straw and more straw

  

After the five inches of rain, the guys couldn't bale until Saturday. They did keep busy getting the hay mow ready to put the straw in. They cleaned up and Max and his brothers and Andre (the one who sold brewer's grain for us ten years ago) worked on fixing the tent where the canvas ripped in the wind during the first big storm.


They were able to start combining wheat again on Friday. The crop was huge, as was the amount of straw to bale. They grew a small field of better wheat to use as seed wheat for next year's crop. In order to fit in the rest of the wheat (waiting for the price to go up before selling more) the seed wheat was moved into the container on Thursday. They did sell some seed wheat to a small farmer in the village before moving it, so they could then fill both sides of the Quonset with the regular wheat crop. They have decided to build a second Quonset to store grain, after all it looks like we'll have a really good crop of sunflowers too.

I took the photo on Friday before they finished combining.

Sunday was declared a day of rest before going back to baling on Monday. Garry and I took a two hour drive to church in Kirvoy Rog, I had brought a couple things back from Canada for the Nikkels and had crocheted a little blanket for the new baby due soon. We had a surprise, an English sermon because Daryl was video preaching from Canada.

Monday they had a few problems and quit early at 5:30 because it was student dinner night. I was cooking most of the day, we had watermelon for dessert.

However on Tuesday they got eleven loads baled anf today they had one baled doing straw and the other the second cut of alfalfa on the new seeding (it was where the oats they baled earlier this summer). 

Bear and I walked out to see the alfalfa this morning as we decided not to go on our usual walk. We were following the village herd down the street when a large black dog broke it's chain and came out in the place where there's already another dog as big as Bear running free (normally you only see small dogs out). We backed up a good long ways before turning to go back past the house and up past the church to the field! 

Ome more photo of the garden produce one day this week. 

Crop report and it happened again

 What happened again? Ten days after we had a thunderstorm drop six inches of rain on the village, we had morning thundershowers dump five inches of rain! This time the power was only out about eight hours. 

Luckily Garry and the guys had gotten the heifer barn trusses all firmly anchored in place over the last two days. The steel for the roof is ordered but it will be vulnerable to high winds until it's on. When they started working on it Monday morning they discovered that the whole thing had shifted a foot due to the storm that we'd caught the edge of over the weekend. A few drops of rain and the wind blew hard for a couple minutes.

So they reinforced it and tied a rope on one side to the first heifer barn and the other side to a parked tractor, with the forecast calling for possible severe thunderstorms. The first couple storms came through after 12:30 am, more wind than rain. However, around six am it started to pour and at one point even hail, as the front moved through.


Unfortunately, the wheat harvest is only about two thirds finished. Yesterday there were two combines going but some days only one, and not all day. It's slow going as they try to pick up all the grain that has gone down and is almost flat on the ground. However, the good news is they're nearly finished with the fields that had a lot of wheat go down, although after today's rain the last thirty five hectares may not be standing as well as before. The really good news is there's lots of it, they think it's hundred bushel an acre for the best wheat crop we've grown. Max is really excited about it, even though he's had to work on fixing both combines to keep them running. 


They're really going on baling straw, although it will be a few days before it dries out enough to bale more. The wet ground should work up easily when they're done baling, some years it's been so dry they can't plow it.


The sunflowers were starting to bloom when we got the last rain and after today's the heads are starting to hang down, they're getting heavy, especially on the fields that were planted first. Even the five hectare field that was planted after they baled some wheat is looking good and about to bloom. The bees are keeping busy in the sunflower fields. If you look closely you can see one on the sunflower below.

The corn ground was still wet on top before this rain, we really might not need to buy any more irrigation water this year. The alfalfa fields were already  looking green before the rain. Third cut was big, as much as first cut, they filled ten wagons. 

The corn is growing well, I took these photos over the weekend, the big field with silage corn is so tall! Although it wasn't in tassel then, it is now. 

I walk past the smaller corn field on my morning walks with Bear, it's been  in tassel for more than a week. It's been planted with shorter season corn for grain. I will admit that the dog and I did not go around the block this morning in the thunderstorm!

That's not all

 I said we had a busy week, but I didn't even talk about Wednesday and Thursday, which were stories in themselves. You might remember reading that Nikolai was putting the scoffs together Wednesday morning, I was keeping an eye on what three year old Danil was getting into in the living room (since Alona was helping her husband.) Garry was off prepping the new heifer barn build because the crane to lift the trusses was coming the next morning. Here's a few photos from the 9th when they did cement work over there.

Wednesday we left the village at 12:30, just as they were working on the broken power line near the store that had our electricity out for two days. We were on our way to the HIV clinic in Zaporosia with the two students who needed refills. Since covid they give them a three month supply, so Garry doesn't have to take them as often. We walked to a bankomat so I could get out cash (Garry had lost his ATM card right after I got back, luckily I found it in the van Friday evening) then we sat outside at a cafe drinking cold drinks and trying to keep Danil from picking the flowers off the planters until they were finished. It was 33 degrees Celsius ( close to 100 F ) and I was baking, even under an awning with misters going. 


We got home around three, then left again after five for a quick trip to Nova Lenya to get a curtain rod and doorknobs for our renovation project and Garry needed nails for putting on the trusses. A quick drive through KFC and we were on our way to the cow he was going to breed in Sharokey on the way home. He phoned when we got to town and told the lady to stand by her gate so he could find the right house.
We drove the street up and down looking for the lady, we had seen her and a boy the first time but they didn't seem to be looking for anyone, so we continued on, (this time of year people are often on the street) we stopped on the return drive and it was the house but it took a minute to confirm because they didn't have a cow to breed, they had a heifer to breed.

As Garry was at the side of the van, getting the semen out of the liquid nitrogen tank, a young man came up to talk, he switched to English to our surprise. He was the village school English teacher and wanted to ask if Garry could come talk to the students in the fall sometime. His English was pretty good considering he said that he was the math teacher, but they didn't have an English teacher at the village school, so he taught himself in six months to become the English teacher! He said there is about fifty students, a little smaller than Nikolaipolia's school.
As we were driving home, Garry's phone rang, and there was a cow to breed in Petropol, off the highway toward Zaporosia. Immediately his phone rang again and we had to turn around and go back to Morosnika, the village we'd driven through ten minutes before on our way home ( we'd almost gotten back to Nikolaipolia at this time) to breed a cow for the people with giant walnuts. By the time we'd returned to the village Garry dropped me off at the house with the curtain rod before going to Petrapol.

Garry was up early the next day, ready for the crane, unlike the combines, it did show up. It was wasn't coming until ten he said when he came back around 8:45 and bought me water and apple cider vinegar for my pickles. I had picked a big bowlful of cucumbers and green beans that morning. He had forgotten to buy lag bolts the night before but drove to Salone to get some. I didn't see him again until after six pm, but he took some pictures. It was 35 degrees Thursday afternoon, so the guys and Garry were all hot and tired. 

I don't think the finger is an artistic statement...

We finished off the room Friday morning, and they were excited to see the renovations when they got back Saturday. We were gone when they arrived back from their trip to the sea, as Garry had an English class in Dnepro this morning and I went shopping for groceries and yarn. 

We had a bit of excitement later today, first Garry lost his wallet. He thought it had been stolen from the car, which he'd left by the Quonset barn when he took the skid steer to clean the alleyways during afternoon milking ( the guys were all busy baling hay- six wagonfuls today and four yesterday, third cut was about the same amount as first cut hay). However, it must have fallen out of his pocket, becausehe found it in the skid steer when he checked. 

Then while the new couple were meeting with the students outside this evening, Danil climbed in the van and  turned the key, it was in gear and he drove it forward into a tree in the back yard. The van has a few more scratches on it. Garry's been trying to remember to take the keys out of the cars, because Danil just opens the door and climbs in.

Our little driver

 

More than a little rain

 Last week Garry decided that they needed to start watering the hay. It was the first time this year, since we have  had so much rain, so Max had one problem after another trying to get it running. That morning we went Dnepro and ended up bringing  back parts for him to fix it. A piece fell off the reel while they were driving it out to the field. It ran for a while but broke again, Andrei ended up welding Sunday night until two am so they could turn it on again. They even turned the water on for the driplines in the cornfields on Sunday, as it was hot and the forecast only had a small chance of rain Monday. Garry drove out to the hayfield often to check if it was working. It takes a long time to get water on all the hay.

Monday I was busy getting ready for student supper. I had decided to cook hamburgers inside. It was a good choice as the sky was getting ready for a show, Garry said it was too windy to eat outside, although it might not rain.. While Garry was doing his devotional for the students,a neighbor ran in to say the roof was blowing off the tent barn. Garry, Victor and a couple of the guys went out to look. 

We started eating after they came back and Garry finished the devotion. Everyone loaded up on pasta salads, cucumbers from the garden and garnished their hamburgers with sauces. As we were eating, the electricity went off and on a few times. Then it went out and didn't come back on. 

We lit a couple candles and opened all the curtains, everyone finished eating, got a raspberry cookie and headed for home as the thunder and lightning got closer. No one was sure we were going to get any rain. However a short time later, Garry went to check on the irrigation and told Max maybe they should turn it off. Max said it might still miss us. He ended up getting wet, turning  the valve off as fast as he could and driving back as it really started raining.












We got five inches before dark and six in the rain gauge by morning. Some houses in the village got power back on Tuesday but us and most of our houses were out until Wednesday afternoon. We got a photo of them working as we drove out of the village at 12:30.







Some photos of the damage to the canvas on the barn, the edge of a corn field that washed out. Some of our pepper and bean plants had leaves that ended up under the dirt as the water rushed past them in the garden.



Believe it or not, they were able to start combining Wednesday afternoon, the wheat was 12% moisture. They thought they'd have two combines Thursday but none showed up. One started Friday afternoon. They also mowed the alfalfa Wednesday and today (Friday) they baled one load of straw and several loads of third cut hay. Some of the boys are getting very tanned. They say they're getting ready for going to the sea after the straw is all baled.

We've been busy

 The last week has flown by. Sunday we went to church in the village, the pastor's wife was so excited to see me back in Ukraine and wearing my vishivanka (embroidered Ukrainian shirt) I got a hug. You might guess that masks have disappeared at church now. However most stores in the city still have signs asking for people to wear them, and most people do (although sometimes not very well).

Sunday afternoon we went to Epicenter on a buying spree. We bought more chairs for the table, two scoffs for the guest bedrooms (that's a wardrobe, one of the first words I learned 12 years ago) a curtain, a rug and some smaller items. Why the sudden interest in fixing up the "Crawford house" after living here a year?

We're moving out! In the next couple weeks, we're going to back next door (excuse me while I find a fly swatter)...

Now I am waiting for it to come back to nibble on my leg... Instead I found a flea climbing my leg. I hadn't seen one in a couple days. We have been working on eliminating them since Monday. We've been vacuuming twice a day. I have washed everything that can go in the washer and hung it out to dry. The washer  has been running constantly, except from Monday evening to Wednesday afternoon, when the power was out (more about that in the next post.)

Back to why we are moving. While I was in Canada, Garry met the brother of the guy who has been the official business manager since we became an official farm business in Ukraine a few years ago. He does all the stuff so we follow all the complicated tax stuff correctly, and 'keeps the books'. His wife's dentist office is doing well so he'd like to give up his side job and thought he'd train his brother, who just moved here from Russia.

So Oleg, he's Ukrainian, but his wife Lena is from Siberia, they have two sons, five and three years old. He was doing mission work there when they met. So they thought they might live in the village, so Garry offered them this house. They were living part of the time with Garry for the last couple weeks, they rented an apartment in Zaporosia for two months when they arrived from Russia. They seem to really be making connections with the students, and can talk with them about spiritual things without needing translation. 

So her father lives with them, and has been sleeping on the couch when they are here, the rest of the family is in the room with the bunk beds and a twin bed. So Garry decided we'd surprize them when they get back from their trip to the sea this week, by finishing the unfinished bedroom. Scott and Shannon used it for storage and we had plans but never got around to it.

He'd already reinforced the removable pieces covering the cellar steps, Andre Rudei welded a framework for them when I was gone. So Tuesday afternoon I painted the floor and we got Nikolai to assemble the scoffs Wednesday morning (Garry put the doors on this morning, because they might be back today, and Thursday Nikolai was one of the guys nailing trusses up on the roof of the new heifer barn (more on the build in the next, next post.) So the beds are made with clean sheets and Grandpa has his own room when they get back.

I guess the fly is waiting for later to attack, he hasn't returned. I did kill the flea, and haven't found more. Fleas really like me, I must have my mother's tasty blood. We may have to give up and spray the poison. Both cats got treated on Monday and next Monday we're going to try giving them flea baths. Should be interesting. Box will definitely be hiding after that! She's pretty much invisible when they're here anyway.

Highlight photos

 

I guess I could have included more photos in that last post, so here they are! First photos taken while driving home...

Then Garry looking at his sunflower field (the earlier planted fields are just starting to flower) and ones of flowers in the yard. Scott; those pink ones are what they sold you as bleeding hearts. They are pretty though. The zinnias were planted from seed saved from last year just before I left, about two months ago.

Then pictures I took of Garry breeding two cows in Shyroke on the way home from Dnepro Tuesday, after we went and bought more semen, I forgot to mention that. There was only one straw left after Max bred four cows while he was gone to pick me up.

You can see there's two different ways to get Garry to breed your cow in the field. Where she is or bring her home. Garry has bred a number of cows at new places in this village this year because there isn't a 

 bull in town this summer.  The lady above said he bred her cow three years ago. 

The guy below led his cow home while his wife talked with Garry about using Holstein or Jersey semen for her cow. Big or small calf is the question, we have options. They also said they'd have another cow to breed soon, and sure enough, they phoned the next day.

We drove back to Nikolipolia through the fields. On Wednesday we went for lunch at a cafe in the town along the highway between us and Shyroke on the return trip, since it was raining we didn't go through the field roads, which makes the drive much quicker (unless you get stuck. Garry had borscht and vereniki (pierogies)  for lunch while I had a lovely ceaser salad with turkey.

Its hard to find a bad sunflower field with all the rain this year. You can see the car's at a bit of an angle to stay out of the ruts.

Tuesday's salad and Wednesday's. Trying to follow a better diet.

Wednesday was a VIP's birthday, luckily the party was on Saturday before I left for Ukraine. I have been crocheting dinosaurs again! Missing these people and their barn kittens  and counting tires since I left.