GETTING THINGS DONE

Well it's official now, the cold weather is here, this morning when I opened the curtains the lawn was white, I know when reading friends postings on FB that some of you have already had icy windscreens and snow is forecast for later in the month, but here in Stelpe we don;t want any of  it thank you very much. Anyway can't do much about the weather can we?, so if you can't beat it join it so I did, put me vest on, trouble was with the work we did today I was over heating {was going to say sweating like a pig, but some wise ---- will tell me pigs don't sweat}
When ever we have started doing something in the house, half way through we say we should have taken a picture of what it was like before and the what it's like when finished, well have I got news for you!! two things no three things we have before and after pictures, for you.

Once  this chest held a young girls hopes and dreams

                                                                                                                                                                    Our  very good friends Kathleen and Ian, when they moved to their small farm found  amongst the things left by the previous owner this chest, sadly in need of some TLC. Here in Latvia these chests are much sought after, there origin dates back to the last century and were called Hope chests, we were able to find out more about them on our visit to Jelgava.

The full discription of the dowry chest

                                                                                In the tower we visited there was a chest on display and a discription, although called a dowry chest, the more popular name is a Hope Chest. the picture tells the official version of there use.

Now a blanket/ bedding chest

After some hard work

 Now I freely admit that I am not a carpenter and Mr Long the woodwork teacher at Uckfield Secondry School would {if he were alive today} totaly agree with me. But I am quite proud of the restored chest that we now have sitting at the top of our stairs, the perfectionists among you could find fault with it, but do I care? not a bit.                    

                                                                                                                                                                         So thats the first before and after, the second is the site of the old sauna Oh yes we used to have a sauna complete with the river at the back to jump into when cooked to a turn. Sadly the roof was falling in so it had to be pulled down, thats the published reason for demolition, unfortunatly we had to make umteen frogs homeless three families of mice, and countless spiders and creepy crawlies were without somewhere to hide.

Before

The wood was recycled to make our sittingroom fireplace,the washing line repairs and our outdoor eating deck,oh yes and also the boiler, it kept the house nice and warm on several days last winter. We did finish up with quite an untidy area at the bottom of the field and so we set to work to clean it up .

After

  For those of you who know this site you will appreciate just how I felt having wheelbarrowed all of the roofing up the hill and round to the back of the barn.
I did have some help doing this work Valerie did sterling work raking the ground,stacking bricks and generaly trying to supervise me. We were both cream crackered at the end of the day I can tell you.
PS if anyone wants a job the bricks have got to be brought up as well.

Before

Now for number three the new fence, yep we have a new picket fence across the front of 13 Upes Iela, thanks must go to Mark J and to Valerie again, without their help it would have taken much longer to erect trying to hold a pencil, drill, screw, spacer block and screwdriver whilst holding a pail in place is not a one man job

After                       

To appreciate it in is full glory one must see it in the flesh,  length of fencing aprox 100ft total cost of materials 50Lats a real bargain.

Edward hard at work

 Great job don't think I could do it with a spade and fork

 I cannot lay claim to the change in our field  as Edward ploughed the the veg plot today, yesterday I spent time muck spreading, I cleared the compost heap and if smell is anything to go by we should have taters as big as footballs next year, the ground looks great all the weeds and rubish turned under for the winter                        


                                                                                                         
     So all in all we've had a good week,Now ' all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy' or so the saying goes, and this week has not been all work, Last Friday we met up with friends from England for coffee in Bauska, they were on there way to Riga and other parts of Latvia, for ten days.
     Also we went with a group of local folk to a concert in Ieceva, Harijs Ozols and Santa Zapacka  they were excelent and a good time was had by all, you can check them out on youtube, but to be fair it doesn't do them justice. Oh yes the cost of an hour and a halfs entertainment just 3 lats, not bad eh? So are we dull ? no not a bit, life is good and everyday we count our blessings, and look forward to the next episode of our adventure.
    Well thats all for this week folks,look forward to catching up with you next time
PS Your comments are always welcome

LIGHTS!! CAMERA!! ACTION!!!

A visit to film studios was all part of this week action!

Hi there readers,well whats new from Upes Iela this week?
We were asked back to school to take class's 1 and 2 on Monday this lesson is just for 40minutes not so long, but believe me long enough to try and hold the attention of 11 yep just 11 children aged 4--6 years old, the little rascals ran us ragged, dashing to the loo every few minutes {the girls only, must be something in the female genes} Now we have learned how to say sit down and also be quiet in Latvian but it must have lacked something in pronunciation because when we tried it, it had no effect whatsoever. and we finished the lesson saying never again.!!!!
Now believe me we love these kids and they are a great each and every one of them the emphasis being on the each one but not all together. So on Wednesday when we had to do it all again you can imagine our relief when we found the children all sitting at their desks being addressed by the school principal. We don't know what she said but the children were just the opposite of Mondays fiasco.
          
                                                                                                                            

 On Friday we were invited out for the day
with the teachers who were visiting the
home of Latvias film industry near
Tukums. Oh yes Latvia has a film
industry that is alive and well. We were interested
to see what was on the cards, perhaps we may
rub shoulders with super stars who knows
anything is possible. May be get to dress up and be a film star for the day. Move over Leonardo, I've arrived.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                   

The deserted streets of Riga circa 1919

The film set mock up river Daugava in the first world war

Yep this is really my new truck with built in air con!!!!

Valerie on the porch of our new house

A real Russian steam train

This was the view we had from our coach we never had time to get closer as we had to move on to our next location, Jaunkoku Pils for lunch.

 The Jaunmoku Pils [palace] a grand hunting lodge built in 1901 for a George Armitstead he was mayor of Riga and a British citizen who helped construct the sewer,water and electric systems in Riga. he also built the first tram line, maybe even the bit we saw in Cinevilla. Any way be that as it may we were ready for something to eat and sat down in a very nice room to enjoy chicken in a lemon sauce with grilled potatoes and salad followed by pancakes with jam and chocolate syrup,not bad for just 4 lats. On our table we were joined by two of the school dinner ladies and when asked for their opinion of the food they said it's not as good as ours!! and gave it 5 out of ten.
The rest of the day was spent visiting Tukums and places of interest in the area including a display of straw animals and small human characters, fruit nurseries and one place of a very dubious nature!!! so no pictures were taken, but all in all a very good day out.
I was determined that if the weather allowed me on Saturday I would get the last cut of the lawn done and thankfully it was fine so for at least a few months the mower can be put away and the lawn rake take over as Autumn passes through and the leaves have to be gathered up,there is always something to do well at least until the snow arrives.

                            

'THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS'

Hi there, well another week has flown by, I don't know how many of you will remember the title of this weeks report from Stelpe, but boy has it been a busy week.
It all started last Monday, well it would wouldn't it. Having made the decision to buy a second car, Gaston our local autoservice man told me that our new purchase would be ready Monday afternoon and the man I was to buy it from would pick me up between 4 and 5pm and we would go to Riga to do the paperwork hand over the cash and the car would be mine, no sending off paperwork to the DVLA no just get the Technical test [MOT] change the car passport [log book] to my name  and away you go, sounds simple don't it? and it is if everyone spoke the same language [ English would be the best] ha ha not a chance.
I was busy in the garden,doing things one does, at about 11am when Uris rolls up and says 'we go Riga now' ok grabbing a quick change of clothes I was in the car in under 5minutes and away we went, There was no point in asking why the change of time, that would have got to involved so just go with the flow. Stopping on the way in Vecumnieki to pick up Uris wife off we went,and to cut a long story short we got the test, changed the passport, sorted new insurance had something to eat while wating for it all to be done, paid the cash and were home in about 3 hours and with only a handfull of english words spoken. And that was Monday.

 

Not the newest model but with our roads !!!!!!

Tuesday started early we were going for an excursion with the Stelpe pensioners,where? well there were references of Nunneries, towers, orchid collections and nurseries oh yes and the all important stop for shopping on the way home.
Be at the school for 9am we were told and being good time keepers unlike some who come to mind you know who you are!!! we  were at school at 8.45am well the bus turned up at 9.30, but the driver had to do the school run first so it should have been be at school for 9 ish.within a short time what promised to be a nice warm sunny day turned into a dull rainy one, still never mind we were having a day out so who cares if it rains a bit.

Welcome to St Trinity Sergijs

Ladies A drink from this well will keep you young and beautiful

First stop was the Nunnery yep not a convent a Nunnery, down some small forest track we went to a small car park and a very imposing wall and gateway. The words of one of the first men I worked with came to mind ' These walls are not to keep you in they are to keep the rif raf out'
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I guess because it was wet and dull we didn't see the best side of the nunnery, It is part of the Russian Orthodox Church,with a great deal of  ceremony and order chanting and incense burning, not my cup of tea at all.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     We boarded the coach heading for Jelgava and a restored tower which promised wonderful,  views over the town.

The tower of St Trinity church

everyone made it to the top, I think Valerie is holding on for dear life

Jelgava is the fourth largest town in Latvia 90% of which was bombed in the second world war check it out on Wickapaidea it will tell you more than I can, but our visit was to the tower which has just been opened to the public. It stands 50.17 meters high and is all that is left of the church after Soviet army soldiers blasted it in 1954 and left only the tower for military needs. It has 9 floors and the top is a glass pyramid from where on a clear day wonderful views can be seen.Jelgava has made an effort here as all the information was translated into English [good for them] the only downside of a very interesting visit was the Latvian guide we had she spoke to Valerie in Latvian and when Valerie told her she was English the guide totally blanked her and turned her back and started talking to someone else [will they never learn.]

winter apples and not a Cox's Orange Pippin in sight

Varieties of apples we have never heard off.

After a quick lunch  in a shopping centre it was off to the next port of call a fruit nursery in Dobele some 25 or so kilometres away. This reminded me of my early days working at a nursery in Berkshire. The staff were knowledgeable about the trees that were grown and as a bonus they spoke a little English, a brief look round the stock for sale and then a short ride to see the trees as they would be when fruiting. We needed no fruit trees as we have 18 apples in our orchard but it was a useful visit as we were able to identify varieties we have. But hey ho no time to hang around we must be off to the next port of call. Orchids!!!!!

An impressive sign  lets hope it lives up to expectations.

Now who lives in a house like this,lets go through the keyhole

A few kilometres from Dobele we took a turning and soon were back on dirt roads, some 5-6 kilometres further we saw some shetland ponies in a field and pulled up in front of a large orange house and were greeted by the owner of the orchid collection we had come to see, the only glasshouse in use we could see was no bigger than 18x10 feet that is, if that housed his collection how would we all  get in, no problem there as the orchids were in the house [in the glass covered balcony above the steps.]
Every time one enters a Latvian home there is all ways something new to see!!!  entering the house we followed the man  up a curving staircase and were met by the smell.!!                                                                                                                                                     'wet dog mixed with horse.  Not at all plesant,

At the top we found a room with,

Beautiful but not a hint of a smell

collections of shells animal skins a wild boar skin on the floor pictures made from butterfly wings and much much more. But still no orchids, all squashing into the next room we finally came to? no not the orchids but!!! the source of the smell!!!  being the gentleman that I am I stood back to allow my dear wife to get a better view of the exotic flowers on show, but all she came face to face with was a moderately large python being thrust towards her, she was out of there faster than a rat up a drain pipe, only to be met by a lady nursing a large Iguana in her arms.An exceedingly fast exit was made I can assure you.
Of the orchids we had come to see? well there were perhaps four in bloom ,the picture on the right was the most impressive.Apparently the man had spent some time in the jungles of South America hence his love for the exotic reptiles and plants. Several of the ladies by now had had there fill of the exotic and we settled down on the coach to wait for the next leg of our journey, this was back on more familiar ground, Bauska and shopping. nothing can shock us there.
We needed to pick up a few bit and pieces as tomorrow we were due to entertain a group of people from Serbia, Latvia and yes the UK with an english tea no less.
Wednesday morning what do we need for an english tea? thats right scones and strawberry jam,victoria sponge, and of course real english tea, while there are many different blends of tea in the shops from Earl Grey to english breakfast there is nothing to match PG Tips,Typhoo, Tetley or even Asda's own brand,so with scones and cakes baking we had better make sure our tea bags are up to scratch. We weren't sure quite what to expect from these visitors.but when they arrived we discovered they were on a cultural exchange and wanted to see the real Latvia. once all 18 were settled in our sitting room the questions came. Why are you here?, when did you come?,what did you come for? what do you miss most? one after the other the questions came, and it would seem as if we have acheved some sort of celebrity status as one of the Latvian visitors told us even the British Embassy staff talk about us, which must be due to our visit to the embassy a couple of months ago.English pensioners retiring to Latvia do seem a bit thin on the ground.
It was a real pleasure to welcome the English contingent who had come from Somerset  and some were from Frome no less one of the ladies had even visited the church we used to attend in Trowbridge, what a small world we live in.
With tea laid we all soon were chatting away like long lost friends, and the comment one person made summed it all up for us ,'You know she said we really feel at home here' and with that comment she started the washing up, and another made more tea for everyone.It's so good to know people feel relaxed enough to do these things in our home. All to soon they had to be on there way, armed with two bags of goodies for the bus driver they had a three hour journey to their next port of call.
What was left well not a lot, the scones all went and so did the cake,must be something to do with the 'Stelpe Kitchen'
It was a great success and we have now made some more international friends.
Thursday and Friday we spent relaxing in the sun reading and generaly doing nothing. Well I think we deserved it don't you?

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY

I know I know,your all out there waiting, watching just hanging on my every word [ in my dreams] wanting to know just what 'holiday cake is like' Well now let me see if I can put it into words----
 But before I try I'll just fill you in on the last two weeks and why the delay in bringing the latest from Upes Iela.
On the 13th we had friends from England visit, Mark and Alison came for ten days R and R but for some reason insisted on working [ MBM] so the kitchen and dining room got a fresh coat of paint,cakes and pies were baked, the washing line was repaired and a new fence was started, the chimney swept from the top down, and that was all in the first 24 hours!!!! no not really we did spread it out over the days they were here. Work here has taken on a whole new meaning, oh yes there are jobs that have to be done like the potatoes,or the grass has to be cut on a more or less regular basis, but we have found it is more important to spend time relaxing and just being ourselves with friends, having fellowship round the meal table is a time to catch up on the news from the UK , sharing the needs of friends here in Stelpe, laughing at good memories, encouraging each other and enjoying each others company. Of course one must not forget that all these things are made much better with the obligatory cup of tea.

Before setting out for our walk we just had to stop for a cuppa

We were able one day to get away from work and take Mark and Alison for a walk round the lakes in Vecumnieki the day started cloudy and overcast, but soon the clouds were gone and we enjoyed clear blue sky and warm sunshine.
















However there time with us went all to quickly and before we knew it we were saying goodbye at the airport, them to their busy lives and us heading back for more of that hard work I keep thinking about, well there is always tomorrow. I jest of course, we were reminded just this last week of how we should value our time as we heard news from a friend that her husband had  passed away. Although many mile away our hearts go out to her 

pictures do not do justice to the real thing

The Autumn colours are now with us and as we travel about we never cease to be amazed that what just a few days ago was a tired dull dusty green is now transformed into the most vivid red ,yellow and orange colours which will make a carpet of colour for the children young and old to kick through.
We are hoping to buy ourselves a smaller car soon as running a large seven seater for just the two of us seems a bit OTT, someone in the village has a VW Golf which is the right price and has a full years technical test [MOT] to you and me, Gaston our local mechanic says ' for the price they are asking I think this is a good car' so watch this space for more news.

The best ever

Now I have kept you to long so what is Holiday cake like. The words like gorgeous, tasty,scrumptious,yummy and mouthwatering come to mind but you would have to taste it t really know what it's like, Whats in I hear you ask well there are hazelnuts,raisins,cherries, white and brown sugar, cloves cinnamon and allspice butter and 1cup of thick apple sauce, no one flavour over rides another they just all blend together to make the best ever. The complete recipe is available on request from the Stelpe Kitchen, 


Go on live dangerously ask for it [Bet you don't]
We have a busy week coming up and rumour has it we will be entertaining guests from several different countries including some people from the British Council. Better check the batteries are all charged up in the camera.

 

A sharp dig in the ribs

Do you know that  feeling as you just begin to wake up in the morning half awake half asleep,warm, snug and just aware that the day is beginning, the question arises shall I get up or shall I have another five minutes cocooned under the duvet. I was in the said blissful state the other morning when I received the 'sharp dig in the ribs' Edward's starting his tractor Valerie said and in a flash I was up and dressed and unsure if I was coming or going.

Now there is no missing a Latvian tractor starting up as it sounds just like a motorcycle with no exhaust very loud and harsh, yep Edward was on the move and he was going to lift our potatoes  Now!!!!!!

Potato picker  Valerie

It was 8.00am, a gorgeous morning clear blue sky fresh and crisp with the promise of a warm day to come,and so it started, only ten 40 metre rows to pick this year it wont take that long

I'm reduced to my knees

How wrong can you be we finished at 4 o'clock,warn out but happy that the job was done and just as the first spots of rain began to fall. The crop? well we finished up with about 400lb of spuds and at 25 cents per kilo well worth the time and effort.

Cranes heading south for the winter

                                                                              There is a definite change in the temperatures these mornings, making the duvet even more tempting, but the signs are there,the storks have gone,one day they are here the next they are gone just like that, we see the cranes high up flying south to warmer climes. While the swallows and house martins start to gather on the power lines and house roofs,warming themselves and getting ready for there long journey

It' nice to see the great tits back

But as we see these summer visitors leaving a whole host of different birds take there place, blue and great tits, nuthatches,woodpeckers,jays and magpies come to take there place.

Distrutive little beggars arn't they

It was a surprise to us when we took Lilija for a walk yesterday to find that the beavers which live in the river had left their mark on one of the trees almost over night they have stripped the bark off of quite a large tree on the opposite bank and are making inroads in the trunk

One nights work

We were in a local market the other week and saw two beavers for sale in a cage, they are considered good eating here by some folk so guess these were destined for the pot.They are extremely destructive animals as we often see the damage they can do,all they need is a ditch and a bit of water with a few trees growing by the side and away they go beaver
heaven!!!

On the way back from the river we took a look at our apple crop and decided that it was time to pick some,  we wrapped some and have stored some under the bed in the spare room, and tried our hand at making apple juice with the rest, With all the fresh fruit we have one of the first things we bought was a juice extractor, Big Big mistake, and in our view a waste of money, to make delicious apple juice we found that if you half fill a preserving pan with chopped apples, top it up with 4litres of water ,and bring to the boil slowly, simmer for 15  mins strain through muslin twice and you have the best apple juice ever, and you can add  sugar to taste.

   We  have been very adventurous in the Stelpe kitchen this week,  apart from the apple juice we have made fresh cod fish cakes with  a Jamaican  twist, and even as I write this the house is filled with the smell of a Holiday fruit cake,   But you will have to wait till next week to find out what is in it and what it taste's like.                                                                                                        

That was the week that was

The band really were right at the top

Wow what busy people we have been this week, it all started with a trip to Ieceva our nearest town,just to get a couple of things. Walking down the main road which by the way is the 'Highway of Europe' we heard what we thought was a brass band playing, but then who would be playing on a Sunday morning? the salvation Army? we just had to find out, the music seemed to be coming from the trees where the Lutheran church is,our guess was that someone with a public address system was playing the music, but as we drew nearer we could see no sign of anything different and then again the music floated over our heads and low and behold high in the bell tower there was a brass band. Now the only brass band we know of comes from Skiastkalne which is 30kilometres from Ieceva and sure enough it was them they had come to celebrate the festival of the bells.

The church interior

Latvian style scaffolding

As with so many buildings in Latvia the exterior looks great, but when we were invited in we found another story all together















There was no floor, no ceiling well pretty much no anything except Latvian style scaffolding




We have been told that the church isn't a building but it'sthe people who gather to worship,we found this to be the case here as we were given the warmest of welcomes. People have been meeting here for 435 years keeping the testimony of Gods redeeming grace alive during times of extreme hardship. God bless them all.

Monday it was back to the mowing, picking windfallen apples, peppers and chillies which we set to and froze,

Our first chillie crop

Yes they really are pink apples

  Tuesday was more of the same,with a couple of indoor jobs thrown in. Gradually I am getting our winter fire wood stacked away in the barn,but the mountain dosn't seem to get any smaller

Only a small part of our winter fuel

The weather was not so good on Wednesday so I got to grips with the green house and cleared all the old tomatoes, peppers and cucumber plants out, ready for the winter.

Some of the new children

Gift packs of useful thing

Flowers for the teachers

          

Now Thursday being the first of September was 'First Day of School Day' and unlike any day I can remember of school children all arrive prompt at 9 o'clock dressed in there best clothes with bunches of flowers for their teachers,new children are led one by one into the school hall by the most senior class and introduced to all present, given a gift of things a 5 year old needs for school, and then school closes for the day and normal service resumes the following morning,

Friday, we were invited in the evening to a hot tub party for the teachers and so we spent the day in 'The Stelpe Kitchen' baking goodies like Cornish pasties and coffee and walnut cake to share we also took with us a jar of our apple and chillie chutney.      A  BBQ was lit and the table spread with all sorts of yummy things and the party commenced, a very good time was had by all. What did we have on the BBQ, well we had a little problem with translation but finally arrived at....................... wait for it!!!!   the only thing we all understood was.............Bambi

The venue for the hot tub party

 Latvians take there Hot Tubs (sauna to you and me) very seriously but only the very brave come out and take the plunge in the pond with the frogs and fish,

We saw this rainbow on the way to the party

 We are so happy to be part of the village now and feel that we have been accepted as 'Stelpians' we are so greatful to our Heavenly Father who made it all possible, and every day we are reminded of His love and care for us in so many ways.