Tuesday is the day I definitely go to the market. Nikolai’s and Larissa’s ride did not show up and will not show up for a few more days, thus him and his wife needed to get more food. He went with me and stocked the cupboards again with potatoes, apples, tomatoes and other goodies. He was really thankful, because there just is no other way to get food for them…
Nikolai loves to go to town with me and I like having him along. It is what makes the world go around. How many Russians can say that they had an American chauffeur them around all summer? 🙂 That is what I thought!
They gave me a pig pan full of little delicious plums and told me after they are gone to get all I can eat. Their trees are full of plums and Nikolai explains that eat these plums and everything inside of you comes out the other end, the way it is supposed to… 😉
Good advice, because that could be an issue if it does not come out the way it is supposed to…
Nikolai and Vova sat at our table in our front yard and discussed about the past presidents of Russia. The best I followed is this; Putin (OK,) Medvedev (we do not mention,) Yeltsin (worst kind of drunk,) Gorbachev (American patsy sellout of the country,) Chernenko (Who?,) Andropov (OK sometimes,) Brezhnev (could have been worse,) Khrushchev (they liked,) and they ended with Bulganin and Malenkov (Who?,) and Nikolai talked about Stalin…
Nikolai is 86 years old by the way. That means he was born in 1929 and lived through the Stalin era and said it was OK! Never a problem for him, Vova was a kid during that era and life was good for him. It was good for me too… 🙂
* * * * * * * * * *
Now this is what I call a beautiful river, I need a canoe, for this river is perfect for a lazy paddling trip. I think that Sveta would have a blast canoeing this river with me. It is slow enough we could paddle upstream and float lazily back…
I always think of the “The Ant and the Grasshopper – Aesop’s Fables!”
I think about how easy it is to be the grasshopper and ignore what is coming, just for the pleasures of the moment. I have decided that we can still have the pleasures and get things done, I just pace myself and do both. Though yesterday, Boza decided that I had not done enough walking and after he pushed on me, we walked a two hour walk just for him…
I guess Tuesday when I go to town, I will get another blue barrel, I have enough wood chips to fill another barrel and they make great fire starters in the fireplace. I want to keep a blue barrel full of water up until the last non freezing days. The water is used for many things around the village home and I need it…
* * * * * * * * * *
I got up at 3:45 a.m., the moon was incredible as I walked Boza. It was six degrees out. It is so strange to think that just a few months ago, the sun would have been up already and now it comes up around 5:30 a.m.!
* * * * * * * * * *
Yesterday, we had a huge storm blow in and many trees around the area suffered some damage. The neighbors home below us, had a huge limb break and was still hanging on to the tree. I looked at it and realized that if another wind came along, the huge broken limb would split the main tree trunk in half and then it would hit the house and power lines. I grabbed the chainsaw and made quick work of the tree limb and saved the tree…
Then I started to look around me and realized that everyone is gone…
There is four of us in the village right now. In a few more weeks, there will be just two of us. A lady on top the hill near the monastery and me toward the bottom of the hill. The weather has driven everyone away and Vova is running to his new flame and spending the nights all cuddly as he puts it. Vova says that he will spend the winter snuggled as a bug in a rug… 🙂
* * * * * * * * * *
I just dug up more potatoes and Vova gave me a bunch more potatoes, I guess I need to get these potatoes in storage. I could hear the sound in Sveta’s voice as she thought about all the dishes I could create with these potatoes, when she came to visit. I do hope that in the January Holidays, that Sveta can come and stay for two weeks. I promise to keep the home warm for her with extra firewood…
* * * * * * * * * *
As I walked yesterday, I was trying to figure out why humans are the way they are. I guess somewhere, someway and some reason, the great genetic experiment called Humans, on the planet Earth, has failed. Humans have to be an experiment, because, we do not fit the mold of Earth’s creatures…
We do not work with nature, we try to play god, we hate, we kill for sport, we rape the earth of resources and the list goes on. All the while, we have a miracle planet to live on, a planet that is among the prime living quarters in the Universe…
The issue and truth is that we are insufficient carnivores, we are insufficient herbivores and we are insufficient omnivores! We are simply parasitic on the planet and thus, that is why my thinking spins toward; we are an experiment and placed upon this planet to see what happens. Sounds stupid and dumb, and why would anyone or thing waste a perfect planet with such parasites?
We live beyond our means and one day the debt will be due. I am not talking about the financial debt, that is actual just part of the parasitism. Humans have lost the ability to see that we have to create a balance with nature and God. We have become that “God” in our eyes and that is a failing of huge proportions for the moral structure of the world…
Have a nice day! I have to go, for George the Birdbrain, one of our last baby monster birds, is screeching at me. I would image his birdbath is almost dry and he wants to take a bath. He is that way… 😉
PS: I am getting ready to get birdseed and make some bird feeders for these left over monster birds. I have a beautiful female “Song Thrush” in the cherry trees and “George the Nightingale” on the other side of the home. They ignore each other… Oh, and we have a hundred sparrows…
At 5:30 a.m. it was 10 degrees above zero and the breeze drifted the fresh air into the house, at a leisurely pace. The sun poked its head up and I saw a moon that was simply huge and realized that this moon was a “SuperMoon” that comes around once in awhile. Tonight I will get images of it with my big camera, if the clouds are clear, for it popped below the horizon, before I could even get the camera this morning. That is how it does up North here…
* * * * * * * * * *
Boza is being watched…
Mamma and Papa…
Beautiful…
Dead stop in air, floating…
Circling…
Story behind this…
Images; Boza is always watched carefully as he runs around, by the local animals. Boza just loves to chase cats, but he knows to never chase chickens, but the chicken is helping the cat keep an eye out on the mean dog…
The eagles are active and I finally caught mamma and papa together…
* * * * * * * * * *
The tree is interesting to me; the tree lives in a yard of a long time resident of the village. He broke his leg at the beginning of the summer and I mean he broke it terribly bad. Snapped and bone through the skin. I know he is not doing well still and has been gone all summer. His family is watching him and they have come several times to care for his place. But I noticed today, that a tree that had been fully green at the beginning of the summer is half dead. It simply died in the last month and withered like it had been dead for a long time. I know better and it struck me this morning, that maybe he was not doing well at all. I suspect that we will not see him again in the village, for he was a hardcore alcoholic and that is what led to his accident…
I today, associated the half dead tree in his yard, with his situation and as I walked past today, a chill struck me and it centered from his home. I have learned to heed such instances and I worry about him…
* * * * * * * * * *
I am already starting to acclimate to the changing weather, Boza is getting a heavy fur coat and I am getting tougher by the day. I have forced myself to strengthen my right hand and arm. This is the arm I have talked about, that due to heart attacks, it was weakened a bunch. It is now as strong as my left and maybe stronger due to coordination issues. I can now lift my heaviest buckets full of water without shaking, by either arm straight out from my body. Yesterday, I held both buckets up full of water and did not shake. This is what I mean about getting healed in the village…
I weighed the buckets full of water to the rim and they weigh 45 lbs each. While that is nothing compared to my younger years, it is a great step forward from my heart attack years and I will take what I can get… 😉
* * * * * * * * * *
Sveta and I bought this wonderful device for me to use in the winter. It has a water storage tank on top, which heats the water and can be used to wash dishes and or wash hands, face and such. We also bought a mirror, so that I can stay pretty looking… 🙂
I am looking forward to winter, it will be cold, so I am gathering firewood now. The neighbor said that it takes 4 cube of wood (about a cord,) to heat the home for the winter. I have about that right now, so any that I add will be icing on the cake…
I am already stacking the wood along the fence line and will be setting up my inside supply to last me several days for emergencies and such. Sveta is checking about the free wood given to locals, they are supplied with 4 cubes a year, by the local government. To be honest with you, that is really wonderful that they do this for the locals and I find that many things are done that way in Russia. Basics such as heating and energy are a given for the people and not a burden. That makes a huge difference in life. Be nice if I could get a 4 cube of wood…
* * * * * * * * * *
Well gotta run, have to stack firewood (drova in Russian,) then I have a bunch of firewood to bring from the back of the house to the side yard, so I am busy…
Salo; a food that is endearing to the Russian Villager almost as much as Vodka is. Salo is considered a food of the foods and the one who brings Salo to the party is the guest of honor. But…. it better be good homemade Salo… 🙂
1.) A kilo of Pork Belly…
2.) At least two cups of Sea Salt…
3.) Two Bay Leaves…
4.) Ground Black Pepper and or Peppercorns… (to taste)
5.) Fresh Garlic and an Onion… (to taste)
Lets make Salo…
Place the pork belly on a plate and let it sit for at least an hour or two in room temperature. This allows it to soften properly…
Grab a glass container large enough to hold the kilo of raw fat and has room on all sides to allow turning the chunk of fat to make sure it is covered thoroughly… (Do not cut the fat, leave whole.)
Put about an inch of sea salt in the bottom of the container. Then finely dice half the garlic and half the onions, layer onto the salt, with pepper and a bay leaf…
Then place the kilo of fat on top of the salt, garlic, onion and bay leaf. Press into the salt bed the fat…
Then layer a bay leaf, peppercorns (? up to you and or crushed red pepper is fantastic), ground black pepper and diced garlic and diced onion on top of the chunk of raw fat and cover it fully with salt…
Leave it in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks, check on it occasionally, to make sure no one is bothering it and it’s done! Take it out of the salt mix and wrap and put in the freezer and wait for your drinking buddies to show up and proudly show them your creation
Lets eat Salo…
– Take Salo out of your freezer, slice thin your Salo… (smile as you buddies exclaim how wonderful you are!)
– Slice thick your black bread… (Or white if that is all you have?)
– Smear your bread with a good layer of hot mustard and lay Salo on top… (Some like raw garlic at this point also!)
– Pour a shot of vodka and say, “To your health!”
– Down the shot of vodka… (Straight please!)
– Grab Salo and bread combination and eat…
– A Salo sandwich can be used for several shots of Vodka, but you may find it so good that you eat it too fast… (Or maybe not!)
Sides with this Russian treat are; salt pickles, whole small raw onions, whole garlic toes and what ever catches your fancy…
Just drink and eat food every time, that is the Russian way…
Interesting times to watch WW3 develop. Right now the financial issues are knocking on everyone’s doors and the sight ain’t pretty at all. The term “Dog Eat Dog,” is looking like a perfect fit right now and when the last few dogs are standing, then the real fighting begins…
A sad thing has kept going around and around in my mind in the last few weeks. I mentioned the talk I had with someone from the government in Russia and he mentioned, after asking me what I thought about the possibility of World War Three? He said that they were getting ready and that it would happen…
I said, “World War Three? It is now!”
He shook his head in agreement and we sat silent thinking in our own thoughts about what has happened to our world, a Russian and American, can get along, I know, I do everyday…
WW3; Not maybe, but it will happen and not a matter of could happen, but when it happens, things will get real bad, for this time, the goal is to let the U.S.A. taste what she has wrought upon the earth. This is seriously a big thing in the world now. The fact that America has never been tested with true carnage upon her soil in recent times, has not gone unnoticed by the world. The world is being treated like gutter rats, as America likes to bomb humans into dust and gore…
* * * * * * * * * *
It is interesting to watch countries riding the fence; like that is going to matter in the end. One second they smile at China or Russia and the next second they kiss the U.S., they want to fall off the fence on the correct side as the war starts and then they will run to gather the spoils as the dust settles. But spoils will be spoiled, with radioactive particles, settling all over the world…
Raping, reaping and pillaging, just ain’t what it use to be like in the old days…
* * * * * * * * * *
I was sick yesterday and slept four hours extra, during the day, I woke with a though in my head and today I wrote about that thought. Then as I wrote, I realized that this is only for me to understand it better. For the bottom line is that I have lost faith in my people and my country that is causing all this and either you wake up or you wake up as you die and it all is because you do not correct what a small percent of the population is being allowed to do…
But it is interesting to watch how we expiate minor issues and pay no heed to issues that will kill us and destroy our existence; financially and physically…
* * * * * * * * * *
I guess the U.S. needs to get real; either quit lying and trying to be righteous or just tell the world, you want to rule it. We all know you do and truth will at least set you free. Literally everyone I know in America, thinks that the world is a place of ill repute and America (plus Israel,) is the cats meow with sugar on top…
190 Americans Admirals and Generals Oppose Iran Deal – by John Stanton
According to Carol Greenwald writing at American Thinker on 27 August 2015, Washington Post writer “[Carol] Morello does not mention how incredible it was that a few people, mostly a woman named Marsha Halteman from New Orleans, in one week could get 190 flag officers to sign a public letter stating that “the JCPOA [Iran Deal] would threaten the national security and vital interests of the United States and, therefore, should be disapproved by the Congress.”
Well not so incredible at all thanks to the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs (JINSA) very successful Generals and Admiral Program that has been in operation for many years. It has been the pipeline for 400 American military officers to visit Israel. Israel also runs similar programs for US military academy students and US law enforcement personnel.
The purpose of bringing American military personnel—and military academy students—is to maintain “Continued and robust military-to-military dialogue between the American and Israeli defense establishments is central to JINSA’s philosophy. The annual Generals and Admirals Program to Israel, in which recently retired American generals and admirals are invited to visit Israel with JINSA to meet the top echelon of the Israeli military and political leadership, ensures that the American delegation is well briefed on the security concerns of Israel, as well as the key role Israel plays as a friend and ally of the U.S. To date, JINSA has taken close to 400 retired officers to Israel, many of whom serve on JINSA’s Board of Advisors.”
As of this writing the Washington Post does not appear to have updated its story on the incredible effort of Marsha Halteman who is the recipient of a prestigious award from a US combatant command. “It gives us great pleasure to announce that JINSA’s Marsha Halteman will be honored by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) with their Outstanding Civilian Service Medal for her tireless work on JINSA’s Soldiers Appeal, which raises funds for military members and their families who are in need of financial assistance. Her selfless and hard work is instrumental in actively supporting a USSOCOM priority – enhancing the quality of life of the individual warrior and family. Established by the Commander of USSOCOM in September 1998, the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal recognizes civilians who have provided outstanding support or service. For Marsha, this work has been both an act of love and admiration for our men and women in uniform, as well as above and beyond the call of duty. She has truly made a difference in the lives of so many soldiers and their families and she is most deserving of this award. This prestigious award will be presented to Marsha by a senior member of the USSOCOM Command at JINSA’s Spring 2014 Leadership Conference. Details of this meeting and a formal “Save the Date” will be released soon. We hope that many of you will be able to join us for the meeting and to honor Marsha.”
If the US national security and political establishment had the dedication, tenacity and thoroughness of the Israeli’s—in their pursuit of their national security interests, the USA would be a far more powerful country abroad and maybe at home. Israel’s interests are represented in every nook and cranny in the United States at the local, state and federal levels. They believe in Israel, nothing else. That deserves respect. American leaders, comparatively, are pathetic.
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer. Reach him at captainkong22@gmail.com
I found a broken down home that squatters are living in. I saw them peaking out from the old overgrown road, from their home they have moved into. They have been getting water at night from the well and today I decided to follow the trail they have left to their home, a home buried in the weeds. It is a very old man and his wife and I will keep an eye on them, for if they stay this winter, I hope they will be okay…
Today I found three new places, that I have never seen, but it helps to walk the oldest road that no one uses and we discovered several homes that did not burn down when the fire took the whole back side of the village many years ago…
* * * * * * * * * *
Sveta arrived safely in Moscow this morning and I already miss her, but Boza and I have tons of stuff to do. Well I should say, Boza is the straw boss and I am the laborer… 😉
It is going to get up to 25 C. today and then turn cold again. This weekend will rain and I will burn all the saplings I have cut down. The rainy days are perfect to burn everything up. I filled up my benzine potable tank and now I can finish clearing the stumps and saplings around the home. Then I will start rebuilding the back side of the village home. It is time to get ready for winter, for winter comes fast in Russia and in “Mother Russia; winter loves you long time…”
* * * * * * * * * *
Sveta needs to meet with her family from Great Britain. Svetlana from the GB is like a sister to Sveta and I am glad that they could come to Russia to visit the relatives. They moved to GB a long time ago and raised two daughters there. So Sveta has British relatives…
* * * * * * * * * *
Today I start stacking firewood and see if I need to buy a splitting maul to continue increasing the wood supply or wait till next year to get the maul. I have a bunch of wood already and I think it is sufficient for this winter…
* * * * * * * * * *
I rebuilt the carburetor on the Sammy the Volga and she is running like a new girl. I had bought a carb kit when I bought the new fuel pump and actually forgot about it. So a few days ago I rebuilt it and found that I need to get another kit, for it looks like our Volga has to have a carb overhaul almost every single year. That is the life of a benzine carburetor on our Volga, but that is all good, for we have propane also and that effects the carb’s life…
Time to go, Boza and I have lots to do and we need to get going. It will be warm enough today that we will have to siesta after lunch, so I am wasting the day, as I sit here and write…
Woke up kinda sad this morning. Sveta leaves today and a bunch of villagers are leaving this weekend. My buddy Nikolai and his wife will take off this weekend and not be back until next summer. Nikolai went to the Big Village Tuesday on one last trip for this year. He had so much fun traveling to the Big Village every week with me and he thanked me very much for taking him…
But the sadness only last a short time, for I have so much to do and not enough time to do it. Sveta and I talk everyday by phone and she wished she could stay longer in person, but she has family in from Great Britain, thus, she must get back home and meet them all…
I am hoping also that Sveta and her mom take a trip to the Black Sea and do some swimming. They need to, but I do not control what others do, just myself and it seems only a 50/50 proposition right now. Sveta has a wonderful mom and those two need to spend a few weeks traipsing around Sochi or the Crimea…
Sveta also needs to ride her bike a bunch more, for Moscow has had a bike resurgence and bike trails are everywhere. The Muscovite’s are bike nuts right now…
* * * * * * * * * *
They are repairing the fish nets at our lake and repairing the docks. It looks like soon they will harvest this lake. I have my tripod for the camera and will take some serious pictures of what they do. I have perfect seats to watch the process and will post a few pictures in the future. Almost fish (ryba) time… 🙂
* * * * * * * * * *
Therefore I will leave this post. I have walked Boza, the neighbor is burning a fire to keep warm and Sveta is stirring under the covers of the bed. Time to fix breakfast and get going for the day. Sveta leaves tonight…
Summer is an interesting thing in Russia. There just is not a summer most years. Seriously, there has not been over a week that anyone could swim in the lakes this year. Oh, some diehards decided to try to, they ended up sitting on the beach in their swimsuits shivering. Now as I looked this morning, the leaves are falling and turning yellow and red. It is faint, but they are turning…
Foggy bottoms…
Birches are turning yellow…
It was 4 degrees above this morning when I first got up and after the sun poked her head-up, it became a more manageable 6 degrees. The sun is still warm enough in the day to get us back into the 20 pluses, but the nights are getting long and it is single digits from now on…
This is one of my seats overlooking the lake. This is where I catch images of Mamma Eagle as she hunts and fishes. That is my sidekick (Boza) in crime watching birds behind me. I want to thank Sveta for taking this image, for it captures the Bozka and I as we study the world. The man in the moon is even watching with us…
* * * * * * * * * *
Sveta will be gone Wednesday and then Boza and I will watch the village empty of people, the auto magazine will stop running to our village and the days will get short. I have to leave for Estonia sometime in October, but that is a ways away, then after about two weeks in Moscow, Boza and I will come to the village for the winter. I will stock up on food for me at that point, I have stocked food for Boza, there is about thirty boxes of food for him (three months worth now,) and I need to get that to about four months worth of stock, before winter sets in…
For Boza and I will be walking and taking pictures all winter in the village. It looks like at this point it will be only Boza and I, plus one woman at the top of the village, near the monastery. Vova is going to move in with his new girl for the winter (in her huge home,) as soon as he gets all his animals taken care of…
I know Sveta is starting to wish to stay here also, for she has found an amazing thing has happened this trip. Sveta’s issues she has with health, have simply cleared up and almost went away (in another week they would be non-issues,) that is after same issues disappearing on a trip a month ago and coming back when she got back to Moscow. This is what I keep saying, “The village heals…”
Boza is starting to get his winter coat of fur and I am getting ready to acclimate to cold. It is time to get tough again and live a clean life. I plan on dropping more weight and getting thin, it is strange to remember when I weighed 225 lbs playing sports of all types. I leaned to 185 lbs in the army and could do push ups with my Drill Sargent standing on my back, I really disliked him for that… 😉
I understand that sometimes we must dig and find our roots again. It is important and Boza and I have dug and we have found the roots, now we have to learn to live with those roots of our souls…
Boza is no longer a city dog, he eats fish heads and chases ducks with joy. Life is a bowl of cherries for Boza, and he does not care a darn about the pits…
I guess that is what I will learn to do this winter, “Life is a bowl of cherries and to hell with the pits!”
Sveta is so happy to be here and she will stay until Wednesday. This is good and she will take a whole bunch of new pictures for me to use. She looks at life different than I do and thus, takes different images. Like below…
She loved the flowers and thus the village in the background was secondary, yet it looks perfect to me… 🙂
She uses a Samsung Zoom Camera phone and it really takes fantastic images. I am now using my new Olympia 24X optical zoom compact, that Sveta brought and the images at near the top are from that. 5000 rubles is all that camera cost and that is about $75. What a deal, should have bought two of them at that price…
Quick one handed snap with the new camera…
Yes, I am back in business with a lightweight and easy to carry camera…
Have a nice day, Sveta and I have to run to town and pay for internet, it is just about to run out…
Tuesday is the day I definitely go to the market. Nikolai’s and Larissa’s ride did not show up and will not show up for a few more days, thus him and his wife needed to get more food. He went with me and stocked the cupboards again with potatoes, apples, tomatoes and other goodies. He was really thankful, because there just is no other way to get food for them…
They gave me a pig pan full of little delicious plums and told me after they are gone to get all I can eat. Their trees are full of plums and Nikolai explains that eat these plums and everything inside of you comes out the other end, the way it is supposed to… 😉
