March... 2010

Imaginative title... I know. It's just how it is. Miscellaneous ya know? The days are busy here... really busy. I like to dig my cell phone out as we fly along and shoot a pic here and there... and then every so often I get to looking back at what's on the phone and Sure enough- there are a bunch of pix... but to do something with them... hmmm 

So- Mon evenings... you know- where we keep getting eggs? (к стати говоря- speaking of- we have *cough cough* more eggs... like about 20 more... and we've been eating lots of eggs. I do love eggs. Good thing!) Anyway- see this round shiny silver thing? That's the heating stove for the front end of the house. And it does get hot. Wood burning. Great! Love it!

So other end of town from the stove. The point of this pic- see that dog? He thinks he's hot stuff because he's got a BARK... and he can jump and bark at the same time... Oh- and he has a dog house just inside the fence... so he loves to come tearing across the yard, leap onto the dog house and start launching himself into the air from the roof... all while barking and yipping and growling fiercely. I can't say I really enjoy walking past his little domain there. He can totally take you by surprise and make your heart stop.

So- that pic was from Weds... dry... partly sunny... sort of warm... sort of. This next one is from the next day... Thurs... downtown... not so dry not so sunny not so warm... at. all. 'S all gone now though. 

looking off the balcony. About now is when I said- It shore is pretty. S looked at me all cross-eyed like and said- I've had enough of this beauty. Well yeah- me, too... Dec 2010 I wouldn't mind seeing some again... but now? We usually have flowers by this time of year down here in these here parts. 

this qualifies as a sneaky cell phone pic... The ticket agent at the bus station. Had to wait quite awhile for her to finish her chit chat with the cashier beside her... strictly gossip. I know. I heard it. She looks at me and I state my ticket needs. No answer. No blink. No nothing. She picks up the phone and just sits there for a long time. Talks a bit with someone. Just after I took this she looks up and says- Have to ask the driver if he's going to be running that day. (Oh- Why didn't you say?) Gotta love the post Soviet mentality hanging in there... You mostly get used to it. It's just every now and again it takes you by surprise all over again.

Fri am, heading north out of town this materialized just ahead of us. We must have missed the crash by minutes. The semi driver was, thankfully, on his feet and moving around beside his tractor. Our driver stopped to see if he needed help... talked to him a bit. When we went back by about an hour and a half later, the police were there...

Coming back from the village Mon night, our driver nearly plowed into a couple cows being walked down the middle and side of the road. Pitch dark. Car coming from the other direction. His headlights and our headlights but all at just the right angle that no one could see the cows or the several people walking along with them. Nearly gave us heart attacks. Then our driver told about rounding a curve about a year ago (also after dark) and coming up on a terrible mess- A big bus full of people had just rounded the curve ahead of him and plowed right into a large herd of sheep. Bus driver couldn't see them at all. Knew nothing until the last minute just before he started mowing down sheep. Killed 40. The shepherds got the help of the neighbors and they butchered them out and salvaged what they could. The worst of this sort of thing is how often you come up on people in the dark- No reflective anything on them, no light-colored clothing, no lights, no nothing. Out walking in the dark on the road... you're always just glad not to hit them. Guess it's a good thing most of the roads are in such awful condition you can't get much above 45 mph... not down here you can't.

Logic of a 4 year old

Remember this little bit of life and animation? Well the other night when I was chatting with my sis, she told me about combing out JM's hair one morning and finding a matted area- with a bruise underneath. There'd been trauma, blood, a tussle... but not a word to Momma. So Momma inquired of JM about the details. Miki threw the train engine at me. No more details from her.
Later- she's telling me and Mi is snuggled up beside her, watching Momma's face all serious like. Finally she can't stand it anymore and says Momma? Do you know why I did that? No, says Momma. Well she was telling me I was being bad.

And that, friends, is why JM had the train engine pitched at her by Youngest Sis...

It makes perfectly good sense to me.

need a little spring?

just got this via email... and we do need it here! 

Click on the snowman.   You will get a black page.  Click your mouse anywhere (& everywhere) on the page & see what happens! Better yet, click (hold down) & drag your mouse over the black page... 

Enjoy!! 

avocados

After falling victim to the cheese at the cheese counter I sashayed through the produce section looking for leeks... and was tripped up by avocados. Whoa. Haven't had one of them in a long time... picked up a few. And found one that seemed not too bad- skin felt a bit loose but it was firm, no bruises. Promising. ok... It went home with me. Sharon drooled when she saw it. She had an idea about it this morning... so she was in charge of the salad side of things for lunch. Here's what she did... it was Amazingly Wonderfully Splendiferously Deliciously Great! 

Quarter it (remove the pit, of course). Chop parsley, finely chop or grate garlic (lots is good, more is better!) and mix it with freshly-squeezed lemon juice and salt. Make crosswise cuts in the avocado (the idea is to pop up bite-sized cubes of avocado with your knife when you eat it) and spoon the parsley mixture over it.
The bad thing? I want more!

ps- and we have 44 more farm fresh eggs in the fridge... I'm not really sure what we're going to do with them all! Seems everyone's hens are laying and they don't know what to do with all the eggs... Wow! ;)

Creamy Bleu Cheese Soup revisited

The very first post here was about this soup- one of my favorites!
Did a big shop yest and got waylaid in the cheese aisle. Everytime I'm there, I have to force my feet to keep moving and my eyes to not look at all that yummy stuff just begging to be taken home... They have about 6 kinds of Bleu Cheese... and Brie... and Camembert... and Roquefort... and Parmesan... and some other stuff (although this store doesn't have the selection I have to ignore up in Kyiv).
But um, yest... ummmmm

I fell flat on my face off the wagon... I grabbed up a chunk of Bleu before I could think twice and zipped fast and firmly on to the hamburger....

Got home. Told S all about this fantastic soup... (and never you mind- it's not just soup, thanks; goes so well on so many things... like on steak... drooool). S thought it'd be a great thing to taste... so
Leeks? check
Potatoes? check
Onion? check
Stalk Celery? check
Red pepper? check

did it in more water and less milk this time. (I prefer it with mostly milk, turns out.) And also used herbs- Parsley, the French mix (rosmary, thyme, savory, marjoran, basil, oregano). And the rest of the cream from awhile ago. And an unopened and expired (but still good- I tasted it first) tub of cottage cheese.
Cook. Puree. Re-heat and add lots of bleu cheese! It is So Good! Oh my....

I also prefer this done in chicken stock but we had none and I didn't have the time to make some...

Shtill Winter

it was a bit frigid when we woke up yest... I'd been aware for awhile- in that half-drugged dozey way that you know something when you're still sleeping but you're also aware of something else...something beyond the inside of your head- I'd been hearing drip drip drip drip drip (these were definitely wet soggy drips, not crisp short little things). Well, it was raining when I went to bed, had rained off and on during the day Fri... really- no surprise... drip drip drip drip drip

Finally ventured out from under the blankets... shivvvvvvvvverrrrrrrr Only to hear S say from the other room- Well, winter's back. I knew without looking what had happened. And the drip drip drip drip drip? The snow was so wet that it was plop plop plop plopping drip drip drip drip dripping as it fell in a very wet and soggy way.

but hey- we know what's out there under the white stuff! This!

and This!

not to mention this!

And last but not least...

And you know what? I reckon these guys will tough it out and we'll get a whole host of their friends and relations, too... So blow and snow if you must... we'll be patient! ;) Because you know what? Spring comes after winter! Wooohooooo!

Pet Therapy

Got an email this am... felt like it should be shared with you all. It'll proly help you as much as it's helped me. xo


Sometimes when you are angry with someone, it helps to sit down, take a moment to cool off, and think about the problem.

and this-

Women are Angels
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly.........on a broomstick...
We're flexible like that ....

March 2 odds and ends

Was looking for something in an old post and came across this one- teenage boys and baths... and nearly woke up the house laughing. Had totally forgotten about that. And really, knowing Anya makes it that much harder to picture her actually doing that. But the power of smell... or odor... should not be underestimated. For instance, the little old granny in the apt under us... hmmm
I heard a true (supposedly) story this winter. Serhiy telling about a man from his home village- went back to visit his old dad. Wanted to wash... and not just his face. So, went down to the river (crick) which runs at the back of their place. Had a nice brisk and refreshing wash. Came in, chatting with his dad. Nice to wash in the river. Dad smiles. But Dad- what do you do in the winter? (there's no wash room in the house, apparently.) Oh well, the old man answers- Winter's not that long.

WHAT?!

Well getting back to our downstairs neighbor. See some of the old-timers around here don't think it's healthy to bathe in the winter. You can get sick doing rash things like that. And you could even die. Really- I knew someone who took a bath every day... and then they died.
True.

I think our neighbor is of that ilk.

In other news, for the first time tonight since the 'jeep crash' or whatever it was, I was able to get back here. And it was great! I missed these guys! Artem is an expert paper airplane maker and had a whole fleet of small planes that really sail. He was so cute and embarrassed and proud of himself when I commented on them. Anyway- the snow's all gone. The ground's dry. The ice is gone, too. (yay) And- you know- get back on the horse that threw you and all that- walked back the same way as that fateful crashful evening. Street's not even, a few potholes... but otherwise pretty innocuous. Forgettable. But I reckon I'll remember that spot for a long time. And- they say a bad sprain is as bad as a break? They're right. Let's just say- I'm walking... and even without (much of) a limp finally. But- the ankle? At the end of the day, it feels like it's just going to dessert me. *Poof* Good-bye. It's been nice but my day's over... see you in the morning. Whatt're you fussing about? You still have the other ankle... and I'm done. So- get over it...and get off me. (That's what the ankle says at the end of the day.) And since the world still sort of revolves around that piece of me, I pretty much listen to what the ankle says. And right now- that means Good-night! xo

eggs?

Common sight here in Ukr. Very common. Have a little extra of something? Park yourself on the sidewalk and someone'll come along who's looking for what you're selling. (these first pix, fyi, complements of LaDon are from spring 2006... no fears- even in the south it's not this sunny or green yet.)

take note of this pic-->see that white pole at the top and center of the pic? Remember that pole.

I love when they start selling flowers. Just put this in to remind myself that they will... and soon. In fact, the Grandmas are already selling snowdrops. :)

Ok- so a week ago, I went out to run some errands. Came down the sidewalk by that white pole from the middle pic up there. And a Grandma was leaning on, no hanging onto that pole. As in- if the pole hadn't been there, she'd been stretched out on the ground... this is the impression I got. There's a plastic bucket at her feet. Ma'am, buy some eggs, she says. Don't you need some eggs? Farm fresh. Хороший. Вкусний. (of course.) No, I say. No thanks. Well, please, if you meet someone on your way, tell them I have eggs; maybe they'll need them and I can sell them and go home. sigh, wilt and wither.

Ok, I say, and float along.

And then I remember a recent conversation- Well, of course we could have gotten eggs at that farmhouse today if it had been convenient. You can get a heap and they keep forever. And they'd be real good and farm fresh and special.

Ok- back I go. I'll take some eggs.

Bright smile. How many? 10, please. ahhh, make it 20. (you don't by eggs by the dozen or half-dozen here.)

Here's my money. Don't have change. I'll just give you 3 more eggs, Dearie, Ok? Ok. Off I go.

With 23 eggs. heh heh.

Casually over lunch, I say, I bought 23 eggs just now. Startled looks and an explanation follow. Laughs and They'll keep.

fast forward. Friday- visiting our dear little grannies in the village. One comes in with a bag of eggs- each wrapped carefully in newspaper to protect it. For us.

Off we go.

fast forward. Today. Out in another village. Another Dear little lady- another bag of eggs. for us. off we go. And we had a good egg supply before we ever started, mind you.

The fridge... there are eggs. everywhere.bowls of them.and look! More in the door!

I counted- there are 48... and that was after we'd eaten a few.

Olga's bday is Weds. I'm making angel food cake. Sharon's making custard topping. And we're having scrambled, poached, steamed, fried eggs just any old time we want.

I do love eggs.

Good thing.

:)

M&M's via skype

It's one of those days that comes exactly once a year... you know the kind- when you have a birthday! There have been quite a few birthdays in our family the last 3 weeks... my sis, my bro, my nephie, my grandma... and now The Babies. The shocking thing is- whoa- The Babies turned 4 today. How did that happen?

So, skype, once again. (We love skype, oh yes we do!)

Mom's making cake, 1 M is watchingand suddenly breaks out into songthe wheels on the bus go round and roundMom- What's next? How do you do that?ohthe wipers on the bus go swish swish swishIt's my birthday! Momma's making a cake!What have you got there Little M? Oh, I see!yummeeeee!I have a brother.He's a boy.Daddy's a boy, too.What about F and O? (Auntie asks) They're girls. (this is interesting... I was under the impression that my nephies were all boys...)What about Uncle K? He's a boy. And F? He's a boy. And O? (Whispers) He's a boy. JM, Momma and Aunt Miss are all girls.I like mulk. and my tights!Oh look- we're twins! She has a birthday today, too!Auntie's bday song renditionand not to be outdone, M 2 shows her tights, too... only 1 foot shows, but you get the point.Good-bye kisses.

Happy 4th Birthday M&M! I think I even know what you got for your bday! ;)

someone had a birthday

A long time ago- 90 years in fact- a little girl was born... she grew up, married, had children. The 2nd of her kiddos grew up and got married and landed the most fearful job of being father to 4 sometimes horrible but mostly happy children, the 2nd of which was born on his mother's birthday. The 3rd child did what his predecessors had done- grew up, married, had a child. And then several years ago- 5 to be exact- another baby arrived... on his uncle's and great-grandmother's birthday. (You following all this? Good.) So, this year, just before little Mr Cowboy's 5th birthday, the family packed up and went north to do some birthday celebrating. So, being an opportunist, I decided it was time to skype! ;)

So- getting ready.   

Umm, are you getting that thing ready for me? I have things to say, you know...

So- Aunt Anita? Hi. Yeah, it's my birthday soon. Yeah, I brought my boots... umm, I brought them all. (I wish you could hear his voice- it's all gravelly and cuddly and way bigger than he is. It gives me shivers.) We made a cake and we're going to take it to Gross-mommy's. yeah. yeah. yeah. (he says that a lot!) He's a little Blonde Sweetheart!

Oh look- he brought his parents! Good of him!

And Big Brother, too... And take a good look- Big Bro has GLASSES! I'm still getting used to that...but he's positively handsome in them! But- sniff and sigh- they make him look more than half grown up... He was the first of 'my' babies... and LOOK- he's not a baby anymore... he's got glasses... he's got permanent teeth. Please- can someone put the brakes on just a tiny bit? Thanks.

He's so grown up. He looks like an airline pilot here. That should be outlawed. For little boys to be so grown up. And look- what have we here? :) Ah yes, That is Daudy! Happy to be released by his dr to do basically what he wants as long as it doesn't hurt. (Mommy (ie Grandma) was there, too...but missed the photo session.)