Last here and there post for now!

Garry will be here in Manitoba next week, since the wedding is one week from today. He's been very busy this week. He interviewed new studdent candidates for next year and lots of work was done at the new group home (see birds eye blogpost). He also said his foot was feeling better after spending a day on his knees tiling at the house. We'll see when he gets here Tuesday night.

Maxim Rudei and our neighboor Seroshja built an augur to drill the holes for the elctric (hydro) poles out of old parts. They used an old combine augur with a disc from culivator welded on the end to drill with and used a hydraulic motor that Serhojsha had. The electric company guys were so impressed with it they took photos. They said their device is attached to giant tractor that rarely works.

After three weeks of dry weather, there was a good rain on the crops. As soon as the weather is dry, the guys will be doing hay again. Garry is going to Kiev by train Monday morning and will meet with the people who are importing the container for us.

What am I doing here in Manitoba? Besides cooking cleaning and organizing? Getting ready for weddings, rehearsal dinner BBQ at the farm, and the bridal shower for our daughter the day after her brother's wedding?

here's a peek. Last week I went to Keziah's preschool grad and babysat the girls for the rest of the day. It's hard to believe that she'll be five next month.

This week I watched the boys and Crystal play softball and helped out with Havilah's kids birthday party. She is seven years old already. We have been away forthe last six years soon!

I was in charge of homemade ice cream making. The girls and I churned it with a hand crank and made friendship bracelets. The party had a camping theme. There was a lot packed into two hours!

Better every day

At least that is what Garry says about his foot. He says it feels better is he doesn't walk too much and wears good shoes... I think he ditched the crutches.

OK the septic is round not oval as it appears!

This week he said they got more work done on the new group home... painted a room inside the house, and worked on the septic system. Exciting news- the electricity project that was approved in April (after a year waiting) to get power to the "new" barn and classroom is finally started! Garry hopes to be milking the cows in the freestall barn in the fall. he sent some crop photos too.

the wheat field 

 The crops look good because of the wet spring, however Garry is hoping for rain as it is getting dry and the corn especially needs more moisture. This week the temperature is in the 30 C (getting over 90 F) Hot!

one of the corn fields

second cut alfalfa is growing well

Haymaking Manitoba style

the merger, it puts 8 swathes together to chop

Well, Garry will be here in nine days I think, our son's wedding is two weeks from today. He and his brothers were able to finish up first cut hay before the rain came early this evening (so far not much rain has fallen here.)

I have some photos for Garry to enjoy that I took Friday evening when I went for a ride along in the cab of the big chopper. The boys are buying two new trucks for doing haylage, but they won't be in until next week, so they were using three old ones.

lots of haydust flying

The trucks drive beside the chopper until they are full

the trucks dump the haylage here to get packed into the bunk

Noah was driving this truck, full and heading back to the barn

Crutches and other things

Photo from the school picnic- more on trade school blog!

Garry is on crutches (I hope he's still using them, he says that it makes his bad ankle... the one he normally limps on, hurt, and his hand hurt that he injured when he fell in Turkey.)

You remember he fell on Friday a week ago, landed on his "good foot" got it x-rayed on Saturday and was told it wasn't broken. On Monday he only worked half the days at the "new house" (on the plumbing I think) and made strawberry jam in the afternoon while he was "taking it easy."

I talked to him Tuesday morning via the internet, apparently shortly after that he was walking around the kitchen cleaning up from the day before's jam making, when he felt something pop in his injured heel. He was in a lot of pain so Max Rudei drove him to Dnepropetroesk and Victor went to the hospital with him. I believe he said they did more tests, did not see anything there, but they think there was an embolism there that broke, like an giant blood blister inside his foot.

They gave him crutches and told him to stay off his foot if he wants to walk somewhat normally in a month or two... and Jessica's wedding, when he needs to walk her down the aisle is in six weeks! On one of his trips to the hospital he took the hand x-ray (you get to keep them is Ukraine) and that doctor looked at it and thought he may have cracked a bone in his hand, which is why it is still bothering him. So using the crutches makes his hand hurt and his bad ankle hurt since its doing all the work. I told him he should not walk so much then, but he was heading to church and had dinner plans with friends in Zaporosia, so I imagine he'll be sore when I talk to him before I go to sleep (when he wakes up Monday morning.)

Looks like white was the winning stucco color

He says it feels better everyday... but Saturday morning he said he was sore in both feet and his hand, after working with the students during the day (they were doing the last coat of stucco and finished the ceiling in the shop) and going on the picnic in the evening!

Now some pics for Garry to look at of things here in Manitoba...

This is what's left from last  year silage... lots

new hay mower

Josh mowed down a little alfalfa to try out the new equipment Saturday morning... then it rained, and later it rained more. So far today, no big rain, although I've heard thunder and Jess called to say there was hail in Morden. The boys hope to get the hay into a silage pile this week.

the old cat (he'll be 12 this summer)

New cat (moving after the wedding)

 I've been busy with more wedding prep, crocheting and working on slideshows. This week I went to Winnipeg for Jessica's dress fitting. I now know the secrets of putting the train up for dancing, and I found and bought  a dress to wear to Jessica's wedding at the store!

Saturday all the boys and wives (or  fiancee) and grandkids were here for lasagna at one o'clock. We need a bigger table! It was hard to squeeze 16 around and we will need room for Garry, Jess and James...

wedding decor crocheting

Fun with a kitten before dinner

What I've been doing

Now that I have you updated on Garry, here's a look at what I have been doing...

Our daughter picked me up from the airport last week Monday night, an I spent the first days at her house in Morden. While I was there, we shopped unsuccessfully for my wedding dresses, for either or both weddings, if I can't find one for my son's wedding I may wear the pink one from last year's wedding!

I spent some time with Jacklyn, her dog, who is 14 1/2 and showing her age, we relaxed outside on Tuesday, and pulled some weeds in the flower beds. I got the invitations printed and did some planning and shopping for the wedding shower I am co-hosting for her the day after her brother's wedding.

We went to see the coordinator for her wedding in Winnipeg on Thursday, right after getting back from a school trip to the art gallery in Winnipeg. She was short on volunteers, so I updated my accreditation I had gotten to go on a trip two years ago. If you are in Manitoba, go see the Greek art exhibition on loan from Berlin, they did a great job displaying it. You can see sculpture like we saw in Rome without leaving home!

Then right after she got home from teaching on Friday we were off to Steinbach for a shower for Audrey. Noah was there too, but he was not good at the "What's in Your Purse?" game, I won that one. He was on the same team as his sister and I for the wedding dress creation game. We didn't win, but Audrey chose the winner and she was on the other team. Noah says she doesn't like losing. After the shower, Crystal drove me back to the farm.

Over the weekend I started sleeping past  three or four am, hooray! (in spite of staying awake all day, everyday until 10 pm) Jet lag will be over until August when I fly back! Saturday evening I went over to Micah and Crystal's with the boys for game night. Sunday I went to church in Piney where our son was preaching and had lunch with them. The girls have grown so much in six months.

 Monday I mailed the US invitations in the US and discovered that postal rates went up that day. I had driven there on Saturday morning and discovered the counter had closed at 10:30, ten minutes before i found the Roseau post office! I guess I'll just mail letters in Canada from now on.

Update from Ukraine

Well I have talked and messaged with Garry a few times since I got to Manitoba a week ago, and so here's a few things that has happened since I left.

The hay is baled and in the barn. The haymow is about three quarters full of first cut alfalfa hay. Last year the mow was one third straw. Garry says it will all have to go outside this year, because the second cut is already growing back. he took a photo of a hayfield today (Monday evening)

You might guess that it rained after the hay was baled. Garry said that there was a couple of good downpours and some wet weather on Friday, so the crops are in good shape. He was really hoping that the rain would come, the fields were getting quite dry after all the rain this spring. Looks like there will be a good second cut of hay in a couple weeks.

The wheat is looking good under the setting sun in the picture he took, and the corn looks good, they were getting the spraying done today. Garry had to go out to help Max Rudei set up the sprayer this morning when I was chatting with him on facebook (before I went to bed last night.)

Garry said the garden isn't looking so good, some kind of bugs are eating it up, I think he needs some spray for it.

Today the overhead door was installed for the shop. Looks like it is brown in the photo. Bear will finally be able to give up his guard job and come home to his dog house.

they painted the walls a couple weeks ago

It looks big

Garry and the students were working on putting the ceiling in the shop on Friday when he reached too far to put in a screw and somehow fell off the scaffolding. He landed on his good foot as he fell to the cement, to protect his bad ankle. On Saturday he could hardly walk and got an x-ray and it wasn't broken, but he says it has turned black from the bruising.

 Monday (Today) he wasn't teaching, apparently he taught last week, so he went to the new house, but only worked half the day because his foot hurt too much, so he went home and made strawberry jam. Hopefully he is all healed up in three weeks when he comes here for the weddings.

here and there

Well I am now here in Manitoba, while Garry is I think, still making hay in Ukraine.
I have only talked to him through Facebook messages since I left the Kiev airport early Monday morning. He posted this photo of some of his haying crew on my Facebook. Its our friend Marina and Max Boradin, who got very exciting news on Friday, his student visa for Canada file has been reopened, and so he may be able to go after all! He has to go for a medical exam in Kiev June 15th. In the front row are the four Sashas. Student Sasha in black, tractorist Sasha in orange, student Sasha or Makerana crouching behind the chairs, and barn Sasha sitting in the middle.

Garry is said yesterday afternoon that they had to stop baling hay with about 600 bales to go because it was raining a little. I do not know if they were able to finish today. It is before dawn here, but lunchtime there. Garry was planning to go to the English class in the city of Dneperprajisk this evening and also have a late night in Dnepropetrovsk watching the football game with some guys from church. The Dnepro team is playing in Spain for the Europa?cup, and it's a big deal, so someone is having guys to watch at his apartment.

I had an uneventful trip, but long, it was 24 hours of actual time from getting on a plane in Kiev and getting off in Winnipeg, and that doesn't include the time spent from when Garry, Marina, Julia and Nikolai left me at the train station in Dnepropetrovsk around three pm Sunday after church, lunch and bowling.

Marina translated for Julia that Polo would really miss me and so would she, as she gave me a hug goodbye and told me to say hello to Micah, Crystal and Eugene. Everyone but Nikolai hugged me, and Garry kissed me, and I sat down to wait for my express train to Kiev.

Of course it was not on track one, as Garry had hoped, where you just go out the door to the platform, but track two; so I had to carry one large 23 kilo (50 pound) suitcase in one hand and the other two bags in the other down and up some stairs. Some nice man decided to help me halfway up the last flight of stairs and another helped me lift the big one up onto the train.
There were only ten minutes to get on between it arriving and  departure, and of course I had to trot down the platform as it arrived and I realized that wagon two woyld be atbthe other end, but I was seated with my bags stowed, the smaller ones in the rack overhead, and I dragged, er rolled the big one to the front of the car to the rack for big bags, where yet another man insisted on helping lift it into place.
Victor had booked it the day before and only first class was still available. We had risen in the second class carriage on our way home two weeks ago, and I called Garry and told him it was worth it, the seats are wider with enough leg room for even him! I was seated well before the train rolled out of the station at 5:20 pm and had a nice air conditioned ride.
The train arrived shortly before eleven and I repeated the going down and up stairs with my bags, turning down one offer of help carrying the big halfway up the steps by the escalator, which wasn't working two weeks ago either. I had been told to get a taxi to the airport, but came out of the building right by the marstutkas to the airport, so I rolled the bags toward the cheaper option. There were two British girls sitting in the middle chatting, a first for me. We were at the airport terminal before midnight, but the lights were turned down so low that the door by security looked closed! Eventually we went inside, and they were off to check in while I settled in on the chairs to wait until three or four am when mine would start. Had a chat with a lady flying to Calgary and Vancouver via Amsterdam for a while, read and tried to not really fall asleep because I am afraid of missing my plane.

Any way, all went well, with four hours between connections in Frankfurt and Chicago, although I was sitting at the gate an hour before take off to Winnipeg when
I realized the gate had been changed and had to hustle from b19 to c1 and although I didn't have to go through security
I did have to change terminals and discovered that I was on the by Gate16 when I came out of the walkway, so I still had some walking to do! Anyway plenty of time to make the plane. It was a little jet, so I had to check my carry-on at the gangway, but my luggage was quick as was customs, and Jess was just turning on her WiFi on her phone when I walked out and we were off to her house shortly after 9:30. We got there at eleven and I crawled into a bed and slept to six am.

No such luck on night two, I woke up at three and ended up starting this blog post!