'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.

Rain stopped play

Well I wasn;t playing I was mowing the lawn, some say that mowing is therapeutic, you know all those straight lines, the sense of achievement, a job well done,  Rubbish I cry! when one of your lawns is 60 metres long and 25metres wide and you only have an 18 inch push mower and that's only a third of the grass that needs cutting it's just good to get the job done. Or as the case was today Rain stopped mowing thank goodness for rain. On the down side though It will be a bit longer tomorrow and still need cutting. Perhaps I'll get a quote for astro turf.

It does look good when the grass is cut

But I must say when it's done and the sun is shining it does look good.

Andrew Michelle and Thomas in the snow

It has been a  busy year for us here at Upes Iela, we arrived back after spending Christmas with family in England to find our car snowed in and it took half an hour to dig it out. Andrew Michelle and Thomas came to spend a week with us to enjoy our lovely snow in February, a friend was due to visit in April but was unable to come because of ruptured appendix just a few days before she was due to fly.

May saw us back in the UK for a  family visit and friends wedding

We had a visit from Con Brio choir and friends in July who performed three concerts locally, and then Anna Clinton,Olivia  and Joel  arrived for a weeks holiday this month.

     And now it doesn't seem possible that a week has gone by since Anna and family went home. Where does time go?

While they were with us we managed a visit to the seaside, and also a sightseeing trip to Riga, where we went to the circus,the highlight of the show was the 'GLOBE of DEATH' a metal ball about 10ft in diameter in which three men hurtled round on motorbikes, there were dancing dogs, jugglers, a magician, dancers, a bubble act, and of course a clowns, I think maybe I would have liked to be a clown, there something nice about making people laugh, and to communicate by action and expression,is a real gift. We had 2 hours of great entertainment, for not much more than a family trip to MacDonald's

Wednesday saw Valerie and myself visiting the British Embassy, and meeting the ambassador and staff, we do like to mix with the Hob nobs you know, The staff were great,and we came away feeling that we had made some new friend.

Our refurbishe kitchen

The rest of my week was spent stripping out the kitchen laying new lino and replacing the make do cladding that we had inherited when we bought the place with a tile splash back (anyone who has visited us will know just how much I disliked Heath Robinson job someone had done)

The new hall

Looking towards the basement stairs

Looking back over the last twelve months, it's surprising what we have accomplished, with the help of friends and family, we have inside stairs leading to the basement, a new toilet upstairs, a refurbished hall, and a greenhouse.

 This has brought us up to date with the main happenings for us here in Stelpe. But I must own up to one thing I am not to proud of, rather than walking 20 metres to get my car  keys I decided to push the car out of the barn, the floor has a slight slope and I found that trying to stop a one and a half ton  car rolling back is not so easy whoops!!!! The long and short of the story is I bent the drivers door beyond repair, and so we have a blue car with a green door, why green? it was the only secondhand one we could find . Will I never learn!!!

 

                                                                                                                                                                          

I'm back!!!!! did you miss me?

At the very out set of this short note, I promise that I will  never  promise  to leave such a long gap between posting my adventures in Latvia again. Whilst promises like pie crust are made to be broken,I offer you good readers my sincerest apologies along with this bunch of gladioli and just say 'I'll be back' soon

HOW TIME FLIES, WHEN HAVING FUN

How time flies by I have just checked the date of my last blog and I have been silent since the 16th of March, now I know some will say thank goodness he's quiet. But for those who have missed me {bless you} I'm back.!!!!!

I often quoted that " procrastination is the thief of time"and I've procrastined enough!!!!! { well thats my excuse anyway},,

So what has happened here at Upes Iela since my last blog, well the snow went and left us with a mess, mud ans slush everywhere, but that goes with the transition from winter to spring. "Spring shows us what God can do with a drab and dirty world" {Virgil A Kraft} {a member of the cheese family I suspect} and boy!! has He done it.

Valerie spent Easter in England with our family, leaving me on my own at home,  BUT !!! while she was away, I had a "slight " accident with the car and a parked lorry [which had been there for ever] whoops!!!!.. I was collecting the children for Sunday club,  and was turning the car round, and because of the mud on the back window, , I didn't see the lorry as it jumped out and hit me,   smashing the back window, !!!  OUCH !!, [Roger never actually owned up to any of this,   well,,not to me , [val]---,  till  later on !!]    anyway !!   120 lats and 4 weeks later , we had a new window,  the moral of this story is,=  always keep your back window clean,    I did redeem myself tho,by building a new fireplace in the sitting room,  [from reclaimed materials].

Pauline and Norman came back with Valerie,for a weeks holiday which turned out to be 2 weeks, due ot some "minor" interruption from a small island in the North Atlantic, and a bit of dust !!!!,, so we put them to work !! Pauline weeding the borders, and Norman and I set about building a  deck/pergola/eating area, using more reclaimed wood, from the old sauna/shed. at the bottom of our garden, much of this has been reclaimed when Mark and Alison  stayed,  [many thanks to all for your help], it is now progressing, [all be it slowly] .as the picture shows,

The firepit, is by courtesy of Valerie, she made it  [unaided] and loves to light fires in it,   and she's very proud of it,,,,

Thanks to our neighbour Edward,our ground was ploughed, cultivated and ridged ready for spring planting,  we now have carrots, beans, onions,cabbage ,cauliflower and of course potatoes, and they are all growing well,   oh yes!!  not forgetting strawberries as well, 

Our flower borders are doing well and we have the most beautiful Iris, and many other things, it always surprise me that after such  cold weather and the ground frozen solid , that anything survives at all.

                                                                                                                                                              The storks all came back, and repaired their nests, and now they have babies,we have also seen several pairs of cranes, we have the house martins nesting on our house again and we have a pair of swallows nesting in the barn,Birds are singing , what seems to be like 24 hours a day, even at midnightwe can still hear the nightingale,and around 4.30am, the cuckoo starts along with the dawn chorus, !! and it is daylight then [not that we get up at that time, ha ha !!]

        We have visited  our friend Egil's english classes several times,over the past weeks, on the last occasion we were asked by the class if they could visit our home for an end of term BBQ, and celebration, assuring us that they would bring everything,!!!!, and indeed they did, right down to the matches, salt and pepper, plastic plates etc,,,,oh and the food, !!!!   we introduced them to some English things,   Scones, strawberry jam and cream,  cornish pasties, and apple pie and custard,  which went down a real treat, all topped off with champagne !!!! mmm !1 wonderful,,,, it was a great time, 

We had a bit of a scare with lilya,  she was quite poorly,for a couple of days, so we took her to the vets, who told us , it was a virus,  Parvo-virus,!!!!!!!!!!!! [which we understand, can be fatal , within  a few days] !!! panic , panic!! anyway 7 injections and 4 tablets later, her temperature was right down, she was eating and "pooing" [sorry about that bit]  as normal,   all costing around £25,[that also included an innoculation ] all seems ok , and no more vets visits are needed, thankfully, !!

Indoors, Valerie has been very busy,, painting floors,[much cheaper than carpeting]  it has made such a difference, luckily we had some warm days so the windows and doors  could be left open, as it was a bit smelly, there are still 2 more rooms to do, but they will have to wait, as the weather took a turn, it started  one eveing around 10-30 with a wonderful thunder and lightening storm,  what a show it was !!!!!!

There have been several visits to "our restaurant" called the Raspberry, eating out takes on a new pleasure now, when you dont' have to take out a second mortgageto pay for the meal,  the last occasion , was when Andrew. Michelle and Thomas came to stay,

 

we also took them to see Rundale, , Bauska castle, a ride on the tram and a trip to Riga and the sights, ending up at the Lido for a meal      ,BUT !!!!!!  the highlight of their visit was has to go to the man we saw , on  the beach,  at Jurmala, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!He gave us all the most entertaining 30 minutes we have had for a long time,   for some 25 mins, he performed a "warmup routine" which must have included every muscle in his body, repeating several amusing exercises more than once,  before entering the sea, [ you can walk for more than 100 metres into the water before it even reaches " the whoops " spot,, you know where that is ??]  at which point he launched himself into the sea, ,, swam for all of 2 mins  then walked out , looking as if he was washing himself............ only to repeat the exercises all over again as a warmdown, at this point we left the beach, with aching sides and tears running down our faces, ,, I leave you with this picture of him, 

    

 Oh yes!!,, WHAT is this thing called The World Cup ..   when working in a large garedn centre in England, I was always amused by colleagues, who for most of the year, had little or no opinion on some sprot, they would suddenly become experts in, tennis, F1, football etc... knowing how or why those actually participating in the event, could do better, perhaps, they needed their ego's to be as inflated as the much over paid, over exhaulted sprots person they were setting to right.   this is just MY opinion of course,,,,,

just to let you know !!  13 Upes Iela  is a football free zone, !!!  

I promise it won't be so long a gap before the next blog installment,