a different view

Yesterday I wrote about how excited I am to be heading home to Manitoba Thursday morning. So today I wll mention that Garry, while excited to see the kids and grandkid, is a little reluctant to leave his little farm here in Ukraine. Two cows are looking like they will calve soon, more are due this month (two on his birthday, the 22nd)--- and so much could go wrong while he is not here to keep a watchful eye on those calving and recently fresh cows! The 17 cows milking had 276 liters in the last 24 hours- almost a 16 liter per cow average-they keep giving more(we are making about as much milk as in September when They first came, and there were 30 cows milking- amazing what good feed will do.)

That is why we are sending off our visa applications as soon as possible after landing- Garry wants to come back on the 27th of December if possible. The plan is that the boys and I will follow mid- January.

Anyway the grain finally arrived this morning- of course the ground was not frozen as Garry had hoped- remember I said it was warm at 2 am? - it's plus 9 C today, and the yard in front of the barn is a muddy mess. The driver could not back up the way Garry had hoped so they had to cut a "grain spout" door in the front of the barn so the compicorn could get blown into the bin- Maxim welded together a framework for a door to close the opening which they are putting up this afternoon before we leave. That's Maxim in the orange coveralls in the haymow door in the photo- the trucker is on top of the truck (Garry took that photo) Garry is happy the four ton of grain fit in the bin with room to spare (and the ceiling stayed up- I was teasing him it would collapse under all that weight.)

Garry was busy stapling plastic over the straw bales that are stacked against the wall in front of the cows and the end wall that faces north- except where the barnyard door is. Think of it as another layer of insulation- they are using the plastic that has been cut off the silage pile- white side to the inside of the barn. It should help keep the barn warmer when the cold air and snow comes back to Ukraine!

Hopefully Garry can enjoy his time at home while Maxim and the milker ladies and Victor take care of things for a few weeks. He has finished everything he wanted to.