Year: 2015

Кролик (krolik) or as we call it rabbit; My village buddy as Sveta and I call him, was making rabbit stew today. He raises rabbits for barter and eating and I happened along at the best time today. I was taking a blood pressure monitor device to him. He has problems with high blood pressure, but like most guys my age, we are stubborn. I have mine under control and if anything it is low, but his is borderline okay, pushing easily to the high side at the drop of a pin…

I worry about him, for he is the life blood of the village and I have written about how he keeps the electricity going when all else fails. He needs to take better care of himself. He, like me is stubborn. So this summer I am going to try to make him take his blood pressure everyday…

Therefore, lets get back on track, I just had a huge bowl of rabbit stew and was given the blessing of the liver. The memories stumbled back into my mind, for as I grew up, rabbit was a priority of a food source and the liver was one part that grandpa and I fought over…

Grandpa and I fought over all internal meats that no one else liked…

Vova as I call him was outside at his special made cooker. It is like a wood stove, but has a hole big enough for a huge pot to sit inside of it. You build a fire in it, then set the pot full of water inside of it and the top of the pot is level with the top of the stove. Then when the water boils, add your ingredients. Reminds me of doing a country boil back home in the states…

Boza has a girlfriend called Miya who is Vova’s dog. She is one huge dog and makes about three of Boza. She just loves Boza and Boza just loves her. I would be afraid for Miya to love Boza, for she might squish him like a bug. He thinks he is a big boy, but she is really a big girl and beautiful to boot. Muscles and beauty, worse combination for all guys to deal with… 🙂

Poor Vova just talks and talks and talks, he does not understand that if he talked slower, I would understand more, but then who really cares, he is my buddy and I agree with all he wants in the first place, so it all works out. He literally danced a jig when I gave him the blood pressure monitor and hugged me ten times at least. It is strange for a westerner like me in Russia, as I have talked about before, men hug each other and kiss each others cheeks all the time. I live in a society now with men unafraid of showing emotions. Such as crying, hugging, kissing cheeks and even holding the others hand as they explain things to you. Russians have a very small space that they allow when they know you and it has taken me a long time to grasp such concepts…

Well this is the second article today, I just wanted to express what happened and it is a good thing, I feel lucky that I am accepted in the village society. While not always equal in everything, at least accepted as a viable person to associate with. The equal part will come in time…

Now that is why I love Russia…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

It was with sweet and sourness that I saw the windows go up in the bell tower. I knew that they would be soon in coming, but I had dreams of stained glass and beautiful old style windows. Therefore, when they started to install them yesterday, I was saddened by the window installed…

I guess we take what we can get, but my granddad would have said, “If you can’t do it right, then don’t do it at all!”

Modernization takes its toll on everything it seems…

They open at the bottom and top main panel. They are not terrible, but I just had a different image of what a church window should be and that means it is my issue not theirs. I do know that they are weather tight and will be good against the Russian winter. We have them on our flat back in Moscow…

What it all does mean is that the renovation of the bell tower is progressing and I hope that this summer the roof gets but on the top and they start to rebuild the wings on the tower. They also have to get a real bricklayer up here to repair the brick work. I hope they do not skimp in that territory…

Now that I have griped a little bit about them, they really are okay and I am glad they got them done. This monastery is looking better all the time…

By golly, I think they are serious about this place…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

I woke up and felt like I had stepped out in front of a truck as it drove by and after killing several big fat blood filled mosquitoes, females of course, I knew that the next few days would be hiding time…

If I get bit too many times by these Russian mosquitoes, then I have to take Cetrine, a antihistamine, for I swell and get sick. That is what happened and now I have all mosquito safeguards in operation. I have the burning repellent rings out in the mud room, I have spray at the door to use before I step out and I wear long sleeve shirts, plus long underwear. Yes I know it is 30 degrees Celsius, but hot is one thing, demon mosquitoes are another… 🙂

Yes I took Cetrine and after a walk with Boza, I am feeling much better. In fact I took pictures and finished updating the Village Homes article… (Here)

This will last a few days, as the mosquitoes gather against the window screens at night and make that hum so loud that you would think that every mosquito on earth was trying to eat you. They get so thick at times that they literally stop the airflow through the screens. All you can do is wait, watch, listen and go outside only at certain times of the day. Otherwise it is time to write, read and keep the fan going…

This happens with the hatching’s and will be repeated several times during the summer and I have to stay in tune with the flow, or suffer badly…

They, them damn demon mosquitoes, will thin out and no, I hear nothing about malaria…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Update: I have to add an update to this article. I went back to bed and except for one phone call from Sveta, I did not move for many hours. Boza left me alone and in fact he wanted to stay sleeping. He always seems to know when I am very sick and need to rest. I feel much better again and Boza and I are going to take a walk. I think about half the walk we normally do… 🙂

This article is simply a data post. I am going to put all the village homes that I can find in a gallery here. Even if they are burned or collapsed, I will try to get a picture of them and post it. It will take me a few days to get them all, but I am going to try, before they all collapse…

Five or six more to be posted, as soon as the weather gets better…

I have to get an image of a couple of last homes. They are the farthest back and most secretive of all the homes. I am not sure if someone is in them or not, but Boza and I will make a trip soon to see…

Last update to this post. I have now recorded all village homes that are more than just a crumbled foundation. Most are not lived in anymore, but many are used just in the summer time. The last three were just added at this update…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Here is a shorty but goodie:

Rosselkhoznadzor; Russia’s food inspector division is approving Iran for meat and dairy deliveries to Russia. This is replacement for some of the items that are banned indefinitely against EU, US, Canada, Australia and Japan. The ban on poultry has shown itself as hurting the U.S. poultry industry, which has become virtually crushed for life due to Bird Flu, and with this move by Russia to secure its food supply, insures that the U.S. will never get back into the Russian poultry business now…

This is great and I hope that we see many Iranian food products on our shelves in the future…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

The other day at the store, I got grouchy and looked for bigger buckets to carry water with. I found them and now it takes only two buckets or one trip to wash the clothes and one trip to get water to rinse the clothes. Before, it took twice that in trips to the well. makes a happier bear to say the least…

Therefore, those are my big water buckets, you can have the normal size ones…

Then yesterday I said I bought a broom, a girly broom to be exact and that was the only broom I could find. It works good…

What! You ask why that was the only broom I could find?

Well because most Russians make their brooms from tree saplings and sweep with that. I have cut down and destroyed all my sweeper saplings (That is my excuse and I am sticking to it!), so I had to buy a broom. So I bought a pretty broom and swept the house with it…

Otherwise I could make one of these…

Then taking Boza for a walk is always interesting. Here is an image of what Boza does best as we walk. He simply lays around on all the roads that we walk on. It gets interesting for he just lays there as I walk past and does not move until I am way ahead, then he gets up and runs like the wind to catch me and pass me by. Then he gets way ahead of me and lays down to sleep. Sorta like the turtle and the hare story. Except Boza wins all the time… 🙂

After I left Boza snoozing in the byway, I went to the cemetery and found at the gate a left over Easter Egg. The Russian Easter Eggs are beautifully done and many are left at cemeteries for the dead ones. Plus there is drinks, bread, foods, water and many other items left for the deceased…

Then Boza and I walked to the Fish Farm lake pump (Yes Boza finally got up and decided to join me!) It is a brand new one (pump) this year, I guess they got tired of repairing the old one, with band aids and duct tape…

This pump is powerful and quiet. I use to be able to tell when they started it up and you could hear the hum for miles away. Now it sneaks up on you and you only hear the water splashing from the outlet pipe…

I wonder how much something like that cost?

.

That is always cool to see how well the Fish Farm is doing and with all the new equipment I am seeing, they are doing well indeed…

* * * * * * * * * *
Well it is time to go to town and pick up Boza food. I buy him Pedigree in a pouch, it is his favorite and it comes in many flavors. It seems to suit him well, for he is kinda persnickety, like a cat over food. Human food gives him issues and dry food, well that is for peasant dogs, you know…

The store call “Number 5” has his food, buy three and get one free. Now that is a deal…

* * * * * * * * * *

Hope that your day is good for I know ours will be. Boza is staying home and resting, for I walk him too much as you can tell and I will go join the natives and see what they are up too…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Up at 3:30 a.m., Boza and I walked and ate breakfast. Then I went to town after leaving Boza hiding under the bed and refusing to come out. He heard me grab the car keys and that means town, a place he prefers not to go, unless he has to…

I dreamed of going to the petrol station and filling the tank on the car, going to the grocery store and then off to the market. I was going to take pictures and do some shopping. Well, I got the car filled and went to the store. That worked perfect, then I tried to go to the market and found the issue for the day. Everyone and their brother in-law was there. I mean the cars were parked all the way into town and the market is about half a kilometer out of town. The fields were full around the market, with cars, there had to be two or three thousand people there. It looked like the term crazy was invented for such an event…

I tried to get near to the place and finally after a babushka gave me the death look of an evil eye. I decided that life is too short to deal with this. I found a tiny spot and turned around, I noticed that the bank I turned around at had 36 people standing in line using the ATM. I had time to count them for I was stuck for 5 minutes trying to get back on the road. Then I did what any sane man would do…

I went and got something to eat…

The actual town itself was empty and open. I could do what I wanted there. So I went to the meat pie shop and bought two pizzas and two sasiska v tyestye. They look like corn dogs in America, but no corn…

Then I ate the two dogs and kept the two small pizzas for later today. They had dog on them also, just sliced up into small pieces…

No! The other dog…

We do not eat dog in Russia, we may eat horse and pony, but no cats and dogs…

I then did some more food shopping since, it was so easy to get around and then went home…

Sorry, but no market images. I lied…

Therefore, two out of three items were accomplished and in Russia that means a perfect day. Plus I fed my belly and got pizza for when I am hungry again…

Now that is why I love Russia…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

What can you say?

The young soul of Russia!

Polina Gagarina – A Million Voices (from Russia)

63X zoom, standing at our fence line, resting on a post. I finally after hundreds of shots, got a clear picture of the bell. The sky is crystal clear and this is the only clear shot out of 10 I took today. I am so happy…

I have wanted to get a shot to allow me to see clearly what is cast on the surface of the bell….

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

In the woods is a chair…

I swept it off…

I check for dew…

I sat down…

Then I enjoyed life…

and simply stared without a care…
 
 
Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…