Tuesday, March 5
Mar. 6th, 2024 12:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Feeling better today. I think I am getting some serious hormone stuff going on, as the emotional change from last week to today is very different, but nothing has changed in my life, just "feeling like crap" to "feeling fine".
Still pretty cold today. About -17 C during the day, down to -27 C tonight. I left the goats in the garage, and they can stay there till it warms up a bit (supposed to be Thursday). I'm grateful to have a garage we can heat to just above zero for the goats. They aren't as tough as the horses/ponies.
I went to see River, and was happy to see that our gravel road was finally plowed.
R was working with her horses today at the same time, so I got to chat with her a bit.
River did okay, but was really sticking on the turn on hindquarters in one direction. I had warmed him up well, did the exercises that were supposed to wake him up a bit and loosen him up, but he almost just..didn't feel like doing it. I got after him a bit for that, because he does try to just...not respond sometimes.
The rest of his work was okay, but it was so cold and so hard to get anything done with R working other horses that today didn't feel like we got much accomplished.
R was working with Quidley today, and he made some "ugly face" at River when we got too close to him, which R reprimanded. This horse has done this to other horses when working in the arena, and it's not good. It's aggression/fear/defensiveness, but it can become dangerous. River doesn't react much to this, but if it had been another horse (there is one mare of R's I have in mind), it could have resulted in a "no fun for anybody" kind of interaction.
Horses that work around other horses in an arena have to be okay with other horses crossing in front, behind, beside, without worrying about the other horse. Especially in an arena as small as R's.
Overall River did okay, and it was good for both of us to keep moving even if it was cold today.
I came home, and my Sweetie had done a bit more mudding in the porch that was supposed to be my job, but I have gotten frustrated with it and not done much in it lately. There was SO MUCH to do in that small space; I almost had to rebuild one whole corner out of mud because it had all crumbled (lathe and plaster walls).
I'm glad he did it. Mainly, I don't want to feel like I'm stuck doing it forever.
We watched "Tank Girl" which is really bad, but also funny, so almost campy-fabulous bad?
Azerbaijan is a trans-continental country, between Asia and Europe.
"The territory of what is now Azerbaijan was first ruled by Caucasian Albania and later various Persian empires. Until the 19th century, it remained part of Qajar Iran, but the Russo-Persian wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 forced the Qajar empire to cede its Caucasian territories to the Russian Empire; the treaties of Gulistan in 1813 and Turkmenchay in 1828 defined the border between Russia and Qajar Iran.[10][11] The region north of the Aras was Iranian until it was occupied by Russia during the 19th century.[12][13][14][15][16][17] The area was part of the Caucasus Viceroyalty."
So, the Russia that ruled Azerbaijan was the old-school Tsars, the last Tsar being Nicolas Romanov.
When THAT Russia fell, Azerbaijan became a Democratic Republic.
It ended up getting sucked right back into the U.S.S.R. in 1920, and also re-establishing independence in 1991 after the collapse of the U.S.S.R.
It is now a unitary semi-presidential republic, meaning there is a president and a prime minister.
"The vast majority of the country's population (97%) is nominally[30] Muslim,[31] but the constitution does not declare an official religion and all major political forces in the country are secular. Azerbaijan is a developing country and ranks 91st on the Human Development Index. The ruling New Azerbaijan Party, in power since 1993, has been accused of authoritarianism under president Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev, and deteriorating the country's human rights record, including increasing restrictions on civil liberties, particularly on press freedom and political repression.[32]"
I mostly remember that Azerbaijan exists because of Eddie Izzard, who uses it often as a bit of a joke, because many people think he's making up a fake country, but it's real.
"The formation of climate in Azerbaijan is influenced particularly by cold arctic air masses of Scandinavian anticyclone, temperate air masses of Siberian anticyclone, and Central Asian anticyclone.[142] Azerbaijan's diverse landscape affects the ways air masses enter the country.[142] The Greater Caucasus protects the country from direct influences of cold air masses coming from the north. That leads to the formation of subtropical climate on most foothills and plains of the country. Meanwhile, plains and foothills are characterized by high solar radiation rates.[143"
This oddly warm climate means they can grow crops you normally wouldn't expect to see here: "Azerbaijan's agricultural scientific research institutes are focused on meadows and pastures, horticulture and subtropical crops, green vegetables, viticulture and wine-making, cotton growing and medicinal plants.[219] In some areas it is profitable to grow grain, potatoes, sugar beets, cotton[220] and tobacco. Livestock, dairy products, and wine and spirits are also important farm products. The Caspian fishing industry concentrates on the dwindling stocks of sturgeon and beluga. In 2002 the Azerbaijani merchant marine had 54 ships.[221]"
Lots of oil, gas, mining.
There is also a chunk of Azerbaijan that is completely surrounded by other countries (not Azerbaijan) called the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
There are mud volcanoes!
Not so good with human rights, though. No actual freedom of speech or access to the media, dead/imprisoned journalists, and rigged election claims and corruption.
This is a good video, but I skipped all of the first part (very dry) to about 3:30.
https://youtu.be/DqVPVRmRIU8?si=9oUozgOm-mbJVmII
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan
Feeling better today. I think I am getting some serious hormone stuff going on, as the emotional change from last week to today is very different, but nothing has changed in my life, just "feeling like crap" to "feeling fine".
Still pretty cold today. About -17 C during the day, down to -27 C tonight. I left the goats in the garage, and they can stay there till it warms up a bit (supposed to be Thursday). I'm grateful to have a garage we can heat to just above zero for the goats. They aren't as tough as the horses/ponies.
I went to see River, and was happy to see that our gravel road was finally plowed.
R was working with her horses today at the same time, so I got to chat with her a bit.
River did okay, but was really sticking on the turn on hindquarters in one direction. I had warmed him up well, did the exercises that were supposed to wake him up a bit and loosen him up, but he almost just..didn't feel like doing it. I got after him a bit for that, because he does try to just...not respond sometimes.
The rest of his work was okay, but it was so cold and so hard to get anything done with R working other horses that today didn't feel like we got much accomplished.
R was working with Quidley today, and he made some "ugly face" at River when we got too close to him, which R reprimanded. This horse has done this to other horses when working in the arena, and it's not good. It's aggression/fear/defensiveness, but it can become dangerous. River doesn't react much to this, but if it had been another horse (there is one mare of R's I have in mind), it could have resulted in a "no fun for anybody" kind of interaction.
Horses that work around other horses in an arena have to be okay with other horses crossing in front, behind, beside, without worrying about the other horse. Especially in an arena as small as R's.
Overall River did okay, and it was good for both of us to keep moving even if it was cold today.
I came home, and my Sweetie had done a bit more mudding in the porch that was supposed to be my job, but I have gotten frustrated with it and not done much in it lately. There was SO MUCH to do in that small space; I almost had to rebuild one whole corner out of mud because it had all crumbled (lathe and plaster walls).
I'm glad he did it. Mainly, I don't want to feel like I'm stuck doing it forever.
We watched "Tank Girl" which is really bad, but also funny, so almost campy-fabulous bad?
Azerbaijan is a trans-continental country, between Asia and Europe.
"The territory of what is now Azerbaijan was first ruled by Caucasian Albania and later various Persian empires. Until the 19th century, it remained part of Qajar Iran, but the Russo-Persian wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 forced the Qajar empire to cede its Caucasian territories to the Russian Empire; the treaties of Gulistan in 1813 and Turkmenchay in 1828 defined the border between Russia and Qajar Iran.[10][11] The region north of the Aras was Iranian until it was occupied by Russia during the 19th century.[12][13][14][15][16][17] The area was part of the Caucasus Viceroyalty."
So, the Russia that ruled Azerbaijan was the old-school Tsars, the last Tsar being Nicolas Romanov.
When THAT Russia fell, Azerbaijan became a Democratic Republic.
It ended up getting sucked right back into the U.S.S.R. in 1920, and also re-establishing independence in 1991 after the collapse of the U.S.S.R.
It is now a unitary semi-presidential republic, meaning there is a president and a prime minister.
"The vast majority of the country's population (97%) is nominally[30] Muslim,[31] but the constitution does not declare an official religion and all major political forces in the country are secular. Azerbaijan is a developing country and ranks 91st on the Human Development Index. The ruling New Azerbaijan Party, in power since 1993, has been accused of authoritarianism under president Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev, and deteriorating the country's human rights record, including increasing restrictions on civil liberties, particularly on press freedom and political repression.[32]"
I mostly remember that Azerbaijan exists because of Eddie Izzard, who uses it often as a bit of a joke, because many people think he's making up a fake country, but it's real.
"The formation of climate in Azerbaijan is influenced particularly by cold arctic air masses of Scandinavian anticyclone, temperate air masses of Siberian anticyclone, and Central Asian anticyclone.[142] Azerbaijan's diverse landscape affects the ways air masses enter the country.[142] The Greater Caucasus protects the country from direct influences of cold air masses coming from the north. That leads to the formation of subtropical climate on most foothills and plains of the country. Meanwhile, plains and foothills are characterized by high solar radiation rates.[143"
This oddly warm climate means they can grow crops you normally wouldn't expect to see here: "Azerbaijan's agricultural scientific research institutes are focused on meadows and pastures, horticulture and subtropical crops, green vegetables, viticulture and wine-making, cotton growing and medicinal plants.[219] In some areas it is profitable to grow grain, potatoes, sugar beets, cotton[220] and tobacco. Livestock, dairy products, and wine and spirits are also important farm products. The Caspian fishing industry concentrates on the dwindling stocks of sturgeon and beluga. In 2002 the Azerbaijani merchant marine had 54 ships.[221]"
Lots of oil, gas, mining.
There is also a chunk of Azerbaijan that is completely surrounded by other countries (not Azerbaijan) called the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
There are mud volcanoes!
Not so good with human rights, though. No actual freedom of speech or access to the media, dead/imprisoned journalists, and rigged election claims and corruption.
This is a good video, but I skipped all of the first part (very dry) to about 3:30.
https://youtu.be/DqVPVRmRIU8?si=9oUozgOm-mbJVmII
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan
no subject
Date: 2024-03-07 07:42 am (UTC)I'll bet I'm related to all of those stans and jans somehow.