Ukrainian holiday

It's true we took a holiday tour with a Ukrainian company on a Ukrainian airline to Egypt to a resort that had both Russian speaking and British people there in Sharm El Shiekh (Sinai pennisula) We had a grat time snorkling, the boys enjoyed the pool and the all you can eat buffets and we took a bus trip to see the pryamids- it left at 1 am and returned 23 hours later at midnight!
We arrived back in the village to a garden and dog that had grown twice as big in a week- it has been rainy here. Next week back to work!

Winding down

We assume that the team is safely home in Steinbach trying to adjust to the time change (we are 7 hours ahead of Manitoba here) The sheets are washed and ready for Victor's tour group that he was picking up when he dropped the team in Kiev. They did not drive here yesterday as planned as one of the suitcases had not arrived on the plane and it was supposed to be there by 5 pm. So I had longer to get ready for them.
We were glad to have Maxime show up today, and he is settling into the summer kitchen- he can feed the pets as we are off to Egypt for a rest (and snorkling) with the boys before we have cows to milk everyday in the fall.
After the soccer game against the team we have had about a dozen boys and girls each afternoon to play in the the haymow, you can hear the loud cheering as the goals are scored all the way in the house. I have given out three band-aids yestrday and many glasses of water to the players. They played from 5 pm til dark yesterday.

Last day with the EEFC team

It's Tuesday morning and the team left for Kiev in Victor's van by 4 am this morning-they should be well on their way to the airport. Hopefully they get onto the plane with all of their goodies they are bringing home (some suitcases may be too full of cheese and presents for their granddaughters) and make it home without any volcano ash delays.
Yesterday was the last day and it was a busy one, with some concrete form construction, cleanup (they did buy that push broom on Sunday at the market) and even Mike trying out the Ukrainian lawnmower in the morning. After a lunch featuring the lazyman's pierogie dinner that the team made for their fundraising lunch (some of the team did not get to taste it then), the guys made concrete with the mixer to fill the form near the end of the barn. Around 5 pm some of the local boys (around 8ten year olds) came over to play futball (soccer) upstairs in the haymow against the guys. With the addition of a few boards to keep the ball from falling over the edges the haymow floor made a good field (the kids normally play in the street) The final score was 8-8, with only a few injuries on both sides. Then Seth took a final team photo in front of the milkhouse (one on everyone's camera) After supper, packing suitcases and a final campfire in the yard, everyone went to bed. Shortly after midnight a chorus of barking village dogs woke up some of the team (and me)- just saying farewell!

Sunday showers and shopping

This morning it started to rain before breakfast and kept raining as Victor drove us to the left bank of Dnepropetroesk to attend church at Word of Life. The rain stopped just as we arrived there. Bruce, Ed and Garry G were here in 2006 to work on a project at this church and were very excited to see to see Paster Vova and both the changes that have been made there and the things that looked familiar.
The message was about the poor, prayer and fasting. We had tea and cake and talked with a number of people there before heading out to Puzata Hata for lunch, with Trish and Heather Bellamy joining us as we used public transport to head across the river. After lunch I left the group to help with testing for English Institute, Trish helped me find my way by marshuka, then met up with the group at the central market, after they had visited an orthodox church.
Later in the afternoon the team, Verhoogs and Victor's family met up at the mall where we did a little shopping. We headed home after a quick stop at Metro for some cheese for Russ and Karen to take home. Then everyone enjoyed ice cream before bed, along with a news report that looks good for a lack of ash cloud in Germany on Tuesday. Tomorrow will be a day of finishing up in the barn and goodbyes as the team will be leaving here Tuesday morning at 4 am for the drive to the airport in Kiev.

Saturday boards and brides

The team worked so hard this week that we had a half day of work followed by an excursion to Zaporosia after lunch. The guys did some more work on the milkhouse (mostly strapping the roof)and more cleanup, although they say that they are buying a push broom at the market so they can get it looking really good in the barn. The ladies did their normal cooking, washing dishes and clothes (I am so glad that Cathy and Karen came along - and they have also helped outside as needed)
Garry drove the four guys to the island and dropped them off to check out the fort reconstruction and museum, and returned for the two couples. There was an added bonus- there seemed to be a large bridal photo shoot going on there. They stayed in Zaporosia for dinner and checked out the old central department store. Then Garry brought the guys back in the Lada and returned to pick up the second "load" returning with Bruce, Cathy, Karen and Russ about 10 pm. They were all ready for showers and bed.

Back to work

Friday was another work day for the team, and they worked hard. By lunch they (with the assistance of three guys from the village) had finished nailing down the floor of the haymow. There was enough lumber but Garry had to go buy more nails at one of the stores in the village around 9:30.
At lunch we enjoyed new potatoes and cukes, squash, and other veggies with dip. Cathy and Karen made two different apple desserts today. It was a hot day so this afternoon the guys were glad to work on putting up the milkhouse walls that Mike has been constructing this week while everyone is hammering away over his head. Cathy and Karen when outside to help with site cleanup. The work day was finished before five o’clock, with the framework of the milkhouse finished. The team is ahead of schedule on working on the barn (they fly out of Kiev on Tuesday afternoon). The guys started showering before dinner while we waited for Garry and the boys to return from Dnepro . Jonah had a little trouble eating dinner- now he has braces on the bottom too.
It cooled off nicely this evening; Jake and Garry G watched the cows hurry home past the gate. The team went for a walk to the store for ice cream, and to check out the house for sale down the street.

Thursday in Dnepropetroesk

This morning everyone was up bright and early for our "day off" in Dnepro. I picked some spinach and lettuce from our garden to make a salad to take along to the Bellamy's for team meeting at noon time. Victor dropped us off at the Central market and after a walk through the meat market, we headed off in groups to hunt for treasures. We successfully regrouped by the entrance at 11 am to meet the van for the drive to the left bank. Some of us were even successful shoppers, finding exactly what we wanted to buy. See what Ed(hat) and Jake(vest) found in the photo.
At Orban and Trish Bellamy's the team got to meet the other missionary family nearby and some of the team reconnected with Marina, that they knew from previous mission trips. We enjoyed praise singing (in English), sharing and a time of lunch and fellowship, before heading off to the art market, where the vendors were very glad we came.
Then we rode the tram down to the central market (again) where the team picked up a few things before walking to Globa Park at 5:30, where we had a wonderful meal with shishleek (think shish-kebob) and checked out the fair-like setting. Jake even rode in a "hamster ball" I will have to get a photo to upload from someone (forgot to take my camera- these photos are thanks to Karen) it's a big inflated ball that you can pay to run around in on top of the water, normally there are kids in them. The team also rode the ferris wheel while I met up with the boys and Trish and Eric Bellamy who had come by marshuka since Seth and Jonah had stayed to hang out and play badminiton with the Bellamy teens. Then we piled into Victor's van for the drive home to the village.

Wednesday- work, work, work

Today the guys were busy nailing down the boards on the hayloft floor in the morning- Jake was up there before breakfast even. Garry had to drive Zaporosia to drop Maxime at the train station and pick up a drainpipe for the milkhouse floor.
The three village guys came and finished digging the foundation and spread around a load of hot slag. Garry and Seth hosed it down with water to cool it since the concrete was coming in two hours. It showed up just after noon, so dinner was delayed until it was poured. There was enough "ready-mix" to fill everything that was formed up.
After lunch most of the guys were busy nailing down boards. We have bought out every lumberyard in Dnepro of board lumber and all the nails that are of a size that will work in the village and the city. Luckily the village store had gotten in a big box because they needed more nails by three o'clock this afternoon. It is starting to look like a big dance floor.
This afternoon the guys sore muscles had a treat. Victor's wife's cousin is a massage therapist and came out with him after work, and everyone should sleep well before our day off in Dnepropetroesk Thursday.

Lumber up!

Today was another big work day- the last beam went up with only a small hitch- the support posts that were supposed to get it to the brackets Maxime made on the barn structure were too tall-it had to be lowered more than a foot down to them. With a little engineering they got it there.
A load of lumber came and the truck had a time backing up on the wet yard (the black dirt turns into really sticky, gooey mud when it rains)the guys had to throw a lot of slag (the stuff that leftover from making steel) around to get him close to the barn. I think all the guys were convinced that they could do a better job of driving. Then half the lumber had to be unloaded to get him inside the barn as planned. You can see even the ladies pitched in. Then the boards had to be pulled up to the second story. A lot of boards have been nailed down there- with many more to go.
A little more of the milkhouse foundation was dug later in the afternoon when the ground dried - well somewhat drier - since they hope to pour cement tommorow. There was a little excitment when a couple big guys showed up to "convince" Maxime to go back to his former employer (we had hired him to weld things) after he finished the barn. Victor says that two other guys quit when they finished our job- it seems I cooked too much good food and they wanted better food to stay for the next job. Garry is going to drive him to the train in the morning, everyone is disappointed, but do not know what else to do. We had such a good time with Maxime on Sunday when he came along to church and the circus with the gang. He was going to make the stall dividers and gates for the barn.
Seth and Jonah started a bonfire so we are heading out to sit around it before bed tonight.

Working Monday

Today the guys were hard at work putting up the boards to beam height and nailing down the floor joists and digging the milkhouse foundation. They got a little wet when it rained this afternoon. Victor's daughter Dasha came out to the village with him (school holiday for victory day) to check out how the baby kittens and hamsters are doing (the boys had their 3rd batch of hamsters born on Friday morning) and play with the puppy. Cathy and Karen have the kitchen running like a top, and we enjoyed a breakfast casserole, chicken parm and taco salad for meals today. They got lots done today and plan to nail the floor boards down Tuesday. The "tent guys" are supposed to finish then- they are finishing the doors all the little pieces take longer than the big ones.

More photos of week one

All of our problems have been small ones that were fixed quickly. On Wednsday when the team arrived, we had no water, the pressure switch had gone bad, but God had sent us Russ (an electrican) and we had water running out of the tap by noon. Here are a few more photos- the guys having a water break on day one when they were hard at work building beams. Bruce, Cathy, Russ and Karen sitting on the Mennonite couch at the end of day two, Garry G in Cossack garb on Saturday at the oak tree, everyone else has left the boat-----------turns out we didn't get a round trip with our tickets- two starting point, but only one end (not where the van was parked) It only took a few minutes for Victor to get it by taxi and we were on our way again. There is one of Victor's van too.