fun weekend and back to work Monday

Saturday we drove into Dnepro early, Garry had a second dentist appointment for his root canal that began last Monday afternoon, it was at nine, the Summer Institute Picnic started at ten, so we had lots of time...not, it was 10:35 when the dentist finished with him, so it was eleven am by the time we drove the short distance there, walked a cross the bridge and over to the part of the park near the beach where the picnic is every year on the first Saturday of the Institute.

 I had made a quadruple batch of brownies the night before and cut them into many small pieces so I could offer them to everyone, and there was so much food that students and teachers had brought to share, no one wasn't stuffed! There were games and we had a good time talking to students, both current and former students who came to see which of the their teachers were back in the city this year.



We left the picnic with Daryl Porter shortly after noon time, right after I gave my last two brownies away just before one of my favorite students arrived and came up hoping to get to eat one! I have gotten the recipe printed so I can hand it out to the students who asked for it, after I converted it to metric terms, so they can make them.

We had decided to drive Daryl and Molly back to their apartment in Kiroy Rog that afternoon, they wanted to go home for church, they are helping plant a church there, which meets in their apartment.

we were admiring the sunflower fields along the highway

a happy little guy

 We had an ulterior motive, since I had a present to bring for the Nikkel's first baby, who is one month old already, even if it will be fall before he fits in the sock monkey hat I crocheted him. Adam and Luba are part of the mission team working with orphans in that city. We walked over to their apartment, it was good to see them.


After dinner with Daryl and Molly, we left for home. Garry was watching the clouds, as it appeared that there could be rain in the direction of home. Just as we got off the new highway, raindrops hit the windshield, and the rain started pouring down, big puddles on the highway.

a little rain hitting the windshield

Is the storm over?

Lots of water on the highway still....

Garry was sure the rain would not have hit our village, as these summer storms seem to get one village and miss the next.












 He was hoping though, since all of the cornfields and hayfields could really use some more moisture to keep growing- and to get up out of the ground in the case of that cornfield they seeded when we got home two weeks ago.

We got rain, even puddles too!

Of course, Garry was disappointed when we didn't get more rain on Sunday night, as there were storms around again....

Monday and we were off to teach again, Maxim and the guys were busy, they got another three and a half tons of barley ground at the village mill, bagged and stored away to feed the cows. They are anxious to get it all put away or sold in the case of most of the wheat, as Max and Andrei are taking turns sleeping on one of  our orange beach lounge chairs over at the barn, to prevent disappearing grain. I was wondering why one had disappeared from the yard last week...

This afternoon they finally baled up that sudangrass hay, every time they started to do it on Saturday it would rain and little and then we got the real rain! Garry helped unload it into the haymow, I assume the bales were heavy. There is still the wheat straw to bale this week.

one of six apricot trees in the yard

 He and the boys enjoyed the apple dessert I cooked after we got home this afternoon. The apples falling off the trees are getting big enough to bother peeling. Sunday afternoon Garry peeled some apricots and I made more jam.... it's a bumper crop for apricots this year in Ukraine.

For those who have been following our blog, you may remember the neighbor boy Andrei, who used to paint things and sell brewers grain, in the last year he has gotten much taller, now he does look like he is 17 like Jonah! I took this photo when he stopped in Saturday after the storm. 

Andrei is at center and is downhill in the photo, he is taller than Max.