Baby Goats

Yesterday, March the 28th, our nanny goat Rosebud, gave birth to three babies. Thankfully, all are well, despite their being born while we were gone, and in the rain.

Biltong

Last year some friends introduced me to the enjoyment of South African jerky, called biltong, I was immediately hooked. After spending a good amount of money buying it, I decided that there had to be a way of making it myself. After some internet searching I found a site called biltongbox.com and there was my answer. It is a website for people who, most likely, grew up in South Africa eating the stuff, but no longer live there and miss the taste.

So, I employed our friend Paul Trimble, who does a lot of handyman work for us, and gave him the plans for the box. He had it finished in less than a day and by the next day I had meat dying. It is very simple; beef, salt, vinegar, pepper and coriander, dry and cut. It all takes 2-3 days to process and dry, and about one day to eat. Most of us here on the farm like it, I do know some people who don't like, and that can't be understood.

Family Ski Trip

Ober Gatlinburg resort. Robert is the lone skier on the slope.

Smokey Mountain National Park

Gatlinburg, view from tram.

This week we took the kids skiing for their first time. We went to Gatlinburg TN, a resort in the Smokey Mountains of TN, we all had a great time.

We all went to the ski school before hitting the slopes, and Jeff and the kids did great. They moved from the lesson slope to the next level very quickly, and by day two, Jeff and Maria were ready for the black diamonds. I on the other hand had to spend all of the first day, and half of the second day on the lesson slope. I eventually figured it out and we all enjoyed riding the lifts and skiing together. It was a great trip and a lot of fun for all.

We also went ice skating at the ski resort and everyone did well. It had been years since any of us had been skating and Helena and Robert had never been before.

Gatlinburg has a new aquarium and it was very nice. We had never been to an aquarium where you walk under the tank and the fish swim on three sides of the walkway.

We rented a cabin that has a hot tub and we all sat in the hot tub at the end of the day. It was difficult stepping outside in your swimsuit when it was 33 and snowing, but the water felt so good.

Snow Storm #3

Yes indeed we had a third snow storm. This was the same storm system that headed for DC and dropped 2 feet of snow. We, thankfully, were on the southern edge and only got 4-5 inches of snow overnight and then rain all day yesterday.

It was beautiful in the morning, one of those postcard snows, big wet flakes that weighed down the tree branches, but by lunch it was rain, and by the end of the day we were a swamp with a layer of snow on top. We are very grateful that we had no ice and we did not lose power, we even did school work, and went out for supper:)

Second snow of the winter

January snow.

Deep south freeze.

Erosion damage from heavy rains.

Last night January 29the we had our second snow for winter 09-10, we had 10 inches. Although this is only our second snow fall, this has been the worst winter in my 20 years of living in NC.

From the end of December through the first two weeks of January we had temperatures that rarely went above freezing. At night, we were in the teens, and single digits with the wind chill factor. We carried water to the horses and pigs twice a day, our pond was frozen solid.

Last week, we had hurricane like winds and 4" of rain one night, the bridge over our little creek washed out. None of these are great hardships, they are however, out of the ordinary for what used to be a pleasant season.

Scenes from Belarus

This is the home of Angelina's grandparents, Victor and Lidia. This is the room that I slept in every night while in Belarus. Their flat consisted of this room, another smaller room, and an even smaller kitchen. Angelina's grandparents were very nice to me and reminded me of American grandparents. Standing are Victor and Lidia.


Here is a photo of me and some of the Atroshkins in front of Soviet Square, a very nice park and memorial to the The Great Patriotic War Against Fascist Aggressors, WWII. The buildings in the background are museums. When people get married in Belarus, it is customary for the newlyweds to leave flowers at a war memorial. This is the park that Angelina's parents left their flowers.

Sorry to be so delayed in giving you some pictures of my trip. Work has me very busy. Let me say it was an adventure to visit Belarus. I will first post some pictures, then as time permits I will add some additional commentary.

I stayed in the city of Mogilev, population about 400,000, the third largest city in Belarus. Even in winter you could see that it is a beautiful city. The Atroshkins live in a flat in the center of the city, and everyone we visited lived in the city. Except for when I visited the orphanages I was always in the city. Yes, it was cold and snowy, and we either walked or drove, despite the weather. (those of us in NC wouldn't understand this, snow means stay home).

With ABRO we visited two orphanages - one was state run for children that had some learning disability. The second was privately run. Some of the children are true orphans, and some are children who had parents, but had been abandoned or were removed from their home for their protection. In both places we were given a performance relating to their January 7th holiday of Father Frost, and lunch. The children were kind and gentle, and buying their arts and crafts and giving them gifts did not seem to be enough.

Although I stayed with Angelina's grandparents, I spent most of the days with her family. With the faimly, we visited some of their friends, toured some areas of the city, did some shopping and went sledding a few times. I went to worship with them one night and met their pastors and was invited back to one of the pastor's flat for Chai. (a common tea everywhere).

There was a great deal of time that I didn't do much. Unlike in the US, the people of Belarus don't go out unless there is a need, and as I wasn't allowed to go anywhere by myself, I would have to convince someone that I needed to go do something.

Update on the Belarus trip

I have talked to Jeff on the phone once this week and heard from him, via email, several times druing his first week away. Unfortunately, he is unable to use his laptop, and only has limited time to use the desk top computer, with dial up service, of others. He is doing well and has been enjoying himself. He really enjoys being with Angelina's family and their friends, they are all very attentive to him and a lot of fun. An ex-police man gave Jeff his old winter police hat, and another acquaintance gave him a hand made wooden knife, fork and spoon.

Jeff says the most fun and relaxing days are the days with the ABRO group. He said those days he actually knows what is going on and where he is going. He has only seen Tony and Evan one day, last Tuesday, for the first orphanage visit, and they were doing well and enjoying their stay. They will be together again tomorrow for the second orphanage visit.

They will all be leaving Belarus next Saturday and arriving home on Sunday night, late, or early Monday morning.