Windows to Russia

Since it is pouring down rain and colder than a witches (Well you know what?) I am going to write an article and enjoy a cup or two of delicious coffee. Today looks like a rain, but no thunderstorm day and Boza has just eaten four packs of his dog food and is sleeping, actually even snoring slightly, under the bed. He just had one of his dreams, that he growls and runs with his legs as he lays on his side. Then it hit me: What is important?

What is important is a good question, for it seems that everyone has a different idea of what is important?

Therefore, I am only able to expound upon what I feel is important and if you feel the same way, then more power to you, if you don’t, then more power to you…

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The images below are weeds. They are all weeds, a weed that most people in the western world has been programmed to destroy. That weed and many many more are destroyed continually day in and day out. I came to Russia and found a world of flowering weeds. weeds that are not weeds, but actually flowers, beautiful and gorgeous flowers, just like any you grow in your garden…

Everyday I Boza and I walk fields of weeds flowers and I have taken hundreds of pictures of these weeds…

After a few years in Russia, I developed a whole new idea of what is a weed. Really there is no such things as a weed, just a plant that you desire or not desire…

It is the little things that matter and one little flower in a field is all it takes to make life wonderful…

Little flowers, big importance, to me…

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Little birds in the yard and not able to find them. That is important to me…

After the storm yesterday, I could not find the birds. The baby birds that are almost grown up and this morning I found them. All of them and happy as could be and they chirped and told Boza all about their new home. Boza and I walked our usual path and as we passed by an old farm home, I heard a chatter of birds that seemed to be saying, “Look here we are!”

I looked up at the roof of the house, barn and sauna and found all my little birds chirping and singing away. They all came out to say high and several flew down to say high to Boza. They had found themselves a perfect home. No humans live there and a huge barn that is open on all sides to live in. They had plenty of fields nearby for worms and bugs, plus they get to see Boza and I everyday as we walk… 🙂

I counted ten little birds on the building tops and that was just right, for the mom and dads are still in our yard and I am sure that they insisted that the babies had to go. It was time…

It is the little things that count…

Have a nice day, for Boza and I sure will…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

I woke up and found myself lost and confused. This happens when the weather changes so drastically, I become sick. I never had this issue until I had all the heart attacks and brain tumor, many years ago. After trying to die a bunch of times, I have become very sensitive to weather changes. It gets scary sometimes and this morning was one of those times…

Boza is tuned into these things and he never pushes to go outside or walk very far when he knows that I am sick like this. This morning he was that way and I am thankful. I still managed to get to the Big Village and now that I am back to normal, I am not sure how I did it but I did. I ended up sleeping the day away and feel okay to kinda good now, but the power was off for most of the day, internet was down until just a few minutes ago and it stormed and stormed and stormed. That is the weather change that knocked me down and it was a terrible storm. It was so bad that Boza, being the bravest dog in the world, had to sit in my lap and shake like a leaf…

What a brave dog!

I use to never have issues with weather changes and I thought that to feel bad when the weather changes is old wives tales. Then one day, I thought I was having a heart attack (after six, you get paranoid) and found myself in really bad shape. It took several of these instances to figure out what was happening and with that realization, I am able to keep it under some control. Today though, it took me out of the equation…

Believe you me, it is no old wives tale. It is a reality and no matter the cause and effect, sometimes it gets rough and is equated to being drunk. It effects my blood sugar levels, my heart rate, my blood pressure and many other things…

The storm today was just short of a hurricane, as Russians call these storms. Better yet, to call it a almost tornado and I truly wondered if the roof that I installed and the one on the house would stay put? It did and I am thankful and not a leak anywhere inside…

I am getting ready to cook some chicken gizzards and red peppers. I decided that Boza and I will watch a movie tonight after walking one last time. Sometimes you have to stop and smell the coffee and I did just that; drank a cup of coffee and it was so good…

I hope tomorrow is better weather wise than today, but we did get tons of water for the gardens…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Boza and I check on the strawberry fields daily now. In a few days I will be able to start picking strawberries and I will be ahead of the rest of the crowd. People sneak around and try to steal all the berries near this village and they try to sell them. I will eat them, for they are good for my health and I am in the village to get healthy. They shoot horse strawberry thieves don’t they?

Our currant is the best I have ever seen. I am watering daily and it shows. Currant is my favorite berry and nothing is better when they have milk poured over them…

The onions are starting to bulb out and the beets are doing the same. Sixteen carrots is all I see growing and tomorrow, I will try to find some garlic bulbs. Watering the garden twice a day now, for it is getting hot at the peak of the day and our soil is super sandy here. The whole village is on an old desert of sand dunes…

Those purple flowers are so beautiful and a pure white moth is so cool…

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While sipping a cup of coffee this morning, I was looking at a picture Sveta sent me. She bought a bike and it is beautiful…

She has big plans to ride a bunch and get in shape. I even suspect that she may take a trip on the bike. I know her very well and I sense that she wants to travel for several weeks on a bike trip. I hope she does and I hope she is happy doing that. Nice bike, I want one, but only a single speed to get to the medium size village and back. That is about 4 kilometers, actually that would be easy to walk, because Boza and I walk much farther than that everyday now. So really I do not need a bike…

Tomorrow I am taking the weekly trip to the Big Village. I pick up four dog foods every Tuesday and restock my foods staples. I am going to stock big bottles of water and drink more. I am not drinking enough and I have to solve that issue. I like drinking from big glasses and Russian just do not have big glasses to drink from, so I improvised. The image to the right is my new water glass…

Sveta bought it thinking that I would use it to store fluid in the refrigerator. I found a better use for it, a drinking glass for a big bear. It is hot and I need lots of fluids, now during the winter, it will be great for keeping cold water and juice. I bet Sveta is shaking her head at the sight of what I use that pitcher for… 🙂

You see my coffee cup and my water cup…

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Time to get other things done, but I have a last thought. It is a thought about people from the USA. I feel sorry for them, they find Windows to Russia and then they either try to befriend, but all of a sudden they realize that to befriend something about Russia, puts them in a terrible way back hone in America…

Everyone, whether they will admit it out loud, understands that they live in a society of being spied on and repercussions will and have happened. Some do not care and they still talk to me and they understand that they are marked, for they were marked as soon as they decided to surf the net and find alternate life in media…

Windows to Russia has people from all over the world who come here and comment. They communicate with me and they enjoy the communications. But, people from America are scared to death of getting in trouble and the second they realize that they have put themselves in possible black listing by NSA, they run and whimper and cry. It really is very – very sad and very – very wrong…

Happened three times last week…

Have a nice day, for Boza and I sure will…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

I thought about going to the Big Village, nope; don’t want to…
Thought about how deplorable the U.S. is, nope; just very glad I am not there…
Thought about getting water from the well, yup; water is needed for life…

Then I thought about writing an article, nope; so this is it…

This (above) is what Boza and I are going to do. Too many people around the village and too many people driving around the Big Village. I am going to drink three cups of coffee, eat two thick slices of black bread and Boza and I are going to watch the eagles and the hawks fly, play and hunt…

To fly would be the freedom of your soul into the heavens…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

A sack of lies to mold the minds of the masses and if it is true, then it is a good thing and not a bad thing. So lets hope that they did crack it and lets hope the world reads what they cracked…

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Russian and Chinese specialists have successfully cracked the encryption of files stolen by US whistleblower Edward Snowden, a report says.

The secret files’ decryption has forced British intelligence agency MI6 and US intelligence services to recall a number of its agents from active operations, said a report by the Sunday Times.

“Agents have had to be moved and that knowledge of how we operate has stopped us getting vital information,” the report to be published on Sunday quoted an unnamed Downing Street source as saying.

“Russians and Chinese have information,” the source added.

Snowden, a former CIA contractor, left the US in 2013 after leaking classified intelligence documents, stored on encrypted files, revealing the extent of the US National Security Agency’s (NSA) spying activities and was granted asylum by Russia in August 2013.

According to the report, British intelligence now believes Russia and China have hacked the files, gaining access to sensitive information within.

A British intelligence source is also quoted in the report as saying that “Snowden has done incalculable damage.”

“In some cases, the agencies have been forced to intervene and lift their agents from operations to prevent them from being identified and killed,” the source added.

He went on to say that Russian and Chinese authorities would be examining the leaked material for “years to come.”

SRK/NN/AS

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The sky is falling little bird and we must point fingers…

Kyle

This is George the baby bird or probably now an equivalent to a teenage bird. My they grow fast and George was born this spring and was one of the little guys that swarmed our yard for days. George the Bird Brain is what I call him and he follows Boza and I as far as the outskirts of the village. He tries to keep an eye on what Boza and I do and is always there watching us…

I started walking this morning with Boza and found the little guy on a barn, just watching us from afar. As soon as I zoomed on him, I knew it was our little Bird Brain. Boza knows him and George allows Boza to come right up to a fence post he sits on and they seem to understand each other. George is interesting, for he seriously follows us all over the village, but when we leave the last fence posts or building behind, he stays and watches until we are out of sight. Then as we come back, I find him waiting for us…

It kinda makes me sad that we can not just pick him up and put him in my pocket to take him on a walk. He wants to go, that is obvious. Maybe when he gets bigger/older, he will fly with us. Though I do not want anything to happen to him. You can tell he is still a young bird and he is still developing his markings and such…

Just thought that you might want to meet “George the Bird Brain,” he is our “watch bird” as we travel the village roads…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

See; there he is again…

I was by the bell tower taking pictures of the eagles and saw a truck on the main byway, way in the distance. I just snapped a shot of the truck and did not think anymore about it. Then in a few minutes, the same truck appeared on this side of the river. Now that means only one thing; they crossed the river without a bridge and now I have to find that spot. Maybe I can cross there also…

It would cut the trip to the Big Village in half…

Therefore, I took some pictures and bought my black bread and sweet crackers that I love so much. This is a wonderful thing that they do for the small villages and many who do not drive to the village, are able to get all groceries for the week at this truck. The cost is slightly higher and I paid a 100 rubles for two loaves of bread and a kilo of sweet crackers. That is a third higher in cost than what I can get it at the big village, but I want to support the program and keep them coming to the village. We all feel that way and everyone buys at least something. No matter how small…

They have everything from beer, vodka, bread, meats, cookies, candies, chips, kvas and more. I really am not sure if this is private or governmental supported, but I appreciate it, for now I do not have to go to town but once a week to get supplies…

Just a little more in my village life…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

I have Boza well trained to attack if anyone bothers my little garden. He got in trouble one time for running through the garden and from then on, he is a ferocious guardian of our food supply. Onions, beets and carrots; Oh My!

We have a bunch of birds who have taken it upon themselves to clean the garden of nasty bugs. I talked about the bird families in the past. They do a great job of earning their keep and Boza keeps them in line doing their work efficiently and productively. I have a tiny ant issue, but we can’t have everything perfect and ants will keep the aphids under control…

Next year I will double the size of the garden and double the products growing. I am experimenting and only planted, three items, though I am thinking about getting some garlic and planting it. The onions are doing so well and I just love fresh garlic. Guess next time I go to town, I will check to see if there is any garlic to still find, to plant. Besides, garlic is great to keep strangers away…

Next year I have in mind carrots, beets, lettuce, onions, garlic and tomatoes…

There are only three of us in the village that weed our gardens, all the other gardens look like weed beds and that is strange to me. But no one shows up to care for them and yet with the rain we have had, all the gardens are plush and overgrown with both veggies and weeds…

I get a two hands clasped and held up as approval gesture. That is the common greeting wave in the village. My buddy from higher up the hill in the village, Vova, was excited that I had put in a garden and was looking at it yesterday…

He gave his approval, but said, “небольшой,” too tiny…

He felt sorry for me and brought me a sack of potatoes, carrots, onions and a small frozen fish to cook a soup with. Therefore it is soup time today…

I have sixteen carrots growing so far and I suspect that my seed was old and weak, but I am happy to get what came up. The beet greens have supplied many salads, with onion greens and they have been a great supplement for my diet. Next year I will blend cow manure into the garden and it will be even better…

Okay, I am finding myself thinking about all the yard work I have to do and Boza is starting to give those sighs of boredom, wanting to walk and get outside to play noises. I am going to walk the dog, cut the grass, finish the mudroom roof and when the avto market comes up the hill, I will buy two loaves of bread. It is so good…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

 

Grab a cup of coffee and sit a spell, I am going to start a series of posts called, “The Russia I Live In!”

Got a great shot of a beautiful fat Mallard. He actually seems to be a tame duck gone wild and was kinda holding out his hand for food. I told him, “No bums in this village!” and sent him flying. My buddy in the village has ducks, maybe one got away? I will have to tell him…

Then a couple of days ago, we stumbled upon a hedgehog and he was hightailing it to beat the band. Boza likes hedgehogs and watched him for over an hour. We followed his path through the tall grass, for he was a fat hedgehog, but unlike the duck, he did not want handouts… 🙂

The Antonov an-2 Biplane is an image I have posted before, but I have done some research on this plane. We have basically 20 to 25 different planes of this same type fly overhead everyday. I then after looking around, found out that they are used by the forestry service in Russia and since we live right at the edge of a very huge, I mean huge forestry area. This is how they patrol the woods. Starting about 8 a.m. and ending about 8 p.m. the planes fly constantly overhead. They did this last year, but not as much and this year they are constant. They will wiggle their wings if you wave at them, which shows me that they are watching the ground for evil Russians and maybe a nice American like me… (~Sarc~)

I really think it is a flight path for small engine craft, because nowhere is there any information that the forestry here would have this may planes. And many are new looking (in fact I am positive that we have new ones flying overhead and never come back,) I think that they are still building these planes (close by) and since they are used for cargo and human transportation, it looks like we have a thriving business going on…

Antonov an-2 Biplane History: The Antonov an-2 Russian (Soviet) biplane was introduced in 1947 as a massive slow-flying agricultural and utility single engine biplane aircraft, by 2002 when production of the Antonov an-2 biplane finally ended in excess of 18,000 Antonov an-2 aircraft had been produced. Originally designed for the Soviet Ministry of Forestry, the Antonov an-2 biplane featured a totally enclosed cockpit and all metal construction with the capacity to carry up to 12 passengers and can take off in as little as 170m and land in 215m.

Well that is all for today, I have things to do and ducks and hedgehogs to chase. Boza will help of course…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

I have been struggling with having a camera that is easy to carry. Boza and I walk a lot and when something happens that I want to record, I need a smaller camera. Well today I finally got the old Kodak working pretty good and just in time for a huge storm to come around…

Pretty cool huh?

Then as we were running back to the house I found this. The area is so huge around here that I have seen three lightning storms going on at the same time, with sunlight in between all the storms. It is wild around here at times and this happens at below 20 degrees Celsius. Not some super hot summer storm…

That is why I need a camera on me all the time. Something will happen within a two hour walk guaranteed. I drained the battery three times from full to dead empty and recharged all night long, I just shot 200 images with it on a single charge. Now that will do me just fine for when Boza and I walk around the village area…

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…