar stew in the slow cooker, which was rather tasty, if I do say so myself. The next day our neighbour who often comes to see our alpacas came out with another neighbour and her daughters to show them the alpacas. She had to show them around and explain about alpacas, which she is very good at now, since she has heard so much about them and has helped us out quite a few times, because Ian unfortunately had to call out the vet to Snowdrop and they were busy dealing with her when our neighbour came out.

Further down the street

The extra string was supposed to stop
the sheep from thinking of escaping
from their new paramour 

The alpacas appreciated the carrot snacks our visitors brought but two of the sheep decided to freak out and escape. It was a shame because they had been so much calmer this week because the girls now have a man. We have been quite startled by how much less demanding they are, now they have a ram around. The ram is a much calmer meat merino from the neighbouring sheep farm, which we went to choose earlier on the week. We are not sure there has been much in the way of mating going on though unfortunately. The idea was that we have the ram for about a month and then pack him off for a rendezvous with the freezer. That would then mean we have some hopefully calmer lambs to replace the skitty sheep we have now, meanwhile still manuring and trimming the pastures as required. Not sure how that is going to work out now if he doesn't get the girls pregnant. It might be past the breeding season, apparently.

Penned up waiting for the arrival of the ram - just in case they
freaked out.

The meeting went quite calmly really. Hello ladies, I'm
your new fella and that was about it. 

The new ram is not so used to Ian yet!

Anyway back to Snowdrop, since she has taken up quite a bit of our time this week. The coats have made a difference to Snowdrop insofar as she is actually warm with both of them on, but she is now a very sick alpaca. The vet gave her drips yesterday and something to help clear any blockages in her stomach, since she could feel a lump there. Today we have been pouring oil down her and our vet came back and gave her another couple of drips. Snowdrop isn't getting up on her own and she has been sat next to a radiator to keep her warm. We are grateful Ian managed to get the alpaca house done and wired up for electrics, even if it has meant several extension cables to get to it - not ideal but in a push it has to do. We only finished treating her at around 5pm tonight and couldn't have done that without the lights and the radiator to keep us warm as well as Snowdrop. She did at least eat a tiny bit of hay, which is a promising sign and made attempts to spit at another alpaca. Snowdrop is usually very ready to display her displeasure of any other alpaca who gets to close to her, she is normally quite a feisty madam in that respect, but not over the last few days.

We think the greenhouse tore due to the
cold. Fortunately we had plastic to
replace it with.

Poor lass! Not a happy lady.

It is hard to have to make her as comfortable as possible and then just leave her overnight and we half expected to find she had died when we arrived on the land this morning. We had even been talking about how we were going to bury her if necessary - not an easy job considering it has been so cold just lately. It would have involved chipping away at the layer of ice for several days and covering it so it doesn't freeze lower down, before we can get the back hoe out to dig a hole deep enough. Fortunately that wasn't necessary today. Unfortunately it has started snowing and we are not sure how much snow we may get tomorrow, we may miss the worse of it, we may not so we need to be prepared for a night out in the caravan if necessary.

Hog roast

Damage right up to our alpaca fence this week

Eventually this last week we managed to get hold of a hunter to come and hunt on our land. The number we had, was for a hunter who had left the hunting organisation we have a contract with and it took a few texts to eventually get another number. It was sorted in the end and the hunter went out on three nights to our land, with increasing damage being done, but eventually he shot one. If we have the story straight, then it was one of a group of 20-30 individuals, so it was no wonder the place was a mess. It is possible that they had also decided that our land would make an ideal breeding ground. Not good for us, but at least the hunters have committed to continuing the hunt this week too, although of course there hasn't been any damage since one was shot. I remember one of our neighbours telling us that a hunt usually meant that the wild boar would not be back for a fortnight, so at least we get a bit of a reprieve. The snow has continued to fall and it is steadily building up and this restricts the wild boar with their little legs to the forests, so hopefully by the time the boar have forgotten about the killing the snow will be too deep for them.

Ian makes the best use of the barn by hoisting the
trailer up and leaving more floor space. One pulley
a couple of chains and the jobs a goodun'

Our share of the boar meat, bagged up and ready for the
freezer

The great thing is with having hunters out on the land, is that we get a share of the boar meat too and so we ended up with a bucketful of meat. I like the idea that I haven't had to butcher it too, so it seems a fair exchange. It was a fat pig though, with a layer of fat on it over an inch thick, if not thicker. That was one well fed pig! Normally I would be wary of meat with too much fat, but the fat will be good for our chickens, they could do with the extra calories now the temperatures are dropping quite sharply. I will let you know what it tastes like once I have got around to cooking it, I will tell you though that we will enjoy every morsel of it.

A frosty morning

Talking of chickens, we must have killed the wrong one. We have not had a single egg this week. I know it is cold but the light levels have gone up with the snow and so I would have thought we might have had one or two eggs, but no! The cold has been bad for the alpacas, well one in particular, Turbjörn. We are still not sure if the others are being mean to him or he just prefers to stay outside, but he is often shivering during the day. He is fine in the mornings as they have plenty of hay that has been built up quite a bit in the shed and we also have spent one day this week shifting rubbish bales of hay and stacking them against the shed to act as insulation and then put fleece around the outside on the other sides to reduce the draughts. It seems to have made it a better environment overnight despite the continued drop in temperatures. Two guys came around from the nearby sheep farm this week and helped Ian to cut the alpaca toe nails. They were quite excited about helping with the alpacas, being only three of them and not hundreds of sheep was something a little different. One had a bit of a bleed, but nothing serious and the lads had a spray to help, one also had a bit of a limp afterwards but that got better over the next two days. It might have just twisted it a bit as it was having the nails cut, or it might have just been a bit strange after having the nails cut. Anyway it is better now.

Hay bales stacked up against the side - a bit snow encrusted now

Double fleece layers around the sides too

We actually saw the sun one day this week. Not sure when
the last time we saw it. Ian and I just stood by the window
and gazed at the sun coming up, it was such a welcome sight

Sometimes in winter we have a problem with the electric, although we don't have as many power cuts as we used to now, it has gone off twice this week. The first time I was surprised that I didn't have a text from the power company to say that the electric was off. It seems a bit stupid getting a text to say "your power is off" but at least it means I know, they know about it and hopefully working on it. What was even more surprising was that it was off for an hour and a half and it wasn't even snowing at the time. All I can assume is that it might have been due to an ice build up that got worse as the temperatures dropped. The second time the electric went off we got a text, only I wasn't impressed as we had gone to bed early at our other apartment and had only just dropped off. We had also just topped up our fire to last all night and so we then spent an uneasy time wondering if our fire would cause the water to boil and possibly explode - we haven't got around to sorting out the battery for our UPS system (Uninterrupted power supply) which switches to battery power when the electric goes off. Our batteries have been used to charge the electric fence and probably need replacing now. Sigh!

Franken-shifter. A patented snow remover

Snow shifted off the greenhouse with franken-shifter

A frosty tree

Usually I don't mind the snow, but this year I just feel caught out by it. I guess it is partly because we have the animals now and we know that if the snow stays then this will be it until at least March and Ian has been having to spend all day out on the land, without electric, so that he can keep an eye on the animals. The chickens seem happy enough fortunately but due to our shivering alpaca, Ian has upped their feed of concentrate by feeding them midday and making sure that Turbjörn gets his full share. At least it means that Turbjörn, the most reluctant of the alpacas will eat out of a bowl Ian holds, not out of his hand but close. Looking out over the scene from our apartment window though I noticed once again how it hides so much, covering the footprints and on our land I knew it would be covering the hideous mess from the pigs in a white fluffy blanket, that was falling ever so gently from the sky. It made me think that sometimes we need our past covered over like that, hiding the marks we made, rather like grace really.

A golden sunrise

Crystal fairy lights, or ice lit by the sun!

Chilly

A bit of a contrast to last week's picture,
the sun has been beaming but oh so cold

Last week I was kind of looking forward to those wintry days when the sun glistens on the snow and it is a delight to go skiing. This week has been really cold. Cold we can do but cold and wind is not nice and we have had more than a few ice blocks for toes this past week, fortunately though the sun has since come out from behind the clouds and we have had some beautiful glittery days with gorgeous rosy sunsets. It has also got a lot colder and we are seeing temperatures of below -20C in the mornings and it only warmed up to around -14C today. Sunny days are a joy to work in, so I'm told. I was stuck inside transcribing an interview again.

It is like a fluffy white blanket draped over everything

The interviews for my project for my course have been going well at national level and it is nice to know people are interested in my research to-date as well. It does make me feel that this is a piece of research worth doing. I just need more local interviews, but they have been a struggle since I need translations for them. Hopefully this week it is sorted, as a friend knows a young graduate who is currently unemployed who is free for at least part of February. We go to pick him up tomorrow and bring him back to our village so that he can arrange interviews for me and translate during the interview itself. I have one lined up on Friday for us already, but that is with someone who does speak some English and just needs a bit of help as there are times she struggles. Sad to say there are some local folks who won't speak to me, and say they are too busy. It could be that they are actually shy, who knows! I do hope that isn't the case for everyone else otherwise there won't be much for this young chap to do.

.. and you can see the snow is deep. The dark
centre is a land drain that takes water
from the road. This year it should get a cover

The cold days did not come with any improvement in the heating situation until today that is. We have had to light our wood stove most nights or endure apartment temperatures around 13C. It makes the thought of going out to ski very unappealing as I don't want to go out and come back to a cold home. I half wonder if the improved temperature of the heating today is due to being near the end of the month and bills due out soon. In the warmth people might forget the cold days we have had to put up with. We will have to look at the data and see how much of this month has been below standard and pay our bill accordingly.

The snow has not been deep enough to stop
the wild boar though. They are still digging
as the ground is still soft under its powdery
blanket. Maybe the cold will put a stop to
that now

Little by little we are preparing for the year ahead. Ian surprised me the other day by telling me he had emailed to enquire how much it would cost to use the ferry to fetch the three alpacas we are planning on buying. He usually leaves that kind of thing to me, but I think he must be feeling sorry for me as I have been typing up interviews which can take agggggesssss and then reading books for reference material (journals are so much quicker). Don't get me wrong he isn't a layabout, it is just that usually anything that smacks of admin I usually do and he usually does the research on machinery and gadgets. I did manage to email a company about an egg incubator so we can raise chickens for eggs and meat next year, although they deliver the incubators they don't deliver eggs, as they make take too long to arrive and are sometimes x-rayed by customs which isn't good for them. As an aid to preparing for next year we also started using a new software programme to help us with managing our farming and gardening projects. but I think that is going to take a little time to input the relevant data. It isn't until I was typing in the crops we grow that I realised how varied are the crops. It came to 48 different types of crops and that is only if we lump all varieties of tomato plants and herbs etc together.

Serene

I wasn't sure what to think of an American site announcing the loss of development funds to Latvia due to poor control of funds. I haven't seen anything on European sites. It is obviously not good for those who genuinely need the funding for projects, but it is good that the EU is beginning to tighten up on scrutinising where project funds end up. I am not sure that people really understand that when they spend money elsewhere and not where it is intended it makes it difficult for those who follow, they just see their own needs. There is definitely a need for improvements to be done on many homes but that shouldn't be money earmarked for a business say. Better accountability and better surveillance is needed in the system, but how can that happen when funds are being cut back on those very institutions that do the monitoring? This is always the issue, how can communities build their own surveillance systems when they are also being squeezed of funds for infrastructure? You can see why there is a temptation to use money improperly.

Holding forth on some interesting discussions obviously.
Actually she was doing her usual trick of hiding in the
caravan (trailer) rather than spending too long in the
greenhouse, despite it warming up to above freezing in there.

Last week I mentioned the problem of micro-nutrient deficiencies in our diets and especially of developing nations. I said it is possible to feed populations without resorting to adding unnatural genetic material to things like rice, even in the most remotest and most difficult of circumstances and I was right. A new tree is being promoted in South Africa that can grow in arid conditions and yet provides more calcium than four glasses of milk, the vitamin C content of 8 oranges and the potassium equivalent of 3 bananas - pretty impressive stuff for a tree that can grow in tough areas. Seedlings and powder are being provided at a cheap price by one lady trying to promote the tree to help those who are at risk of malnutrition and I think she is setting such an inspiring example of what an alternative economy can look like if we put the needs of the poor first. We need to rediscover some of the local plants that can feed populations well in other areas, as I am sure there must be other examples out there. I know we have personally introduced a lot of foreign plants into our area to extend seasons and food availability but I also have a heart to see what is really available locally. Now that would make another interesting project, oh so many interesting things to research and only so much time to do it in.

Living the life of Reilly! Who was Reilly
anyway?

I'm not really sure what I thought Russians were like, but whatever I thought before I have to take my hat off them for some pretty creative forms of protest. A group from a Siberian city were unable to hold a protest as the authorities wouldn't let them, and so they created a miniature protest with plastic figures complete with placards, that now has the police confused. Brilliant! It did make me realise I still harbour some stereotypes in my mind and to some extent stereotypes are accurate but in other ways it just lumps people together. I love stories that bust the stereotypes and the story of a couple who are possibly the oldest married couple in the UK is another such story, it is a delightful story of how a Sikh couple have lived a long life, moved to the UK brought up a family and that family still love and honour them. The family seek to keep them healthy by making them happy to get up every morning. What an incredible testimony to a life well lived, and to how older folks can be cared for within the family when they all work together to make their life good. Okay I know there are some pretty cranky old folks out there, and I used to visit one old lady on a regular basis and she could be incredibly difficult, but get below the exterior bluff and she was a fascinating old woman. So what stereotypes do you hold? Who do you lump together as one unit instead of seeing the individuals in that group? I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Even the workshop has its blanket to keep it warm err cold

Finally for all those chocolate lovers out there, and you know who you are, here is the recipe for those wonderful chocolate desserts you always ask for at the local hotel. For those who don't know, the recipe is for a chocolate pudding that is cakey on the outside and oozing with chocolately goodness on the inside.

And finally! I know it's juvenile but I did snigger when
I saw this promotion on the slide doors of the
supermarket in the nearest big town. I wasn't sure
if I wanted to go through or not (by the way bums = boom)