Learning Russian continues to progress even though it seems it is a snail's pace! Ulzana has us each doing different things as I could no longer keep up with Shannon's pace and I felt like I was drowning trying to keep up. I am doing more basic stuff with a lot of repetition. When I work on it for an extended period, I can definitely see the difference that all the repetition makes. Now I just have to keep working at it, although July will be a different pace as Summer English Institute (SEI) is less than two weeks away from beginning.
So there is lots going on and there is a short time to get it done, especially with SEI looming close. We both have a good handle on the topic we will teach on, but right now there is a lot of bones, so to speak, and we need to get some flesh on them bones so that SEI can be an enjoyable time of meeting new people and seeing how the teaching can impact their lives.
As we continue to work on the yard, we are getting there. There was big pile of dirt where the septic system was put in and it is now gone. Before we could get at this pile, there was a lot of junk under trees in our path to get through and it is also gone. We were able to use the bobcat from the farm and take the dirt over to Garry's place as he has a concrete bunker to be filled. He had used it for brewer's grain when the dairy was here. We have got the bunker about 80-85% filled and that will take away the risk of someone driving into it as it is about four feet deep. It has been a great place to have close by as we have trucked many wheelbarrows full of junk and help to fill the hole and get our yard cleaned up.
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| Trees full of junk |
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| Trees after cleanup |
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| Trees after cleanup |
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| Removing dirt from septic area |
We pulled down the old fence by the house, but forgot to take a picture before we started so we will attach an one from before to give you an idea of what the difference is.
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| What the back used to look like by the fence when we arrived |
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| Used to be a fence here |
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| No more fence! |
Today I have made four trips from the farm with topsoil to eventually plant grass in the fall when it cools off and rains are around. The yard has made quite the transition. We still need more topsoil, but first we have to deal with a flat tire on the bobcat.
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| Flat tire |
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| Backyard with some topsoil in place |
We have also been making apricot fruit and jam and that is exciting and tasty! The tree has lots of fruit, but many of the fruit seem to be half ready (one side orange and the other side has a lot of green). It seems if you wait for the other side to ripen, that they fall to the ground and many are spoiled. Shannon has made a lot of jars of fruit and we will make a bit more jam.
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| Picking apricots |
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| Apricot fruit!! :) |
The garden continues to produce well. The peas are done and we have a steady supply of cucumbers and zucchini. We are always looking to give some away it seems, but that is a good problem. We are growing watermelon this year and some are the size of softballs, so hopefully they will turn out well.
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| Watermelon the size of softballs |
We have a little shed in the back yard that we use to shelter the food table when we have the fire-pit going. We put some of the crushed rock in it to give it a better base and the table now sits level.
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| BBQ /Fire-pit shed |
When we walked out to get milk the other day, Shannon shelled some of Garry's wheat and it is definitely dry. He is hoping to get someone in with a combine later this week. Today they are baling a field of barley straw which should give them an abundance of straw bales.
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| Garry's wheat ready to combine |
We have been making lots of ice cubes with the higher temperatures, although this week it sounds like we will get a reprieve, both daytime and nighttime temperatures and that will be welcome. We are not sure how this happened, but when we went to get the ice cubes out, there was this ice bolt that somehow formed. Unique even to show the picture. If you know how this happened, please let us know! We would appreciate knowing.
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| How did this happen? |
Take care until next time!!
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