October 29, 2009

thursday.

beautiful sunny day today, although by the time I got outside, the clouds started moving in and the wind had picked up.  Hung out with mom in the kitchen - she helps correct my workbook exercises!  My run was chilly but very good (perhaps better than yesterday since there wasn't chili in my tummy).  Then, walked with mom to the pagasts (town hall) to chat with the lady there, I have no idea about what - I think mom tried to pay a bill that they said she had already paid...
Now, I am in Alsunga, because the Jurkalne library is closed today.  Plus, I was out of water and have to stop by the spring.

Word............................................lielisks!  = excellent!
Dish...............................................mom ate putra ar skabs krejum - porridge with sour cream
Highlight.........................................blue sky!
Lowlight.........................................none!

Random observation......................................yesterday, I saw two frogs hopping on the beach, heading towards the ocean.  I don't think there is such a thing as a sea-frog, so I think they were on a suicide mission.  I picked them both up and put them up on the shore where plants were growing.

These are two random photos from my Riga trip..

October 28, 2009

šodien!

I slept in, and while I was still having coffee, mom had a visitor.  Apparently she leases out her father's land (the 8 hectacres) so that it is farmed, and the company's owner came by to renew the contract.  His name was Arvis.  Even though it was a business visit, he brought mom 5 huge and pretty yellow flowers.  I knew that was the custom for visiting guests but thought in interesting that it was for business visits too.
After he left, mom and I went to the beach.  It was really way to cold and windy for mom, so we just did a short walk and then she waited for me while I did a short run.  On my way back, Anaļe's dog attacked me again!!  He ran up behind me and bit by thigh (although it didn't break my skin, thank god.)  I screamed and froze and he sniffed around me, growling, and eventually walked away, and I slowly left.  We stopped at Anaļe's house on the way home and told her husband. 
It's 4pm, and I'm at the library.  Probably nothing else exciting for today.

Word................................līgums = contract
Dish..................................more chilli!  with fresh bread and butter
Highlight............................getting a new visitor was exciting (pitiful, no?)
Lowlight............................dog attack on a public beach

Random Observation.........................mom keeps telling me to not run there, but I refuse, because it's a public beach and they cannot act like they own it, and let their crazy dog run loose.  That's how bullies get their way - if you are too afraid and just give in and avoid them.  Sometimes, maybe I am too afraid, but not this time.

October 27, 2009

Tuesday

Mom and I went to Kuldiga today.  Nagite was supposed to come along but didn't.  Things seem to go much smoother when it's just mom and I.  We walked all over town!  I just wanted to go to the knitting store, but then mom said, let's walk some more, and we did a big loop all through the town.  I bought a new little jacket from the thrift store (actually, mom bought it for me, but it was only 3 USD so I was ok with that), and I got some new yarn for my cimdiņi.  Mom bought all kinds of cleaning chemicals, and then groceries.  It was a very nice day and we laughed a lot.  We drove home in the dark, even though it was only 5pm.  
In the news, everyone was talking about the meteorite that fell in Latvian.  Except, they aren't sure if it is real or a big joke.


Word.......................lietoti apģerbi = used clothes
Dish.........................yum!  I made chilli with textured vegetable protein, kidney beans, tomatos, red peppers, onions, garlic, and chili powder.  I was quite happy with how it turned out, and, of course, mom thought it was too spicy.  She ate aknu desa on baltmaize.  (that is braunshweiger on white bread)
Highlight...................spending the day with mom
Lowlight...................driving home in the rain and dark

Random observation...........................today, everyone in the stores seemed very friendly... one lady even chatted with us for 10 minutes and asked for my email!  It was noteworthy because it's unusual here - they are usually big grump-pots!

October 26, 2009

Monday.

Library closed today, so no internet.  It was smidzina all day today, so it was hard to motivate to go outside, but in the afternoon I went on my run, and of course, it felt great.  Other than that, mom and I just hung out in the kitchen or living room all day - chatting.  In the evening, Nagite came over for a little bit, and the two of them talked about how difficult life is.  I knitted and listened, and kept my mouth shut.  Later, I decided that I should either watch TV or listen to the radio more, so I can hear more Latvian - so I watched Ugunsgrēks (Housefire), a Latvian nighttime soap, and mom's favorite.

Word...................................aizver muti!  =  shut your mouth!  (apparently, it's the "new" thing to say in Rīga!
Dish......................................raugu pankukas (pancake batter made with yeast).  mom had the dough ready for me when I got back the night before.  I added tomatoes and onions and ate savory pancakes for dinner.
Highlight.................................getting outside
Lowlight.................................none really.  quiet day was nice after the weekend in Rīga.

Random observation..............................the weather always looks worse from inside a warm house.

October 25th, 2009

Sunday.

Slept in again, even though I had a very quiet Saturday night.  Enjoyed a cup of coffee and went walking.  There was a slight drizzle outside - the kind where it seems silly to use an umbrella, but if you walk long enough, you end up getting wet.  Ate at the Hare Krishna center again - more veggie stuff!  and then wandered around the city and the central market.  Caught the 4pm bus back to Jūrkalne and read my book the whole way.  Mom seemed happy to see me.
The time changed happened last night and it was dark at 5pm today!!!!  Walking back to mom's in the pitch dark was interesting.  I used my phone as a flashlight.

Word......................................smidzināt = to drizzle (light rain)
Dish........................................meat and rice? wrapped up in a cabbage leaf - not sure what it is called - Pildīti Kāposti?  Mom, do you know?  A friend of mine served it to me while I was in Rīga.  Not bad, although I only ate a little since it had meat in it.
Highlight..................................walking around town with no purpose.
Lowlight...................................four hours on a bus.

Random Observation..............................In Rīga, I met a Latvian girl who was so fed up with how the Russian language was taking over, that she was planning to leave and live elsewhere as soon as she could.  In the same room, I met another Latvian citizen whose Latvian was worse than mine because she only spoke Russian.  (I didn't tell mom about this!)

October 24, 2009

Saturday.

Slept in, only til 10 or so, and was a bit wobbly when I first got up (hee hee).  Very quiet morning and then I went on a free Rīga City Tour at noon.  It was very long - 3 hours - but interesting.  We visited the markets, saw the arty warehouse district, only one church, and some history and architecture thrown in too.  Very nice.  Afterwards, we were starving, and went to the Hare Krishna Vegetarian Restaurant - some of the food was very good, some not so much. 
Now, I'm chilling a bit before going to the Tango show... will update that later.

Word................................leļļu teātra izrāde  = puppet show
Dish...................................soy strips in tomato sauce with barley and curried vegetables.
Highlight.............................so far... learning more about some of the architecture
Lowlight..............................waking up

Random observation.............................a factual tidbit about Riga... they have a tradition of constructing wooden buildings instead of stone so that when they get invaded again, they can just burn all of the buildings and the invaders have to rebuild the city from scratch.  Notice how it is "WHEN" they get invaded again, not IF.

October 23, 2009

Friday!

Got up early and mom walked me to the busstop.  Mom is getting a bit sappy in her old age, and even though I'm only going to be gone for the weekend, she told me she was going to miss me! 
The bus ride went smoothly, and I got into Riga by early afternoon.  I got a hostel and picked up my ticket for the Tango performance on Saturday.  I sort of just met this guy, Igars, at the box office, he gave me a ticket and took my money and left.  It was a little weird, so hopefully the ticket is valid.  I'll find out in a couple hours!
That night, the hostel threw a party.  We watched 100 cigarettes, then went out to the bars.  I got just a bit tipsy and knew I shouldn't have bought that second round of tequila shots.  Very fun.  Most of the group was Latvian and most of them were part of an organization called couchsurfers.com that connects people all over the world to crash on eachother's couches for free... check it out...   www.couchsurfers.com

Word..................................piedzeruši = drunk
Dish....................................seeded bread with cheese and ābolu maizite (apple sweet bread)
Highlight..............................being in a city and seeing all the pretty people
Lowlight..............................leaving Alise all alone

Random Observation...........................I am always drawn to the extremes....... the hustle and the bustle of the city and the quiet of the countryside... too much of either one, and I'm longing for the opposite.

October 22, 2009

today!  Thursday.

Spent the morning at the library, looking up information for Riga.  Planning on spending the weekend there and going to a Tango performance.  So excited!
Then, drove to Kuldiga to buy more yarn for me and cat food for mom.

Word.................................dzija = yarn
Dish..................................skabens zupa again.  yum
Highlight...........................planning a fun weekend!
Lowlight............................at first, online, it said that the Tango show was sold out.  I was very sad, but called and the guy said there were still tickets available at the studio... so it was a short-lived lowlight.

October 21, 2009

Wednesday

Nice day out.  Did some knitting and was getting ready to go run when Ana and Wally came over.  Mom really enjoyed herself with the guests.  I think even she was getting bored these past few days.  She and Ana were yelling at each other so loud that Wally couldn't get a word in edgewise.  She and I just looked at each other and laughed.  Then, Nagite came in and took one look at who was there, and left again.  I left with her to go on my run.

Word..............................blēdīgs = crooked (as in mom's neighbor, Marija's grandchild, and all Russians)  Except, mom says it like... blēž and really draws out the žžžž at the end.  It's funny.
Dish...............................Ana made a fatty ham sandwich with raw garlic and rye bread.  Then, she shoved more raw garlic into the pierogs (mom calls them vareņiki) 
Highlight........................watching mom get all worked up. 
Lowlight.........................evilly staring at the Monster Neighbor as I was walking home from my run and cut through the back to get to mom's house.

Random Observation.................I think our hints are sinking in. The past two days, mom mentioned getting her foot looked at, and this morning asked Domino if he wanted to live in the US again.  It still might take her another 8 years to make up her mind, but she sure as hell will be making it up on her own!

October 20, 2009

Tuesday...
Thinking...  now I remember... I couldn't sleep the night before and so I slept until noon and then woke up with a headache and backache.  It rained most of the day, so I knitted, read my book, and took a bath.  When Nagite came over in the evening, I snuck some vodka in my tea, hoping it would make me sleepy  - and it did!

Word.......................menstruācijas = mentrual period (don't ask me why, but Marija has tea that is supposed to be good for "female problems".
Highlight.................not much
Lowlight..................the whole day, more or less. 

October 19, 2009

Monday.

Rained most of the day, and mostly I worked on my second mitten.  In the afternoon, I was going stir crazy and grabbed my new umbrella, my new rubber boots, and headed outside for a walk.  Lucky for me, it stopped raining just around that time and I walked in the woods for over 2 hours.  Beautiful, with lots of puddles to jump in, and a few mushrooms to pick for tomorrow's breakfast.
Nagite came over... her daughter Kristine is sick with a cough and her son Jānis is sick with some kind of GI illness.  Learned some medical terminology today!

Word...................vēders = belly.... but.... kuņģis = stomach
Dish......................I made a potato, veggie, and soy protein soup.  mom actually liked the soy protein chunks!
Highlight................long walk in the woods. 
Lowlight................listening to mom and Nagite yet again commenting on how hard life is.  Of course, it's hard, but you might as well have fun and not focus on the hard parts, vai ne?

October 18th, 2009

Sunday.

Rain, afternoon run.  maybe a bit o' knitting.
Boring....

Word...................................drukāt = to print (since my computer may lose it's battery soon, I'm looking for a place to print some of my Latvian verb lessons.)
Dish.....................................tunis kutlets = tuna salad burgers
 

October 17, 2009

Saturday.
Another exciting weekend in Jurkalne.  Today, mom and I walked to the store to get more lard, but they didn't have any so we walked back home emptyhanded.  (The lady at the store said, we don't carry lard here because it's not healthy!!!).  Then, Alise baked her cherry pie and I made tortillas.  Both turned out yummy.  The afternoon was sunny and not too cold so I weeded the strawberry patch.

Word.........................tauka = lard
Dish...........................mom's cherry pie!
Highlight.....................being ouside in the garden

Random observation.................What the hell!  It feels like I'm in a Happy Homemaker Workshop with canning, knitting, gardening, and cooking.  I'll be all set to homestead once my cabin in Alaska is built - just need to find a lucky somebody to share it with.  HA.

Aita teic beeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrni un kaza teic....

I can't upload videos to this blog, but here is the link to an amusing video of Jennifer explaining the different local Latvian accents.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpjuniper/4016888615/

October 16, 2009

Friday.
Mom called the clinic and then organized with Nagite that Friday would be the best time to go see her eye doctor.  So we left this morning at 7:30am to get there by 8ish.  Mom waited til last minute to call, so there were no appointments available til November and we were going to the walk-in service between 8am-12pm.
Sounds good, except when we get there, they tell us that Fridays are appt. only days, and today the doctor is in Riga.  Oh well.  At least, we got a renewed prescription for her medicine.
We went to a billion stores to go food shopping, and then to a dingy corner store for stale cakes and coffee.
Now, it's around 3pm and I'm either going for a bike ride, or if it's too windy, for a run.  Uz redzēšanos!

Word...........................acu ārsts = eye doctor
Dish.............................mom had stale lemon cake, I had a very greasy cheese fried dough thing - mīklā cepts siers, Nāgite had pizza (pica) and stale chocolate cake.
Highlight.......................sunrise was pretty and the whole day was nice and sunny
Lowlight........................wrong day!

Random observations.........................mom is a big pain in the BEE-HIND sometimes but I love her so very much.

October 15, 2009

Fairly nice day out today.  Overcast but no rain, and not as cold as it has been.  I was still a bit grumpy and got into a discussion with mom about the word "nepilsonis" which means non-citizen.  How can you be angry about a word like non-citizen?  oh well, I always thought the word was "nepersons" and she was angry about being considered a non-person, but I guess it's not for me to understand how Alise's mind works.
In the afternoon, we went to the beach and had a nice walk.  It was colder than the first time we went, so no hockey playing, but mom walked as far as she did the first day, and this time did it with no breaks. 

Word.....................nepilsonis = non-citizen (please don't take offense)
Dish.......................darzenu zupa = vegetable soup with potatoes, carrots, celery, cabbage, egg, and bits of chicken (mom took out the big hunks)
Highlight.................as always, the beach.
Lowlight.................seeing mom get so upset about the word nepilsonis.

Random Observation.................I love how the word "wave" is both the waves in the sea and to wave hello.  It's like the sea is waving hello to me.   In Latvian, the word wave is "vilnis" which is similar to "vilna" which is wool.  I like to imagine there are little wooly sheep riding the waves and making them all white and foamy.

October 14, 2009

Wednesday
Rainy, cold weather.  Didn't do much today.  Baked an apple pie and my crust came out much better this time.   Oh... and felt pent up and super bored, so in the late afternoon, I took off and went to Kuldiga on my own for a while.  Bought a broom, pie pans, and an umbrella since mom doesn't have any of those things and I bought a very cute pair of insulated rubber boots, getting ready for the slushy cold snow!

Word...................zābaki = boots
Dish......................my apple pie has a butter crust, fresh apples, cinnamon and sugar.  mom's pie has a lard crust, canned cherries, gelatin, and a lot more sugar!  (Her's will probably taste better)
Highlight................getting the hell out of Dodge.
Lowlight................being grumpy all day

October 13, 2009

Tuesday.

Mom and I went for a short walk in the afternoon and it (briefly) snowed on us!! It was a sort of icy snow and only lasted a few minutes but exciting! Sviecinati, Ziemā! All day, it was sunny, then rainy, then sunny, then snow, then sun again. Later that afternoon, I went running and there was a huge mean-looking storm brewing out in the ocean.

Word...............................sniegs = snow

Dish.................................baked breaded chicken and rice for mom, and rice, beans, tomato, onions, and mushrooms for me.

Highlight...........................yay! first snow of the season!

Lowlight...........................the snow cut our walk short, because mom was cold, and as soon as we got back inside the house, the sun came out.

Random observation..........................I love living in places which have the motto.."If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes."

October 12, 2009

Monday.

Library is closed on Mondays so no internet.  I discovered that my computer might have a faulty AC connection and no AC connection means no battery which means no commuter.  Whaaaa!

Went to Kūldiga today.  I don't really enjoy driving all that way just to run into the back, run into the grocery store, and then run back home.  But that's what mom wanted so that's what we did.  No coffee, no walking around town, no relaxing.  She can't wait to get back to her kitchen and sit down there, where she sits all day.

I was sitting in the car, bored, waiting.  This is one of many brilliant hair colors to be found on the young and old.  I'm going to go for more of a fire-engine red myself....

Word...............................saldēti spīnati =  frozen spinach.  I was craving dark greens and could only find frozen spinach cubes. 

Dish.................................braunshweiger and rye bread sandwich
Highlight...........................running in the morning
Lowlight...........................driving
Random observation..........................I could find more things in the remotest parts of  Patagonia than I can find here.  Is that Soviet influence/block or just plain ol' Latvian culture?

October 11, 2009

Sunday... Today!
Another lazy rainy day in Jūrkalne.  I did do a lot of studying though... went over a bunch of verbs, especially worked on the reflexive verbs today (I wash myself for example).  Nagite came over for a visit.  Mom cleaned the house.   Veltie called and chatted for a bit.

Word........................mācīt = to teach and the reflexive form is mācīties = to learn (aka to teach yourself)
Dish...........................plans pankukas ar dzervene un crejum = crepes with cranberry sauce and cream
Highlight....................a neighbor lent us a few books and one of them is an awesome Latvian fairy tale book.  I'm reading one about the fox who tricked the wolf.
Lowlight.....................boring day

Random observation....................... it definitely seems that my days alternate - one day interesting, where I actually go do something and the next day, nothing.

October 10, 2009

Saturday

A beautiful gorgeous day.. sunny, no wind, not too cold.  Mom was actually inspired enough to suggest a trip to the beach.  Since I've been trying to get her to go for the whole month, I jumped at the chance.  It was a blast.  We threw rocks into the ocean and played football (I mean, soccer) and then hockey with the rocks - we used mom's cane as a hockey stick.  She even started jogging at one point!  Marija walked along with us, but wouldn't participate in any of our foolish games.  She collected pebbles and shells and drew pretty pictures in the sand with her stick.

Afterwards, I ran home and the two old bitties drove home. On my run, I went past a dirt bike pit and there were a bunch of people there racing around on their dirt bikes.

Word............................nūja = cane
Dish..............................Marija offered me some canned berries but one whiff of them and I could tell they had gone bad.  She ate them.
Highlight.......................being at the beach with mom!!!!
Lowlight......................none!

Random observation................I don't think Marija is that good at canning.... she keeps offering me things that are bad and when I tell her they taste rotten, she denies it and eats it herself.

October 9, 2009

Friday...

It was stormy most of the day, so I stayed home and hung out with Marija and Alise.  Knitted, made my cranberry sauce.

In the late afternoon, the weather cleared for a bit and Marija and I went for our walk in the woods.  Marija got off the dirt road for a bit and thought she was lost.  She was happy when a few minutes later we could here the sound of the cars again.  I wasn't too worried... these woods are pretty small.

Word..............................pazaudeties = to be lost

Dish.................................?
Highlight..........................walking off trail!  the ferns were beautiful.
Lowlight..........................staying inside all day

Random observations...............I actually don't mind staying inside all day as long as it's only 1 or 2 consecutive days.  After that, I go stir crazy!
..................................................Here's the result of hours in the woods and hours in the kitchen.  The applesauce is mom's, the rest is my blueberry, mixed berry, or cranberry jam and two bottles of cranberry juice.........................................

October 8, 2009

hmmm.. that was Thursday.  What did I do?  I have no idea.
Right... I went for my run which was excellent.  Two fisherman took a picture of me as I ran by – I know there are runners in Latvia (mom's legal person runs in races and she's 60 something) but I guess there aren't too many in Jurkalne.  It's always funny to me to be the tourist attraction.
The run felt so good, I stripped down to my tank top and undies and jumped in the Baltic!  It was cold, but I was still steamy afterwards and felt super refreshed.

Then the library and internet.  Then I think I spent the rest of the day working on my mittens.

Word............................izpeldēšanās jūrā = a dip in the sea

Dish.............................?
Highlight.......................definitely the swim
Lowlight.......................right now, not being able to remember anything

October 6th and 7th

this is from the day at the beach with the movie camera, but i didn't really have anything else to put for this day... and it was fun - it's a zip-line swing!

October 7th

Quietish day.  I needed some alone time and spent most of the day in my room... organizing photos, reading, and knitting.  I started my first pair of Latvian mittens and I must admit, I'm having to knit them twice - once wrong, taking it out, and the second time I seem to get it right.  Slow progress but interesting to learn new techniques.

Word..............slota = broom (I spilt some things out of the fridge and was appalled to find out that mom doesn't really own a broom; just two small things that make you get down on your hands and knees to clean up anything.  Next time in Kuldiga, I'm buying one.)

Dish.................I made plain old pasta with sauteed mushrooms and onions, butter, salt, and pepper.  Yum.

Highlight..........starting my mittens

Lowlight..........didn't go on my run today - rained most of the day and then I just got lazy.

October 6th

Went to Stikls again to go pick cranberries in the bog.  I wasn't really in the mood to go, but I brought a book and the sun was shining and it was a very beautiful day.  It was just Nagitte and I this time and she picked a whole bucket full while I just pick a few.

Word...............dzerve = crane .........dzervene = cranberry  (never realized that cranberry came from the word crane!)

Dish..................popcorn for dinner!

Highlight............I saw cranes!!!!  They are the Eurasian Crane (aka Common Crane or Grus grus).  I heard them first, of course, and then there they were, flying in a vee high above me.  Beautiful!!!

Lowlight............Nagite following me around in the grocery store and suggesting I buy things and commenting on everything I bought. 

Random Observation...............I think part of the reason I didn't feel like picking cranberries is that I'm starting to wonder about how easy it is to overharvest these berries, and/or destroy the marshland where they grow.

Wow! October 1st through 5th - work in progress

October 5th

Went to the beach with Ainar and 3 of his friends from Riga - Janis, Eva, and Ingus.  They came to Jurkalne to film themselves playing in the storm.  Ingus was the main film guy and we just walked around, playing in the sand and wind. 

Word..............vētra = storm

Dish................sour pear juice

Highlight..........when Ingus picked up his cigarette butt instead of leaving it on the beach

Random Observation..........I really like the combo of art and nature - it's like taking the best from the city and bringing it to the woods.

October 4th Sunday

The electricity was out in the morning so I couldn't even have coffee.  Quite tragic.  No electricity means no heat, no hot water, no stove, no garage, no phone, and of course, no lights.  Lights came on around noon.  Finally made my cranberry sauce.  And in the afternon, went on a long walk with Marija in the woods - not too many mushrooms.  It's been stormy and the wind was blowing super hard.  Very invigorating.  Marija walked home and I ran for 40 minutes, getting home just before dark.

Word...................karš = war (I asked my grandmother if she had a dowry and she laughed and said no, it was war-time.)

Dish.....................tomatos, cucumbers, onions, and piecesof rye bread floating in a mixture of heavy fresh cream and water.

Highlight................having coffee when the electricity came back on

Lowlight................not being able to have coffee immediately upon waking up!

That's my new hat I finished knitting.  It's cute but a bit too small.

Random observation............I don't like the idea of being completely dependent on electricity.  Yet another supportive rationale for me living completely off the grid.

October 3rd Saturday

Went to Kuldiga with Alise and Nagitte.  First went to pick apples - we got four huge bags full for only 4 USD - so many different varieties!  Then, Elvi for groceries - got some beer to help me chill when the two of them are pestering me too much.  Should have drank one in the store since afterwards we had a bit of a breakdown in communication and mom couldn't decide where she wanted to go next while I did a few errands on my own.  She kept trying to get me to go do my errands with the car and I kept insisting I wanted to walk and I guess she just couldn't understand why.   It drives me nuts here that Marija, Alise, and Nagite all insist that they know what I need/want more than I do... aren't you hungry?  here, eat this.  now, eat that.  aren't you cold?  no?  i got you this heavy robe anyway, wear it.  put socks on.  aren't your feet cold?  etc. etc. etc.  Arggghhhh!!!!  (ok, I also got my period today which probably explains my impatience!)

Finally, got an hour on my own and walked around town.  Bought 4 beautiful skeins of yarn for my first latvian mittens I'm going to knit.   Finished knitting a hat.

Word...................viens pats = alone (as in.. I want to be left alone!)
Dish.....................dzerven zupa = we bought celery root and mom used it to make a vegetable soup with carrots, potatoes, onions, and cabbage.  Mom cooked it with the meat but then kindly removed all the meat pieces to make it more "vegetarian" for me.

Highlight................buying the beautiful skeins of yarn in the yarn store

Lowlight................losing my patience with people trying to be too nice

Random observation...........I've lived alone way too many years of my life and am too independent to have two old ladies and a neighbor be pampering me so much.

October 2nd  Friday

Rest day.  Can't even remember if I did anything.  I think I stayed in bed and knitted a lot. I didn't even touch my big basket of cranberries.  In the afternoon, I crawled to the beach and ran.  The beach was stormy and beautiful.

Word.....................miers = peace

Highlight.................relaxing in my room

Random observation.............. I really like being lazy for a day here and there.

October 1st   Thursday

Drove 1.5 hours south, past Ventspils, to the small town of Stikls, where we went into a bog looking for bog cranberries - they are the big ones you're used to seeing in the grocery store.  "We" consisted of Nagitte, her daughter Kristine, Nagitte's husband, and a friend of their's, Rudi.  I'm not supposed to tell mom that the car was full for some reason.  It wasn't raining when we first got there but then it started to, and we shlopped around ankle deep in the bog, picking beautiful huge cranberries until our fingers were numb.  I think I had leached bites on my ankle even though I was wearing rubber boots.

Word....................slapjš = wet or soggy (great sound to that word!)

Dish......................pankukas = pancakes.  mom had warm greasy little pancakes waiting for us when we got back.  Ļoti garšigs with homemade blueberry jam and/or apple sauce on it.

Highlight ...............schlopping through the marsh was ridiculously fun.  plus, I thought I heard cranes!

Lowlight................driving home in the rain was no fun.

Random observation..............the less I drive, the less I like driving.