Fall is here

Today must be the official start of autumn in the village, as we now are using "salty" well water as the irrigation water was turned off for the year. I can never decide which is better/safer? the untreated water from the Dnieper River or the very hard ground water that ruins water heaters and things. That's why we buy drinking/cooking water. Garry and Max were busy this morning switching pumps and changing over the system here and next door. 

It has frosted a little but that killing frost is expected any day now. The students and villagers started wearing winter coats now, they were complaining about the cold weather before we went to Egypt. I keep getting asked about socks and most of them needed new boots purchased, since they were done wearing the plastic sandals most of them wear to work in the summer. 

Garry thought he'd mowed the grass for the last time before we left, but after we got back, he was mowing and raking on Friday while I was baking muffins with the students for cooking class. The grass had gotten quite tall while we were gone. The yard still looks good, and his new grass seeding behind the garage is turning greener.

The village cows are still going out to the field, usually they continue grazing until it snows, but the people chasing them don't look happy. There is some green stuff out there for them to eat, since we had a couple rainy days, although Garry tells me that well levels are low because there wasn't much rain this summer. The cows come back around three in the afternoon now, since time change came it's dark out by four thirty.  

The guys are out in the cornfield for hopefully the last day of pulling up dripline. They get paid bonuses, but no one is too excited to go out there, except maybe Vasa, who worked all day yesterday by himself. The corn sold for a better price than last year, since non irrigated corn mostly made about 20 bushel to the acre, ours did 220 or more. 

Garry is off taking a couple students to Zaporosia, so I'm cooking a pot of soup for lunch. A small pot as we gave away the soup pot to Julia (one of the students) last week when she said she needed a bigger one. I will turn it off and reheat it whenever he gets back, I'm still trying to figure out cooking on the gas stove, I've always had electric since we left New Jersey almost forty years ago.

 I did make some good pumpkin (butternut squash) pies for student dinner Monday night. They were a little leery about eating them, what is it? I was asked, but they finished their desserts. Garry and Victor were more enthusiastic. We had mac and cheese, cabbage salads, meatballs and duck- because Saturday afternoon, Max Rudei's mother came by with one all cleaned and ready to go in the oven.

Angelina is almost six month old, and keeps putting her toes in her mouth, and was grabbing food off my plate. Matthew still prefers his aunt and uncles (like Misha in the photo) to us! Garry tried out a new game after dinner with the students.