Windows to Russia

The garden on the right will extend now all the way toward you as you look at the image. It will extend until just past the pile of dirt on the right. Same width, just length will be increased. The white trunk is an apple tree that has been doctored and painted with tree paint to help protect it. Two more apple trees, behind it, near the fence. To the left and back from the middle apple tree, are the cherry trees, next to the outhouse. The green bush to the right by the bucket, is a wonderful black currant and that is breakfast many days. The dirt pile is an old cow manure blend of soil and it will be put into the garden for next year…

The fence is getting bad, as you can see props holding it up. I need 60 fence posts to redo the whole yard with a new fence. That fence needs to be done next year. Before then I have lots to do still this year… 🙂

This was a mess and was not even walkable before I started. I burned rotted wood, trashy vegetation and tons of human trash buried in the ground area; for four days and nights…

This will make a beautiful garden, orchard, berry patch and I have in mind to plant a rose garden (in or near the dirt spot tword the front of the image) with t-hybrids. I just love roses…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Boza and I got up before 5 a.m. as we always do. I had a cup of coffee, Boza ate two packs of his dog food and we took off walking as we always do. But this morning we had company…

The neighbor Nikolai was up and he joined us. I could tell he was bothered and after last night late, I already knew why. Sometimes he has issues at home and he has a rough night and or sometimes all day. That is enough said about that; but he wanted to walk with someone and talk and since I can say only limited things in Russian, he can talk and talk and talk. I just agree or disagree when appropriate…

So we walked all the way to the other side of the lake and turned around, to come back. Nikolai was in a good mood by now and I was glad that his day would be better. He went back to cutting the grass around his home, he uses a grass scythe, and at 86 years old that is saying something…

I have offered to let him use our weed eater, but he wants to get an electric one, so I sense that he is uneasy with a gas powered brush cutter like I have. I am sure he has never even used a gas powered tool of any type to be honest with you. He is a good man and as gentle as they come, I feel for him sometimes and I was glad that he would walk and talk to me. Sometimes we just need to express things, even to someone who can only understand half of what you say…

I am up early and as I have said before, all the guys in the village get up very early and it is a time to get things done that need to be done, with no interference at all… 🙂

* * * * * * * * * *

As soon as Boza and I got to our gate, who was standing there? None other than another friend named Nikolai (lots of Nikolai around Russia,) he was walking up the hill to the monastery to drop off some special brew that he makes at home, and he handed me three fresh garlic bulbs from his garden. Just pulled this morning, I was told to eat it fresh and it would help my arthritis and to be healthier…

He showed me his moonshine he made and I sniffed it to make him happy, now, this stuff rivals what my family use to make and it was true moonshine. I think it burned the hairs out of my nose. I would classify it as grain alcohol at over a 150 proof plus easily. Run out of benzine, use moonshine… 🙂

Though they do not call it moonshine (everything is vodka whether it really is or not) and I know that they will cut it with what they call lemonade or cool-aid to tone it down. I know because I watch what they do, as they party at times. That is what I do best, watch and learn. It is no different than what I watched my family do as I grew up. My grandpa, was forced to degrade to a store bought whiskey, for in America, it became a major war to stop the moonshine and people just finally gave up on brewing their own. But I remember the old jug that grandpa kept and he had a stock of moonshine to settle the nerves when it was needed. Though, I shot whiskey bottles for years with my BB gun after he died, so he drank his share of store bought whiskey…

Oh yes, a hint about vodka at least in the village; they say беленькая or for us English speakers, “BEH-lyen-ka-ya” and they thump their throat with their pointer finger, that is asking someone from near or far, if they have any vodka or do they want some vodka!

A few also will ask for поллитра or Pohl-LEE-tra, that means half liter and is used strictly as a single word to ask for vodka many times. For who wants to buy less than half a liter? and; What else is there to drink, but Vodka, right?

* * * * * * * * * *

Then after Nikolai left, along came Vova, looking for Nikolai, Vova was trying to pick Nikolai up before he walked all the way up the hill, I looked at Vova and then pointed up the road that goes to the monastery and at the top of the hill was Nikolai waving at us. Vova backed up and tore up the hill in his LADA Niva and that was the last I saw of them. Though, I can hear them at 9 a.m. and the stereo is blasting and it looks like a party has started at Vova’s. It is Saturday you know?

Oh yes, I forgot, Vova handed me some fresh cucumbers and radishes out of his garden. I am going to have a fresh salad right now, for I am done with this post…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

You should be worried about countries that declare Russia is the main threat and all the while throw sticks, stones and verbal abuse themselves at other countries, as if they are looking for a fight to justify their existence…

Yes, you should be worried about the mental health of such a country!

Do you know of a country like that?

I do…

“My assessment today is that Russia poses the greatest threat to our national security,” Gen. Dunford told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee in a hearing to consider his nomination to be the next chairman of the joint chiefs. “if you look at their behavior, it’s nothing short of alarming.”

Funny and not ha ha funny; how we can put the term America in place of Russia and have a truthful statement…

America is a sick country and we are not trying to cure what ails it, we just feed and allow it to grow even more ill everyday…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

I have twenty new bites on my arms and they itch like crazy, looks like Benadryl time, for I am starting to swell now also. The little devils are baby horseflies and probably deer flies also. For the conditions are right and they have been born to eat people alive. It will be only a day or so (birds love eating these demons) that they will be at their worst, but, today as I walked Boza, they swarmed me and after about smashing ten of them and a thousand more replaced them, Boza and I ran, not walked back to the house. Thank goodness that the birds are having a good meal and I give my blessings to the birds to eat heartily all day and night…

* * * * * * * * * *

The woodpecker above has a nest in our yard or very close to our yard. It has been stealing our cherries, or I should say the monster birds cherries. There is a male and female woodpecker and they look to be soon to have babies also. For now they sneak around and eat our cherries and they love them. Today the baby monster birds swarmed the woodpecker as he tried to eat his fill of cherries. I was shaving and caught the attack of the baby birds as the woodpecker had landed gracefully on top of the cherry tree, in my mirror. I turned to get a better look and about twelve baby monster birds had come from all directions, almost like the demon flies this morning, they screamed, yelled, cussed and told woodpecker to leave… He left…

I guess that is their cherry tree…

* * * * * * * * * *

Well Sveta’s old camera and the one that is easiest to carry as I walk, finally died. It looks to be unserviceable, but I will continue to try. I think I will try to reinstall the software and see if that will allow it to boot back up again. Though after yesterday, I am not sure that will work. I got over a thousand images from it after I fixed the battery issue and for that alone it was worth it…

Here is the very last picture and it died after processing this image… 🙂 Maybe the camera felt sorry and went to sleep also…

* * * * * * * * * *

The peony is in full bloom and the last couple of roses are in bloom. That ends that cycle and the roses will bloom again in the fall. The peony’s are magnificent and as the roses were also…

I bet your peony’s were done a long time ago?

* * * * * * * * * *

I could say a bunch about how stupid the world is, but for most of you, you realize that. If you surf the internet, then you have the capability to see for yourself how bad the situation is right now. My grandma told me a saying a long time ago and what she told me fits what is happening in our world. It is called the snowball effect; push a snowball down a hill and as it rolls it gathers more snow and gets big and fat, as it smashes everything in the way to the bottom of the hill. The bigger the hill, the fatter the snowball. I look around me and we seem to be pushing snowballs off of mountains lately and when they hit bottom, you better be out of the way…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Boza and I walk and we walk a lot. I have to walk, because of my heart attacks. It helps keep me going and I feel the good of walking inside of me. Boza just associates walking with fun and happiness, walking is good for him to. Well, Boza has been watching me take pictures of birds and those birds are always up in the air most of the time. Either flying around or sitting on roofs, telephone lines and limbs of trees. This morning Boza took to pointing birds out for me to look at…

He spent the walk staring at the trees, power lines and roofs. When he saw a bird, he would stop and point at it, which meant that he did nothing but try to point at birds. At least until we got into the fields and there were many less birds. That did not stop the pointing, for in the fields are birds also and they were usually pointing at Boza to, as they tried to lead him away from their nests in the grass. So that was a treat for my eyes to watch Boza pointing at a bird and the bird hovering right above his head, trying to entice him to chase it as it flew away from the nesting sight, but Boza was doing his new job and stood there. The birds would get upset at the two of us, so we moved on quickly…

This bird watching by Boza is a mimic of me and it has been interesting to see such actions in play as Boza and I live together with very little outside interference. Boza is watching me and what makes me happy is what he tries to do also. Just as in the yard this morning, Boza ran around for 20 minutes trying to gather the baby birds and make sure they are all there. It is not possible for him to corral them, but being a part German Shepard, he can not help doing just that. They are his flock to watch and protect. Boza finally gave up and laid down to sleep, as the little monster birds, danced in the trees above him, occasionally dropping twigs and leaves on him. Boza would just look up and see his little friends and I swear he would smile at them… 🙂

* * * * * * * * * *

It really is a miracle here in the Russian Village, I watch today as people walk up the hill to the monastery, at last count about 78 people have shown up. It must be “another” Orthodox holiday and believe you me there are a bunch of church holidays in Russia. Though that is not the miracle; the miracle is how I am healing! My feet have become complete healed and they were in bad shape. I had deep splits and many times fought with bleeding soles. Now my skin on my feet is smooth and normal. The transformation is just stunning and for this diabetic, that is great news. The feeling has actually begun to come back in the shins of my legs as I heal. My legs are not nearly as numb from diabetes as they have been in the past. I also am breathing better and I do not have stomach issues, nor fever, as I had in Moscow…

In Moscow, I ran a terrible fever many times and had sever gastric issues. It was a continual cycle and never ended, except when I cam to the village, but then it was only short lived cure in the old days. Now that I am here in the village for a length of time, all that I have dealt with and suffered from has left me, except…

Arthritis; I have found that the alleviation of all else that was wrong with me, allowed my arthritis to come forefront and focal pointed to the detriment. In fact it has worsened and I see that others here have the same issue. While we have a lack of many illnesses, arthritis rules the roost and that sucks at times…

I know that it is no worse than in the past, but since other pains have left, arthritis has demanded more attention. An example is my thumbs, they are both equal in sever pain and as I use them, I have found myself almost dropping items as the pain cripples my hold on tools. I have compensated and started to adjust how I use tools and such, but that is not a good answer to the issue…

It is my fault for in my past, I have broken my hands up badly from fights to accidents. We live with the bed we make…

But as far as issues that I have dealt with for years in Moscow, I do not have those issues in the village; and that my friend is a miracle to me, for when arthritis is my main complaint, then things have gotten a thousand times better and life is a breeze on a summer day…

* * * * * * * * * *

In the images above; I would like to draw attention to the image of the Russian family above and below…

They are Russia and Russia is a wonderful family orientated society…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. –  Russia’s upper house of parliament adopted on Wednesday a petition to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Foreign and Justice Ministry asking them to consider the patriotic stop list of foreign NGOs for possibly including them to the list of undesirable organizations.

The petition, backed unanimously by a total of 156 senators, reads that Russia “has faced the greatest attack on its national interests, values and institutions over the past quarter of the century.”

Its key goal is to influence the domestic political environment in Russia as well as to “undermine the patriotic unity” of people and also disrupt integration processes involving Russia on space Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

“The unprecedented involvement in this activity of nonprofit organizations, which are also funded by the state budgets of foreign countries, allows speaking about a “soft aggression” against Russia,” the text of the petition obtained by TASS says.

The upper house says the Foreign and Justice Ministries and also the Prosecutor General’s Office should “consider the patriotic stop list” which includes a range of well-known anti-Russian foreign and international non-governmental organizations.

This measure is aimed at possibly making them a subject of the existing norms of the country’s law on undesirable organizations, it says.

The “stop list” includes 12 organizations, among them the Soros Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy, the MacArthur Foundation, the Freedom House and the East European Democratic Center.

My thought today is short sweet and simple…

People who hate are the losers in life; many years ago as I crossed the Moldovan border, by car and with Sveta and one of the lessor border guards almost lost it when he found out I was American. I am lucky that he was just a guard and he had many bosses above him. For I am sure that he would have liked to toss the key away after confining me…

Well yesterday, I met a woman who worked in the local pharmacy store, to put it short and sweet, she acted like the guy at the Moldavian border, many years ago and would have had me shot on sight if it was not illegal to do so. She even reached through the cashier window and grabbed the sack of pills I was trying to buy and screamed at me, from which “NET!” was the only nice thing I will repeat…

The other customers were not looking at me, they were staring at the woman as if she had some third eye growing out of her forehead. I simply said, “Thank you!” and left. Then went to the next pharmacy and got most of what I needed…

It saddened me, for I had looked into her eyes and the hate was so terrible, that a wave of black washed over me from this woman’s feelings. She hated Americans and wished that I was dead. Sad is all I can say…

Then later in the day, after I told Sveta what happened and got it out of my system; Vova, bless his heart, came down and grabbed me and took me to his house. There he had a friend named Nikolai (he prefers Kolai) and we had rabbit stew, black bread, fresh salad and deer sausage (that Vova claims he killed and processed!)

Then Vova announced; Kolai is his bestest Russian friend and I am his bestest American friend…

That was when the world congealed together as Vova hugged Kolai and I at the same time. I thought Vova was going to cry, but instead, he grabbed his playing spoons, turned the volume up on his stereo and danced and played his spoons, as his heart sang with the freedom of life and friends…

Kolai and I grinned at each other and I realized that I just acquired another good friend in Russia and Russia has many many more good eggs in the basket than bad eggs…

That is why I love Russia…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

It is Tuesday and that means I go to town today. According to my mood; I will get benzine, pick up two pills – for I am out of (one for blood sugar and one for swelling feet and blood pressure,) more dog food, people food and whatever else floats my boat. I really do not want to go (to town,) but I need to get the pills and I know that Sveta will be waiting to hear if I got them…

* * * * * * * * * *

I am going to make a birdbath today, for after I set out a bowl of water yesterday, I saw an instant need for such a treasure and pleasure. Then I am going to look at making bird feeders and as the Summer ends, bird houses. I am serious about these monster birds and the need for the earth to be taken over by such deadly creatures as a baby monster bird… 🙂

Last night in the above image, a woodpecker stopped long enough to allow me to catch a shot of him. I thought that was rather nice and after I looked at the image this morning, I loved it. Just look at his beak and crest. Now that is a cool bird…

* * * * * * * * * *

I had a lot of damage to clean up and I used all the rest of my tree paint. I will try to find more, for I am a believer in painting cuts and wounds on trees. The front birch trees in the yard have been treated well and they are healing perfect after many years of neglect. The apples look to be fine and we should have a bunch of delicious apples this year…

Close up of two of the trees, I had to wrap several spots temporarily and allow them to strengthen. The storm tore down our fence in several spots and I propped it back up with lean to sticks. Then after many hours of clearing the twisted apple trees, I was able to see the full damage. Damage report; Trees will live…

* * * * * * * * * *

Well, It is almost 8 a.m. here and I need to get ready to go to town. Boza will stay under the bed and sleep and I will force myself to make the trip. I could go another week easily, for Boza & I are well stocked with food, but these pills are very important and one I have been out of for over two weeks now. The blood sugar pill is causing me issues without it, for I check my blood sugar twice a day now. Oh yes and I am almost out of test strips. Thanks for reminding me… 🙂

I also need to buy more chain link; for I will be stretching the back fence line these next few weeks and I only have one roll of fence left…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Shredded our apple trees, like a small cyclone tore through them. The roof and front birch trees are doing good, but the garden area, got literally twisted into a mess. Therefore, today I will be cleaning the side yard and trimming up the damage. I will see what I can save and repair. I already had to do major surgery to one apple tree a month ago (it weathered the storm just fine) and it looks like another apple tree is needing help today. The baby birds were all out early and chattering in my window. They seemed to be upset and I found out why, some of their nests have been blown away to the ground. I guess, I will see what I can do about putting the nests back… (I need to build birdhouses and put them all over the yard!)

Speaking of baby birds; Boza keeps an eye and or an ear on the little guys. I also notice he keeps his nose in action also. Last night before the storm hit, Boza got upset, sniffed the air and wanted outside. He kept growling and doing what I call, “Oof oof oof oof!” So I went out with him and in about two minutes he tracked something under the cherry trees. Then as Boza went under the trees, boom and screech out comes a cat, running for its life. Boza caught the cat trying to stalk our little birds. That just will not do, for these are Boza’s birds and no one will bother them… 🙂

* * * * * * * * * *

Another Story: About the Duck…

Speaking of birds; Boza and I last year had a special duck that Boza loved to chase and they became actual friends in a way. (Duck) Well the duck is back and I know you are asking how I can tell?

Number one, the duck always swooped at Boza as we walk along the lake, they actually played. Number two, the duck is male and has no mate either last year or this year. Number three, he quacks when he sees Boza…

I call him “Gay Duck” and Boza knows the name and will be on the alert for him. (Dual purpose name, I guess you could say.) Gay Duck watches for Boza and when he sees Boza, he quacks and quacks and quacks. Boza knows the sound he makes, for he ignores other ducks quacking…

Well to make a long story short; Gay Duck has not shown himself this year, until a few days ago!

Down the middle of the lake swam a duck, a mallard and he was all by himself. Boza stood upon the highest spot looking over the lake and was watching the duck. I did not think anything about it, for I really figured that Gay Duck was killed during hunting season last year. 🙁

Therefore, I was trying to take pictures of eagles, when all of a sudden Boza took off straight toward the lake and I heard a quaking to beat the band. I saw a duck flying straight across the surface of the water and coming right at Boza. It shot upwards as it reached the shore and Boza started to jump and jump and jump. The duck came up the hill just above Boza’s head and the two crested the hill at full speed. Boza tried to fly and it looked like the duck tried to run and betwixt them both they succeeded in a hilarious dance as they ran in circles…

Then it hit me; It was “Gay Duck” and he is back and alive… 🙂

Now Boza runs to the edge of the lake in the morning and looks for his buddy…

It is strange actually, this duck is always alone and all over the lake is pairs of ducks and actually I am seeing baby ducks now in most lakes around. This duck swims the middle of the lake and always alone; he just goes back and forth for hours…

But I do know one thing, he has a friend in Boza and Boza likes to run and play with his duck buddy…

* * * * * * * * * *

Well I have just too much to do, thus I will leave you with an image I took. It is the best so far of my eagle images, not good but my best…

They are magnificent birds and I am very lucky to have the ability to watch them. Yesterday, I saw five huge eagles flying together and then five smaller birds flying with them. It did not dawn on me what the smaller birds were, but as they got closer, I realized that the five smaller birds were full grown hawks… 😐

The contrast was significant, I have images of these hawks and now I had a comparison to associate with in my mind. The eagles were twice as big as the hawks and these hawks are twice as big as a raven and ravens are actually a huge bird. Especially our ravens…

It has to be mating season, for twice now, I have seen groups of these predator birds, which are very territorial and one such group, the other day, had over twenty hawks flying together…

Life and nature is just amazing and I thank God everyday for being able to enjoy it…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…