Back!

Presents! A bunch of flowers from one of my neighbours
from her garden, with the promise to give me some bulbs
for next year. A box of chocolate from one of our visitors

Sorry once again the blog is late, but visitors come first, especially visitors who will be away for a long time and who we may not get to see again until next year. Our friends Steve and Natalija, who organise Camp in a box, came with their two boys. The boys were super excited as they got to ride in our big red truck and got to see our tractor. In fact they got to ride in the tractor too and their little faces were an absolute picture, one of them beaming away, and the other so serious and taking everything in, but both thrilled to bits. It was good to show our friends around to see what we are doing on the land, as they know it well and they loved the changes we have made along the way.

The stockade built by Ian to hold our wood chippings,
compost, manure and straw into neat and tidy piles

It has been a bit of a people week this week. Some weeks we don't get to see many people, apart from in passing, as we get on with the things we need to do and so it has been good to spend time with folks just chatting. Our friends who own a farm needed to get out for a couple of hours and so they visited one evening and I have to confess to frantically rushing around tidying up before they arrived. In summer our stuff tends to get dumped at the door and so not much putting away gets done at all, as we slump in the evenings. How many other folks need the incentive of guests coming to get going on putting things away that maybe should have been put away earlier? Hope it's not just us. It was great to relax though and pass time laughing at the stories of the antics of their goats and their evil ways with the flower garden. It is a fact that goats and flowers do not mix well and goats being intelligent animals can run rings around owners, or even rings around the house to avoid the owners so they can eat some more flowers.

I think these are damselflies, rather than dragonflies. They
make me laugh though how one of them seems to be
standing on the head of the other.

On Friday I needed to see the district architect to sort out some plans and one of my neighbours came with me with her two children. Unfortunately there was someone already in and so we had to sit down for a lengthy wait, which the oldest, who is only around three years old, found rather tiresome and wanted to run around. To help I decided to introduce him to some English nursery rhymes and songs which he thought were highly amusing, especially "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream" complete with actions. I think he enjoyed the songs rather than just finding my singing highly amusing. I spent quite a few years as a childminder, playgroup organiser and freelance children's worker specialising in younger children and craft and so those years were obviously well spent learning how to entertain a bored, fidgety, little one. I still find it amazing to think it was only just over a month ago when this particular youngster wouldn't even talk to me because I couldn't speak Latvian, but now he is quite happy to tell me what something is called in Latvian - might have myself a little teacher there!

Okay you have to look hard at this one but in the middle
is a baby newt. There are lots of them in our top pond

Our other people day was in response to an impromptu invitation whilst on the way to the bakery, when our friend stopped her car and invited us to visit her property in the countryside. We din't actually make it to the bakery (which reminds me we really need to pay a visit soon as it has been so long since we last went, I mean all of a perhaps a week ago) instead we went back home to change into clothing appropriate for visiting a property in the middle of a forest - i.e. insect proof! The road to her property was lined with hunting towers and you could almost imagine that they were sentry posts guarding the entrance to some grand house. Well at the end of the road was not a grand house, but a rather nice summer house, just right for a growing family to have the freedom to run around and the parents to grow lots of veg. It might seem that we move in exalted circles, when I say we went to visit someone at their summer house, but here in Latvia it is quite normal. When communism fell many people inherited homes in the countryside that belonged to them or their ancestors as property was returned to previous owners. Some were sold at cheap prices to those who hadn't got an ancestral home and some were kept for summer holidays. Often they have no electric and they can be rather run down affairs but many of our neighbours have some kind of property somewhere further out in the countryside. I love meeting folks though and hearing their dreams and plans, as they show us around, it is wonderful to hear hope living in people's hearts.

Reality check! This is damage done by pigs rooting. To
give you an idea of perspective the grass here is around
my head height of 5ft (1.52m)

We have to dream some dreams soon, as we think about where we go on our land, but sometimes those dreams take a bit of a reality check when we see the damage done by the wild boar. They are back, and boy are they back, with a vengeance in some areas. There are areas that have been recently turned over that measure around 3m2 (32sqft) and not just one area, several areas. This wasn't the gentle rooting for dandelion roots like we sometimes get which leaves small holes about 10x10cm (4x4in) , these are humungous holes that mean we have land that is uneven and difficult to cut or work with once damaged. Wouldn't be so bad if they would stick to the same areas, but they don't and we have no idea what damage they may have done in the forests yet. I really hope they haven't damaged the chanterelle mushroom area again, as that only just recovered enough for us to pick some last year. We are also battling other pests this month, as the wild parsnip puts up their rather pretty heads again, in fact one grew to well over head height. Wild parsnip is not nice though, despite its pretty looks, as it is similar to giant hogweed in the fact it can cause burns when skin, which has been in contact with the juice, is exposed to the sun. I think I have seen a possible source of where the plants are blowing in from but not sure if the owner will deal with it or not, hopefully we can persuade them it isn't good. At least this week I did get to see the evidence myself that corncrakes do exist, not on our land though, but on the road and the stupid thing nearly committed suicide under the wheels of our car - maybe that is why they are rare!

More damage, and these are just a couple of examples
there were many more of similar sizes. 

I mentioned last week that we had been to a meeting to pray for the outgoing President of Latvia, President Zatlers. This week was the final week of his term and the new President was sworn in. Zatlers announced this week that he is seeking to set up a new party with new faces, not tainted with the alleged corruption of the oligarchs. One party led by one of the oligarchs has actually disbanded because its reputation has become so tainted. It will be interesting to see what happens to the politicians from that party, will they leave politics entirely? Will they seek to join another and will they be accepted? First we have to see what Latvians say about the current Saeima or Parliament and whether it should be dissolved after the Saeima voted to protect one of their members from investigations by the corruption bureau. Do the Latvians think that politicians should be protected from anti-corruption investigations? I would sincerely hope there is a very decisive vote in the referendum on July 23rd. Just in case you missed it, the referendum was called by President Zatlers the week after the vote by the Saeima and it cost him a chance of re-election for a second term.

This little chap, a chaffinch, and his mates have been
frequenting the greenhouse. Not sure if this is a blessing
in getting rid of the numerous insects that we have in
there of the biting kind, or whether it will actually be a
problem in the case of the grapes when they ripen! Might
have to get some nets for over windows and doors

One issue that was raised this week, that I found particularly interesting on the internet, was the issue of fair pay, "Should employers pay enough for their workers to live off?" Employers often say that if they paid higher wages they would be uncompetitive, but I don't see many of them trying to live off what they pay their workers. I have thought for a long time that it is not fair for the state to end up subsidising employers so they can pay abysmal wages. How long are we prepared to put up with employers saying that they can't afford to pay more and then leaving it to tax payers to fund the difference? Mind you it doesn't help when people keep looking for a "bargain", is it really a bargain if people are not paid enough?

Cold

Hopefully this blog makes sense but if it doesn't then please excuse me, as I have a cold. This is not something I have very often and so the fuzzy head is a bit of a strange phenomenon to me, in fact I think the last cold I had was in 2006 when I first went to America and the one before that that lasted anything longer than a day was errrrr maybe when my youngest was born in 1989. I might get sore throats or even lose my voice, last year I had trouble shaking off a cold sores, and in the past I  have had gall stones, ovarian cysts and a hernia but colds I don't normally get. Anyway this one got me and so with a fuzzy head I shall plough on.

For those of you who have known us for a long time you may remember that Ian used to work on flow cytometers in leukaemia diagnosis and that sort of thing in a hospital before moving onto research and development on flow cytometers themselves. Ian has been looking for an opportunity to find out what the field is like here in Latvia but until now nothing opened up. Before Christmas I spotted an item on one of my newsfeeds about an EU initiative to improve leukaemia diagnosis and Ian followed it up and found out that a Latvian professor was involved and sent an email to her. She was rather dubious of a "cold call" from a strange guy she had never heard of but eventually Ian was able to convince her he was kosher and not after anything in particular except to see where things are at in the field and offer his experience if it was helpful.  Finally emails were passed on to the relevant people and we both went into Riga this week (well someone has to navigate)  to see the haematology unit of a hospital. It was interesting for Ian to see where they are at with leukaemia diagnosis and what they are doing. We had a lovely time with the doctor in charge and it was fantastic to see a person committed to the patients and making them well again and not about her status as a doctor. We shall see what comes out of it and let things develop as we normally do but there certainly looks like there is scope to help out more.

Progress has been good on my course and I got back my final result for the other unit I completed just before Christmas in Policy Framework Analysis and thankfully got 75% for that one, so overall did well. I am really relieved as well as pleased to have got off to a good start as I do hope to use this knowledge to help in rural Latvia and I do hope the good marks means I have a good grasp of the problems and solutions and not I am just good at answering questions - always a danger in academic work. My new units starts February 1st so I was having a look through some of the work and realised that I have a steep learning curve with regards to some of the terms in Biodiversity which was a bit of a shock, I maybe a scientist by training but botany and zoology were not on the agenda for me and so I am not familiar with many of the terms used, oo errr! Hopefully all will become clearer as I progress through the unit.

The start of the week was still very cold and made quite miserable with the wind; cold temperatures are one thing but wind chill is bitter. It did warm up though as it snowed which means the snow is actually beginning to get quite deep in places, with no sign of melting and possibly more snow on the way. Still not as much as last year yet. As you can see though that despite the double glazing there is still an ice build up on the inside of the window, and I can now see why in Scandinavian countries triple glazing is standard.

Christmas gets earlier and earlier, or is it later and later? Well that is what it seemed like as Mark our son and his fiancée Kerry have come to visit and they brought their Christmas presents for us with them. Would you believe it I got some more pampering products - now either my kids don't think I wash enough or could it be that my son read a previous blog about how thoughtful I thought my daughters gift of pampering stuff was and thought it was a good idea? Hmmm! Maybe just maybe. I did appreciate it, really! along with the gift of a mug with "Make Tea Not War!" on it, definitely my philosophy in life.  Ian got some socks, maybe not a big deal for most, I mean it is the typical "I don't know what else to get you type present" but actually these particular socks are very dry and very warm which is very helpful in cold weather whilst wearing wellies (rubber boots). If there is one thing Ian hates it is cold feet and the SealSkinz pair he got for his birthday have been worn rather a lot, I think they could walk themselves to the washing machine sometimes but he had dry warm feet so didn't care.  It hasn't been all just opening present we also took Mark and Kerry out to see what we had been doing on the land and Mark had a great time clearing snow with the tractor, a budding farmer perhaps? Doubt it actually, more like a chance to play with a tractor, now did he come out to see us or to see the tractor? Love him really! For Kerry it was a chance to see some real snow, having lived on the South Coast of England she has rarely seen more than a few centimetres of snow.

A big step forward happened today in our settling in in Latvia as our friends who own the piece of land we are working on gave us power of attorney for the land. Okay we are working back to front as usual but heh life would be far too boring if everything went the way it should and in the correct order all the time. It does mean that now we can take over the signing of any permissions for building structures and infrastructure and we don't have to worry if they are away at all.

Came across a new search engine this week which looks interesting called Ecosia. They claim that by using their search engine the money doesn't go into the pockets of the company or shareholders their profits go to the WWF to fund projects to save the Amazon rainforests. Having done the courses I have done I am well aware that there is a danger in outside organisations coming in and telling the locals how to manage their own resources, in essence being no better sometimes than the colonial powers of previous centuries taking away land from local people and robbing them of the power to make their own decisions, so that is a worry but managed well projects can be a positive influence. One aspect I do like is that they use renewable energy to power their computers in order to do the searches. We tend to think of searches as saving paper and therefore is good for the environment but searches still consume power, not just our own electric but also the power used at the organisations own facilities. Now I have some questions as regards the way they search as they still use Yahoo and Bing so which computers are being powered by renewable energy but at the end of the day it is a start in the right direction and it means that people can make a choice. Well you can see what you think and make your own decisions and if you think it is a good idea, pass it on.

Photos 1 & 2 More gorgeous sunsets
Photo 3 & 5 Ice on the inside of the window
Photo 4 Mark in the tractor

Further quiet times and musings

This week continued to be a pretty quiet week without Ian, I only had the radio on once while he was away. Some people might find that scary, I have often heard people remark that they cannot live without the sound of voices somewhere. I personally don't have a problem with silence, it gives me space to think and ponder and I guess I have had time to do that this week. I would have had more time to ponder if I wasn't catching up with coursework though. Still I got a lot of studying done too. There were no startling revelations this week in my studies but I did find out the Common Fisheries Policy is a mess, which I guess we all knew anyway. Still I will leave others to delve more deeply into that as I concentrate on more land base issues. Nice to find one area that I didn't really want to pursue amongst all the others that have come up. I have found so many areas to explore within the course that it can be quite overwhelming at times.


I did get out onto the land a couple of times since Ian wasn't around to keep an eye on things and to carry on digging ditches (oh the fun you can have playing in mud). There was one scary moment as my welly (rubber boot) became stuck and I suddenly thought "What do I do? I am out in the middle of nowhere and my phone does not often get a signal in that spot" I remembered that if I got really stuck I would have to throw myself flat on the floor in the mud and crawl out, I would then have to get back to the apartment and walk up three flights of stairs caked in mud, not a happy prospect. Fortunately at that point of visualising myself skulking into the building trying not to be seen, there was a deep squelching noise as my boot came free and I scampered out of the muddy mire.

A visit to our joiner friend revealed that shortly after I had been out on the land we had had visitors, they were finally getting on with constructing the poly tunnel frame. Since Ian was not around I asked our Swedish builder/plumber come general handyman to come out with me and check it out. I was a little worried about how they were going to manage when the area was so muddy. I had no idea how they were going to erect the ribs of the tunnel, they couldn't use ladders that was for sure, would we get there and find some half buried young men? As we came over the brow of the hill we saw the half constructed tunnel, it was so peculiar to see this upturned ark like structure stuck in the middle of a field, somehow they had indeed managed to put up the ribs. An inspection of the site revealed how they had cobbled together a prop for the ribs from some of the branches that Ian has been cutting down, very ingenious. Good news is that my trenches had made a difference and the land was beginning to drain a little too so we didn't have to dig anyone out.

Paid a visit to Jekabpils this week, the nearest large town to us, to try and find some fabric to make a traditional Latvian costume as some presents for littlies. Now I have been to Jekabpils quite a few times, it is quite a pretty town with lots of little wooden buildings and a few modern ones. We have walked around it many a time but I had never seen any fabric shops but, as usual here in Latvia, you have to know where things are to find them. Some shops are obvious with little window displays but many are not and you have to go inside to find out what is there, for someone used to the UK or America with commercial areas, shop windows and distinct districts, it can be a bit frustrating at times but also a bit like a treasure hunt. It is amazing where the Latvians can tuck a little business, and even some bigger businesses and it is definitely a case of not what you know but who you know in order to find them.


Went to pick Ian up on Saturday from the airport and I saw the sun for the first time, all five minutes of it. Although Ian didn't really get much chance to get out and about he did at least see the sun but he was still glad to get home. We'll see what he thinks after a few days rain though, the weather forecast doesn't look good. The trip went well and he managed to sort out some technical issues while he was there, as well as support and encourage his work colleague. He also met up with our youngest son's girlfriend's parents who are Greek Cypriot and in Cyprus at the same time, even though they now live in London. Ian got to meet more of the family and see where the father was born and grew up; he also heard some of the stories and exploits arising out of the more recent Cypriot troubled history of the 1970's. We are not sure if he will get the chance to go out again as his work colleague retires next year but we will just have to wait and see if anything else develops or not.

A friend of ours suddenly had a free day and decided to visit us before the snow came and so we had the pleasure of showing him around. It is great to be able to show him all the places we know now, and to pass on all the snippets of information we have found out in the last year. We took him out to the Everglades and we tramped through the wet fields, painting a picture of what could be, let him have a drive in the tractor and talked about the history of the place with all the evidence of the battle that had been fought in the forested areas. So much we have found out, and yet there is so much more to discover about the complicated history of this land. So much more to learn about the culture of the people and so much more to learn about what will grow in this land and more importantly what should we grow in the land. Is there a difference you might ask, and there is. Too often we can plant something that will grow well in an area, in fact too well. We do not want to cause problems by planting what will be come invasive weeds, whether they be spiritual, cultural or physical.

I said I had been pondering a lot as well and one of my ponderings has been about climate change. Someone posted a video on the discussion board of my course labelled "The most terrifying video you will ever see"..... well actually it is not but I think it does ask some good questions. I am a little tired of people saying we can't be sure that climate change is happening etc etc which is true, but..... if it is then we ought to be doing something about it, even if it is only remotely true we still should be doing something. Whether climate change is true or not, we are polluting our world and ought to do something about it. In Victorian times the rich lived in the towns but upwind from the factories and away from the overcrowded, polluted, disease ridden houses of the poor, now we live in different countries entirely. Our factories are still producing goods for our consumption just like in Victorian times but instead of it being a few miles away they are thousands of miles away. There is never any need to go down and see what providing us with our comforts actually does to those who make them, or those displaced so we can have the raw materials to have them. We are as guilty as those indifferent mill owners and the upper classes of the Victorian era, if we do not care how the poor are living, or open our eyes to see the damage being done. How can we stand by and say "Well it will hurt the economy if we start making changes", the damage to the economy has already been done, now let's start making a difference to our environment instead of fouling up what God gave us to look after, whether that is in our own backyard or in far flung places. We can stop being greedy and wasteful for a start and that is something positive we can do, we will then not have to work just to provide us with new things and maybe we will actually enjoy life more.


Another biggie to think about "Democracy" is it good for us? This was a comment by one guy on the BBC site on the appointment of the new President of the EU.
"The best top level appointments are necessarily based on the proven, and potential, ability to make and maintain relationships that will serve the best interests of the organization and all of its members. What support the chosen individuals have, and the quality of their staff and advisors, is a factor in any such decision. It appears that the EU Council had those factors in mind when the selections were made. Certainly a better system than popular public election where charismatic dictators and demagogues, party platforms, and the inept and unproven can sell themselves to a naive public, gaining power that they should not ever have. The roles in question are not starter jobs, with long learning curves, as is the case in some similar situations in some countries, but instead senior leadership roles that require experience.
Bob, Hamilton, Canada


So is democracy good for us? If so was the election of the EU president democratic, after all the decision was made by elected heads of governments, or was it undemocratic because we personally didn't get to vote? Does it matter? Well I think it does, we have to think about what shape of society we want. I personally wouldn't want an elected president with all the razzmatazz that goes with it, I am quite happy for our elected representatives to do that but I do want to be able to influence decision making in one way or another. I think my take on it was put rather well by Monbiot


"Our power comes from acting as citizens - demanding political change - not acting as consumers."

When we purely think of ourselves as consumers we are still wedded to the idea that the market can solve everything, our money can change things. When we start thinking like activists, no matter how small then we can start to act independently of our money and the market and start demanding a change to the system as well. Sounds like something I need to mull over some more.


Photographs
Photo 1: Can you spot the blue bit in the sky?
Photo 2: The eerie structure in the distance
Photo 3: The poly tunnel ribs close up plus mud
Photo 4: Ian giving instructions on tractor driving
Photo 5: Our friend complete with the remains of an exploded bomb and Ian taking his picture.