Wednesday

 Garry had a good workday and everything went well. The nails are the right ones- the compressor worked great. He said it's been sitting around for years unused, and it works so much better than the new ones they buy that it's going to become a permanent part of the shop.  They finished eleven trusses today, he had lots of help for building and turning them over to finish the other side.

Only problem is they might have finished the rest tomorrow but they only have enough nails to do one or two more trusses, so they will have to order more and hope they are in for the weekend. He thinks there's enough lumber cut and he needs more glue for when the nails come, but he can pick that up at Nova Lena. He was enjoying these cookies and some other things Alona baked today when he called me.  I know where my cow cookie cutter is- still in Ukraine!

On Monday Garry said they were having the usual post-Easter slump in milk sales, so the ladies are making hard cheese to age as fast as they can.

When they put in the new milk cooler at the barn, the old one was moved into an addition built on the cheese room, and both tanks were pretty full on Monday. that's 6000 litres.

We always had people buying milk like crazy the week before Easter for making paska bread, and then no one has money to buy milk after the holiday.

If you are wondering, by this time next week Garry will be flying out of Moldova (Thursday morning). 

Monday\Tuesday musings (moo-oosings)

 In case you've never noticed, yes, I made a cute title for this blog all those years ago. Garry had a good day to take photos, because he sent me more than any day since his first whole day in the village. His new nails won't arrive until Tuesday, so he cut the rest of the boards he didn't finish on Friday. 

Daryl and Adam ended up driving Garry's van back to Kirvoy because Adam's van needed more work done after the first repair was finished on Monday. Or almost back to Kirvoy because they broke down just before getting to the city. They thought it might be the alternator, but I haven't heard how it's going, other than they are repairing each other's van.

Garry got the flat tire on the brown (old mission car) repaired on Monday at the Shinomontage - one the first places we learned the name of when we moved to Ukraine. He said there was a hole in the sidewall and in Canada we'd buy a new tire, but they patched it in 15 minutes. Cost -about 20 dollars.

On Monday they were making sure the planter was ready to start planting corn on Tuesday, but they didn't plant Tuesday and won't on Wednesday because they got an inch of rain! Rain is always good in Ukraine and this is the first "real rain" like Garry's been hoping for. He said all the drizzle rain days you could kick the dirt and there was dust underneath but now there's mud. 

So Tuesday they got the new nails and they are the right ones this time, but they were trying to get a better (higher) amount of air pressure to run the nailer so that the nails go all the way into the wood. Here's some photos of the three phase compressor they are working on to get the job done. With the wet weather, Garry's hoping to have lots of help building trusses tomorrow. 

Week two stories

 I've collected a few more stories from Garry in the last week.

He talked to our friend Sveta in Dnepro, whose son Alex (he's maybe 40) has been working from home, staying in the apartment to avoid the draft. He is married with two young children and went outside one night to throw the garbage in the dumpster and got picked up and is in the military. Since he has a university degree, he will be an officer. Alex just finished basic training and fell and broke his arm badly so he has a three month recuperation before he goes now. 

A few video links where you can see Garry from the Facebook for Farmer Garry cheese and milk product sales page  /Ferma Garry video- on farm and Birthday party You'll notice that Garry is wearing his PJ pants in that one, one of those days his jeans wear getting washed and the party is at our house!

Garry sent me this dog photo and said that when he was there in the fall this dog was very sick and they thought would die, and so he was surprised to see him looking so good.

I was talking with him the other evening (his time) when a group of the girls ran into his room, little Sofia was crying apparently they had heard a loud explosion outside (probably something hitting the city). Sofia was born after the war started, she will be four this summer. 

To calm her down they went outside to look at some new kittens in the shed with Garry. I saw a very pixelated baby striped kitten on the videochat. Garry's phone doesn't work so well outside so when I talk to him he's getting wifi in the house or barn.

Mc Donalds in Ukraine always has specials and it looks like a taste of Canada now with a Maple BBQ Royal cheeseburger (you know it as a quarter pounder) and the Mc Crispy Hot Honey. I don't know if he's tried them. Apparently not, because Garry said he's only been there for breakfast, he had a Mc Muffin special with two sausage patties, BBQ sauce and grape jelly.

Looks like the winter canola fields are blooming, as there's a yellow field in the distance behind that horse and wagon. Garry is still wishing for a really good rain, only drizzle since he arrived. 

Max with a new piece of equipment in the garage (or shop). I'm trying to remember what it is, I know it's something we don't have here in the shop in Manitoba. The brothers there would like some things Roman is using here, like a fancy grease gun. 

Garry got some honey for his toast because he tells me that this time there is no more of the jam I canned left at the house. It has been more than four years since I was there.

Garry did preg check eight more cows this week, ones 35-45 days pregnant and he was able to confirm five as pregnant, so a pretty good ratio. He's pretty happy with how it's going. He also checked some fat cows in the dry cow lot that they'd put out with the bull because they were favorites they didn't want to sell. They were pregnant now but cows dry for nine months or more aren't very profitable. Garry's putting in some new procedures to make sure cows are going to be bred artificially a couple months after calving.

They are now delivering milk to the city five days a week, Monday through Friday. There's delivery for people who order more than 1000 grivna of milk and cheese products and new service where they sell twenty litre jugs to people who resell milk to their neighbors in Zaporosia. They pick up the empty jugs when they bring new ones. As far as I know, Garry has not been on any milk delivery runs this trip.

Weekend update

 Garry had a disappointing Saturday. He said it was another drizzling wet day. He'd like real rain for the crops. In the morning, they tried to build the trusses but the new nails were defective and would not work in the nailer. They are returning them and have once again, ordered new ones that will hopefully work, on Monday when they try building trusses again. 

Garry wasn't feeling well, so he went back to the house to lay down. He was telling me maybe it was his stomach and maybe he's getting a cold because his head is stuffy. Leila was telling the little girls not to disturb him when I was talking with him. She has also put herself in charge of washing his dishes and clothes. 

He was going to go to Dnepro to Morningstar church with Margo again this Sunday if he was feeling better in the morning. Garry laughed when I said I'd go to church in Steinbach if I felt better. I was a little dizzy yesterday for the first time in weeks. Maybe I'm overdoing my new diet and exercise regimen to get back into shape now that my heart is hopefully fixed. So far it goes back to normal after I exercise and get my heart rate up. 

As you can see, it's definitely warmer over there. He took that picture today, so maybe they did go to the city. For sure, he's walking around somewhere. 

He did go to church. Margo drove because his backup car,Victor's old brown mission van had a flat tire this morning. Daryl was preaching at Morningstar. Adam's van will be fixed sometime Monday, so they will come out to the village after breakfast tomorrow. They are staying at Victor's house in Dnepro, Dasha, his grownup daughter is still living in Ukraine. Victor, his wife and mother in-law are living in BC near his sons and their families.

I found photos

 I found some photos from the Reimer Center, where Garry spoke to a group of young people on Tuesday evening. He had a translator because their English level was varied. Garry said most of the people working there at the Mennonite Center speak English.

 I see they called him an interesting speaker, a businessman from Canada who talked about how success in life is not just how much money you make but responsibility and impacting others. A life is a terrible thing to waste- the original slogan of the trade school. 

You can even see the haircut Garry got the first Saturday in the village. Garry insists he can only get a haircut in Ukraine now. Here's the before, with the big bass he caught last month at the lake. 

He says there have been no power outages the last couple days, and has gotten so warm out that he is wearing shorts. 

Today (Friday) Garry got some of his boards cut, he found a helper to measure the long pieces but had to stop because Daryl and Adam arrived for a visit. Unfortunately, Adam's vehicle broke down just by the village on the highway. Max ended up towing it to Zaporosia so the mechanic could take a look at it and Garry lent them our van (he tells me it hasn't done the not started thing since they changed the fuel filter) because they have a number of meetings in Dnepro over the weekend. Hopefully their ride will be fixed by Sunday. 

Building trusses

 

I did hear from Garry before I slept Tuesday night as he was getting up, having toast and coffee and then walking to the barn... the call dropped right after he showed me a yard full of spring flowers as he walked up the street. He said he had a great time at the English class at the Mennonite Center. 

Every morning he walks over to the barn to see what's going on. 

Wednesday he worked on making trusses, with the boards he'd already cut, because his wood he ordered wasn't delivered until the end of the day. He also made a trip to Dnepro to Nova Lenya for the glue for the gussets before starting. You can get there in half an hour from the village. Or I could, Garry may be faster. 

He said they got five trusses done, they ordered new (hopefully better- slightly bigger) nails for the nailer- the ones they bought online were too thin and kept getting jammed in the device. At least they didn't get too many of the bad ones, because he was complaining in the morning that there weren't as many in the roll as what they bought last year. It only takes a day for them to come. He also stepped on a headless nail while putting the fifth truss together, when Max went to pay the lumber delivery guy. Hopefully it's not too sore today, he said he soaked his foot in salt water before I talked to him around 11 am in Manitoba- eight hours later there. 

Thursday Garry was cutting up boards, there's 21 more trusses to build before he leaves Ukraine. He thought he'd finish cutting boards today. He was hoping to have some help again today. Evening update- he got all the angled board cuts done, he still has some straight cuts to do Friday.

They were spraying fungicide on the winter wheat fields today.

Hopefully it will be a good crop this year and they will be filling that empty Quonset barn Garry's building trusses in.  Garry's still hoping for a really good rain, instead of the drizzle they have been getting since he arrived. However the ponds are full again in the village, so it's not as dry as last year. Garry tells me that people there think the war caused last year's drought. 

Sashas

 Garry sent photos he called one Sasha, two Sasha -we have as many Sashas as Yulias in our group. 

Here's one Sasha cutting plywood for the gussets for the trusses. The table saw is one of the things that came in the famous container with the mixer wagon and skid steer, I believe. 

And the Sasha who's been with us the longest, Sasha Borchuk, grinding grain, which is his normal job. This Sasha has been picked up for the army more than once and returned to our program. 

Garry messaged he was in Nova Lena to buy more plywood and there was an air raid siren, but they kept working, but KFC would be closed so he wouldn't be able to get lunch. That means he was in Dnepro for the wood, because there's a KFC near that Nova Lena on the outskirts of the city. 

At 5 o'clock today he is guest teaching a teenager English class at the Reimer Center (Mennonite Center) in Zaporosia. He was recruited for it when he stopped in there last week Wednesday. Everyone loves getting a native speaker for their class. 

Here's that skid steer, like the mixer wagon it's been used almost everyday since it arrived, maybe eight or nine years ago, I would have to look back on the blog. Max was doing regular maintenance last week at the farm shop.