OF VINES,TULIPS AND FAIRY TALES

It wasn't the earliest of starts, in fact it was quite civilised for excursions from Stelpe. We boarded the coach after it had delivered the schoolchildren all excited and ready for their day, (well some were)

We were off for the day in Tervetes novad visiting a young man who has a business growing grapes, and then a visit to someone who grows tulips, this would be followed by pusdienas (lunch) and then a short distance down the road to the main destination of our trip The Tervete Nature Park.

After what seemed to be the wettest September in memory we had enjoyed two days of wonderful warm sunny weather and this morning didn't disappoint, it was glorious and as we travelled we watched farmers

out in there fields cultivating and sowing next years harvest. In one field we watched huge machines applying a liquid fertilizer, covering wide swaths of land in a single pass, such a long long way from childhood days when the local farmer would drive through our village towing his muck spreader and filling the air with a distinctly agricultural aroma.

Three large poly tunnels held 100 nes in each.

Trained along wires the vines were above head height.

Large sweet juicy grapes tasting  nothing like shop bought ones. 

Anyway I digress Tervete novad (parish) is about 100 km from Stelpe so just a short trip for us today.

Our first stop was to visit Edgars Zihmanis who has planted some 800 vines outside for vine production and 300 inside three large poly tunnels and these were the vines we had come to see. With varieties from Ukraine, Russia and the U S A, he has selected varieties that will withstand Latvias cold winters with temperatures down to -25 -27C.

At the end of our tour there was a tasting session and believe you me there is nothing quite like a freshly picked juicy grape.

Like so many old buildings here, neglect and lack of funds
has caused  a multitude of problems for those
wanting to restore them  to their former glory.

Valerie took  a shine to this pup

While dad looked on.

Please take me home.

Settling back on the coach we headed for our next call the tulip grower ,here we could buy bulbs ready for next spring flowering, and after some confusion as to whether we should turn left or right we turned left only to find it should have been right, never mind we arrived and disembarked, The man whose business we had come to visit was waiting for us and we heard about his plans for the area, and the business he had. I'm afraid that when we went into his garden we discovered that his dog had had a litter of eight pups and these were the main attraction for many of us, Valerie took great delight in cuddling one pup and was most put out when I said no we can't have one. Mother was a German Shepherd and father looked like Bernese Mountain Dog, well he was certainly the size of a mountain!!

My dining companions.

Our lunchtime venue

Meat, mashed potato two different salads and sauce.

By golly it was good, very tasty.

Finally it was dinner time and we were to eat at the Agrofirma Tervete Ednica, a fairly new café which served an extremely good value for money meal.and very tasty too, excellent service and brilliant price , under 4 euros, for main,course pudding and drink [juice ].  

Our last stop was the Tervete Nature Park some 400 hectares of forest with paths down which one can wander and find giant mushrooms, fairytale caricatures, small homes for folk who live in this magical forest, there are play areas for children and grown-ups, tea rooms for those who just want to wander and enjoy the magnificent trees some up to 40m tall. If you want there is an observation tower which is 39m high and you can look out above the trees over the surrounding countryside. We had a guide with us as we set off and he told us many stories of the folk who lived there. The prerequisite though was that you must believe in fairy tales or you would see nothing at all. The two hours spent there was just not long enough and it is now on our list of places to take friends when they visit us.there is also a land train if you so wish, which some of us took advantage of a ride back up the hill, 

The bridge to take us from the carpark into the
Tervete Nature Park, so much safer than crossing the road. 

Along our way were rather nice places to sit and ponder a while.

How about rabbits this big?

I think Valerie would like one of these for
our garden!!

Just keep caterpillars this size off my plants. 

Practicing being a garden gnome (suites me I don't think)

Des Res in need of some upgrading.

No2 Fairy walk ready to move in to.

This witch was great she fed us with chocolate covered rasons.

Didn't like the size of the spiders though.

Part of the adventure playground, and as responsible adults
of course we had to try it out. Didn't we?,

Sadly our day was drawing to a close and we had to head back towards Stelpe after another great day out with our friends.

Where did summer go. Was it something that I said?

An international gathering from, Latvia, Norway, Ukraine
and the UK. The venue 13 Upes Iela

Those of you who know me will understand that when the grass starts to 
grow in spring and the plants start to wake up ,our garden tends to take over and sitting and trying to write this blog tends to take second place, or even third or fourth place.

There always has to be time for friends to visit, days away, and on the very rare occasion even a night away but all of these come with some cost. Unfortunately weeds and grass do not seem to understand the concept of a day of rest.

The joy of having a garden though is sharing it with friends and no matter what. quoting an old English song “Everything stops for tea” so the door is always open, PG tips ready and there is usually some cake or scones in the cupboard waiting to be eaten so if you have a bit of time to spare friends are always welcome.

The reason I am here now trying to put some thoughts into a blog is Spring and Summer have come and almost gone and we are sort of in between seasons. One day wet (which it is today) one day dull and dreary another warm and the next cold!! (to the point of putting the heating on).

Some bright spark once said “summer should get a speeding ticket” it travels so fast!!

Anyway that be it as it may, we all have to accept Autumn is on it's way some trees are beginning to turn red and the birch trees are showing yellow. I really like the way they seem to have tear drops of yellow leaves amongst the green almost as if they were sad at the passing of summer.

I mentioned earlier that there had been those days away, and I have endeavoured to cover them with albums of pictures on Facebook, one picture being worth a thousand words, and it's much quicker than writing a blog. ( If you are not a friend on FB send me a request and then you can catch up.)

Meanwhile here is a short account of the occasional day off and happenings in Stelpe we have had in picture form,

 (APRIL) Anna and Olivia, helping us at school cooking with the children

Olivia getting some cooking tips from Nanny.

In return a new hairstyle for Nanny.

(April)Our two large trees that had to be felled.

Our neighbour Janis making a start.

TIMBER!!!!!

A job well done. It's great to have good neighbours.

(May) My own humble effort at tree felling,
(Now  you see them)

Now you don't

( May) Our son Mark helping Dad with some barn repairs.

June found us in Lithuania at Kurija  Nerija National Park.
Looking towards Russia.

Sand dunes right on the Russian border.

All together now, a life on the ocean waves.

A little about our boat trip.

On the shore line, just hope the tide doesn't rse to much.

We had a day out in Lithuania with friends from
Vecumnieki, where everything is big!!
From cookng pots

to ants

Snakes

Even the mosquitoes. 

As we left after a long day we stopped for one
last look over the countryside from this 100mtr
viewing high platform.

A few days latter found us heading out again,
this time to Kolka, which is where the
Baltic sea joins the Gulf of Riga.
This is a local fishermans boat.

Lunch in  a fishermans home.

Heading for  Cape Kolka

I'm Glad I never brought my swimming trunks.

A proud moment for grandparents, when we attended Katies
graduation in Winchester Cathedral in July