Category: 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…

I woke this morning at around 4:30 a.m. and grabbed a cup of coffee first thing. Boza was hungry as he kept staring at his empty food bowl, so I gave him 300 grams of food and he drank a bunch of water and we were ready to explore the village. Actually I wanted a second cup of coffee, but Boza decided to sit at the door and make groaning noises. That is how he tells me to get my butt in gear…

The village was quiet this morning, for many people showed up to plant their gardens and they partied half the night. That is normal when the part time villagers start showing up. Everyone runs around meeting everyone and that leads to a shot of vodka here and a shot of vodka there and a shot of vodka everywhere. Then the next day no one gets anything done due to hangovers and I have to be quiet until noon, so as not to wake the dead as they recover…

Boza and I walked for two hours, we checked on our strawberry patch, we checked on the monastery, we checked on the natural water source in the woods, we checked on the river and we checked on the fish in the lake. It is our job, you know? Then we water our garden, did the laundry and washed the dishes. Now I am writing a post and Boza is sleeping under the bed…

I am going to mow the yard, but that has to wait for as I said, “I do not want to wake the dead!” There must be 35 people in the village right now and I just saw the monk go up the hill to the monastery. That means the bell will ring soon and most likely a hundred people will walk up the hill and they will have some sort of service at the monastery. It will be interesting as the monastery grows, for it is twice as busy now as it was last year and our home is centered to all the action…

Tomorrow (Sunday) I am going to the big village and go to the market. I have to find myself some lightweight pants or long shorts or both. I also need to find a vacuum cleaner, a cheap one, as I killed the one I have, finally. Plus I will do my weekly shopping for supplies and who knows what else…

Okay, I will take some pictures of the market!

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

This is what the internet told me…

Friday May 22, 2015

Afterfeast of the Ascension. Tone five.
Fast. Fish Allowed

Prophet Isaiah (8th c. B.C.).
Martyr Christopher of Lycia, and with him Martyrs Callinica and Aquilina (249).
Translation of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra to Bari, in 1087.
Venerable Joseph of Optina (1911).
New Hieromartyr Demetrius priest (1938).
New Hieromartyr Basil priest (1939).
Repose of the Venerable Shio of Mgvime (6th c.) (Georgia).
Translation of the relics (1775) of Child-martyr Gabriel of Slutsk (1690).
Martyr Epimachus of Pelusium, who suffered at Alexandria (250).
Martyr Gordion at Rome (362).
Venerable Nicholas, who lived in Vuneni, of Larissa in Thessaly (1400).
Zaraysk Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (1225).

The Scripture Readings:

John 10:1-9 Matins Gospel
Acts 19:1-8
John 14:1-11
Hebrews 13:17-21 St. Nicholas
Luke 6:17-23 St. Nicholas

There was a young man taking pictures for the church and he explained to me that pictures are fine, just not from the front of the procession. They want to respect the people in the walk to the monastery. I knew that from last time and thus stayed in the front row seat that I have in my yard. The one thing different this time than last year was, they had to take a different and longer route to the monastery and that tells me something about the future. They are blocking the middle road that we now use all the time to drive through the village…

It is hot today, so they have a ambulance to care for the people who get sick as they walk. They walked from across the river at the first foot bridge, which is about 2 kilometers, then had to climb our hill to get to the monastery. I watched and the ambulance, bus and several cars, kept busy trying to help all the people walking in the sun…

They all rode home on the bus though…

Just thought you would be interested in seeing life in the monastery, when I am able, I take an image record of it…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…