We got up at about 8 a.m. Vlad and Marianna have been coming from her parents’ home to their apartment to pick us up at about 11 a.m. each day; we made it clear that we could be ready sooner, but they said that this time worked well for them. Vlad drove us to the house that he is building in a more rural area near a military training center. Their pet dog was all excited to go along in the car with us. Whenever Vlad plays a special song, the dog “sings with it.” He is such an active dog. I do my best to enjoy the dog, since they love him so much. (They insist that we take off our shoes when we come in from outside, so that we don’t track in any germs from outside that might infect the dog, even though they let the dog run at will (on a harness) when they are walking him outside.)
I was expecting a yellow house from the pictures Vlad has sent, but those were of unfinished plywood. Their house is blue with white trim – large and very attractive. They have a partially finished garage hooked onto the house. It was no surprise to see the yard full of flower plants and potted plants – which they have to water once or twice a week. One flower bed has white stones between the flowers – pretty. He has a lot of palm trees – they are a hardy variety that Vlad says will be able to endure Moscow’s winters. He plants the trees in pots from seed and is/will sell them on the Internet. geraniums, He has every kind of flower imaginable, planted in many different area – glads, tulips, canas, lilies, a butterfly bush peonies, marigolds, and many other kinds of flowers. He also has strawberries, tomatoes, and onions. It’s going to be an unbelievable yard when everything is planted and growing well. He has bought rolls of sod and laid them out over the soil. The grass and most of the flowers and trees look very healthy.
He has rock walkways and also in his garage. He will pour concrete over the rocks in the garage.
All of the basic building of the house and the walls for rooms are basically done. Water is into the house; he will do the wiring himself (he was an electrician for the railroad when he lived in the Ukraine. I asked Vlad why he had moved to Russia – he said that he knew he could do more and wanted to develop his skills.
We thought that Vlad was doing most of the work himself, but he has been hiring carpenters much of the time. There is a small building on the grounds where they have stayed part of the time, and the bedroom of the house can be used – sort of – when they come out to water and tend flowers, etc. Vlad has a dream of moving in yet this year, but Marianna says, “Impossible.” He wants to install heat first, and then he feels that they could move in and continue working on the inside of the house while they were living there – and tending the garden. In the later afternoon, it rained hard and soaked everything up! Marianna and Vlad grilled turkey white meat and pork on their grill. She’d also picked up Cokes, juice, salads, desserts, etc. to make our meal very special – with candlelight!
We thought that Vlad was doing most of the building on the house, but when I commented on the bed in the small house in the backyard, Marianna said that Vlad didn’t sleep there because he was hiring builders. The house when finished will have a garage, a porch entryway, kitchen, large living room bathroom, and a bedroom on the main floor. The stairs are in to the upstairs. They will have another bathroom, three bedrooms, and an office upstairs. Attic storage can be reached from the second floor hallway and from the porch/hallway. Windows are in, and some of the wire is into the room(s) — Vlad showed us the ceramic tile for the bathroom. Several times Vlad said that they got ideas for the building from our house! We’ll understand photos of the house and flower beds better now we he sends us information about their continuing progress. I think they have to stop sometimes to wait for more money to come in.
We felt bad that Vlad and Marianna are paying for us for food and entertainment, boat rides, etc. – so we pooled our American money and gave Vlad most of the cash we had. He phoned after they left us off at home and thanked us, saying it was too much – but they are having to spend for themselves, too, as they take us around.
Vlad and Marianna celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary on July 5th.
Ivan lives about 200 miles away from here. He and Lera have one daughter, Miroslava, about 1 and 1/2 years old. Ivan works for a German electric company.
Vlad and Verle and I went for a little walk with the dog. We had a chance to bring up religion again – he appears to understand the Gospel message well and to share a similar faith with us.