Windows to Russia

It is like a roller coaster, we go from 3 hours of darkness to 8 hours in just a few weeks. The tilt of the earth does that and for us summer is done. There will still be a few days of warmer weather, but with the night galloping upon us at a furious pace; cold will settle soon and its icy grip is already starting to enter into the nights…

Last night I had to actually use a blanket and I saw that the temperature reach down to 10 degrees Celsius above zero. I also see that we have a few days of about 30 plus coming, though in Russia, they joke about how the weather man is the only person who can keep his job and be wrong all the time… 🙂

I am going to talk to Sveta about me getting a weather station to install at the village home. They are not that expensive from China and I know that they work good, I have used them before. Accuracy is not perfect, but for basics they work very good. I want to be able to keep tabs on the weather fluctuations, even if the internet stops working…

Sveta surprised me yesterday; she called me and told me that, “I need to pick red or black!”

“Red or black what?”, I asked..

Then she said that she is buying a camera for me. A compact Olympus with 24X optical zoom. It is small enough to fit in my pocket and it cost less than $80 American money, or 5000 rubles. She bought the camera I wanted for almost three times less (12900 rubles) than what I can buy it for in the Big Village. Cameras are expensive down here; that proves my point…

I answered, “Black please!”

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The above news also means something else for me! It means Sveta is coming to see me soon! Yippy and yippy yea. I miss my girl…

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Time to go! I am going to the Big Village and see what is up!

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Paris transferred over 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) to a Russian bank as compensation for terminating the deal to deliver two Mistral-class helicopter carriers to the Russian Navy…

Glad that is done and if you remember correctly, I expressed dissatisfaction about the deal back in 2010. They are total junk and worthless for Russian needs…

Junk, I say, Junk…

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The Russian Navy will receive 17 warships and cutters, as well as 52 support vessels by the end of 2015, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Monday… (Sputnik)

Now for fact that I have said a dozen times. Russia just verified that they are building warships as fast as they can. Every shipyard is working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Between submarines and warships, Russia is building its naval fleet big time. Russia and China are getting ready for war and they are going to take it to the west, when the west starts its shenanigans…

Do not say, “But you never told us!”

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

I was gonna go to town, I was gonna rest and goof off, I was gonna cut the grass and I was gonna clear some more brush. Instead, I am gonna putty and paint the windows today. That is what I am gonna do…

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This is a new crop duster to the valley. It is one noisy little thing and it gets the job done. But at 5 a.m., I think a few neighbors are going to be grouchy today. I took pictures, a neighbor who is 76 years old; jump up and down for joy at the little craft and my other neighbor stood mesmerized as the craft went back and forth weaving a pattern over the local field. I decided to grab the camera and take some images before it disappeared and a hundred shots later, he left…

I was jumping up and down also, for flying is to be a bird in the sky and that my friend, is freedom…

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Introducing, Momma Eagle:

Boza and I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Momma Eagle this morning. We walked to our favorite spot to sit and we came within 5 meters of Momma Eagle. She saw us and we saw her at the same time, we all froze and no one moved. Boza who delights in chasing ravens and smaller birds, just froze…

She did not move and run, but she expanded her wings and I swear to all that I have sworn to before. She has at least a 7 foot wingspan. This is a monstrous bird and we stood there looking at each other, for we have seen each other all summer long and we know each other, just not so close, until now…

I wish I could record what I was seeing and the day we can have an implant to record exactly what we see is here, I will think seriously about such a implant. As it was, I was able to get the camera going fast enough, when she decided to leave, and got two images…

Mamma Eagle just stared at us, as if curious and we the same back, then after what seemed like an eternity that lasted seconds and I could see into her golden eyes with tiny black centers pinpointed as she looked into the sun at us. She let out a skrill noise as I call it. That was when Boza answered back…

Boza barks very little and in this case he barked once and only once, as Momma Eagle skrilled at us, Boza let out the biggest bark he has ever done. He told Momma Eagle that him and his daddy are no push overs. 🙂

He stood on the hill behind me looking down at her and had a perfect point at the eagle. She skrilled again and in an effortless movement of her wings, she lifted up and out over the lake. I was hitting the on button on the camera and all I got was two images of an encounter that was originally 5 meters, images at 100 meters, but I know Boza and I will never forget Momma Eagle as she talked to us at our favorite sitting spot…

Boza then came to me after she left and wiggled and wiggled and wiggled, as I told him what a good boy he is…

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Well that is our morning here in the village. It simply is as good as it gets and now I am going to paint…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree starting on August 6, 2015 – the destruction of agricultural products prohibited from being imported into the country implemented in retaliation against illegal western sanctions!

Oops, wait a minute Putin: Russians overwhelmingly support the prospect of dealing with illegal food substances at the Russian border, but with giving the food to the people in the world that are needy. Now I see that the Russian government is looking at the wishes of what the people say and decisions are changing as you read this…

This is becoming a serious issue and Russia is looking to be done with what is now akin to simply just turning it away, they are looking at destroying the food or giving it to the needy. Russians do not agree with destruction, they agree with taking illegal food and confiscating it…

This is a serious issue. The countries from the west that are sanctioning Russia and Russia countered sanctioned, are trying every way they can to illegally get food products into Russia. They forge illegal paperwork, they bribe border guards of countries that do not sanction Russia and in some cases they are trying to drive across the Russian border at a non-checkpoint spot…

So far the food being caught is simply turned away, but Russia started out recently, by saying should we destroy the food we capture. The Russians jumped on the bandwagon and said, “Конфисковывать в пользу нуждающихся“, (Confiscated in favor of the needy!)

We are talking about a whole bunch of food people. These western countries who are sanctioning Russia over a lie, are all trying to push their food products into Russia, for they have found that they are in deep hurt with their farmers. Russia was a huge market for farm raised products, before the illegal sanctions against Russia, issue. Russia simply stopped buying western food products in retaliation…

That was genius and the west never saw it coming…

Now since the west is so desperate to move their food products and the Russian border is the stopping place of literally hundreds of thousands of tons of such food products. Russia should and I hope they do; Give the food that is confiscated to the needy. Be it inside Russia or be it in East Ukraine or be it anyone who is hungry. Take it free of charge, for they sent it free of charge and feed someone…

Slap the face of the accusers as they try to skirt the legalities of the rule of law…

My how the world is changing directions and for the better…

This is another stroke of genius and the west never saw it coming…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

This is borscht done my way and I call it “Bear’s Borscht,” I know a certain young lady named Sveta in Moscow, who is going to see this and start wishing she was here right now. The ingredients are all from our garden and I will eat this borscht without meat, maybe tomorrow (?), I will add a chicken breast, but tonight, it is veggy borscht. Also to the above images, salt and pepper according to your taste…

I bought smetana (sour cream,) for it is not borscht without sour cream…

So you need potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, garlic, salt, pepper and whatever else you like. This is not an official recipe from Russians, but a recipe from Bear and it is his version of borscht. 😉

Put the pot on a low flame or heat and ignore for awhile. Let it cook and watch just to keep from boiling over. I will explain something; I peel my beets before I cook them, Russians do not. I like the purple to saturate the water and I use the same water to cook beets as the soup. Russians will cook their beets, chill them, peel them and make soup from the peeled and chopped up beets in fresh water. Russians also, dice everything into small bits, I am a grouchy bear and just cut things up to make me happy. You do it the way you like, but I like my beet soup…

Oh, see that carrot? That is the small one in the garden and it is so sweet to eat. I am stunned at the carrots we grew this year…

Will update after the soup is done…

Soup is a mainstay in Russia. A meal without soup is virtually not a meal and many meals are nothing but soup. I make my soups with much more ingredients than a Russian would use and your soups are just that, a thin runny food, with small pieces of products. Real soup, not more veggies than water…

Cook until the biggest chunks slide back off a sharp knife. This pot was done in about an hour…

I am going to eat two bowls of this soup. It is so good and sweet. I really had to salt it heavy to keep the soup from being a candy taste. The beets and carrots are very sweet from this garden and the beets would be incredible pickled. That may just be a great idea, pickled beats for the winter time!

By the way, it does not need any meat in anyway what so ever and if you do not like sour cream, then maybe do not make the soup. It has to have sour cream to make it Russian… 😉

Have a nice day, for I will, you see my dinner tonight…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

PS: The garden has produced the most wonderful vegetables. The beets are sweet, huge and not woody at all. The carrots are like eating a sugar cube and they just keep growing, the onions are just right and do not seem to be hot, even after drying and the potatoes are perfect for any dish…

When I was young, before the war, before the marriages, before the grinding work load, before the kids, before my soul was hurt and torn twenty times by various effects of life; I listened to Classical Music and in that remembrance I have downloaded thousands and thousands of wondrous songs, of shear sense delights…

Then I found the song of my soul; written in 1680 by Johann Pachelbel it is a German Baroque of one of the greatest composers, in my mind, in history. This in not the hour and one minute version, it is about four minutes long, do not worry…

Just listen and enjoy…

Sometimes I wonder what we do to ourselves and why?

I want to thank Svetochka and God for allowing me to full circle back to catch my soul before it left forever. I read once that women are the way to heaven and lately, I have discovered that a good woman is heaven, heaven for your soul, heaven for your mind and heaven for your body…

I have been allowed to gather and still gathering pieces that had fallen off as life took its toll. These pieces are not all easy to find; in fact many are damaged beyond repair, but with a little love and care, the pieces fit back and it seems that other more substantial pieces fill in the gaps left by time…

Many call Johann Pachelbel a one hit wonder of the German Baroque’s, but if true or not, in their eyes, I find the one hit to be enough to settle my soul and allow me to sigh in peace. In my eyes it is perfect to listen to…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country-search-post.cfm?country=Saudi+Arabia#f16-2

Saudi Arabia has just reached 110 individuals being beheaded. That is the office 7 month number and that puts them on a record pace for chopping heads off. Just like the ISIS does, except we do not give media coverage, or at a very very low level, if we cover the Saudi head chopping at all…

Though, we give 10,000,000 articles or actually the same western media article regurgitated 10,000,000 times, if the ISIS chops a head off. Actually we fake the ISIS head chopping and as par for reality in Saudi Arabia, we do not cover it at all…

It seems that we play god with the media, we condemn, we try the crimes, we point our fingers and we simply guide the public to a decision, even before someone is proven guilty. We have allowed the media to be come the jury, the partial witness, bearer of the sentence, the lawmaker in many cases and we allow the media to tell us what happened even before it happens many times…

Life is full of discrepancies and we are the maker of such disparities ourselves, plus we have no desire to correct blatant variations and ignore them like they never happened…

What do I always say?

“Time to think people!”

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

On the last nail, the last stroke of the hammer, I smashed my finger really good. I let my mind wander to how wonderful it is to have the place; Boza proof and smash! I only said one bad word and then yelled a bunch of nice things as tears came to my eyes. I am near a monastery you know?

So I used what we used as a kid and what Russians use all the time, iodine, for the skin was ripped all the way to the bone and fingernail. I will most likely lose the nail, but that is not the first time in my life. I put iodine on it, then after making many really sour faces, I cut off the huge flap of torn skin and packed it with antibiotic ointment, after more iodine of course. Then since it was obvious that I would not bleed to death or die from any form of shock, from such a massive injury… 🙂 I went out and took a picture of the fence…

It is terrible not to have someone here to say, “Oh, how terrible, are you going to live?” Us guys need that kind of stuff when we are hurt, we are big babies you know?

Oh and I did go back just now and finish that last nail. It still had to be bent over (That was the last stroke of the hammer!) to pull the fence just so perfect tight…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Yesterday was strange, no one cut grass, no one hammered a nail, no one sawed wood and no one worked. Sveta said that Moscow was normal (If Moscow has a normal?), but here in the village, we goofed off. Therefore, our village did not burn to the ground and we are not in village hell. Today I will work, because, it is safe to do so. I will finish the fence today… Zippy Yippy…

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Yesterday was also a day for Kyle to meet village families. Families who came to see their eldest living in the little Russian village all alone. I will tell this next few paragraphs according to how I designate the people living here…

In the yellow house, a good man who has even given us zucchini, his wife, kids, grand kids and a dog showed up. I drank tea for 10 minutes and was introduced to the whole family. Last year they ignored me, but this year, since I did not go away, they seem to feel that befriending me is the better of the evils… LOL…

In the blue house, I was introduced to the brother of the guy who owns it, he offered chai, I accepted and after 10 minutes, I was on my way. They were happy as two pigs in a mud waller for I am most likely the first American to set foot into the home. I hope that is a good thing? The home was still standing this morning… (Again with the yellow home above; I was most likely the first American to set foot in the house!)

In the new roof home; I had a detailed discussion about rain and thunderstorms, plus chai was on the menu, as I met the brother of the old babushka that lives there. He is a very nice man and is actually an older brother to the 83 or 84 year old babushka…

Then later in the day, Vova’s family showed up and I had no choice but to go to see them, for Vova was yelling Coli, Coli, Coli everywhere, until he found me, hiding under a tree, ignoring the world. He saw me from a distance and then he really started to holler. I knew it was time to go meet the family and make Vova happier than a “Pig in a Mud Waller!” (I am also the first American, though granted months ago, to have set foot in Vova’s home.)

I have been blessing homes a lot lately, I need to find a new path to walk… 🙂

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I want you to meet Miya. Miya is one huge dog and belongs to Vova. Miya is a big baby and has no idea that she is as big as a horse and she scares Boza to death. Miya just loves Boza, but Boza sees a monster. Miya is three maybe four times the size of Boza and unlike a Chihuahua would do, Boza is not going to tell Miya that he is boss…

Caucasian Mountain Dog or Caucasian Ovcharkas and she is one huge dog…

Though, I am upset, as she is underfed and I have been buying her dog food. Vova, as almost all villagers do not see dogs as important and as friends. I on the other hand, see dogs as a good buddy and treatment is as such. Vova, understands that Boza and I are friends, but he is unable to see Miya as a friend, she is just like any other animal on his small farm. She earns her keep by barking, but since you do not eat her, she is not worth the food outlay that a rabbit needs to be fat and worth lots of money to sell at the market. It is all finances…

I will keep buying her food, it is only 1000 rubles for 15 kilos of dry dog food. But that is a 1000 rubles that Vova does not have, thus she eats only what is left over and that is after it has been served twenty times. Boza and I will take care of Miya, she is our friend… 🙂

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It is time for me to go out and finish the fence. I have to dig out a compost pile that Sveta placed on the fence line and helped rot the fence away… 🙁 Sveta, sheepishly admitted to being the one to do that… 🙂

I hope to finish this project, for when I leave for the Big Village tomorrow, I can leave Boza outside in the beautiful day and air, as I go to the market. He will be safe within a fenced yard. Better quality of life for Boza…

Once the fence is done, I will finish cleaning the back yard and then I can start on the back lean to, chicken coop and storage shed…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

A reader sent me this link to some artwork he just did. It is in response to Vova and his waving at America as a friend…

The reader (Jim_D) said, “Thought I would reply in kind; except I didn’t have a rock, so I used a wooden wheelbarrow I made instead. Most of the artwork was drawn by hand, then scanned into a computer, and made into a vector file; which is available free, at this link: https://openclipart.org/detail/224298/hello-vova-greetings-from-usa-to-russia“

So I have this image in my mind of a guy standing on a wheel barrel and waving to Vova in Russia…

Yes as I always say, “Why can’t we be friends?

Thank you Jim_D, I will make sure Vova gets your message!

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…