The Ducha

We are back in Moscow after a fantastic time in the Ducha. It is a traditional cottage near Drezna, about 80 km east of Moscow. It is one of many Dachas in the area – some are very rough and some new ones are very modern.

Zoya was very apologetic for the lack of modern facilities but we loved it. It is like another world. She obviously loves it there too.

The first evening we went to another Ducha and had a magnificent tea (see picture). It included lots of toasts, singing and merriment. A great night. I tried to regulate my drinks but next morning 4 people asked me how my head was !

The next day we walked about 2 km to a forest where all Kathy’s dreams came true. Eg. the birch trees her grandmother loved. There were many sorts of mushrooms – three of which we kept. There were raspberries, bilberries, other berries and a wonderful, damp, mossy environment.

We spent other days working on the garden, etc for Zoya. We really enjoyed helping. Brian even replaced the glass in 4 windows which Zoya really appreciated. We went for lots of walks (Kathy saw lots of flowers that she’d only seen in her childhood garden before) and met friends of Zoya’s.

Back in Moscow it was showers all around, washing and organising. Today we had a great day at the summer house of Katherine the Second’s.

Tomorrow we head to Bryansk.

Love to everyone…………..Brian and Kathy

From Moscow with Love

Hello everyone. We hope you are all well. We are.

This is our first Blog and we’ll be out of contact for a few days. We are going with Zoya (Kira’s sister) to stay at her Dacha (house in the country). Kathy is very excited because she has heard about Duchas from her parents and grand parents. She imagines collecting strawberries, wildflowers and mushrooms in the forest and wandering about the country side. Zoya’s daughter-in-law and husband will be taking us there by car, we will have another feast and they will head home.

Zoya has been spoiling us rotten. We feel very privileged. We are staying in her flat on the edge of Moscow – about 40 minutes by metro to the centre of town. It’s a very small flat but in a lovely area. We all sleep in the lounge room but it’s very cosy.

Kathy is getting by really well with her rusty Russian. I am hopeless as it’s too easy to rely on her. However, I have the alphabet sussed out now.

The pictures are Zoya and Kathy discovering things in the supermarket. Many of the things her parents/grandparents used to make are now available frozen or even in instant packets. We wanted to buy all sorts but Zoya wouldn't let us. Also, family at tea last night.

Love to everyone…………..Brian and Kathy

Home

Yes we arrived home today after some delays and missed connections. But it turned out well.

Most importantly, we emailed our interum report off yesterday - ahead of schedule !!!
It was a great feeling.

See you soon

Cheers.........Brian

Fairwell Moscow

Hi everyone,

Well, the next chapter has begun. We are now in Singapore. We will have three nights there while we attempt to finish our report. Unfortunately, we arrived at 5.30am but didn’t get into the hotel rooms until 10am - 23 hours of travel.

Our last day in Moscow was great. We caught up with reports in the morning and then headed to a cheap Russian café. It seemed like a good idea but we ended up pointing at three items on the menu and crossing our fingers. As usual it turned out well with Albert and I getting a soup each and Sean half a pressed flat chicken from a griller. Excellent.

We then negotiated the underground to go to Red Square. We had to change trains twice. They have a very good system of having different colours for the different lines you have to get.- the problem is it seems the guy they got to paint the signs was colour blind! I was trying to convert the Russian letters to English and getting nowhere. Luckily Sean used the Russian letters direct and solved the puzzle. If fact if it wasn’t for him Albert and I would still be going around and around somewhere below Moscow!

In spite of our difficulty we are in awe of the underground. It moves a huge mass of people and very efficiently. The trains are full, go fast and are about a minute apart in peak hour.

We then checked out the Kremlin (the Armory), had a good look around the area and made some bargain purchases. The whole area had some beautiful sights – and the jewellery and buildings weren’t bad either.

That’s it for now.

Take care………Brian, Albert and Sean

Photos are - capitalisam at work in Red Square and a road sign.

Back to Moscow

Dear everyone,

A bit more news after a very hectic and exciting (in fact overwhelming) few days.

On the 2nd we flew S East from Moscow to the region of Bashkortostan – just over the Ural mountains. We stayed in a holiday house near Baemark.

The people have been treating us to great celebrations; from a civic reception (with the Deputy Prime Minister for the region), a meeting with many officials and big feasts with many toasts (of vodka) to our new friendship and the success of the project. See the pictures.

One feast occurred in a paddock (see picture). They had local people playing music, reciting poetry and dancing for us as we ate. The food was great. Including lots of horse meat and the drink of the region which is Kumis (or Coomis). It is mare’s milk when the mare has been eating feather grass – very special.

Our party has grown to about 15 people so we now need a mini bus. We have a new interpreter – much better looking than the last one (see picture). We’ve travelled lots and seen lots of farms – all struggling since the collapse of the economy post the Soviet System.

The food has been great – I’ve put on 3 to 4 kg.

This area has a dairy industry but they are really keen to develop their beef industry using Australian genetics and technology. We believe it is going to be really successful. However, we have to get the planning right. If the first shipment have major problems (eg deaths of cattle or injuries to people) it will be a disaster.

We have been looking at lots of old sheep and cattle sheds to work out the best shelter for the cattle over winter. It gets down to -35oC here at times.

We have also been trying to work out potential stocking rates and any other issues critical to the success. It’s been non stop.

The people here have been fantastic. Emotions really build up at times. So last night when we said farewell some very sincere words were said.

Today we left at 4am and flew to Moscow to be put up in the Holiday Inn again.

Well that’s about it for a brief catch-up

I hope you are all well

Love ………Brian

Pictures
Loverly waiters
Rural Soultions SA team with the Deputy Prine Minister of Bashkortostan.

Pictures

Everyone,

Here are esome pictures.
Galina (our interpreter) being a cow in an old cow shed
Adam with a very happy and generous host
Albert with the same lady - but a bit later
A welcome dinner for us with the Deputy Prime Minister of te the region
Another dinner in a field

Back in Moscow

Hi everyone,

Yes we are back (except Albert and John who have shot off in a private jet to Kaliningrad - to look at more land for a future project).

We had a 5 hour car trip back to the Holiday Inn. Had a fantastic lunch in their restraunte (noone spoke for most of the meal!) and had a clean up. Yes it is good to be back in the 21st century. We are not complaining - people have been fantastic to us - which is by far the most important thing.

We have completed collecting the information for the first project. We just have to make recommendations now. We have a meeting tomorrow.

Tomorrow afternoon we head off south east (I think) to see the second project. This will probably be just as exciting.

We are all well again and having a great time. Moscow is a booming city. We will check a bit of it out tonight.

Take care . Dus vadunya

Cheers..........Brian Albert and Sean