Hat weather

The wind howled and roared last night. The trees are decidedly more bare.

We met Sophia, Maria, Olga, and Annie at the trade center café. Olga and Annie brought photos of the Altay region. It attracts many visitors for its natural beauty, mountains, and outdoor sport opportunities. Annie had pictures of her mom with the grapes that grow in her garden. We discussed a typical New Year’s eve dinner complete with recipes. It seems fireworks are as popular here as in Minnesota and Wisconsin. So, holidays often feature fire works displays. With all this discussion of food, Bob ordered bliny for everyone. These came with sour cream, fruit sauce, and sweetened condensed milk that had been boiled to a creamy consistency. The bliny here are very much like the crepes that Bob makes for special occasions. Here, bliny are for every day and for every occasion.

After coffee, we all looked for a hat for Bob but he didn’t see what he wanted. There is seldom an uncovered head here. The variety of hats is amazing. I had told Olga G that I was looking for a "Russian" hat. She produced one of her daughter's for me. It's pictured here. It has a flap that folds down to cover my ears. It is very warm.
Peggy, Sophia, Annie, Olga, and Maria in the Trade Center


Tonight, Bob participated in a meeting in Minnesota. He used a Skype connection on our laptop to a telephone there. The meeting started at 9 in the morning in Burnsville; it started at 9 PM here in Siberia. Technology is awesome!