Up at 5 a.m. and walked Boza. Sveta is snoozing away after a long day yesterday to get to our Tiny Russian Village. I expect she will sleep to noon and then I will fix her breakfast or lunch at that point and we will plan our day…
Vova and his LADA 4X4 Niva made it to the Big Village and we did grocery shopping and got to the train station with time to spare. The train was 5 minutes early and I was so happy to see my sweet pea…
Going to lay back down myself, Boza is already sleeping on the couch, Sveta is sleeping and I am going to build the fire back up and lay down to read a book. Maybe take a nap?
Have a nice day and I will post tomorrow, for today I am going to enjoy my family all together…
This is what 18 liters of benzine, Father Pavel of the Monastery and Vova calling every hour will help get done. I keep almost a full can of fuel all the time and they asked for benzine, not money, to get the job done. That is the way of the villages; vodka is money, potatoes are money, benzine is money, cigarettes are money, et cetera, et cetera and et cetera…
He plowed our front road and the back road going to the Fish Village. Now in the next few days, I will get the Volga out and go to town, tonight though, Vova is geared up to save the day, so I will let him take me to town and get Sveta…
I also found out today that Vova has a party in mind for my birthday, which is Saturday the 16th…
Oh so happy and joyous when getting to the Big Village is easy…
Boza and I took a very long walk this morning. I do not know how the day will fall, but somehow I have to get Sveta from the train station, even if I walk to the highway and walk to the big village. Actually lets hope I do not have to do that! 😉 But, I would do it!
Just some images to show you what is happening around the village. Boza last month was in love with Mia. Mia was in heat, so Boza decided she is okay! Mia not in heat now, so Mia is just another girl and Boza has better things to do. So after he says hi, he runs off. The issue is that Mia loves Boza, all the time and Mia gets so sad when Boza is a typical guy. We are terrible…
When Mia sees, hears or smells Boza, she howls and whines for his attention. Now last month, he would have said,”Hello, my big girl! But, now he just looks up as we walk and goes about his business. Mia just loves Boza and wants to hug him, kiss him and keep him for herself. I think that is what scares Boza the most. The keeping part…
I cleaned two foot of snow off of Sammy the Volga and she fired right up no problem. I checked the fluids and other items and she is in good form. I dug her out and if an emergency happens, I could possibly get to humanity if needed, but that is a big if and or but!
Between Vova, Father Pavel, Fish Village and or some friends in the Big Village. We plan on getting Sveta to the Tiny Russian Village. I can hear the big snowplows on the main highway and they are clearing those roads. So it looks like just a two kilometer walk to the highway across fields, rivers and ravines. I can get to a bus stop to pick up Sveta. The highway is open at least…
I did not sleep well last night, I worry about Sveta and when she is coming to the village, I worry more. It is just the way I am. So sleeping takes a backseat to everything else. I have some stuff to do today and then try to figure out what the game plan is for the rest of the ones helping me to get Sveta. Thus, I need to go and get things done. Boza is sleeping as you see in the image above and I need to stack firewood, carry water and eat a meal…
Have a nice day, for by tonight we (Boza and I,) will have our favorite girl in the world next to us. Oh Boy!
-27 yesterday for a low and -20 called for tomorrow as a low but, today +3 – OMG!
Seriously, what a roller coaster ride…
The snow is melting like crazy and when it freezes tonight at -11, I will be able to walk on the ice surface, which leads to another whole bunch of issues trying to get around…
We will see if life gets worse or better after this little heat wave?
By this time tomorrow over a thousand people will see this and hopefully a few of you will visit his site and look around. He has some great artwork and I see that he is growing in talent as the time goes by…
I am stunned at how wonderful and beautiful this picture is. I live around these type of windows daily and a simple log cabin with these windows dressed as this, become like a woman in a dress. All the prettier on a summer night…
Thank you Raker Tooth and here is his sites main page…
These images are this morning after the fridged cold yesterday and last night. The sky is clear, the wind is blowing hard and it is officially -27 C (around -17 F) when I took these images. Now the strange thing; It will get up to -2 this afternoon, talk about a temperature swing!
The second image is where Vova attempted to push his LADA Niva through the snow around the village. He did not make it. His thermostat stuck closed and he over heated. The Niva became buried right next to our fence in a drift of snow 5 feet deep. Vova was almost crying as he thought he had killed the Niva. We dug him out, I realized what had happened to make it overheat and searched for the thermostat. I finally found it and it was in a separate free standing unit to underside of the engine. It was in a perfect spot to smack with a hammer. I told Vova to start the engine and when the temperature gauge started to move up quickly, Vova panicked and I smacked the thermostat with a hammer. Vova was looking at me like I was crazy, for beating on his Niva, but all of a sudden, the Niva smoothed out her idle and I heard a slight pop from the thermostat. It was frozen shut. Vova was not doing a good job of keeping the antifreeze strong enough and the -30 had exceeded its abilities…
Spare tire under hood
{Vova realized yesterday that I was very good with cars. Vova is better at some things than I am and I am better at other things than him. That is what makes us work together so well. The same with Sveta and I. People need to complement each other to have a relationship; Vova and I have that type of relationship…}
I had a jug of -45 antifreeze and we spiked his up to a better usage level. I also saw that he had straight water in his windshield washer bottle and we pulled that to defrost. I have a third of a bottle of blue fluid good to -41 and gave that to him. Then after all of this we had to get the Niva back home. Vova floored the gas pedal and I pushed. Two feet at a time we went the 200 meters uphill to his home. Once we got it safely in his yard, we took it apart again to put it back together properly. Now we have to get hold of a thermostat and the Big Village might as well be a thousand miles away in this snow. New thermostat will only take 10 minutes to install…
I had to use Sveta on the phone to help me translate some things, but I think Vova understands about the sticking Thermostat now. This is his first Niva LADA and it is a whole bunch different than the UAZ and GAZ he as owned. I was almost stumped at to the where about of the thermostat was. I have never seen a freestanding unit before. It looked just like a three way connector for the radiator hoses, I guessed that it was the culprit and after smacking it, it was… 😉
I really like the Russian made LADA Niva…
After getting the car fixed, Vova and I ate lunch. We had pelmeni soup and salo, plus black bread and hot tea. It was interesting to see Vova dancing around after he realized that his favorite girl the Niva, was okay! He was so upset, that he even had started to remove his front grill of the Niva, he could not understand why his electric fans would not run (he was singled minded,) if the Niva was overheating. I had to firmly stop him and it is not easy, when your command of the Russian language is limited. This is when Vova decided I knew what I was doing and let me fix the LADA…
You should have seen the smile on his face when his electric cooling fans started up and the heater was putting out hot air. He looked like a kid in a candy store…
* * * * * * * * * *
Yesterday made me realize something; -20 is rough when you have to work on outside issues and good friends are priceless. I was able to pay Vova back a little bit yesterday for all the help he has given me in replacing windows on the house and other things that I never had any idea about. Living in the Tiny Russian Village has been perfect and interesting, but I have come to the realization that mistakes in this kind of temperatures can kill very quickly…
It is all summed up with what Boza did this morning as it was -27 C and almost a 40 kilometer an hour wind blowing; Boza ran around the paths I cut for him. He peed here and there. I started to walk him out of the yard and he looked out over the deep snow. He turned and ran to the front door of the home. He stood there and waited to go back in…
For the last two days I have been digging everything out. I know more snow is coming, but it makes it easier for the next time. I even cut a path so that Boza can run around the yard some (and he took advantage of it as he ran and ran) and I cleared the picnic table and will grill chicken when Sveta comes…
Now it is time to wander up to Vova’s and see if he is doing okay? Boza and I are warm and happy and we will really be happy once Sveta shows up…
I called Sveta and told her what I saw; I was watching two people walk across the lake bed. It is -25 below zero and the two people were an 80 year old babushka and her granddaughter of around 18 years old. They belong in the White Home as I call it. The granddaughter is here for winter break…
They were on their way to get groceries and such. They came from the top of the hill and followed the exact path that I cut yesterday, even all the way across the lake bed. They followed Boza and I’s path all the way to the river. Then they disappeared as they went to the nearest village. This is Monday and it is milk day for the babushka. They had a sled they were pulling and it was full of goodies to barter with…
Mind you, they were walking! Not driving, walking, I watched the old babushka all but disappear in a snow drift. The same one I dug Boza out yesterday…
I told Sveta that it was wonderful to see a youngster plowing the way for grandma and pulling the sled for her. Then Sveta said something that made me think and I am writing this post because of what she said…
Sveta said, “That is the future of Russia!”
Meaning the teenager is what matters and if raised right is the best future that Russia can have…
Kids raised to respect the elder and to work with the elder and help them. I tried with my kids, but society was too much to overcome. Too much; TV, government, you have rights, you have feelings, you do what you want, you can’t trust adults, tell us what you see, tell us what they do, never spank, never yell, never nothing and never discipline, immorality A-OK and politically correct yourself to your death. In a society that is going to work and raise good kids, you have to have all adults on the same page and all adults discipline as needed. Then again, you have to have a good group of adults to begin with and that is a big issue…
I saw too much; me me me in my world and here in Russia it is the opposite. I see mainly; you you you and do you need help?
* * * * * * * * * *
I saw something interesting; I was looking at an article in the western news and it talked about how terrible Russians hate their government. They used the fact that only around 20% of Americans thought their government was too much, compared to 44% of the Russians who think their government is over the top when it comes to being too much government. This they said was why America was so much freer and better. The government in America is so good and nice… 😉
Then it hit me; I have said that the Americans are too far gone (I pray I am wrong,) and when only around 20% think that the US gov is too much. Then something is seriously wrong. Russians fall into what I think would be a correct percent…
I live in Russia and know first hand at how free they are. I know first hand at how many liberties they have and I know first hand at how they scoff at and ignore gov. and other rules. So yes; Russians would dislike any governmental intrusion. But when I think about how low the percent of people in America see the US gov as intrusive. It rests my case as to the state of the USA…
Think what you want and bad mouth me all you want; but if you spent one year in Russia and live like a Russian does. You would experience freedom, freedom like we use to have many many years ago in America. In Russia it can still be said, “The ones who do not fit in, are truly the rotten apples in the basket!” The percent of rotten apples is low and for some reason the west grabs on to those rotten apples to promote about Russia…
I compare the basket in Russia to the basket in America and I find the basket in America to have lots of rotten apples. You should think about that…
Thus when Sveta says, “That is the future of Russia!”
I realize how true what she says is. That teenager who is helping grandma, drag a sled, walk three kilometers to the store and in general be by grandmas side in the middle of winter, is a very important thing. This is very normal for most Russians. The elderly are respected and supported. The elderly are not put in homes very often and people take pride in helping grandma or grandpa have a good elderly life…
Really it is not, but that is what everyone wants to hear. I get e-mails wishing that I would die and or freeze to death. Sad really…
I am so happy; Sveta is coming the 14th and it looks like she will have to take a taxi to the bus stop out on the main road, just a couple of kilometers away and I will walk to meet her. I have to blaze a trail there and then she can follow me back and that will make it easier for her. We talked last night and she will stop in town in the taxi, after she gets off the train and pick up some food items. I have lots of food, but there are things she likes to have and such… (Besides, I would love some Tvorg!)
Boza is having the hardest time. He is still struggling with how to do his doggy duties. We finally found a clear area by the bell tower. The wind had swept the ground clear and Boza immediately took full advantage of the situation. We will go back this morning and allow him to do the same again. Snow higher than your butt, kinda makes things different…
I had to pull Boza from a snow drift. He leaped and landed in the middle of a drift. All I saw was his nose and he froze in place. Boza knows to allow me to help him, if he is unsure of what to do. He trusts me that way. I pushed my way to him and picked the guy up and carried him to safety. Then he was off and hopping across the snow again…
It got cold last night, but not as cold as it will be tonight. We got lucky last night and the weather changed. But it is still threatening and now they are calling for at least three days of warmer weather. Right around -2 and that is when Sveta will come. See, Sveta brings joyful weather with her. She is such a sweetie. Old Man Winter likes Sveta…
Well it is getting light outside and Boza and I need to walk. Then I will get my paths cleared again to the well and other areas and I have in mind to cut a path all around the fence line. Boza then can run and check on things as they catch his interest during the day. The more paths the better…
It is going to get brutally cold by tonight, looks like it might hit -30 out here in the wilderness. I have to stack wood and shovel two feet of snow that fell last night. Boza decided that it was not fit for man or beast this morning and after taking a pee at the nearest fence post, hightailed it back to the front door and waited for me to catch up. Boza is now sound asleep on my side of the bed and has decided that this Sunday is a day for rest… 😉
The reason it is going to get really bad is that we have a southern warm front moving in and it is building all the north frigid air up in a ball right above our heads. In fact I feel that it might actually get colder than -30 tonight (my body tells me -35 C (-31 F) at least,) so I have to have lots of wood inside, to keep the fire going all night. Then after tonight is done, tomorrow will slowly warm up and it will actually hit 0 degrees on Tuesday, before flopping back to -18 on Wednesday. Damn roller coaster…
Therefore, when the daylight hits, I will be busy until dark comes again. That is quick here in the Tiny Russian Village and I need to get it all done. I have learned to rely upon my internal feelings and tonight is going to be a bad night for man or beast. With the wind blowing as hard as it does, it may just test the abilities of the home tonight. This is good, for I need to know what to fix for next year and Sveta has sent me some ideas and they are the same as we use to do on the farm. Build a barrier around the home. We use to use bales of hay to insulate the homes in the Midwest as I grew up…
Fortify the home
* * * * * * * * * *
I am going to break out a package of chicken breasts today. I decided it is time to make real chicken soup and try to stave off a nagging cold I seem to be trying to develop. I think one whole chicken breast, two small onions diced up, a diced garlic toe and lots of salt and black pepper. I also have two big fat oranges and I may eat one tonight. I was trying to save them for Sveta, because she loves oranges and such…
* * * * * * * * * *
Well need to go. I still have to walk the dog, before I start all my work and I bet Boza will decided that sleeping while I work is the best option today… 🙂
Up at 5 a.m. and walked Boza. Sveta is snoozing away after a long day yesterday to get to our Tiny Russian Village. I expect she will sleep to noon and then I will fix her breakfast or lunch at that point and we will plan our day…
It is going to get brutally cold by tonight, looks like it might hit -30 out here in the wilderness. I have to stack wood and shovel two feet of snow that fell last night. Boza decided that it was not fit for man or beast this morning and after taking a pee at the nearest fence post, hightailed it back to the front door and waited for me to catch up. Boza is now sound asleep on my side of the bed and has decided that this Sunday is a day for rest… 😉