Some recent highlights:
- Last Sunday we walked to the reservoir north of here. I can't wait to post the photos from that.
- Hot water! The heater actually came in early, and they had it installed on the Saturday when I said that it should have come in.
- New linoleum.
- Cherries! The Sobies first cherry tree ripened, and they invited us out to clean it off. Even Asya has been enjoying the abundance of cherries.
- Small town: I think I had mentioned that the population of Dneprorudnoe is about 20,000. That is small enough that already we see someone we know almost every time we go anywhere. Also, people from church just drop by quite often. The downside is that we live on the main street; even though it's a small town, the main street is loud!
- One of the ladies from church invited us out to her village for her birthday party.
I keep saying that we're doing well, because certain people worry when they don't hear from us.
It is really good to be here! I'm finally starting to feel rested after the past few months. We're settling in and getting to know people here. Thank you for your love and concern! We'll be back in touch soon enough.Oh, what people keep asking about. . . Will went to get the documents the truck driver would need to get our belongings from Russia. We can't do that without registration, so tomorrow Will's going to Zaporozhye to see about registering there. He should be able to. If not, he'll have to go to Kiev, like we had originally planned. Then we'll work on getting the documents to bring our things into the country. There's no hurry. We have everything we need here. (Although, Jaan would argue with that. He thinks that he needs his tricycle. One morning recently, he told me, "I heard a noise in the night, and I thought it was my tricycle coming to me.")
That's what I had written on Monday. Of course, there are more stories to tell from the days since then, but that will have to be later. For now, can you see who is living on our balcony? (What should we feed this guy? Julie W.? Rigels?)
18 comments:
Leetra saddled me with a grandcat and a granddog. I refuse to have a grandhedgehog. He is only a pet.
Freely feeding you trivia, I present for your enjoyment some factoids about hedgehogs. They are insectivores, but most lean toward being omnivores. Insects, earthworms, snails, frogs and toads, snakes, bird eggs, carrion, mushrooms, grass roots, berries, and melons are commonly consumed. They engage in a ritual called anointing, but you will have to look that up to find out what it is. (I'm not going to hand feed you all of your trivia!)
Love - Dad (Grandda, Space Potato Sir)
After watching Keenan - and his super cute little legs - I have to wonder how your guest got onto your balcony? Your dad's research is correct - and we got Keenan some mealworms to supplement his chow - just for fun. Don't know if you have access to dog or cat food but that might work.
Never a dull moment - that's our amazing God!
Love you all!
Dawn
We have porcupines and they eat all the wood off the house, barn, and apple trees! It looks like the snail on the balcony hasn't been eaten so maybe he prefers his snails already shelled :) You provide grandchildren and Leetra grandpets, you two always were individuals! Thanks for the update and enjoy the hot water. Love, Aunt Lindy
Cool!! He looks like a big fellow although I am wondering how he came to reside on your balcony too. It sounds like you are set for food ideas. Have fun with him. I think they are popular in English gardens for controlling bug populations if you know of a garden to release him in.
I'll be! I couldn't tell what it was ! But, D/G/B was very excited and sent me an email saying only CHECK THE BLOG!!! (He likes to watch for groundhogs along the highway as we travel!) Are you on ground level? I didn't know groundhogs could climb!
Macphil, we also have the 70 lb Granddog for whom I am babysitting while his mother gallivants all around Ukraine!! He even cries for joy when he knows he's headed to Grandma's house!! Love to All, Baba Julie
OK, I just had to look up the anointing thing - had to! Just glad I don't have to do that to blend in or whatever. Now can someone tell me why Oreo (the dog) finds the absolute stinkiest stuff in the world to roll in - and then comes to me like I'm going to be pleased? (And remember this is the Rigel back yard where there are sometimes extraordinarily stinky things in process...)
Ok, why am I feeling like I'm in the story, The Emperor's New Clothes? I couldn't see ANYTHING in the picture but stuff and cherries! Will examine further.
Phyllis, we are studying Russia next year! Do you have any literature to recommend? We're reading The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig, and Goodbye is Not Forever. We want books that focus on Russia, yes, but also families living under communism, czars, or biographies of ballet and gymnasts. We're also reading Endurance: Shackelton's Incredible Voyage but only because the character trait of the study is "Endurance" and it's a fabulous book!
Note to mrs (Or should I say Emperor?):
Click on the picture if you haven't already tried this. It will blow it up. Now look in the bucket. You should see a ball of spines. That's the hedgehog.
yozhik! :)
Phil, you're confusing Mrs. It's in the box when I enlarge! At first I thought she was talking about the little snail next to the cherries when I enlarged it!
Thanks, Phil! I didn't know I could do that! You're right! I could see it a LOT better with the picture larger!! (I was taking it "by faith" that the gray thing was a hedgehog! Baba Julie
I did that after I posted, and I did indeed see something. Critter spotted.
Note to Lindy: Yep. You are right. Box, not bucket. I had to switch from the picture to the comment box, and I must have gotten confused. My apologies to mrs. Now, how many gallons are in an imperial gallon? I've got my converter around here somewhere.
Big Brother
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAIA! I hope you had a great day and being 3 is a lot of fun. I wish you were closer so we could have cake and ice cream together! Love, Aunt Lindy
Hi friend~ I've determined that I've been right spoiled in "hearing" from you so frequently. I hope you're getting settled and that you're making your new place feel like home. I'm glad you are enjoying Mitten Strings for God. You're right, it's a feel good book and so encouraging and creative. Hope Jaan, Raia and Asya are doing well. Greetings to Will also!
Jeff just got home from his trip to Honduras with the kids. He fell asleep on the bed fully clothed at 7:30...I'd say that worked hard! =)
Love, Shae
Happy belated 3rd Birthday to Raia! We were on the train for almost 3 days and finally arrived in Perm this morning. Hope yall are doing well. Much love,
Carrie
Thank you for all the help and comments! Our yozhik eats eggs. Only hard boiled eggs. I thought, from watching them in the wild and reading all this, that he would be a scavenger and accept anything. Not so. HE LIKES HARD BOILED EGGS. (How did he boil them in the wild?) He will also eat birthday cake and Russian oatmeal cookies. Nothing else, so far. But at least he's eating something!
And I didn't mean to confuse you all. Those cute little legs did not climb up to our 3rd-floor balcony. Will caught this yozhik in front of our building and brought it up. . . at 1:00 am. :-)
Hey, does Keenan make an incredible amount of noise? Not scratching only, but also coughing, snorting, hacking, snoring, grunting, sneezing. . . ?
Mrs, I'm sending you an email about books.
Keenan wasn't that noisy. He would move around in his little house a bit but I usually didn't hear him. He once gave an awful cry when his leg was stuck that got my attention right away. And he made a kind of beeping chirp when he was happily exploring someplace. Are you going to keep him?
Post a Comment