Turmoil On The Farm

The wedding of my brother and Татьяна is over. Everything went well. My sister, Toño & I could run a catering service. We complement each other perfectly.

The only problem was that we kind of lost control over the guest list, which was made only last Sunday at a family conference (like all organisation). The first signs were when people started to RSVP, who had never been invited. In other words we had no idea how many people might show up. In the end, 20% more than invited sat at the tables. Quite successful for a invitation that went out only days before the event.

The farmers in our village have the tradition to give a young animal as a wedding present. The idea is that the freshly married couple fattens the animal and that all farmers are invited to partake when they succeed.

My brother and Татьяна received this lovely piglet.



Isn't it cute? But it's also quite shifty. When my brother and neighbouring farmer Franz were installing the fodder and water dispenser, it leaped through the ajar door and escaped into the meadow. Well if you're a piglet, better don't mess with pig farmer Franz. In not time it was back in the shed.

Sweet & Salty

When I visit my clan I usually bring something to eat. Mostly something I bake, since that's so much easier to carry on train & bus.

This weekend I tried 2 new cake recipes (yes, I use my family as guinea pigs) - a sweet and a salty variant.

The sweet is a blueberry pie. It is basically many blueberry muffins in a brick form.



The salty variant is a ham wrap cake.



Besides of ham it contains onions, tomatoes, gherkins, curd cheese, eggs, cheese, parsley and mustard.

In other family related news, a provisional date for my brother's wedding is set for September 18. The residence permit for his fiancée is still pending. However, our trip to Paris is cancelled. We will celebrate Toño's birthday in Switzerland, since Toño has been chosen by the love birds to be witness to the marriage.

And my sister passed the written test for her shunting locomotive driver license with 99% correct answers. The failed were related to electric locomotives. She plans to pilot only diesel ones and did not learn for those. Now she has to practice for the driving test. Stay clear of rails!

Country Cousins

Last Friday, my brother called, requesting mine and Toño's help on Saturday. In other words we were supposed to get our hands dirty and to get up far earlier than on a school day at a time I did not even know existed. Even Toño, usually exuberantly joyful by nature, only managed to create a wry smile for the picture.



We were called to pick gherkins. This is done with the help of a self-propelled "machine".



The gherkings are planted in long rows, about two meters apart. On each side of the plants wide nets are laid on the ground, on which the gherkin plants twine. The machine lifts both nets on the side of the gherkin row together. On the machine three pickers are places on each side to harvest the gherkins.

This is Константин also an Udmurt like Татьяна, who will stay on the farm for the next 14 months. He was the last on our side and was assigned to the lowest level - that is, he could lie while working.



If I got everything correctly, our motley crew was assembled from Russia, Ukraine, Moldavia, Poland, Romania, Mexico and Switzerland. Thus the lingua franca was Russian.

Right before lunch, one of the two machines broke down and we were reassigned to reaping tobacco. It was the second harvest, which is also the second tedious to pick. Usually one can take three ripe leaves, starting from the bottom. The first time, one is crawling along the ground. The second time kneeling or heavily bent-forward is the way to go.



Toño was assigned the easy outside row, while my sister and I were in the dense inside. Talking about my sister... she is currently working on her shunting locomotive driver license.



At the end, the piles had to be carried to the cart without destroying too many leafs.



We had been asked, if we would also help out today but I just mumbled some weak excuses (church, laundry) and buggered off home to our urban residence to recover.

Татьяна is Milking for Switzerland

Татьяна, my brother's milker and fiancé, hit the headlines, which read I only milk in Switzerland.

As usual, newspapers are full of lies, since Татьяна is (officially) not even in Switzerland. Her resident permit is expired and the renewal which she requires to tie the knot with my brother takes ages to process. Thus there is still no date set for the wedding. Which is awful, since Toño is so desperate for a party.

Spanking Nuts etc.

We went to visit my clan today, for which I usually bake something. I tried a new recipe I read about in a cooking magazine, which included some serious nuts spanking.



Sadly, I left the dough a tiny little bit too long in the oven and they turned out to be a tiny bit too crumbly :( Toño bought then on the way a strawberry cheese cake at Sprüngli's and scored significantly more points with my mother than I did.

Do you remember the kestrel nestlings a fortnight ago? If not see here. They are now equipped with a proper ptilosis and have started to leave the nest.



And aren't those just cute?



Toño is right now in the kitchen processing a brother or sister of them. Whoops :P We will have them with tarragon, olives, pees, noodles and a bottle of Penfolds Bin 8.

I hope you also had a joyful Sunday.