Happy Easter!

We are having a very Ukrainian Easter here.

When you planned to sit in the shade…

This hot afternoon. Only, the local magpie family decided a few days ago that the furniture was their new home, and now you can never use it!

Preparing for Ukrainian Christmas

Ukrainian Christmas Eve is tomorrow, even though we’re not Orthodox, and that’s when we have our big celebration (and our twelve-dish dinner!).

We have made eighty-four of these dumplings – varenyky – so far (they’re uncooked in this picture), and will be making at least a hundred more. And that’s just one dish!

What a busy few – hot – days!

Only a few days to go…

Spring…

Friday Afternoon

As I have nowhere to be today, the rain is sort of cosy… But after all our big, blue-skied days, this is an odd start to the new season!

We were away for two months…

And it took the neighbours’ cat twenty-four hours to move back into our house! Also, our garden seems to think it’s still autumn. It’s no colder here in winter than it was for most our trip to Europe in summer!