Weekend

 The guys did come tour the farm Friday around 10:30 when Garry was helping with trusses and had a nice dinner at Max's mother's house in the village. Garry said they talked until 3 o'clock and afterward he drove Alona and little Sofia to pick up Danil at the hospital in Zaporosia. They did not take any photos of dinner, although there were a few at the farm. 

So the house is even fuller, Garry has been going through stuff in our room to prepare for Alona and kids moving in there, he's bringing a suitcase back with some of our stuff, he had the girls go through my clothes for things they could use. Garry said he found my SEI shirt I was thinking was there to bring home. I haven't seen those clothes in three years. 

Saturday they did more truss fixing, Garry says there are only five more to fix. However, still lots of welding to do onsite before they can go up for the roof. They hope to get them done and craned on before Garry leaves next Sunday. 

Garry also got interviewed for a vlog, he said they were there about 3 hours, and took some footage at the farm, too. Oleg sent them away with some cheese samples.

Sunday he was at the church in the village, he said more of the students are attending now. You can see Butterfly Yulia wearing my red Canada cowboy hat in the photos. Garry says she has it on almost all the time. 

Oleg leading the children singing

Monday he plans to be back at work on the building project. It's a lot more spring looking in Ukraine.

Last night and this morning, we had snow in Manitoba. Two or three inches. Some of the grandkids were out for the weekend and enjoyed watching the birds at the feeders.

Cheese and construction

 Thursday Garry was out with Oleg delivering cheese and kefir to another group of stores, I think it translates to Cossack Farm (that chain has their own milk) and a delivery to one small Bridge store that's on the other side of Zaporosia, that they don't do on the other days. He tells me the Salami chain want to do an interview with him, the face of Fermer Garry. 

Since it's the shortest delivery day, Oleg picks up groceries for the week for the daily student noon meals that are at the "new house" (remodeled about 10 years ago) on the corner on the way to the barn. Garry says Oleg also buys 2 liter bottles of soda (cheaper in the city than the village) that he sells to the students for less than the village store, in hopes of keeping them from running up unpaid tabs at the store.

They stopped at the hospital and visited Daniel, who's been in the hospital a week- I said hello via messenger chat- he's looking great and getting out of the hospital today (Friday). Garry says from what he heard adults are not staying in hospital as long as in the past because they need beds for injured soldiers, but kids still stay in for a long time with things that probably wouldn't put them in hospital in Canada. 

This morning while Garry was eating toast and making coffee at seven am his time (midnight here in Manitoba) we video chatted for an hour. The little girls woke up, Leila started making breakfast for Butterfly Yulia (there are a lot of Yulia/Julias in our lives). 

He said he didn't have to go anywhere today, so he hoped to get lots of work done on the building project. Max told him that someone in the village asked why we were rebuilding the wood trusses instead of using metal ones, and he said that would take three months, and they want to be done in three weeks. Anyway, he sent me lots of photos while I was sleeping. 

Looks like they were taking the repaired ones back to the site from the shed. Garry was hoping to free Max up to help Andrey with the welding. Today Adam, Daryl and Ken were coming for lunch, Max's mother was going to make it. I'll look for some photos to share.

I also found a photo of the cheese house addition that they have been working on recently. About ten people work on the cheesemaking. 

Keeping busy

 Garry did go to church in Dnipro on Sunday morning, and spoke at Lena's English class in the afternoon. He said that afterward he went to coffee with some people at a cafe for about three hours. He said he drove home in the dark. He forgot to take any photos on Sunday.

On Monday they got the big shed ready to fix trusses inside, because the weather has turned wet and it's around freezing (Garry had been running around in a t shirt since he arrived). Garry says they have a hundred tons of wheat and sunflowers still to sell. They try to sell crops when they need to buy seed and fertilizer to balance income and expenses. They are spreading liquid fertilizer on the wheat, it's in the big black tanks.

Since it was rainy he and Max drove to Kremachuk to visit a Ukrainian seminary. It's with Kontakt, the mission organization we have applied to join. They did take a photo there, he said the young guy here spoke pretty good English.

Tuesday he delivered cheese again with Oleg and Margo. They take bottles of milk and kefir that are bottled that morning, and different fresh cheeses.  They took 1200 liters of milk and 700 liters of cheese. He's the face on the van delivering Fermer (farmer) Garry milk and cheese, so the people at the store are excited to meet the Canadian. Friday and Tuesday they go to Bridge and Salami stores. 

The biggest order goes to one of the bridge stores, the smaller stores take 50 bottles of milk and 18 bottles of kefir, and some cheese to sell. Thursday they will go to another group of stores they stock once a week. They picked up more new plastic bottles to fill at a warehouse before heading back to the village.

Oleg sent me this photo from Friday, before Garry got a haircut, Tuesday he was wearing sweater under the overalls he was wearing in the photo on the van decal. 

He missed going to Julia's birthday party because he'd made plans to meet our friend Jessica for dinner in Zaporosia. He did give her the present. Hopefully the right one, because today he was asking me where one of the other Yulia's in our house present was, he can't find it.  

Garry says they have fixed about half the trusses already and have about a third of the welding done on the framework. 

Hopefully it warms up soon, I just sent him in a sweatshirt instead of a coat. He's been going through a lot of our stuff in our bedroom, and found some Hope for Each t shirts and gave them away to students. 

Saturday

 

As you can see the crocus I planted 15 years ago are blooming at the end of the driveway in Ukraine.

Today Garry got a haircut- no photo, but I saw it on the video chat- and was helping with the hayshed rebuild. I now have a photo of the cement posts (new ones for 80 dollars each) that went in on Friday, there was a post hole digger and a crane that put them up. 

He bought some plywood, today they were taking apart broken trusses that they will repair on Monday, because they are reusing the roof of the old hay shed. The cement posts will have a metal framework to attach the roof to. The new hayshed will be stronger and posts should stay straighter than the wood ones the original was built with, for about the same cost per post. 

One of the guys said that it was too bad that Phil was not there to bring out refreshments like they had when Jack's team was there in October.

The tractor driver Vlad found something in the field they were harrowing today to get ready for planting. A drone had crashed  in it since it was plowed in the fall. They think it was a surveillance or maybe practice drone, it doesn't look like it had a bomb on it. Garry says they were cautious, some bits had broken off it. Someone carried it to the edge of the field so they could finish prepping the field.

The wheat fields are turning green, and the fruit trees will be blooming soon, it was 23 C today, but the forecast for Sunday is rain. Garry will be going to Morningstar church in Dnipro and visiting with our friend Lena's English students. 

First days

 Garry made it to the village on Thursday, handed out the gifts I sent, and after sleeping well for the first couple days, was awake at 4 am Saturday morning. He is stuck in the bedroom, because he can't get up since the living room is full of sleeping people. Nikolai Michto was drafted into the army a couple weeks ago and Alona and her two children are living in our house now with the other girls (including a new girl Suisha) and Valentina's two kids. So it's very full of people. 

Unfortunately some of the kids have been sick and the doctor paid a house call Thursday evening and our little buddy Danil is in hospital now. His sister was in for two weeks recently. Hopefully Garry doesn't get sick. 

There's two new guys at the house down the street, and a young couple in Victor's little house (former summer kitchen) so five new people added since Garry was there in the fall. 

Friday he went out on the milk and cheese run- they deliver three times a week, and he said it took most of the day.  They deliver bottled milk and kefir, plus the cheeses, to about 35 stores in Zaporosia. One takes 500 litres of milk and 50 kilos of cheese every week. Some are smaller stores that sell less. Leila puts the Ferma Garry stickers on the top of the bottles. 

He also sent lots of photos. Here's one of the guys at their house. Some familiar Sasha and Andrey faces, and some new ones.

He also sent a video of them putting the cement posts up for the new hay shed- to replace the one lost in the tornado last spring. However, my internet is very slow tonight, so I'm sure there will be more photos to show you of the progress to come. 

Almost there

 Garry flew out of Winnipeg Tuesday at noon. He met up with Daryl and Marina in Toronto, and after a stop in Germany, Adam picked them up in Moldova. They got to Kirvoy Rog before midnight their time, apparently the border crossing took several hours this time. Max will pick Garry and Marina up in the morning to go to the farm and Zaporosia. More photos and details to come, after I talk to him. 

Getting ready

 One week from today, Garry flies out to go to Ukraine again. We have been getting stuff ready to send in his suitcase, presents and things Max has asked for that the farm needs. 

Garry has been enjoying lots of ice fishing and I have been feeding and watching birds. He will be waiting for the lake to melt when he gets back on April 2nd.  We have applied to join a new mission organization, and are going thorough the process.