Bats

On our latest trip up to the island Ian and I and the dogs, with the help of friends M, M, and L and their dog, managed to get the battens up . . . but no paint on.  And M and I (or was it M and I?  you'll never know . . .) picked some blackberries (yay! enough for at least one pie!), noting that our blackberry bushes have been popular with some locals already.  I'm sure Ian and I invited them to pick their fill several years ago (I mean, from then on), and yet I really wish they would do some trimming while they're at it, so that it would be easier for us to reach those purple-black, sun-warmed bites of pure heaven. Without all the scarring of hands and fingers and the destruction of clothes that comes from something deploying its natural defense mechanisms. 

Next up for the dacha will be a bit of caulking, but I think we'll be able to do that AND paint in the same weekend.  We've hoping for a work party for the next trip, too. 

New pictures at the end of this album:  https://picasaweb.google.com/nilact/TheDacha.  It's the same album, but I changed the name so this is a new URL.