Working hard

It's 3 pm and the guys have been busy with the crane since about 9 am. They are getting close to finishing putting trusses up on the big shed. Here's some photos:

9:20 am

12:30 pm

We knew he was climbing up there. Earlier he was hunting for hammers.

@:2:45- three more to go

 (and at least six on the smaller hay shed at the barn).

 They haven't even stopped to eat, they pay by the hour for the guy and his crane. I have packed the bags for our trip, I think I will be driving to Dnepro this time.

Busy day

Hey, I'm having trouble sleeping tonight, so I may as well write a post! I was sleeping when I woke up- or not- and saw a giant spider descending toward Garry's head. I jumped up, turned on the lights, and saw... nothing, so maybe it wasn't there, but I can't get back to sleep...

We really did have a busy day. Garry fed the cows this morning, they unloaded those five wagons of hay baled on Saturday, and then got to work finishing framing up the hay shed because they have ordered a crane for tomorrow to put those trusses up. They already finished getting the drive shed ready last week.

I was pretty busy, cooking, and prepping. First I made my second salad for tonight's student dinner (I made the other Sunday evening. Then I made lunch for the three of us. After lunch I fed Bear, ran the dishwasher, and started peeling apricots for jam. I finished off processing the last jars as the students were arriving at five pm. Nine jars of jam, and I was covered in apricot juice, as I finally got the hotdogs out of their individual plastic coats for the hotdog roast at the firepit. Less mess outside that way.

Garry was late getting back, they didn't finish by five, so I got the two Sashas to get the fire going in the firepit over at the Crawfords. The virgin (no alcohol) mojito drinks were a big hit (it was hot today). I had to refill the container, but I planned on that.  Everyone had fun playing games - cornhole and Ukrainian volleyball (stand in a circle and hit the ball around) while little Danil had fun with the less air-filled ball with dad. Baby Matthew got passed around, while baby Angelina was going to sleep in her carriage.

Garry prayed and then the hotdogs were roasted (most of them, Ukrainians will eat them cold). Cheese sauce was the most popular topping, relish was more popular than last time, and some tried mango ketchup (I didn't so I can't say if you should buy some!

Then I cleaned up, loaded the dishwasher again (we use plastic plates that need washing), fed Bear again (some plates needed scraping) and then we had a skype call with Daryl and Molly before falling into bed. .. actually Garry went outside for an hour to check the water he'd started on the gardens, the irrigation water had been turned off for repairs for the last five days. 

Tomorrow should be quite busy, the crane is coming to put up trusses, the new guys were supposed to arrive tonight (they were not here by suppertime). The two girls moved back here around two this afternoon. They are getting their own rooms this time, at least until the other two prospective students arrive for a week long tryout, because one is female. Garry and I have hotel reservations tomorrow to celbrate our anniversary for a couple nights away. I think we won't be checking in early.

Remember how they were moving nine calves here last week? First they moved eleven, then a couple more. We had a lot of heifer calves two months ago!

A typical day

Years ago, when we first moved to Ukraine with our two youngest, I wrote a post called a typical day at our house. Things really were more normal back then. Nowadays it seems everyday is busy, but never really the same.

Let me sum up the highlights of the last couple days...

Thursday morning, 5:55 am. It's been light out since about 4 am, often Garry is up already, listening to a sermon online and drinking coffee, but today we are sound asleep when someone knocks on the bedroom window. I once found this startling, irritating even, but after ten years less so, especially if there's a good reason, and there is. There's a problem at the barn, a cow is calving and having problems.

Garry dressed quickly and went to help out. I got up and went out to pick the peas. Every two days for the last couple weeks I am out in the garden before it gets hot to pick, first over at the Crawford's where they put up netting for them to grow on, then our garden, where I lean over and pick them off the ground. I freeze the extras, and make stir-fry for lunch every other day, I think Valentina may be getting tired of eating them. Then I watered some of the flowers in the Crawford front yard that Garry planted recently.

When I was done, Garry was home for breakfast, and reported that it was a set of twins, after pushing one calf leg leg back into the cow, he'd pulled out a red and white heifer calf, unfortunately followed by a black and white bull calf. Heifers twin to bull calves are very rarely fertile when they grow up. Yana said the cow is twelve years old and this is her fourth set of twins. We don't often have twins here in Ukraine for some reason, but apparently this cow does.

I seems like there were a few more things happening that day, but I don't remember them all. Oh, I started cleaning the spare room for the girls moving back in with the arrival of the new guys soon (they will live where the two girls moved to). I had to clean, but the more difficult task, find places to put everything stored under the bed, in the closet and the wardrobe. Just all spare towels, sheets, camping supplies, extra stuff, craft stuff, yarn, VBS supplies, SEI stuff - I brought back novels for youth English institute we won't be using this year.

The hay was not ready to bale as Garry had hoped, it was hot, but not windy and rather humid. They did some work on the shed they are building behind Kolya's new house. The guys did rake over (turn over to finish drying and get ready for baling) the headlands (first couple times they go all the way around before they start going up and down rows, so its easy to turn around. They did bale the headlands while we were on a run to Dnepro. Alona had come in, just after Garry had come in the house for the evening. Nikolai, her husband, had gone to the city to find a job two weeks ago. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of hiring right now with the virus, and he was still jobless and broke, he couldn't afford the bus back to the village. Off we went to find him, with Alona and little Danil buckled into the seat behind us (in the van, the car was in the shop).

Friday morning Garry was up early and went out to rake hay. He came back at noon for lunch and told me he had six guys (including Nikolai) in the field that could use lunch. After we ate, I thawed ground beef in the microwave, cooked some noodles, fried up the meat, adding tomato paste and spices while Valentina walked to the store to buy bread (baby was sleeping) while Garry had a twenty minute nap.

Angelina woke up while I was still cooking, so I put her into her bouncy chair while I finished and packed it into seven plastic boxes and sliced up the loaf of bread and added a couple bottles of homemade ice tea in the bag for the guys. Garry took it out to the field. He brought back the empty containers and went to check on wagon unloading.

I didn't see him until after six pm. I did see Victor, who had driven out from the city to check on the bees. We started the year with two hives, but now have five, Victor is worried about the queens in two. After Victor left, I looked for Garry, Valentina didn't have enough formula for the baby to last until we take the students shopping Saturday at five pm, and the second time Oksana had come in (apparently in the morning she'd borrowed diapers from Valentina), I got her to tell me what she needed (she's still shy, and just looks for Garry) so we needed to go buy diapers and formula. We missed the student shopping trip last weekend when the van was in the shop getting repaired.

I found Garry at home, after I drove to the farm and the field without finding him, with a couple visitors who are trying to buy milk for cheese making. One spoke English. Garry was exhausted, he'd thrown off three loads of hay to go in the shed so they could refill the wagons (they did seven loads, they're running two balers now) and asked me to drive to Zaporosia myself.

Right then, some of the students showed up with a baby owl a babushka had given them that fell out of the nest. She thought a cat would eat him. We found him a laundry basket in the house to stay in. Max came in to say the car was done, so now Garry was going with me, I drove there after the van was filled up with diesel by Garry while I cleaned the windshield at the gas station (traffic was crazy busy on the highway with people heading to the seaside). We noticed a house pulling a wagon heading in the other direction with a old couple in, moving slowly along the edge of the road as cars  whizzed past.

We found a bank machine so Garry could pay for the repairs, then found the right street and house. Garry drove the van home while I found a gas station (the low light was on for the car, of course) and a grocery store. It was nearly dark when I went by that horse and wagon, he really needed a reflector on the back, hopefully they were almost home and made it safely. I dropped off the pampers and came in the house with my stuff and the formula. Angelina had just had her bath, her father was out from the city for the second Friday night in a row, and he brought gifts: pampers, baby wipes, diaper cream and a jar of food she can eat in a few months.

I quickly took my melting ice cream, spread it in containers and sliced bananas and added toppings for a dessert for the student dinner Monday evening.

Today was like yesterday, Garry went and raked hay first thing, I picked peas. We tried to feed the baby owl. Then he went to unload the wagons and discovered the guys had started at 6:30 am and were done already.  I did some weeding, and made lunch with the peas. I made ice tea, Garry took lunch out. The guys really liked stir fry and rice. We ate lunch (Valentina had gotten the baby back to sleep, she woke up just as she finished eating). I cleaned up, fed Bear (the dog) and enjoyed a messenger call with Abby (she's almost four), who was excited about the owl, whom I tried to feed again. Just before five Garry was home to shower for the shopping trip to Zaporosia. Unfortunately our little owl (actual name of the type of owl I discovered on the internet) had passed away.

Then Garry drove to Zaporosia, with the usual carful of students, baby and I went this week. Last time I stayed home with her, I was shopping for the exciting student meal on Monday evening, I will be busy Monday making salads.

Catching up

Correction, they did not mow the hay last week as I thought, Vlad actually started mowing today. The amount of rain in the forecast and not as many blooms in the alfalfa was the deciding factor. We had several rainstorms- mostly quick thundershowers- dropping about a quarter inch of rain -each time- this week, so it's probably a good thing they waited. Hopefully tomorrow's chance of rain passes us by as they are making dry hay bales for second cut. Garry says he was worried that it was getting old  because near the road it was looking blue with flowers, but he was happy to report that in the majority of the field there are few flowers and the alfalfa is nearly to his shoulder.

Max spent a good deal of the day in Dnepro paying the taxes on 48 shares that aren't rented in the business name. These are the taxes paid to the village office, in Ukraine farmers pay most of the property tax, not homeowners. So Max had to go to the bank and pay and get receipts for 48 separate pieces of land we rent times three. That's the regular land tax, plus the army tax (since the war in the East started), and an additional one percent tax for something else.

The van is back and hopefully fixed, we drove into Dnepro with it this morning, to pick up the the hydraulic oil Garry forgot to stop for yesterday for the New Holland tractor, the part is finally in to fix it. The air conditioner works in the van now, but it still isn't running quite right up hill, Max thinks its the turbo maybe.

Monday Garry drove the two boys who came out on Thursday back to their orphanage/trade school. They came Thursday morning with three of the teachers from there. Many of our students came from the same place, Julia had them in for coffee at her and Dima's apartment, and on Monday she and Dima were excited to ride along in the little car with Garry.

Dima and Julia moved into the group home parent's part of the "new House" (reno-ed five years ago now) when Kolya and Oksana moved out. Or I should say a week later, because they painted rooms first. They also have fixed floor tiles, the bathroom shower drain, and have been cleaning up the yard and painting the fence. They even planted flowers, it looks great.

The two guys stayed with us during their trial period (they will live at Vova's since they have decided to return it sounds like, after graduation this week) and got to help milk the cows a lot. It was a little busy here with Valentina and the baby and the two guys. I learned to check the toilet seat before sitting down, but it mostly went well. They enjoyed pizza I made Friday night, along with a couple other students who had a slice when they dropped in.

I stayed home Monday, hoping to get a lot done, but was suddenly feeling sick and very dizzy after they left, so today I got some of the things I planned done. I did get the laundry I had started in the morning hung out before the second thunderstorm of the day hit Monday. Extra rainwater rinse for my clothes. Today I made cherry jam, and froze more peas,  I think we'll be eating stir fry a lot next winter.

The guys moved nine newly weaned calves over to this farm and took three big ones back to live in the heifer shed at the new farm today. That's two Sashas and Misha on the trailer with the heifers. Guess what the new guys are named? That's right, we really need another Sasha! and the other is Andrey, another popular guys name.

Garry hopes to get more done on his sheds so he can get the crane out to put up the trusses for the roof on them, two weeks ago they got the poles up  for the expansion of the hay/straw shed before they baled that wheat, and straightened the original part of the shed. 

Crop report

The wheat field on the way out of the village on Friday:

Same wheat field on Wednesday:

The one across the highway. Next to it someone is growing peas and Garry points out the poppies are growing in their field not his. They look pretty though. 

Garry took a photo of a wheat field in the village (not ours) with wild poppies and blue cornflowers blooming in it.

The little corn field. Max working on adding nitrogen fertilizer in the the irrigation water for it. 

Above the smaller field with somewhat shorter corn. The photo below shows the bigger corn field, taken last week when they were working on the irrigation lines.

Wednesday afternoon, same field, much taller. Heat and rain (and a little irrigation water) is amazing.

Sunflowers growing. In a couple weeks they will have cute yellow flowers, and look like sunflowers, following the sun. They are turning toward the sun already.

Alfalfa ready to cut. They started mowing yesterday afternoon. Newest weather forecast has a lot of rain  in, so we may be making haylage again, like first cut. They only watered it once, right after first cut, since we've had so much rain. 

The newly planted millet field.  They got a little water on after planting. It rained about a third of an inch on Tuesday late afternoon and after midnight. Basically. so far this is year you might get good crops without irrigation. At least so far. July can be very hot and dry!

Just for fun, the guy who comes to the village with horses pulling a wagon, followed by the newest colt. They live in a tiny village across the fields and there's a new baby running behind every year. 

Scott and Shannon planted gladioli bulbs before they left in April and this one is starting to bloom. You can see the little zinnia plants behind it.

The weekend plus

Thursday and Friday the guys were busy baling up the wheat Garry cut, it's piled under the hay/straw shed at the new farm, ready to feed to the dry cows. They worked the field up right away, hoping to plant the millet Friday evening, but it was Saturday before it was planted.

That's because we had a thunderstorm that fell just after the guys finished baling. Thursday night Garry said they thought there would be three more wagonfuls to bale, but it was six. They were happy to get between a quarter and a half inch of rain.

They were happy not to get as much rain as they did in Dnepro. Garry and I were in the city Friday afternoon helping an English teacher friend with her student testing for the end of the year. The storm hit while we were there and there was hail, wind and water flooding the streets. We even saw trees down and the (electric) tram lines were down on a major route- the 11- so traffic was being rerouted on the street as they were in the road as we left the city.

As we drove out a second thunderstorm hit and you could barely see the cars as it pounded down, with the road having flooding as traffic tried to go along the main highway out of town.

Saturday evening we missed the thunderstorm that hit Zaporosia while Garry took the students for the weekly trip the grocery store/mall. The van was pretty crowded so I stayed home with the baby. She slept long enough for me to phone my dad for twenty minutes- I hadn't talked to him in weeks.

Sunday we went to church in the village again. I picked another big bowlful of peas, as both our garden and the Crawfords are producing and we are picking both places every two days with them in Canada. Garry did some hoeing.

 Monday we missed the thunderstorms again, although it was still hot and humid. First thing in the morning we did herd check, half  (4 of 8) the cows were pregnant. We had a picnic with the students in the Crawford backyard. Garry got his feet muddy again fixing up the irrigation system, he walks through the cornfields finding and fixing leaks.

Its Tuesday night, we had a thunderstorm and a downpour for a few minutes around five today, and there's been some thunder in the distance tonight, but no more rain yet.  Strangely the electric went off around 4:30 and came back on in the middle of the storm. I had to change crochet projects as it was hard to see.