On top of things

That's right Garry likes to be on top of things while the barn is going up and here he is on the top of the barn! The welding is still ongoing on the structure but the canvas cover should be on when the Steinbach team finally arrives next Wednesday morning (they will be tired- they leave Manitoba on the 3rd but land in Kiev at 1:30 am on the 5th for the drive here.)They should be here for teatime or brunch I guess.
Still waiting for rain here, and it's supposed to be 28 celcius next week. Garry has a couple new guys from the village helping with the cement work now, and he says that they are more experienced than the ones that quit. The boys helped out for a few hours today when the cement truck came.

It's crane time!

The crane came this afternoon (Tuesday)and it took less than 4 hours to put up the big arches for the roof. There are seven guys from the building company today but there will only be four overnight and to feed tommorrow (they will all fit in the summer kitchen) They got an American-style meal today- minestrone soup, hamburgers, macaroni and cheese and apple pie. Really dry here in the village- now that the crane it done its work, we'll have to pray for rain! The gardens (and crops)need it.

Photos and possible problems

We had a building inspector show up this week- our project was approved by the mayor but not the other levels of government- he told us that in Ukraine it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission, unless we wnated to wait until next year. So we continue to watch the guys weld the barn together- the crane may be here Monday but Victor has to deal with the officials. Pray that the work will get done soon, and the barn will be legalized.
Garry has been (sometimes with the boys help) pouring two pieces of outer wall a day since the BC team left, only two more to go! He has a couple guys from the village coming Monday to help with some concrete, and the good news is our Steinbach team will be arriving about 2 weeks after they were supposed to because of the volcano. Bring hammers and toolbelts Garry has decided to and storage over the heifer pens. The barn is going to be pretty tall, lots of room overhead.

On their way home (we hope)

Our visiting team got an incredible amount of work done in about a day and a half- they left to take the trian to Kiev on Tuesday afternoon, to arrive there around 11pm spend the night at the airport for their scheduled 5:30 am departure for Germany to get their flight to Canada. The last news we had today was that their flight did not leave Kiev in the morning but they got out at 2 this afternoon, so we hope that they are not spending another night at an airport!
We had a wonderful time visiting with the team and thank them for all they did while they were here. They made forms, poured concrete, build trusses, mixed more concrete and even brought their own tools (I think everything made it back in their suitcases) Spring has really arrived- yesterday there was a wonderful warm breeze blowing as the team left here. Garry mixed and poured a little concrete with Seth's help today, and the guys from Kerzum are welding the arches (for the roof) together so they can put them up with a crane, maybe tommorrow. I'll upload more photos on Sunday, when we have free wi-fi, but here's a nice one of Garry with the team.

The team from BC

Yes- Sunday night we got a team- not the team we planned for- but a team that was unable to leave Ukraine after working on a project at an orphanage. They are from Salmon Arm and four men are busy helping Garry with cement, making forms for walls and even building trusses. I also had a nice surprize- they brought a cook with them Corrinne-(sorry about the wrong name before- I knew it was Corrine, but for some reason wrote Charlene) so I have a fellow kitchen worker to cook and clean up. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and brought us help even with the volcano. They hope to be able to fly home to Canada soon, but most European airports are still closed. They really work hard and are getting many things done even if they are only here for a day or two.

Progress and disappointments

Well the crew from Kerzum is making great progress in putting up the metal structure for the barn. They work long days. Like 6:30am to 8 pm. unless it rains hard. There are three guys- they are staying in the summer kitchen and I am making dinner at noon for them. They keep complimenting the food- which makes me want to keep up to their expectations. I may have overdone it with soup, salads, meat, a couple other dishes and dessert everyday! By Tuesday they will be ready for the second truck of parts to come, and we will have 7 guys here to put up and weld the arches (and feed dinner) until Thursday. So that's all going great.
Garry did get some of the concrete floors poured this week in spite of a problem- his guys from the village walked off Thursday around noon, after about a quarter of the alley was done. They wanted more money than Garry planned to pay to unload the trucks. They took their money for that load and the prep work and went home. It was disappointing as Garry was trying to build relationships while working with them. So Garry, Victor, Mel Sayer (just off the plane to visit)and the boys ended up doing the rest. One cement truck broke down, and the other had a flat tire, so the last load came around 7 pm. Garry ended up floating that one at 10 pm while I held a flashlight for him to see. It looks pretty good anyway.
We planned to welcome the work team from Steinbach here in the village on Sunday night. Unfortunately, there is this volcano in Iceland- maybe you heard that it is erupting and causing havoc for air flights in Europe- well it has grounded our team at home. They are going to try to reorganize but cannot book new tickets for at least two weeks. Needless to say everyone is disappointed! We hoped they would be here to see the "tent" go up as well as help finish the inside and build the milkhouse. Hopefully they will still be able to come, the beds will be ready for them.

The barn is here!

The truck arrived today with the metal frame parts around 3 pm along with a car full of guys who unloaded it and started assembling already (its 6 pm) That's the reason I was cleaning the summer kitchen- they will be staying there for the next ten days. That's right- our team of Ukrainain builders will overlap our team from Steinbach for about a week. There will be a lot of people around here!
Garry is at the bank as he was taking Josh home (he was a our sub translator for the last two days) Victor had to head to Dnepro to meet Garry because he was having problems getting the money he transfered out of the bank. They are concerned about his registration for his visa not being done yet (it has a couple weeks yet before it legally needs to be done) So hopefully they get it straightened out. Victor has been working with a team doing a project a couple hours from Dnepro so we had Josh (who we know from Summer English Institute here.
Anyway Josh was a great help while Garry was working with his guys from the village on leveling for the cement pour tommorrow, and with the gas line guys who came around lunch on Tuesday to raise the gas pipe over the driveway so that trucks will be able to drive in. I have photos- they cut the line with a grinder and welded the new pieces in- all without turning off the gas in the line. They did have a fire estinquisher handy, one guy would stand at the ready while the other guy worked. There were some flames too. I have photos, I'll try to add them later in the week.
Update: Garry arrived home after dark, and all is well. At 6:30 Thursday morning the barn assembly guys were up and at work.

One more week

Things are really greening up- some of the trees are even starting to turn green too. Many farmers were spreading fertilizer on winter wheat still this week. Garry hired some guys to plant alfalfa, you get see them with Victor getting ready to plant the one acre- it's already up. They also bought 15 acres of land, but can't use it until the winter wheat is off.
We are ready for the team- that's the pile of lumber for the milkhouse. The beds will be made and the tea ready when they arrive late next Sunday evening after a long drive from Kiev (and all that flying)

More photos

Here are a few more photos from the barn building. Everyday we had tea at 10 am for the guys. You can also see the Ukrainian pickup modified motorcycle that they used to move sand and gravel around for the concrete.

Photos building and Easter

Here are the photos of the guys working on the cement in the garden for the barn, and the morning service by the river. The service lasted about an hour, very nice but the fog made us cold. We saw many people carrying baskets of food- mainly Easter bread and eggs and drink to the Orthodox church to be blessed.
After we warmed up with breakfast at Mc Donalds, we went to Victor's church for an Easter service with readings and special music. His daugher Dasha did one of the recitations, many other children an adults did also. Some sang, including a man who is 80 years old. He played accordian. Victor told us that n Soviet times he worked in mining and when it was found out he was a believer, he lost his position and had to work as a common miner.
After church we went Victor's home for tea, but it was really lunch. We had some very nice salads and fish before the tea and cake.

Today we attended a sunrise service at the river- there were about thirty people there in the fog to celebrate Easter.
On Thursday they started making cement to build those pilings so that next week the guys from Kerzum can come weld the sections they have built in the factory together on site. That way when the team arrives on the 18th we hope to be ready to do the finishing work inside.
The guys are making great progress on the project. The cement has been made for the bases of the pillars of the foundation, and the pillars were finished yesterday in spite of the rain that fell off and on. The weather has been warm, on Tuesday it was 19 degrees C, warm enough for Manitobans to wear t-shirts but the locals are still in sweatshirts and ear warming hats.