at home

Indoor plants grow very well and we have manged our plants much better than home in aus.
I never liked to cook in these sorts of pots - always burnt so when I inherited them from an ex pat going home - thought would make better decorations than cookers.
Our window box planters hold tomatoes -well on their way to bearing fruit
Fresh lettuce leaves - straight from our garden boxes each day
I could never grow african violets at home - but they do well here
We are currently cat sitting for our friends on furlough from the flat next door. So Dascha the cat pops in each day for some company.

As we have settled well into our daily routine here in Moscow it is not surprising that life is that - routine. Getting up each day and going to work, coming home cooking tea, some sort of evening activiity(or non activity) and going to bed. Work is a 3 minute walk for us. Today that routine was disturbed a 6 am - firstly by a phone call in Russian followed by loud banging on the front door. It appears somewhere on the floors above us a pipe had burst and so the water drips had flooded parts of our apartment. The toilet floor was under an inch of water, as was some other areas. So after some mopping up the dripping finally stopped and we are yet to determine how extensive the damage and to what level the water has come from.
Living in a communal high rise apartment block is a new experience for us. We have shared the stories of the animals in the foyer - finally they have all been cleared and taken to the dascha for summer. In fact for the first time since we arrived we now have a clear passage to the lift and fire escape. The family above are musicians and the sounds of a range of instruments can be heard throughout the day and night. Not disturbng but interesting. There is a range of nationalities and just ocassionally we are able to have an English conversation. The building has a consierge - around the clock a person sitting in the foyer. Not sure what they do - but I guess in an emergency there is someone to lead the way. It is a secure building with a key pad - so i guess they will let in visitors. They also have the job of opening the car park gate for the 10 or so cars they use the car park. The cars are a variety of aged and recylced cars to the latetest mercedes & Toyata 4 wheel drive. There is even a chaffeaur driven car picking up a resident each day. So it is a variety of people from all walks of life living in this block of units - 15 floors high with 4 apartments on each level.

We have all the comforts we need to live. We even recently bought a DVD player with sound system. A cheap brand but will do the job while we are here. Ron has sucessfully completed 2 more units of study and is about to begin his last semester to complete his Masters in International & Community development. Televsion is only in Russian - but we have learnt to download what we like watching and so can escape with some Australian Tv programs when we need to.

We have discovered that plants grow very well indoors here and have also experimented with garden boxes on our balcony. We currently are enjoying fresh lettuce each day and with the tomatoes in flower we should have some fresh ones to eat soon.

We try and walk in a park each weekend. Last week we went to a large park and enjoyed a packed flask with cake while walking in the rain with some friends. recently we wnt on a picnic just out of Moscow on the banks of Moscow River - where the water was clear and warm and inviting for a swim.

Summer is here and although we are yet to feel oppressive heat we have enjoyed the freedom of no overcoats hat or gloves. It had been a long winter coming from AUS winter to winter here.

Our work continues to be a challenge as we take the opportunity to understand culture and work with the people here.