Manic Monday and then more snow

 

So Monday morning Garry had an appointment in Dnepro to buy more semen to breed cows, luckily not many of our cows had been in heat, and he only had one cow to breed for someone else since Thursday as he was out of Holstein and had to breed them with the Jersey semen.

 He said that lady sold him her big red heifer calf, she couldn't understand why her black cows would have a red calf. We've had some red calves lately, he must have been using a red carrier bull nine months or so ago. Red is a recessive trait in Holsteins. Garry has been buying a lot of calves lately, because the price of milk is high so people would rather sell the calf instead of feeding it milk they could sell. He has always told people he will buy heifer (female) calves from the cows he breeds with that good Canadian bull genetics. 

So I decided to go with him because I knew we'd get Mc Donalds for breakfast since we had to meet Victor across the river in Dnepro (Left bank) before eight am. In spite of the fact that Garry had taken a phone call the night before and a lady from the Morningstar church in Dnepro was coming out with one ro more of her kids and would spend the night and the spare room with the bunk beds was piled in stuff that needed to be moved elsewhere. Anyway some photos from Dnepro, we got the semen first after meeting Victor. Then we bought more liquid nitrogen, not from the usual place, they were out, but from around the corner. Garry and Victor also ordered a load of plywood for building trusses (and the palace chicken coops that they are building for two of the student couples- there are photos later in this post.) They had seen a place selling it near where we get the liquid nitrogen.

We did get back to Mc Donalds around the circle on the right side of the river around 9:30 and they were still serving breakfast. Garry had forgotten to stop on the way in and I had assumed he was running late so I didn't ask. But I got a Fresh McMuffin, the one made for Ukraine, a sausage Mc Muffin (no egg) with cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo.

So we got home and I got busy. We actually have room for the twin bed we took to the other house, but I put my clothes drying rack back up in that spot after the visitors left. It was a bit of chaos when they arrived as Garry was gone. She had a little trouble finding the village- the road sign on this side of the road has disappeared this winter. He was driving back to Dnepro to pick up a new student, Losha, that Karina (former student now in Kyiv, having finished rehab for alcohol, she's doing really well now). Vika had come in with her on the phone to talk to Garry. 

Anyway, Olya arrived with her three youngest kids, and a pile of food, eager to talk with Garry, who got back home much later. I went out to feed Bear and found her and the kids with Victor. She decided to go back for the kids bikes, leaving me with the kids, two adventurous boys and a quiet little girl, whom Bear really loved. Maybe remembering good times with his former family. When Garry did get back I told him the two boys were eager to see the big cows at the barn and I'd keep the little girl, who'd decided to stay in the house. I'd been running in and out to check what they were doing.

Anyway it was crazy busy day, and Garry was up late (for him) talking with Olya. In the morning, there was snow on the ground, which melted away by noon, but it kept the kids in the house. We had our staff meeting in the office room at ten, since it's Victor's last week out before he and Lena are going to Canada next week for six weeks with the new grandbaby- and the rest of the family there.

Around eleven the family went with Garry for a barn tour, hooftrimming session (apparently the older boy climbed the water tower, which worried Garry, and it takes a lot to worry Garry; while I made stir fry and rice for lunch and continued working on Alona's final curtain for the house. They even got a picture of the students working on the chicken coops.

They went home later in the afternoon, and I was a little surprised by reading in her facebook post that I was a quiet, humble obedient wife, I am not sure Garry would agree with that!

Wednesday morning we had another white world that melted by noon. It makes a mess of the porch with all the muddy boots coming in.  I finished my curtain project and around noon we took a trip to Dnepro to buy some building supplies and a curtain rod before the city lockdown started. We followed this car through the KFC drivethru. Seems like he's a long way from Chicago. You sometimes see wrecked American cars on carriers on the highway, I think they fix them and sometimes they keep the plates. 

Thursday morning the ground had even more snow on, and even though it was melting and sliding off the roof it stayed white until about noon Friday, because it snowed off and on all day Thursday. Garry went to do his youth classes and picked up the glue to make trusses since Dnepro didn't go into lockdown until midnight. He also brought Misha and Sasha back with him that night, after class he had to head to the center where they were since they had gotten back to Dnepro after being in Kiroy Rog since Sunday doing their documents. 

Garry wore a mask to teach this week since he was starting to feel sick. He acually cancelled his classes for Saturday, he was supposed to go into the school to try doing them on zoom, since our internet cuts out. Hopefully its not Covid, because I am sure to get whatever he has. He's watching movies and went to the barn to check for cows in heat and which one to sell today, so he's not too bad, but has a deep cough when he gets started coughing. 

Here's a photo of the chicken coops Friday, they have nesting boxes and feed and water access flaps. There's a photo of Andrei Rudei welding on the wagon they are rebuilding in the shop this winter. It should be strong enough to haul grain. 

Spring is coming, next week's forecast has temperatures in the teens, 16 celsius, that's about 60 for you American readers.