OOOPS HOW COULD I FORGET 'THE WINDOW'

I know I know all you avid readers of my tales are saying what about the window,he hasn't told us about the window!!!!!
               OK OK well here it is.......

The new look sitting room.

When we bought 13 Upes Iela, way back in 2004 the previous owner had for some inexplicable reason blocked one of the sitting room windows up. It was bricked in, rendered over and generally made to disappear,well sort of as on the outside wall facing the road there appeared a large dark square where the window had once been. On asking friends and neighbours no one had any idea of the reason for doing this strange thing. The said window would not only have given a view to the west  to catch the wonderful sunsets we so often have, blocking it up removed 25% of the natural light coming into the room {she was a strange woman} I think she must have had a fetish for blocking things up as internal doors were sealed up and boarded in!!.
Anyway for four years this non window just got on our nerves, we would stand and pretend it was there saying 'just look at the sun going down' { I know sad aren't we} and the times we drove into our road and said 'why on earth did she do that.

Why????

But moving the story on, thanks to a PPI that I should not have paid ,we found ourselves in possession of some spare cash. Whoopeee !!! we can go to Spain for a holiday {no! done that} we could go to England to see the family {no, just done that} Ah,, we could buy a 62 inch 3D all singing come dancing TV, nah!!! don't want that. I know lets have some good windows put in and if it's not to much perhaps we could unblock the window and have a new one put back in.So in short that's what we did.
An appointment was made the windows measured and a quote given for the windows to be fitted {eleven windows and one door} the window to be opened,all rubbish to be cleared away, new window sill's fitted outside along with window boards inside and make good everywhere.A few days later the quote arrived and  we accepted, 'you will need to pay half now so we can order the windows {these came from Lithuania} and then pay the balance when you are happy with the completed work' we were told and on production of an invoice we went to the bank had the money transferred. All that remained was to wait the three weeks for the goods to be made.
True to their word  three weeks later we had a phone call asking when they could start work. OK next Thursday at 9am will be fine.

Out they come

In they go {the brick's are just to hold the window boards in place}

 Wednesday found us at school as per normal when at 9.45 I had a phone call asking where are you the workmen are at the house but you are not!!! {Oh well better a day early than a day late} and so with a hasty goodbye to class9 we rushed home to clear curtains etc etc so work could start.
All went well and windows came out and new ones installed. Here in Latvia it seems that the norm is to feed your workmen and on the first day we being a little unsure thought perhaps some of Valerie's  home made soup would be ok along with some cake for desert. Now to say the soup was hot {not temperature wise but in taste} would be a bit of an understatement! the pepper content had been a little to generous  and it nearly blew your head off, but it was,'loti garsigs' { very tasty} the workmen commented with beads of sweat appearing on their foreheads. All went well for the afternoon and to give them credit they worked until 7pm.
Clearing up{well sort of] they bid us labvakar {good evening} and disappeared into the night hopefully to return the next day, one lives in hope but it wasn't to be and they returned.
9 am and not a sign 10 am still no sign 11 am and a phone call we discovered they  would return next Tuesday!!!!!!!
All went well Tuesday and more windows and a door went in with some of the making good started. On today's menu was shepherds pie which went down a treat and a full afternoons work followed. Asking when they would return a shrug of the shoulders told us to expect them when we saw them. which was in fact  a week later but this time the blocked window was opened and a new one installed. WOW!! what a difference it made. All the windows were in all made good the reveals painted and trimmed upstairs with a nice wooden moulding. EXCELLENT!!!!!

Just a vague outline can be seen

Out it comes

Well that's the worst over

Mind the lawn!!!

Well we couldn't have been happier, the minor irritations of delays between days working ,dust and general disruption were things of the past. Draughty windows were a thing of the past and yes,, the house is warmer.

The novelty has now warn off a little, but we still love to come into the room and see  the sunshine streaming in,, and then in the evening  to be able to stand and watch the sunset going down over Stelpe forest.

Sunset  can be spectacular.

TWO OUTINGS AND A WINDOW {Part two}

Where is that coach  !!

As I closed my last post I mentioned that our second trip would be abroad, hence the definition of the word abroad.For many, a trip abroad means aeroplane journeys, the Channel tunnel or a cross channel ferry,we have in the last few years come to view 'going abroad' as just a quick {20 mins} trip down the road to the border with Lithuania, and a favourite with visitors when they come to visit is to stand with one foot in Latvia and the other in Lithuania The bridge over the river Memele is an ideal place as the border runs down the centre of the river,dividing the two countries.

So for our second outing we found ourselves waiting for the Vecumnieki coach to pick us up out side the village shop. This trip was by way of a thank you for taking part in the local villages competition.  An itinerary had been provided for the day, which when we entered it into Google translate became as clear as mud,all we were able to understand was we would visit some places of rural interest????
 The day got off to a good start with the coach running late and we stood for over half an hour in the cold, so nothing new there then. Before we crossed the border we were entertained by Skaistkalne village as they were the winners of the competition, hospitality consisted of a concert by the youth band, bean soup,tea or coffee and a little dancing thrown in for good measure, All before 9 o'clock !!!! still we thought maybe once the trip really got under way we could relax and enjoy seeing some new sights.

Nice house just the place for home brew!

                               
 Little chance of that as about 15 minutes later we arrived at our first port of call. A nice country house, what is this place? we asked an English speaking friend, Ah this is a factory,oh yes and what do they make? Natural Beer and no Lithuanian beer is under 7% proof and must be drunk within two weeks, perhaps things were looking up! free samples and tasting!! Great and it's only 9.45 this could turn out to be a very happy day, and then the news went round they make beer here on Wednesday,Thursday and Friday and what day did we visit  SATURDAY!!!!!!
Mumble! Mumble!!Mumble!!! still never mind the day is young , what next?
Have you ever wondered where all the EU money goes our next  stop could be the answer.

Bit before my time

Still a bit early for me

Six at 300,000 euros each!!!!!!!!!!

Why in the middle of nowhere??????

The landscape was flat open plains that had during the summer been vast cornfields you could see for kilometres {well miles and miles} with hardly a house in sight, turning into what looked like a modern farm yard we were surrounded with machinery both old and new, many of the old machines had been bought by the owner of the place and shipped from the USA and doing our sums we were shocked by just how much money was standing in the yard. There was a collection of old tractors alongside  steam engine's with 1930's cars which one would not have been surprised if Al Capone had stepped out of. Opposite this display there was a small gate which lead into a landscaped garden complete with lake waterfall Sauna and meeting room just take a look. Well we did come to look at gardens.perhaps not quite this grand.

About 15k down the road we once again into another farmyard, the farmer I think must have had shares in John Deere as there was a selection from the very largest tractor I have ever seen ,to quite a modest brand spanking new one { the plastic was still on the seat} Leaving the yard we found ourselves once more in a  spacious landscaped garden which must have covered some 3 acres complete with house,lake, fountains pelicans and a huge cage??? now what could that be for?

The cage can just be seen

Well, every lake should have a pair!!

Two name sister together

Fountains!! but no music.

This was a chance for us to have some refreshment and some of our party produced two large flasks of hot water,tea bags,coffee and a large box of pirags { a small bread roll with a little chopped smoked pork/bacon inside} they are very popular and these were consumed with great relish.
























Oh yes !! what did the large cage hold well there was a lynx high up on the branch of a large tree.




Pabirze would be our next stop after a quick stop to see the sinkholes of Northern Lithuania. Now I bet very few of you reading this blog were aware that the area around the towns of Birzi and Pabirzi were famous for this natural phenomena in this relatively small area there are some 9000 sinkholes the last one appearing in 2011









Pabirze however was the town voted the most cared for,with several gardens  that had been selected for to visit,,,this would all take place after some true Lithuanian hospitality. We got off the coach close to a very large church and were greeted by a small group dressed for a wedding, complete with a bride who was on the look out for a groom,taking a fancy to one of our number she soon 'claimed' him  and we all followed the happy pair into a hall close by the church which was laid out for the wedding feast. No sooner had we sat down than the beer started to arrive along with food ,consisting of pickles, potatoes and something closely resembling omelet, Music was provided by a small group of folk in traditional costume accompanied by a man playing an accordion and sometime a special mouth whistle which was extremely loud and piercing. The tables were cleared and the dancing began with the bride and groom taking centre stage. One could honestly say a good time was had by all!!! As we said to each other 'we started the day with a brewery with no beer and had lunch in a church hall where the beer flowed freely' how ironic is that? But here we have come to expect the unexpected!

Oh what have I done!!!

The wedding dance.

Oh yes the grooms real wife soon reclaimed him once the festivities were over, and we were then driven round the town visiting several gardens and also being given cuttings and plants if required.

Guess who wants one of these

But might get fed to one of these!!!!!!

Our last garden we visited is worthy of special mention. The first impression was 'there's not much here' the only thing of note in the front of a little house ,was a huge cross,as we made our way around to the back garden, there was  still  nothing with a Wow!!! factor everything was neat and tidy and two elderly ladies greeted us politely and led us down through a small gateway into an area perhaps the size of two football pitches side by side, a number of ponds were landscaped with large silver birch and other ornamental trees.
Very nice, a quiet place ,,,so???? It wasn't until the story of the garden was told that we realised just what this meant.  the older of the two ladies who had greeted us was 80 years old and it was her who at the age of 50 had decided to make this tranquil spot. There was no JCB or equivalent, she had nothing more than a spade and wheelbarrow and she dug the ponds moved the soil and created this lovely place with no other help.It  must surely have been a labour of love. we were all amazed, stunned, godsmacked, at what this lovely gentle lady had achieved. , words really can't describe how we all felt,,,,,
So I leave you this time with these pictures. just think of what one can achieve with some determination and hard work

This is the old lady who dug these ponds

TWO OUTINGS AND A WINDOW Part one

This year our involvement with school has changed a little, we still take two classes for English but instead of trying to engage 6--7 year old children, we now have English conversation lessons with class's 8 and 9  { 14--16 year old students} and these are very rewarding times whilst being a bit more of a challenge, and I take my hat off to the teachers of Stelpe Pamatskola who rise to the challenge with very little financial reward.
So it is always great to spend time with them when they have an outing, and this year was no different. Class nine teacher is responsible for the itinerary and we set off about 07.30 heading across to the other side of the Dalgava river. We were heading for The Kalsnavas Arboretum, having visited one or two arboretums here in Latvia and having spent many years in the garden centre world back in the UK I was looking forward this part of the trip.I certainly was not disappointed. Set in 99 hectares of rolling hillside there are over 2500 different species of trees and shrubs and the largest collection of paeony's and lilac in Latvia.

Latvia's National Forest

Beautiful autumn colour

Conifer's of all shades 

The lily pond

                                                                                                                                                               This is a wonderful place to wander in peace and enjoy the beauty of nature, but time as always beat us and we had to move on , we had just enough time to stop at a plant nursery nearby where I was like a kid in a sweet shop I could have spent a fortune but restricted myself to buying two small shrubs and a conifer, these are now in our borders at No 13. A return trip is most defiantly on in the spring

Just a small part of the plant nursery

Having filled the coach luggage space with trees and shrubs we climbed aboard and set off for our next destination. The largest rabbit farm in Latvia! who knows what we shall find there.

A hat! no I'm a Coypu

Now one has to understand that directions to a place of interest here might not come up to UK standards,however with a good coach driver, places of the beaten track can usually be found on the first, second,third or even the fourth attempt and many interesting sights can be seen in the process and this was no exception as we pulled up at what appeared to be the rabbit farm there were small wooden houses in fenced fields with small brown animals running and hopping about. The entire coachload of passengers spilled off peered over the fence to see the bunnies, only to be stared back at by several of these animals. It would seem we had arrived not at the rabbit farm but at a Coypu farm.
Although the demand for fur has dropped  there is still a market in these parts for real fur hats.

Oh aren't they cute

A rabbits nest, I'm not kidding

After another two attempts to find the farm we were looking for we arrived at the correct location and began the tour, which I am pleased was restricted to seeing different breeds of rabbits ,chicken and various other domestic animals.







Fortunately we were only invited to view the bunnies that were part of the tourist display.
The nearest we came to rabbit farming was one of the end products which was for sale.
Wait for it -------- yes and I jest not Rabbit Sausages, and before you ask no we were not even tempted to buy a pack. Rabbit sausages that's just too weird!!







One little piggy went to market
This one stayed at home, she was having an identity crises and wasn't sure if she was a pig or a sheep.
Ahhhhhh poor thing.

Now who's a pretty girl

The very simple alter

Soon it was time to board the coach once more for a short journey for the next part of our day out.This was to be a concert in the Lutheran church at Berzaune which has been renovated in the last couple of years. As with most of the Lutheran church's we have been in the interior was as you can see from the picture very mmmmmm! white, however the first three rows of very comfortable theatre style with tip up seats which were quickly occupied and seeing a guitar on the chair at the front we sat back waiting for the concert to begin.Because of the venue a hush came over the group as a strange sound came wafting over our heads as the artist started playing the organ and singing what I can only describe as something from the 16th century or simply weird, everyone was confused and my personal feeling was Oh no I hope we haven't  got to sit through 30--40 minutes of
this!!!! but after about 10 minutes it stopped and the performance moved to the front of us and we were entertained by the artist and at times his daughter,this was by far the better part of the whole event.

The entertainer and his daughter

The high point of the whole concert was when one member of our party forgot that we were in tip-up seats and decided to get a little more comfortable and ended up almost sitting on the floor as her chair almost collapsed on her, this was greeted with grins, smiles and giggles[and two certain people had a job to contain their laughter,one being my wife!!!] but all seemed to go unnoticed by the performer {thank goodness}

Berzaune Lutheran Church

By the time the concert was finished we were all ready for some lunch, so back to the coach, we traveled just a short distance to a water mill which  now houses a restaurant and rooms which can be used for wedding receptions and party's. The weather throughout the morning had not been great so we were happy to move into the warm dining room which had been prepared for us, made even all the more inviting by the smell of home cooked food.and we were not disappointed,,,,

No complaints here

Well it was serve yourself

On a large table there was a serve yourself buffet , with fried chicken and pork several different types of salad, white and black bread, pasta and more, just as soon as one plate was empty it was replaced with another,with home made fruit juice and mousse and fruit syrup to finish our meal and in danger of falling asleep in the warm surroundings we donned our coats and went to explore.                                                                                                                  






As I mentioned this place was an old water mill and as we looked round there were signs that at one time it would have been a very busy place. Now however it was more a curious mix of ancient and modern. In one room people were getting ready for a wedding to held the next day,
another held an interesting collection of household memorabilia and just around the corner  in the depths of the mill well I guess there was just about something of everything from an old flat iron to an early electric typewriter, lamps,shells {of the military kind} spanners, garden tools the list would go on and on, it was a veritable Aladdin's cave.

Something of everything

Not a space anywhere

An early Remington???

At this sign we got out!!!!!!!                  

When we saw the skull sign we decided that some fresh air was the order of the day so we decided the have a wander round the outside of the mill and see what interesting things we could find,

 Here again we were not disappointed as someone had put the unusual on display there were horse drawn sleigh's and carriages along side some motor cars and cycles and a small garden tractor

Heath Robinson would have been proud of this one!!

bit of a bone shaker I think

    Household names pop up everywhere        

                                           

As we visit different place's and see the way people here take the unusual and make something useful we try and see if we would be able to adapt their idea's and use them in our own garden and Valerie suggested that if we are unable to sell our Golf we might use it in the same manner as here. {she never did like that car)

Unfortunately our day out was almost at an end and so with a quick detour via Madonna and a Rimi supermarket we headed for home, looking forward to our next outing which would be with a group of keen gardeners from Vecumnieki and we would be going  abroad !!
SO WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!!!