A New Start - Co-op Rules!

Our house welcomed us in a friendly way: roof was on it, water had not done any damage what so ever. Doors and windows were all on and in one piece. It was so nice to see the red tip of our home visible already far away as we appraoched it.

The garden did not greet us in the same peaceful and orderly way. As soon as one could see into our court yard, actually even before, in the other side of the gate as well - all lawn was destroyed. It was done very properly and evenly by wild bores, from edge to edge, without touching flower beds. Thank God for that, all the flowers are OK and some are even blooming.

It was sad. I have worked eagerly and passionately for three summers to get it into the condition I left it. It probably took them few hours to turn it up side down. Well, it was an easy access to earth warms and other goodies, nobody there to destract them. I think neighbours let some hunters know about the attack, so some of the hunters came and did some shooting. After that they have not seen new damage, so it might have scared them little bit.
What's next? I simply cannot live like that, but I also realized that my own power is so tiny to do all that cleaning up before grass starts growing again.

So I decided to call for help. I posted an invitation to Facebook for my friends to come and help out on May 7th. As it was day before Mothers' Day, many of my far away friends from the Capital area could not make it, but local friends were really ready to jump in and to it together. As the area is close to 2 acres, I badly needed mechanized help as well. My good neighbours, local veterinarians, offered their older model tractor. I also asked another friend, a local farmer and folk dancer, who has more modern and powerful tractor. Although it is a very busy spring farming season, he had mercy on me and my hopeless situation, and also came on Saturday and did the most of the tractor work. That was enourmous help, as it made it easier for rakers to even the soil and get the grass residue out of the ground.

Going back little bit in time, when I first posted the invitation, I was very happy that so many people responded positively. First ones to back me up were my folk dancing buddies. Even few city friends were coming at first, but later on different things came up and we actualy did not see anybody on Saturday further than 30 miles from us.
My high school class-mate with her husband offered me to rent a portable lawn cutter and they brought it here with their truck. That was a good thing to have for edges and hard to get to with a tractor places. He worked on it all day, such a great help, thank you!

My class-mate herself and a good friend from gardening school era, a well known landscaping teacher were a good pair on how to do it properly. Participants were at first little doubtful, but as soon as everybody saw first results of well groomed new soil, nobody had any doubts left and the final result was amazing. Later on the neighbour's tractor was harnessed behind a big cargo base (??) and that served then as a final flattener and smoother for the raked area, before the seed could go in the ground.

To make things perfect, even old kids play shack was moved to a different location. Old stumps were moved and rotten fence postd were torn out.

During lunch hour soup, cucumber salad and cake was served. Good workers deserved even better meal, but I must admit that the spaghetti dish I tried to make, failed and I had to activate plan B and serve ready made soup. Evening ended with sauna, although everytbody was so tired that could hardly enjoy it - wash up and go to bed.

So much work got done, I cannot even belive my eyes when I go out and see the beauty back around me. I have more to do, but they gave me back hope. Thank you, Veriora, Räpina and Võru!

Vôitlus ôigluse eest jäägu kestma

Meil kodus Eestis telekat teatavasti ei olnud. Kunagi, kui me veel lastetutena Tallinnas Kreutzwaldi tanaval elasime, siis oli ja see oli uks igavene needus, sest sinna ette konutama jaada oli nii lihtne. Ma ei tea kuidas ma kull nii iseloomutu oli, endal mul ju selline hull raudne tahe, ehehee!

No igatahes, kui sai Liivalaia tanavale kolitud, siis telekat pohimotteliselt kaasa ei votnud ja ka maale Mannisallu pole seda soetatud.

Ja nuud, heausklikuna Ameerikasse saabununa, leidsin eest paev labi non-stop telekat vaatava vanaonu. Oi Issake, seda ei ole ju voimalik mitte kuulata. Vaadata kull, sest lahen lihtsalt teise tuppa, aga kuulmisest pole paasu, sest kova kuulmisega vanainimesel on see maksimumi peale keeratud. Sellest siis johtuvadki minu moningased paevakajalised pajatused, et ma paeval kududes voi suua tehes lihtsat olen paevauudistele pidevalt avatud.

Ega ma palju kodus pole; kain raamatukogus ja poes, viin ja toon lapsi, kaime nendega pargis ja kulas. Ja koige parem selle asja juures on see, et onuke laheb onneks vara magama ja tihti touseb ules ka alles peale meie hommikust lahkumist.

Aga eelmisel nadalal olin kull igal ohtul selle "helesinise ekraani" ees, sest AMC kanal naitas terve nadala jooksul Clint Eastwoodiga peaosas filme seeriast Dirty Harry, kus Clint Eastwood mangib San Francisco politseinikku. Head filmid olid, sellised vanemad 1970-ndatest, just minu ajajarku. Ja ta, vaene mees, oli pidevalt oma bossidega riius, sest nimetas neid pidevalt "oigete nimedega" ja vottis ilma nende heakskiiduta ette riskantseid operatsioone, et kaitsta oiglust ja seadust.

See viis mind mottele oma enese toisest karjaarist, mis pole olnud muud kui uks pidev kaklus ja voitlus. Aga ma ei tunnista tanase peavani, et milles eriti suures eksinud oleksin. Inimene on ekslik, aga pohimotted, mida ma kaitsnud olen, on ikka olnud ausad. Koige toredam nende paljude erinevate tooandjate puhul on see, et olen endale suure hulga haid sopru leidnud, kellega ikka ja jalle kokku saada nii vaga tore on. Nagu naiteks sellel pidil, kus meie revolutsiooniline grupeering Räpina Aianduskooli paevilt Andrese iluaeda imetlemas kais.

Tulge kõik: VERIORA TÄIKA - Ostan-Müün-Vahetan

Tänaseks on täika peetud ja esimese korra kohta võib öelda, et õnnestus täielikult. Huvi oli nii müüjate kui ostjate poole pealt suur ning soov ettevõtmist korrata juba sügisel ka olemas.
Mina esinesin viie artikliga: lilledest olid longus rebasheina, käokulla (õlelill) ja habenelgi istikud. Samuti pakkusin häid mahlakaid ja pontsakaid basiilikuid ning paprikaid. Viimased läksid kui soojad saiad, aga neid oli ka ainult 10. Kuna lilleistikud olid väga tagasihoidlike mõõtmetega, siis oli huvi nende vastu leige. Hea oli see, et õnnestus mõned siiski müüa ja mis kõige parem, mõned ka riidehilpude vastu teise müüjaga vahetada. Ja kuna Zoel on veel arusaamatum suhe riietega kui mul, siis vahetas tema lausa laada ajal oma kostüüme. Seda soosis muidugi minu õe riietega varustajaks olemine, kes talle neid kahel käel ette kandis. Janek sai ka ostu kirja: üks tema klassi poiss äritses koomiksitega ja Janek otsustas, et ilma Ämblikmehe seiklusteta edasi elada oleks raske.
Oli tore hommik!

Tegime Ära!

1. mail Tegime Ära! Veriora kant on nüüd kohe palju puhtam! Meie kallis koduküla Männisalu oli juba enne sodist praktiliselt prii: kui naabritega oma maja juurest koos lastega alustasime, siis oli iga väiksema kui prügikese leidmine suur ja põnev juhtumine. Kirmsini kõndides saime siiski igaüks prügikoti põhja üht-teist. Naabri Külli oli Kirmsi bussipeatusse ette läinud ja tema saak hakkas juba ilmet võtma - pudeleid ja rämpsu oli seal rohkem kui meil 5 km peale kõigil kokku.

Kuna entusiasm oli nii suur, siis jätkasime Võru-Räpina maanteed mööda Räpina suunas ja korjasime maantee veerest kõik tühjad viinapudelid kokku. Hirm oli küll väikeste lastega kihutavate autode kõrval tuterdada, aga kuna eesmärk oli nii õilis, siis Tegime Ära! Üksikut prügi polnud hull korjata, aga seal, kus tee perv oli väga kõrge ja kõik autoaknast visatu kaob kiirelt vaateväljast, siis sinna olid "toredad" kaaskodanikud ikka kilekottide kaupa oma sodi tarinud. Talgujuht Ene pidi meile pügikotte juurde tooma ja neid klaasikilde oleksi võinud sealt perve seest välja kaevama jääda.

Kokku kogutud sodi viisime Veriora jäätmejaama, kuhu viimise ainus tingimus oli, et prügi peab olema sorteeritud. Hakkasime siis auto järelhaagisesse kogutud prahti sorteerima - ikka klaas eraldi ja metall eraldi ja plastik eraldi. See oli kõige vastikum, seal küünarnukkideni haisva prügi sees soperdada. Aga õilsad valla kodanikud, kes teise autoga olid just oma korjatud prügi toomas, lõid kohe käed külge ja koostöös sai meie tohutu hunnik sorteeritud nagu naksti. Vaat see oligi selle päeva kõige toredam mälestus!