Windows to Russia

Back Door area was weak from rot. So I did what I do best and that is tear all the rot out and attempt to repair the mess I made…

As you see I was mostly successful, it is not that beautiful, but it is solid and functional…

This is what happens when water leaks for years and years and it never gets fixed…

Svetochka and I worked on the roof a week ago and we stopped the influx of water when it rains, except one spot and that spot will be fixed when it stops raining and drys out again…

I still have a tiny leak and since it rained good today, it allowed me to find that leak. It will be defeated… 😉

WtR

At first being in someone else’s home and going through their life is strange…

Nikolai is and will always be embedded in the home we got. Just like I am sure that he felt that way as the home was his sisters and she built the home. I did not ever know her, but I am positive that I can point out what was her and what is related to him. Now after several weeks, you can also point out what is the me, myself in the home…

In a real home, you install a bit of your soul in that home. Yesterday, I started to clean out some of the past and tossed that past this morning at 5 a.m…

I guess I am writing this because, yesterday also a 42 year old girl died in the village. The ambulance came and got her to the hospital still barely alive, but they could not save her. She died…

The why and how is not important. It just is part of life…

42 is so young to me now…

But I digress, I am cleaning out and cleaning up, as is necessary, what is left of Nikolai. I put on his favorite hat, the hat he wore to the Big Village when we went shopping together. A bit (Okay a bunch) small for me, but that does not matter…

I know his wife was not able to do it and in a way I am performing a service to keep her from dealing with the pain of cleaning up what was and making it now what is. I inherited the life of an old Soviet gentleman, who loved working with wood and building things. I am using the materials that he had laid out for projects to do, projects that up until the day he died, he planned on doing…

At 80 plus years old he had a dozen unfinished projects that he desired to do and I am working on them daily. I kinda like to think he smiles from heaven as I rebuild the porches,walls, create new fences, gates and sweep the floors. For that is what he loved to do….work and work and work on projects…

When I finish his projects, I will start and lay out my own projects…

Life is good today and I am glad that we have his home to care for…

At first it was strange…

WtR

A tenth of the cost to live…
A tenth of the government regulations…
Emotions are not wasted on frivolous things and or people…
Cottiers, as in most of the world, everywhere…

And…

100% more freedom than where I came from…

That was my July 4th. A very free and nice July 4th. Just had to be in Russia to experience it…

I sat this morning sipping coffee at 5 a.m. and realized how lucky I am. The birds where all over the yard. The baby birds are now basically on their own, with moms and dads keeping a watchful eye on them all. There are dozens of fluttering and flapping birds, still learning the finer controls of flight and two landed at my feet. they looked at me and squawked at me…

As if to say, “Why are you in my way?”

I said, “Sorry little one and I will be more careful next time!”

Tomorrow I will travel to the Big Village. Nina, a full time villager, needs 50 kilos of sugar and I need to stock up on a few groceries. Sveta will not come this weekend, so my Friday trip to town will become an early Saturday trip…

Svetochka is about to have two grand kids. (Looks like by sonogram, a girl.) Not sure she likes the term babushka yet, so I try to not use that term too much. But, she has found a little soul buddy in Ernie her first grand kid. He seems to relate well with BABUSHKA!

I tell Sveta, “He is smarter than his parents and needs you to help teach him about life!”

Time to go walk…

WtR

Woke at 2 a.m. and decided to get going for the day. It was light enough out and I will post this article and then walk for an hour…

Yesterday, I was busy all day long…

The Gate and a cup of Coffee…

Three years ago I built the gate at the mother inlaws home. It finally needed more paint and is in good shape. No rot and no sagging. Then I rebuilt the favorite bench and since it was too wide now, I had to add a third post. It is solid…

But my day actually started with rebuilding the new home front stairs. In between times, Father Pavel came by to say hi. Vova came by and had lunch ready. Vova wants to go and visit the store in the Big Village today, need groceries…

Just not enough time in the day to do it all and I have a million things to do…

But hey, as the Russians say, “Always is tomorrow!” (Vsegda yest’ zavtra – Всегда есть завтра)

4 a.m. and time to walk…

WtR

Just a post of images. just stuff going on in TRV…

WtR

The word liberal doesn’t mean what it used to mean. In the old days it simply meant “Open to new ideas or ways of doing things.” Those words do not describe what passes for enlightened thinking inside of our modern liberal movement. There is no longer any room for debate with these people. If you disagree with them you are immediately dismissed as a Neanderthal, a Nazi , or just an idiot, not worthy of their attention. The absence of debate has led to their ideals becoming increasingly adolescent over the years. Our parents gave us the “Golden Rule” and we in turn have given our children gender pronouns. It really is sickening…

Liberal a new dirty word?

WtR

Just once in a very long while…

Do you feel sorry for the bug?

Nope, I don’t…

George says, “Yummy!”

WtR

Old Man Winter woke up and decided to smack us all with a cold spell. The high for the next few weeks looks to be about max +20 C….

Is summer over?

Not quite, but it could be on the downhill swing here in Russia! You just have to remember that I tell you, “Winter is almost eight months long and the other three seasons are four months long all together.”

Yesterday was +12 at the best…

Windows to Russia has finally been switched to HTTPS…

Svetochka worked long and hard to switch WtR to a Google friendly https (Yes, Google will slap you with many degrading penalties such as in search functions on Google with no https)….even though in Russia, Yandex says, “That is good to do, but we will not penalize you for not being https!”

Yandex rocks as a search engine…

It was not easy and Sveta said, “If anyone wants their site switched, they have to pay at least $100 cold hard cash, Dude!”

I think Svetochka listens to me talk to much in English…

Cold Hard Cash, Dude!

That is it and I am going to go walk as Sweet Pea gets a few more hours of sleep. She is snuggled in bed like a bug in a rug…

Have a nice day…

WtR

And Sveta ate cherries, George ate bugs also…

Caught both my workers taking their twentieth lunch break…They kinda look alike while sneaking food as we are suppose to be working…

But it all got done…

Between rains and high winds. Sveta helped me and we built a new gate for the back of Nikolai’s Home…

Today is +9 and rainy and windy…

I looked around for summer and all I found was a grouchy old man winter, rubbing the sand out of his eyes. I hope he goes back to sleep soon. I have lots to do at the Tiny Russian Village…

We are back to Momachka’s home and will sleep well tonight. I fixed sliced turkey, seafood salad and fried pita bread for dinner and then we crawled in bed and soon were snoring away…

That gate almost whooped us… 😉

WtR

Shifting East…

Regardless of trade deal or not at this point. Damage is done! The bully has been exposed and his tactics are unforgivable on the world scene. The shift away from trust in the USA has begun and will accelerate quickly…

China see their trade relations with US companies can be null and void after one tweet from President Trump. It will force Chinese companies to develop their own supply lines of components and services. Russia and China must not be dependent on one single component from the US…

With the sanctions on Huawei we see Android and other suppliers has been snubbed for selling to the huge Chinese market by the US. Huawei new operating system will be a fierce competitor in international markets…

President Trump will see and Tweet a trade deal with China as a huge victory, but the biggest losers has been US consumers and US companies that will lose significant market shares. And these shares are lost forever, for proof of reliability is hard to regain once you destroy the relationship…

Shear numbers of consumers is the key to it all…

Trump knows, he is on loosing streak over trade deals with every countries, especially China. But in lacking ability he is always inconsistent when he meets, but he then goes out twitting and overrides everything what was discussed at the meeting…

It is like he says things and then his boss comes around and chews him out for being stupid. Then he tweets what he is suppose to say in the first place…

Short term hurt on China & World is long term flourishing for China…

Now I see we are threatening the EU…

“SWIFT” is out “INTEX” is in…

WtR