Year: 2016

This morning at 4 a.m. I started to fill the wells. I had turned off the water at the pump and was tidying the wells up and making sure all was good. I was walking down to the well near us and I heard people wailing and chattering. This was about 6 a.m. and the village people were wound up!

Two babushkas were giving the “cross themselves” with their hands. One guy was hanging onto a tree. Another was running around and wailing. Another was hiding in the bushes. I found something that Tiny Russian Villagers are very superstitious of… 😉

I saved the village; Boza and I grabbed a bucket from our home and fished the poor snake out of the well. The snake literally swam into the bucket and was so happy to get out of the well…

It is 99% positive a rat snake and very beneficial, but anyone but me does not know that and they wanted it murdered, killed, chopped into pieces, smashed and burned at an alter as sacrifice to the gods or something like that…

We are safe now!

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Yes some pictures to finish the post!

WtR

I was fooled! I have been wondering why we had ducks that seemed to be not able to quack. They made a weird noise and then other strange noises. Well it seems after looking closely, they are Coots, not ducks….There goes my, “What a stupid duck!” theory…

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Coot/lifehistory

I saw their feet and said that is not a duck!

Then Sveta and I looked up what the heck it was. This is a Coot…

They have clown feet in my opinion and they make strange noises. I love them and we have a whole pond full. The smaller pond below is Coot city and the bigger pond is duck city…

Therefore, instead of saying, “What a Hoot!” I now say, “What a Coot!”

Then I recorded its strange sound, as it swims around. The sound gets much louder and urgent, if it sees me and Boza…

So while I was trying to take pictures of this strange duck! It was not a duck, but a coot. An Eurasian Coot…

Life is so wonderful…

WtR

The limelight of our lives is gone. Boza and I and even George the Birdbrain this morning, are kinda sad. We will snap out of it later today, but for now we miss our girl. Part of it is that we only are able to get to bed by 1 a.m. and sleep is lacking today. Boza and I walked and did our morning stuff, but it is always different without our sweetie…

Yesterday, Sveta filled a four liter jar with delicious strawberries from the Strawberry field. She is taking the huge jar to her mother. Her mom does not know that she has picked wild strawberries for her and she will be very surprised when she gets this prize. Wild strawberries are highly praised for health reasons in Russia and I hope that we see some wonderful strawberry jam from this. Yummy…

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I have been bit to the point of being sick by horseflies. They are terrible this year, it is like the mosquitoes went away and the horseflies took their place. Thus maybe, I should mellow out and recover today…

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This is some images from the last few days. Just some items that I like….George finally posed in all his glory for us. My favorite image is the one of Sveta and Boza walking. My buddies…

Sveta helped, Boza straw bossed and we put a new roof on the outhouse. I scrounged enough old wood and created out of thin air a roof for the outhouse. It works, for after a ton of rain last night, it was dry inside and that was the purpose…

The roof is the only thing even halfway level with the world, the old outhouse is so twisted and warped from the many years of weather, that the next rebuild will be a tear down and new…

I tar papered the roof after finishing and got done just in time. Now I need to find a large bucket and catch the rain water for the garden. I sloped the roof to create runoff. The roof survived wild winds and rain last night, so we did it…

No don’t say it; I am not much of a carpenter, but I still do what has to be done…

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I need to mow, do laundry, wash dishes and weed the garden! Oh well, gotta go and most likely will read a book today…

For there is always, “завтра” or zavtra in English. Means tomorrow and a most powerful, perfect and usable word in Russia…

WtR

WtR

I knew Svetochka would get perturbed with me for posting an image of her and Boza sleeping. So she took one of Boza and I sleeping at nap time. All is fair, so I posted it…

Our strawberries are doing so good for the first year…

Sveta met Ralph the Raven…

Fields of grain are more than plentiful in our area. I watched empty discarded fields from the Soviet era, being revived and now are lush and abundant. Russia has “Gone Country” and that is growing her solid roots…

Svetochka was introduced to the, “Strawberry Fields Forever!” She was like a kid in a candy store and seriously, could not understand how these fields are undiscovered. I found them last year and this year they are twice as abundant as last year. Svetochka will pick about two liters today to take home to her mother…

Seriously people! No one could believe how many strawberries there are! Svetochka thought the same way and then she saw with her eyes, “Strawberry Fields Forever!”

I do realize that the song is about a children’s home, I sing the tune as I walk the strawberry fields and when you have kilometers of wild strawberries! You gotta sing something… 😉

You know life is a miracle, when a wild field of strawberries goes farther than you can physically see…

WtR

I could not resist posting a picture of Svetochka and Boza sound asleep. They are my best friends in the world and they love to sleep away the morning. Boza will get up and walk very early, but then for him it is back to bed. He very rarely sleeps on the bed like this. He likes to lay a few minutes with me and then gets down, but this time he snuggled to Sveta and they sawed logs for two hours…

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…..

Could not pass up such a perfect shot….besides, I could not go back to bed even if I wanted too… 😉

Oh and Vova has what I think is a flag of the local area. He has now raised it and loves his flag…

WtR

I have spent years talking about a consistent theme on this website. I have warned and expressed that my only desire is that we all open our eyes, minds and thoughts to the fact that we are in a bad situation. This talk of mine has mainly fallen on deaf, dumb and blind people, from all over the world, but centers mainly from exasperated denial from the Western Empire…

It really is summed up in a simple statement…

Empires die a terrible death and make life hell for the rest of us…

You all have a front row seat to the dying death spiral of an Empire. Grab the popcorn, something to drink and enjoy! For this is our time to see the fireworks, as fireworks were meant to be presented…

We really live in exciting times, but we also live in those times with fear. Fear of our future and fear of who will straighten it all out. For to continue our path will destroy the world as we know it and it looks like the path is set in stone…

I see, have seen, have spoken and wish I was wrong…

WtR

Boza and I walked and filled the wells. All went good until a couple of stray dogs decided to investigate Mia, Vova’s doggy! Mia it seems is going into heat and I knew this because Boza really likes her at that time. Mia likes Boza and accepts him being around, but Mia was really upset and I was thinking about investigating what was upsetting her after we filled the wells. Boza and I were standing near the church and got jumped from behind and or blindsided as I put it. Two male dogs decided to attack us…

The biggest one went after me and I saw him from the corner of my right eye. I spun around and his teeth smacked together where my arm would have been and Boza was attacked by the dog about his size. I always have a walking stick and I spun again and whooped the big dog across the head. He went down and rolled and came up yelping. He was hurt bad and ran off weaving as if drunk. Boza was in a fight with the dog his size. My shoe came off and for some reason, I grabbed it and started to beat the dog attacking Boza. I guess I did not want to hit Boza with the stick. When two dogs are going at it. They are like one dog in size…

Finally the dog raised his head to try to get away from Boza as he tore into his neck and I whopped him hard across the face. He went down and Boza jumped on him. He was crawling to get away and I pulled Boza off him and kicked him hard 5 to 6 feet in the air. Boza, not one to take being attacked laying down, attacked him again. I grabbed Boza and pulled him back and as the dog limped away, I threw my shoe at him and my walking stick. I was one pissed off bear!

I know where these dogs came from and something will be done about this. I was physically attacked, Boza was physically attacked and we were across the village minding our own business. I understand why Mia was upset now, she is chained and the only male she tolerates is Boza around her, when in heat or not. Mia does love Boza! 😉

The dogs went home and Boza and I finished our business…

Now you know why I always have a walking stick and a stick that is substantial in size and weight. Word will get out quick and if this happens again, I will deliver these dogs dead, to the doorstep of their home. We do not bother them and they need to stay where they live (more than a kilometer away.) Whether a female is in heat or not…

Boza and I have been fighting! So cool…

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And speaking of a Wild Time…

Pretty simple a CIA 5th Column tried to get into the USA embassy before he was strung up. This is how you deal with scum from the CIA…

WtR

George finally decided that Svetochka is A-Okay! He came to see what she is up to. At first when Sveta came, George was confused, for we took down our, “No girls allowed!” sign. (Just kidding! Well maybe….) And he wondered who this strange female creature was, called Svetochka. But yesterday, he allowed Svetochka to take his picture. He is our hunting Shrike that lives at our home and is one beautiful bird. Sorry the image was taken in full against sunlight, but yes George said, “Hello!” to Svetochka…

Then Sveta proceeded to terrorize us with picture taking…

I love it when Sveta comes, for she takes much different images than I would. She sees life as Sveta sees it and that is just perfect in my eyes…

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Boza and I walked while Sveta slept. We decided that we just had to see the beautiful world as it woke up this morning. The sun came up and kissed the bell tower first, then the valley. All was cool and wonderful and isn’t that what life is about?

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Looks like I need to buy two new tail lights for the Volga car. The whole assembly. I got everything almost working, but soon the lights will be too corroded and old. Therefore, since they are dirt cheap and easy to replace, new tail lights assemblies will keep the local cops happy. Should be able to get two for under a thousand rubles. Bulbs are only around 20 to 25 rubles each, but it is time to get whole units…

I also worked on Sammy the Volga and fixed her exhaust. I hope that it stays sealed, but the manifold bolts are getting rusted out. It is okay for now, but looks like it may be time to drop the exhaust and install new bolt studs to longtime cure the exhaust leak…

Finally found the issue with coolant problems. Sammy has been upset since I replaced the radiator hoses and water pump. I could not find what the problem was. I replaced every heater hose, radiator hoses and the water pump. Everything was new? Except a small hose, right in front of my face. A obscure thin return line from the radiator holding tank to the radiator itself. Sammy does not have a fill spot on the radiator, it has a separate fill bottle and I ignored a vital hose. As luck would have it, I had a piece of gas line that was a perfect fit. I installed it and Sammy became a good girl again. Oh how the little things will cause issues at times. Sammy just wanted all her coolant hoses replaced and that was that…

Sammy is a good car and she just keeps on running, bailing wire and duct tape are amazing inventions to keep a car running… 😉

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Oh My! Sveta has been making salads. She grabs beet greens, turnip greens, rutabaga greens, onion greens, garlic greens, carrot greens and chops up delicious turnips, rutabagas and carrots into tiny bits themselves and then we shell fresh sweet peas and mix it it all together with a caesar salad dressing; then lay smoked chicken breast slices on top. Oh my golly molly! Talk about a wonderful meal…

My sweety is utilizing the garden to its best and it is so wonderful having a “sweet pea” like Svetochka to help me eat right…

I realized that next year we will not grow potatoes, onions and or garlic. These items are just too cheap and plentiful. Svetochka and I want to grow pumpkins and I will try my hand at sweet potatoes. Also much less beets, turnips and rutabagas; we gonna have tons of root veggies and they are really good. Potatoes can be bought for around 20 rubles a kilo and be picked up in 50 kilo bags. Onions are the same price and weight, if not cheaper…

Need to grow things that are not as readily available in the stores….Like I am thinking about celery next year. Yummy! I also am developing out four asparagus patches and they have come back to life with a little bit of care. I have been eating asparagus all summer fresh from the patches…

Raspberries are in full swing and the work I did last year on the patches, has shown itself this year. I am looking into blackberries at this point. A good blackberry patch would be priceless…

Talk about a second childhood; as I eat and care for the gardens, I flashback to when I was a little monkey and running around eating everything I could find on the plants. Grandma would say, “Leave some for us will you!”

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I think I will pull some young beets and make a Borscht to day. I splurged and bought a pack of chicken legs. Makes the best Borscht. Maybe it is time to dig up new potatoes to put in it also?

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Well! It is time to go…

Looks like our weather meter says rain today and at a cool +10 this morning and a clear sky; it is hard to figure that, but it seems to know best. I just check the Russian weather service and it confirms what our system says. South wind (pushing temps to +25,) knocking on the door of the northern front and that means wet! Then back cold again tomorrow as the wind shifts back from the north…

Svetochka and Boza are both sound asleep. They are two peas in a pod in that aspect. Life is really grand with Sveta here to pick on me! 😉

WtR

No really it is cool! Cool as in +9 last night and about +20 yesterday and the same today. It is cool and I hope it stays this way. Life is better when life is cool… 😉

Went to the Big Village and stocked up on goodies. It was a good trip and we gathered lots of supplies. I had a nice donation that was to be used for stable food items and I did just that. Bought lots of canned goods and sealed package type foods. Oh and we also splurged on a small berry pie! We resisted eating it yesterday, but I have a feeling that it will disappear today. It looks so good and is locally produced. It is not a big pie and it cost 60 rubles, or about a dollar in American money. But it looks so good and the little kid in me keeps looking through the cabinet window and wanting to take a bite…

Do you know how hard it is for a Big Bear to ignore a Berry Pie? Fresh made yesterday and and it really needs to be eaten before it gets too old and stuff like that! Oh My……

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Okay! Back to writing!

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George gave Svetochka a serenade this morning. She heard him and was all smiles as she tried to go back to bed, but a bunch of woodpeckers decided to join him in his serenade and woodpeckers do not sing well. But George lead the way and as the woodpeckers screeched their chalk board scratches. George being the cordial host, sang as beautifully as he could. Then to the rescue of a single George, came three or four more Georges. They flew into the trees and within a few seconds; the sound level increased and after a few sparrows and chickadees came to sing, it was a concert worthy of Carnegie Hall. Sveta was amazed and I know she hears me talk about such symphonies, but now she heard one first hand. It makes a difference when you are in a surround sound of beautiful music, even if some of the singers are screechy. They all deserve to sing…

What a beautiful morning!

WtR