Catching up

 While I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep (my head is still a bit in Manitoba time) Garry has been catching up on some of the work he wants to get done before the snow flies.

This week they have moved heifers around- the small ones going off drinking milk come over here to the tent barn, while the biggest ones here go over to the heifer barn that was built last year. The guys have been working on the cisterns, the one for the cheese room is ready to get its final cement coating, and on Thursday afternoon the guys poured the concrete lid to seal up the one at Kolya's house.

Friday most of the guys were working on putting the roof over the new part of the hay/straw shed at the new barn, because the steel came on Thursday afternoon, and Garry wanted to get it up before it rained again. He told me he picked up 62 screws off the ground around it when they were done yesterday. We've had a couple of wet days, and several foggy mornings since we returned. Dima with his ever present helper Leila were working on wiring a light and plug in our garage (and cleaning, of course, if you know Leila) at the same time.

The forecast for next week is for cooler, wetter weather, and right now (Saturday evening) there's light rain showers with flashes lightning occasionally lighting up the sky (I know because we just returned from Zaporosia with a student grocery run- every week or two we take them to a big store for cheaper staples and disposable diapers than you can get in the village.) 

It's Leila's birthday today, and she loves a television show with a German shepherd star, so I tried to make her a cake, t shirt and hat with a dog on for her celebration. We sang happy birthday and had cake with the students who were early for our shopping trip. 

Actually, I think it's raining for real now, I can hear it on the roof. Garry is off with Max to breed a cow somewhere. This afternoon he bred seven of our own, a new record for cows in heat in one day in the herd. He hopes to buy more semen on Monday because he's down to a couple doses of the more expensive Jersey semen he bought for people wanting small calves. Usually he uses Canadian Holstein bulls.

In the two weeks we've been back he's driven to the dentist in Dnepro six or seven times, mostly for three students who needed teeth pulled.  One guy needed five pulled, he's got four done and one more to do on Monday. He's smiling, though. A lot of students think a toothache is normal until it's unbearable. Hopefully we'll get everything fixed up.

This past week I started English classes for anyone who wants to come, Tuesday I had six students and Friday only two (but the rest were working). Two year old Daniel comes with his mom and is a bit of a distraction. Wednesday was a full house for the ever popular cooking with Teresa class, we made quick pizza with baking powder. A couple students wanted to try making it this week, and I sent home baking powder and Italian seasoning with Sasha, who said he can't get those in the village. Baking powder comes in  tiny 18 mg packages here (about 4 teaspoonfuls). 

This morning Garry was teaching an English class downtown and I went along to go to my favorite yarn store and shop. We went out for a late breakfast at a bakery/cafe, and when the breakfast sandwich we'd picked wasn't available, Garry picked the most expensive omelet on the menu. We were very disappointed to discover fish inside our rolls of egg! As you can see, I didn't eat all my fish. Garry bought chocolate croissants to get a better taste in our mouth after, but I think we were both tasting that fish all day- it even had bones!

After his class we picked a prospective new student at the bus station, we'll see how his first milking shift goes tomorrow morning when he subs for Oksana, who hurt her foot today.