I can't believe this journey down this boring and totally uneventful avenue could be of the slightest interest but I not only devoured every photo with intensity and full on focus - and glee. The video of course was a no-brainer as who could resist puppies ,especially puppies with soft toys . I really do not know how you always succeed in transforming the most mundane into something of joy and humour amongst other attributes. Thank you.
This made me so happy, especially the little girl with the fat fingers eating the corn. If that was a poster, I would frame it for my grand baby’s nursery. 😊
Thank you Edward; you are an intelligent, well rounded man who has the strength to find and enjoy the simple pleasures and beauty of life on earth while observing and dealing with the evil, satanic world we live in. Weaker individuals would become depressed or totally absorbed with cynicism. Yours is a powerful spirit. Bless you Edward, your village vignettes bring happiness to my day.
When en I first glanced at your headline I thought it said that you had inherited a lifetime supply of peasant women..... my first thought was .....hold my beer , I'll be right there.
My mum had a stack of these Peasant Woman magazines, and they came with an appendix titled "Хозяюшка" (Hostess? Housewife? Not sure which translation is better). I remember reading them as a child and dreaming how one day I'll be able to do all of those things described in there: cooking, baking, canning, knitting, sewing... And I've learned most of these skills. ))) Not sure where the magazines are now though.
I envy you less than I used to. Not because the Institute isn't expanding into ever more glorious post-Soviet 5-Day Plans, but because my son is in love with a young Ukrainian lass who lives on a small farm nearby, part of a land trust owned by (gasp?) geriatric hippies. (The monthly planning meetings are classic.)
It is heaven. Not only can I pee outside with full committee approval, I MUST pee outside. It's the rule. The toilet is for solid waste only. For a man who spent his 20s mastering homelessness not calculus, it is kizmet.
They have goats. Someday, I hope they'll have me. Today, me; tomorrow, the revolution!
...And Moscow girls make me sing and shout... -- Paul McCartney
So much to unpack here, but if I were you, I wouldn't sleep anywhere below those bricks in the attic being held up by luck. And the electrical up there? AAAAAHHHHHH! Don't get me started!
Riley, have you any idea how much work needs to be done at Edward Manor? Too much for one guy, unless you have things like tools, materials and lots and lots of time. Brutalism is alive and well.
As a Canadian peasant woman (though admittedly I prefer "homesteader" or even country dweller), I assure you there are Western women who are still very capable of making a contribution. For example, I personally grow much of my family's food as do many others in my community. This is probably possible because of the distinction lack of celebrity gossip magazines at the hair dresser's that many of us frequent. (That's where they tend to congregate ... the magazines, I mean.) As I despise celebrity gossip and the hair dressers who feel compelled to disseminate it, this simple omission is the sole reason I now have stylish hair ... and the time to garden, can, freeze and dry the fruits and veggies of my labour!
I also live in the country, am as self-sufficient as I can be, and avoid celebrity gossip magazines like the plague! I have noticed on rare visits to the supermarket, that many women (not men) seem to consider gossip magazines to be essential reading! One must wonder what value these women find in these magazines, and by extension, what value these women contribute to society. Perhaps they make very valuable contributions, and their pet magazines are their one harmless indulgence! Feminists are typically among the most ruthless ladder climbers, so their celebrity aspirations are also on display, in a different form. Both men and women seem to have their typical virtues and faults, yet most seem to make valuable contributions in one way or another, regardless .
Watching boxing on TV is perhaps the male equivalent to reading gossip magazines. The two pass times are passive representative of how the less aware members of each sex show aggression to someone they don't like. Women gossip to damage emotionally. Men fight to damage physically.
Man those barrels look promising. If you combine those barrels with cabbage, salt and some of that super natural hobbit strength (for bruising up lots of cabbages) you could start a revolution! ;)
I like the photos of Nika, the puppies & stuffed animal and also that camo colored car too. I liked more than that, but those in particular. Nice read, thanks.
I can't believe this journey down this boring and totally uneventful avenue could be of the slightest interest but I not only devoured every photo with intensity and full on focus - and glee. The video of course was a no-brainer as who could resist puppies ,especially puppies with soft toys . I really do not know how you always succeed in transforming the most mundane into something of joy and humour amongst other attributes. Thank you.
This made me so happy, especially the little girl with the fat fingers eating the corn. If that was a poster, I would frame it for my grand baby’s nursery. 😊
Thank you Edward; you are an intelligent, well rounded man who has the strength to find and enjoy the simple pleasures and beauty of life on earth while observing and dealing with the evil, satanic world we live in. Weaker individuals would become depressed or totally absorbed with cynicism. Yours is a powerful spirit. Bless you Edward, your village vignettes bring happiness to my day.
Peasant Women is ok, but everybody knows Babushka's Secret is the real bomb.
When en I first glanced at your headline I thought it said that you had inherited a lifetime supply of peasant women..... my first thought was .....hold my beer , I'll be right there.
My mum had a stack of these Peasant Woman magazines, and they came with an appendix titled "Хозяюшка" (Hostess? Housewife? Not sure which translation is better). I remember reading them as a child and dreaming how one day I'll be able to do all of those things described in there: cooking, baking, canning, knitting, sewing... And I've learned most of these skills. ))) Not sure where the magazines are now though.
I envy you less than I used to. Not because the Institute isn't expanding into ever more glorious post-Soviet 5-Day Plans, but because my son is in love with a young Ukrainian lass who lives on a small farm nearby, part of a land trust owned by (gasp?) geriatric hippies. (The monthly planning meetings are classic.)
It is heaven. Not only can I pee outside with full committee approval, I MUST pee outside. It's the rule. The toilet is for solid waste only. For a man who spent his 20s mastering homelessness not calculus, it is kizmet.
They have goats. Someday, I hope they'll have me. Today, me; tomorrow, the revolution!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMbXvn2RNI
Thank you for the video link.
Recommended viewing for all who want to fortify their revolutionary aspirations!
But wait! There's more!
https://boscohorowitz.substack.com/p/everyone-needs-a-hobby
I have a friend who has a washing machine made from a barrel.
"Country Life" is an English magazine for rural life, but not actually for peasants.
Bit more hare and hounds.
Great photos. From here it looks charming and authentic, but it must also be challenging without double glazing and central heating.
Here in Scotland, we use old whisky barrels to grow our potatoes. The whisky smell is amazing - you get drunk just cutting drainage holes in them.
Half barrel would work but maybe they are hard to cut in half.
What's your favourite malt.
They come already cut in half.
Bowmore is probably my favourite, but I'll take what I'm given!
People here pay big money for old bottles of Lagavulain.
I'd pay a fortune for a peasant woman.... LOL
Since you are so funny I am going to have to look at your Substack.
Och aye ye ken.
...And Moscow girls make me sing and shout... -- Paul McCartney
So much to unpack here, but if I were you, I wouldn't sleep anywhere below those bricks in the attic being held up by luck. And the electrical up there? AAAAAHHHHHH! Don't get me started!
Riley, have you any idea how much work needs to be done at Edward Manor? Too much for one guy, unless you have things like tools, materials and lots and lots of time. Brutalism is alive and well.
Nice beard Bruh
Peasant Woman - magazine for hearty Soviet ladies who knew their way around an udder!
Russian women were at least capable of making a valuable contribution then, not like western women who drool over celebrity gossip magazines now!
Not meaning to offend the feminists of course - not that they need me for that - just stating that I find the female taste for swill inexplicable!
To be fair, men have some pretty offensive tastes too - politics for instance - which is just an alternative form of swill!
Glad you saved those old magazines Edward - they might yet save Russia if not the world!
Glad to note also, that you do have some due respect for history, just not wallpaper history!
As a Canadian peasant woman (though admittedly I prefer "homesteader" or even country dweller), I assure you there are Western women who are still very capable of making a contribution. For example, I personally grow much of my family's food as do many others in my community. This is probably possible because of the distinction lack of celebrity gossip magazines at the hair dresser's that many of us frequent. (That's where they tend to congregate ... the magazines, I mean.) As I despise celebrity gossip and the hair dressers who feel compelled to disseminate it, this simple omission is the sole reason I now have stylish hair ... and the time to garden, can, freeze and dry the fruits and veggies of my labour!
I also live in the country, am as self-sufficient as I can be, and avoid celebrity gossip magazines like the plague! I have noticed on rare visits to the supermarket, that many women (not men) seem to consider gossip magazines to be essential reading! One must wonder what value these women find in these magazines, and by extension, what value these women contribute to society. Perhaps they make very valuable contributions, and their pet magazines are their one harmless indulgence! Feminists are typically among the most ruthless ladder climbers, so their celebrity aspirations are also on display, in a different form. Both men and women seem to have their typical virtues and faults, yet most seem to make valuable contributions in one way or another, regardless .
Watching boxing on TV is perhaps the male equivalent to reading gossip magazines. The two pass times are passive representative of how the less aware members of each sex show aggression to someone they don't like. Women gossip to damage emotionally. Men fight to damage physically.
I like these more than the Sunday dispatch anyway.
I suggest you get started on your covert tunneling operation Edward - you never know when it might be needed!
Can't really advise you on the direction you should tunnel in - leave that to you!
Do be careful, you do not want to surface in a cranberry bog, in the middle of a giant lake!
Man those barrels look promising. If you combine those barrels with cabbage, salt and some of that super natural hobbit strength (for bruising up lots of cabbages) you could start a revolution! ;)
https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/p/the-revolution-will-involve-fermented?
Or you could make some Birch or Spruce tip beer in those bad boys!
The possibilities are endless!!
Yes, I think the world would certainly be a better place if everyone had a wooden barrel.
Great post my friend.
You are bringing glamor to the mundane of my childhood. I am laughing as I am typing this. Good job, Riley!
So happy you took my advice and 'borrowed' a wheelbarrow. Did the puppy end up on the BBQ?
I like the photos of Nika, the puppies & stuffed animal and also that camo colored car too. I liked more than that, but those in particular. Nice read, thanks.