Women's Day and other days of March

Somehow this post didn't get published when we had internet problems!


Friday March 8th was International Womens Day and here in Ukraine it is a big holiday with people congratulating you and giving flowers, candy, cards. Garry had signed me up for a special event on Saturday organized by the men in the church for the women, so we drove to Dnepropetroesk late that afternoon (you may remember from the previous post we had ice that morning from the rain. As we got about halfway to the city, we realized that there was slush on the edge of the road. It was about 2 C and I felt sorry for the guy bicycling along the highway near Bratski as there was a lot of water on the road being sprayed up by the cars toward him.  As we got into the city the snow was about three inches high on the side of the streets!

We were supposed to meet at the Lenin statue on Karl Marx Boulevard at 4:15, it was getting a little cold when one of the men showed up with red long-stemmed roses for the women, and then we walked to a nearby concert - it was classical guitar by an Argentina gentlemen, very good. Afterwards Garry picked me up and took me out for dinner - a treat, the only other American restaurant besides Mc Donalds- TGIFridays , where I had a nice Southwest salad with shrimp. Then we had the fun of driving back home in the dark with the holes and slush, but Garry did just fine.

Sunday the snow was still there when we went to church, and it is too bad I did not bring the camera, because when we got to Victor's church with the milk, Garry thought he was in luck- there was no one parked by the gate, so he could swing wide as he backed up to get the milk out. There was a little noise, and I asked if he had hit something, he said "there's nothing to hit", and then whomp!, he got out to look and the cars tire was in a manhole, the tire had gone over the edge of it, and the cover flipped up and the tire was neatly in the hole. After getting the milk out of the back thus raising the back end of the car;  which made the cover fall down a little, it was neatly wedged in the wheel-well on the back drivers' side of the Lada. Then he used the jack to raise the car far enough to slide the manhole cover back on, and it was lowered back down on it, and he was able to drive it away, after putting one jug of milk back inside for Morningstar church. We were not as early as Garry had thought we would be for church, but we got there just as the praise songs were starting anyway.

Garry's hot peppers are getting bigger and the tomatoes are up now.

Gabriella has 2 striped kittens, she seems to have taken to motherhood

I am hoping it is nice enough to put the kittens and mother outside- well in the attic entryway in the shed- later this week, it is supposed to be 14 C (about 60 F) then. As I feared, when Andrei proudly showed me the box of kittens,  Gabriella is the one who takes after her grandmother Mooska- poor litter using skills. The little ones are doing well anyway.

Garry had a few problems today, he was feeding the cows this afternoon and while they were scraping the heifer pens to clean them, one of the heifer ate the cap off the tractor. He was rummaging in my cupboards for a replacement and tried to take the lid off one of my extract bottles, because it would fit and where could he get a lid (meanwhile I am protesting where will I get more extract as they are ones I brought from Canada) We somewhat compromised , he toll the lid off the almond extract as it was almost empty - half a teaspoon left- I'll have to remember to pack some when we are back in Canada next month for Garry's parent's 60th wedding celebration.

Just as he finished in the barn, they saw a cow in heat, so he went to breed her and when he pulled the canister of semen straws up to get one out and the handle broke off, dumping the little cup and all the straws of semen in it into the bottom of the tank of liquid nitrogen! It is still wet- drizzly- and muddy outside today.