Friday, November 25, 2016

Pies are flying


Last night officially ended the pie challenge ( however I am fairly sure that anyone on the list would still be willing to take a pie if any more funds came in.)  This year we raised just over $3000 .. enough for Christmas for about $300 kids ..  We will likely down scale the Christmas a bit so that we can reach more kids.. Like Emma says . the kids love Movies and Popcorn. something that we can do cheep.  then we will also try to give each institution a large portion of beef as well.. so we should be able to stretch that to about 600 kids  

One of the challengers was very close so some of us who had no met our totals , or had gone over have put a little over Calebs way .. He was so excited to know that he will be getting the pie again this year.  


also receiving a pie will be Josiah .. He was late getting in from Kyrgyzstan last night , but I am sure he will be excited to see his numbers went over the top as well .. 

There were a couple of pies that went flying yesterday though .. Isaac and Daniel Both received there pies , and took them with great sportsmanship.. thanks guys 



Sunday, November 20, 2016

Just a few days to go

With just a few days to go, the first three pies were launched yesterday in Brantford Ontario.  This is an event that is to bring the joy of Christmas to the institutionalized and  those in need in Kyrgyzstan BUT.. just listen to the crowd .. Those are what I call cheerful givers.  




We just have a few days left, and we are about $7000 away from our target for this years impacting 1000 kids.   Please take a look at the list of challengers, and help us put them over the top. 

John Wright ...........................$75
Josiah Wright .......................$20
Rebekah Wright ...................
David Rippon .......................$50
Matthew Vandewaal Valkanov..$10
Caleb Littlejohn......................$220
Kyle Zimmerle ........................
Ted Danner............................
Christy Wall............................
Miles Moffatt..........................$90
Dan Bailey ..............................
Acel Jumaeva .........................
Sam Welten............................500
Haley Shukla...........................
Anon Ymous ..........................100
Daniel DeLille.........................500
Isaac DeLille ...........................500
Zack Baker..............................500
Ron Hughes.............................500

Friday, November 18, 2016

A cold day in the Valley

It is another COLD day here.  The drive out to the farm was limited visibility , but the mountains started to peek through as we approached the farm.


Today Jo and Jengish are going to take the Bahanka for a drive in the mountains to see how the heater is working.


We put up the lights today in the green house.   Being so cold out side it was nice to work inside where it was so warm .. about 90 degrees.    in the pictures below you can see the heat registers mounted on the walls all the way around the outside. 



Here is a picture of one of our ugly chickens.. 


this video is of Ulukbek  chopping the corn stalks for the cows 



Here is a picture I took on the drive home 

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Getting jobs done.


The morning drive to the farm is always a beautiful one.  Every day the mountains look different . 

The village of Rot Front is a German village , and they say the name came from RED FRONT, the colour that the front of the mountain is .. Some days you can not see the red, but other days it is very clear. 
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The last few days I have been getting a lot of little things done around the farm.  Like a new set of taps in the kitchen .. all in and  almost working .. as soon as I turned the water on there was a flood as one of the pipes going through the wall burst, so the little job has turned into major repairs.. We did get trim made and got the trim up on the new windows on the craft shop , as well as we made a rack to hold some fishing rods in at the guest house so that they are available for guests. 



 


Over in the green house, I am trilled to see the heating system going in. It is a coal fired coal water boiler that will feed the heat rads in the green house. 





The babies are all growing and doing well . 






In the cow barn, we have made a cement trough that will catch the run off from the wood floor that the last team put in .  The smaller calves that are still on milk are in a separate pen 






In the above photo you can see a pile of sugar beats .. this is part of the diet for the cows through the colder months  they get a daily buffet of cut up pumpkins and sugar beats, ground  corn and barley, and Chopped corn stalks and chopped hay . 




Nurlan  is hard at work spreading poop on the gardens.  This is great, it is something that is productive and could keep him busy for weeks, and out of trouble.  He goes through these stages where he is thinking of what he will do next , he will not receive a lot of direction so it is a guessing game what he will come up with , some times good like today and some times bad, like last week when he painted all the chicken with a heavy oil basses lead paint .. for today .. its good . 



Acel spent a could days at the farm to give Aigoola a break.  Also Baktagul came for a visit.  They made pumpkin Oramo 


Another batch of soap is finished, and Emma took some photos before we package them up. 


Winter had set in here , this is the view from our balcony .. I decided to stay home and make the stringer of lights to put in the green house .. A good indoor job on a snowy cold day.  


Sunday, November 13, 2016

and so it begins

Gramy Pamy (Johns Mom ) packing gift boxes 

So today kicks off the first day of the 2016 pie challenge for Christmas in Kyrgyzstan .. for every $10 raises , we provide a party, a gift and vitamins.   The contest is starting today, on my birthday , and will run until the US Thanksgiving (Nov 24) when $500 is reached, ( Christmas for 50 kids ) the contestant will allow someone to throw a pie in there face and then post it on FB.  

one of many celebrations

I have a head start because it is already the 14th here, and have $75 already .. wouldn't it be awesome if the other $50 comes in before supper tonight and I will let the kids on the farm put my birthday cake in my face ..    lets start off with a bang !

Here are a list of the contestants so far .. still time if you want your name on the list, 

Pie in the face contestants 
 John Wright ...........................$75
 Josiah Wright .......................
 Rebekah Wright ................... 
David Rippon ....................... 
Matthew Vandewaal Valkanov.. 
Caleb Littlejohn...................... 
Kyle Zimmerle ........................
 Ted Danner............................
 Christy Wall............................ 
Miles Moffatt..........................
 Dan Bailey ..............................
 Acel Jumaeva ......................... 
Sam Welten............................ 
Haley Shukla........................... 
Anon Ymous .......................

I have included the links to donate on the post because if you are viewing the blog from a phone ap sometimes the links do not appear unless you view WEB VERSION..

So that you can receive a tax receipt we have two separate buttons  .. if donating from the US please use this first one from Pay Pal 


who


From Canada please use this button below and it will direct you to Canada helps .. in the memo please indicate who you would like to see get a pie 
Donate Now Through CanadaHelps.org!

Thursday, November 10, 2016

doors going on

Today we started making the doors , plywood and steel, with styrofoam filling , they are stronger and warmer, and about 1/4 the price of any that we might buy.  I had lots of helpers today, they all worked hard and did a great job.


once the doors are on the temperature went through the roof.  Next we will need to get the air exchanger up and running . besides cooling the green house down when it gets to hot,  the air needs to be exchanged twice a day to keep the co2 levels high for the proper growing conditions.


next we will be putting in the pressurized watering system and the supplemental lighting .. this time of year we need an extra two to three hours of light in the day so we will add some grow lamps . 

Back over a the pig barn Masha is up to 13 babies,   She did have 15 all together, but 2 were still born . All 13 are strong and eating well. 


here is a little video of the piglets all nursing. 


This brings us up to 23 pigs and we still have another batch due in a few weeks .  

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

TODAY WE ARE THE RECIPIENTS

As our time here in Kyrgyzstan is drawing to a close for the season, we have started making plans for our time in Canada and the US.  We get home the end of November then the next week we have a family gathering at our home.  The following weekend ..Dec 9 - 11 we will be in Espanola with our friends from the Light House.  It will be great to connect with the team that was with us here last month as well as our many friends and supporters that were not able to come.   January 8th we will be with our friends at Northview in Peterborough .. They are one of the groups that supports us monthly as well as collects many of the Vitamins that we give out here.

If you would like to have us come and share and visit with you or your group, please contact me and we can work on some possibilities. 

We are so blessed and encouraged by the friendship and support from so many of you .. It makes it possible for us to do what we do here.  I want to give you an example of the type of support that we have ,.. We have been sooo blessed.  While we are here,  our home in Canada is still in use. My mother has an Grammy flat there, as well we have a friend staying at our home while he attends a near by collage. This year with the drought conditions or well ran dry.   I contacted some friends to see about bringing over some water.  But rater then just a temporary fix until we get home, they have gone for the permanent cure .. Today they are hard at work, putting in a cistern  and a trickle charge from the well .. this will fill as water is available , and can be topped of by a water truck if needed. 

Its strange, but we can walk into some of the most desperate situations, like a home destroyed by fire here, and have the faith and ability to turn that situation around, but when troubles arrise at home I can get discouraged and overwhelmed.  We tell teams all the time .."Every thing that you are doing here, you can do for those around you when you get home.. We don't hold the exclusive on acts of kindness."   TODAY  WE ARE THE RECIPIENTS ... Thank you friends.
   






Lots of excitement on the farm today


There was lots of excitement on the farm today.  Some new arrivals .

The first two were born, then Masha stopped for some time, so Jengish called the vet and was talked through how to induce. Fortunately everything we needed was at the pharmacy.   


Once she had a shot, it was only about 1/2 an hour before the next 5 piglets were born.  They all appear to be healthy and strong.  They have all had a good nurse and a nap.  There was lots of interest and excitement as everyone came to watch. 


earlier in the day there was excitement when the Fat dog gave birth.  She had been sterilized,  Emma said it was a treatement that is not yet approved in the US.. hahaha, now we know why . 


the new chicks are very friendly.  This one kept wanting to check out what was going on in the dog house.  The puppies were not settling well and the chickens came to see why. 


Both she and the loudest puppy where happy to be under her wing for a nice warm nap. 


Peter did not do as bad as some of the other chickens .  he only had a small paint spot on his back .  Some of the others did not do quite so well.  Some the paint had dried and there wings have stuck in silly positions and hardened there .. I am not sure yet how I am going to fix this .. Not so sure the Dawn dish soap will do the trick .. we will see.  


Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Painted Chickens

It may have started as a cold day outside, but it sure ended up
 t-shirt weather for us as we were working today.  We have been working on the soil inside the greenhouse , it was hard packed clay.  The last team spent a few days breaking up the chunks with shovels, racks and hammers .  We have then been mixing in compost and organics ..  Outside the clay soil had become like a skating rink and the clay would build up and stick to your shoes .  So we started today by levelling the walk was with dry compost, then spreading a few bags of sawdust over it to dry things up and make a nice path.  Then it was on to the green house.



Out side today, the temperature was hovering right at the freezing point. 


But inside it is toasty warm, even with out the doors that will be arriving tomorrow, it was certainly
 t-shirt weather. 


Today we spread more compost and chopped hay on the walkways between the rows , then prepared the beds for planting , I hung the thermometers and could not believe how hot it was in there,  and once the doors are on it will be even warmer.


this is harvest season for sugar beets here .  It is a large harvest, and the prices have fallen .. right now we can buy them for a tenth of the price of other grains, and they contain lots of energy, so we will be supplementing the feed this winter.


Nurik is a happy boy today.  We finished his room and made him a door.  the room is small, but it is his.  


As we were moving him in I spotted fresh white paint in his hair.  With trepidation I asked what he was painting .. The others saw my concern and said .. "Oh its OK, it just from when he was painting the chickens this morning."  Oh OK then .....