Windows to Russia

Guard cat sits at the front gate many times and thus, I call him Guard Cat. He likes to look out over the lake and see the eagles and hawks flying. Fat Cat, lays around in the back yard and sleeps all day. Then he wanders at night looking for tidbits to eat. He looks like he does well…

Guard cat (whom is one big kitty also), when he is not guarding the gate, stays in the outer building and Fat Cat stays in the shed attached to the home. Opposite sides of the yard. They have tangled and are very equal in fighting, both males and both smart enough to walk around each other carefully. They have reached an impasse and I like that better that way…

Yard is big enough for both….especially since they know that the only time I get testy is when they fight. Then Big Bear roars and they scatter….no noise and fighting in bear’s birdie yard…

When I mow they both give me dirty looks and hide in their respective cubby holes. There is also a smaller cat that visits once in awhile. I call it, which is a female, the Little Ally Cat…

I tell Fat Cat and Guard Cat that she is no good!

Then the field sparrow sings to all of us all day long and has a nest nearby. It loves the plum trees and all the bugs available…

Just a few buddies that I took a picture of yesterday….many more in TRV…

WtR

Watered everything and picked up the yard a bit. Always limbs from winds around TRV to clean up. Windy is the norm around here and that does make life more bearable with the heat. It also helps keep the flying blood suckers at bay for the most part….except do not go near the forest! The mosquitoes are crazy thick right now…

The air at our home is giddy with lilac fragrance. I mean this year it is almost light headed thick….everywhere is a syrupy smell inside and outside the home. The bees are in heaven, they had a plum haven of blossoms and now lilacs everywhere to keep them happy…

The apples did not bloom this year. Not in the TRV’s….I have seen trees full of blossoms in the fields at places, yet in the villages, nothing but a few blooms. Poor apple year in 2021…

This yard is a haven for many creatures…

The sunflowers are off to a great start and the chickadees are already putting in their orders for delivers later in the year. 😉

Need to mow again today. Having two huge yards to mow is a full time job around here. You hesitate even a day and the grass grows half a foot while you goof off…

The white lilac sent by a reader a few years ago survived. It has been interesting to keep it alive after transportation through the mail system. But….lilacs are hardy and this little white lilac wanted to live…

Now that it has taken its time and rooted itself very well. It will start to grow faster and faster. Soon we will have white lilacs in our yards…

I appreciate the white lilacs, very much! Thank you…

WtR

Now for the fun today. Lets irritate a Hedgehog in TRV…

…
Listen to the hedgehog after I talk to him. He probably did not like the way I asked him what he is doing!

WtR

Oh so pretty

Once long ago as the sunflower was introduced to Europe, from what was now called the USA:

Tidbit:

In Russia the sunflower found its true place. Due to the fact that the Holy Orthodox Church which has strict guidelines on the use of many foods, during Lent and Advent. Made it difficult to find acceptable foods. The church approved the use of sunflowers during lent times. Thus, it was in Russia that the sunflower became a major agricultural crop. They provided a source of oil that could be eaten without falling afoul of the church dietary laws…

Early in the 20th Century, Russian growers spearheaded the breeding and selection for disease resistance and high oil content…

Then Russians eagerly accepted the sunflower as an oil source that could be eaten without breaking the laws of the church. Therefore it was a natural situation and an easy to get food, so Russians also enjoyed sunflowers as a snack food…

I have a saying, “You want to find your Russian friend? Just follow the trail of sunflower hulls!”

You can be in the middle of nowhere, and wonder (as you wander) has anyone every been here? Then you find a pile of sunflower shells and realize that you are not the first to grace this remote area you stumbled upon…

Russians have a certain fascination for sunflowers and really, I have followed trails of seed hulls into the woods and after awhile come upon a log that someone sat upon and there is a pile of seed hulls. Like a tree where a squirrel lives and you have acorn shells everywhere…

Get on a subway car, train car, stand at a bus stop, just look around anywhere and you will find the tale tale signs of a Russian as they eat one of the most important snack foods there is in Russia. Salted sunflower seeds are available everywhere in the stores and during lent, there is a whole bunch of sunflower seed munching going on…

While it is socially unacceptable to be a “peasant” and spit your seeds everywhere! That does not stop many Russians from leaving a trail of seed hulls as they travel everywhere…

Good thing the hulls are biodegradable!

So this year, I have planted sunflowers and as of yesterday, up from the ground has popped a hundred little babies. These babies will grow big and strong and feed my little bird babies for the winter time…

Of course if the family wants some also? I will ask the baby birds if they can have some to!

WtR

Stunningly beautiful and yet, not very cuddly…

Adders are the subject of much folklore in Russia….a Russian will panic and probably hurt themselves before the Viper. Just do not mention black and snake in the same breath…

He said, “Go away or else!”

I said, “Fine, but first lets get a picture!”

Then as I left I said, “Don’t come to the Tiny Russian Village!”

Then he said, “Don’t worry, Russians scream too much when I am around them!”

WtR

Vipera berus, the common European adder… (Snake)

Politics, bullying, prison, Netanyahu, unfair, USA, games, agenda, smoke screen and hundreds of more issues…

If Israel did not do the things they do and treat others the way they do and had not intentionally been forced down throats?

Then there would not be a situation as it is now and has been many times in the past…

Regardless of how you feel about Israel?

Israel is the main issue behind what is happening. That means you must go back to the beginning, May 14, 1948…

Therefore, you must think and not follow agenda and propaganda…

WtR

Right there to the right of the big roof beam. Getting ready to rain and very dark actually, so not the clearest picture!

It was not easy, for she runs the second she thinks I am around. But, after days of working near her she let her guard down for two seconds instead of one second and I got a fairly good shot of her sitting on her nest. This is what I see when I show up and off she goes…

Good wagtail….and she has beady black eyes…

WtR

Painting mom’s home and just have been too busy…

Weather finally has improved and have to take advantage of that while I can. Soon horseflies and mosquitoes will be hunting me down….yum yum!

Hope to finish painting the home this weekend and then I will rebuild the brick wood stove…

Tiny Russian Village is not boring at all!

WtR

Sveta my sweetpea is taking a test today on her Chinese language…

I find her amazing and wish I had her tenacity!

She has been studying like crazy and I hope she does good….”knock on wood”, people…

I hardly know English, much less enough Russian and she is fluent in English and Russian and now working on Chinese!

Smart girl…

WtR

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. The Russian government has approved a list of unfriendly countries. There are two names on the list – the United States and the Czech Republic. The instruction was uploaded to the official portal of legal information on Friday.”… To approve the attached list of countries that commit unfriendly actions towards Russia, Russian citizens or Russian legal entities,” the instruction says.

Source: Russian government approves list of unfriendly countries. – Russian Politics & Diplomacy – TASS

Official list so far….and my country is on the list!

~~ Wonder why? ~~

Yes, it is no wonder why!

WtR