The Real LG

I've had good intentions of being more active here again but that's gotten off to a slow start.
I arrived to Kyiv June 7th, repacked some bags, spent the night and hopped on a bus for Western Ukraine. Preps began the 8th. We've had great days since. Here are some pix from the past 2 weeks.

This one's out of order and I can't get it back where it belongs. Too bad so sad. Some of the happy participants of the most recent picnic. We do this as often as possible!

When you've been a naughty puppy, chewing up volleyballs (2 in the past 3 weeks) and stealing food off of picnic tables, you get locked up for the duration of such activities and no amount of crying, whining and fussing gets you out. 

Dusya is one cool kitty.

The sky was beautiful tonight. The pic, of course, doesn't really do it justice.

More happy campers- Darren and Matviy. In the background on the left is "Стара Хата" (literally 'Old House') which rumor has it will be torn down soon (it's well ventilated in all the wrong places) but, in the meantime, functions as overflow ladies' sleeping; in the center of the pic is a guest room; on the right is the entrance of a root cellar. 

And yet more happy campers. Karen, Vasyl, Lillian, Taras, Iryna.

Taras, Iryna, Viktor, Maria. 

The grill-master. He did brats, hamburgers and whole eggplant this time. 

I tried to tell her the way to ensure a bad pic of yourself is to make it bad on purpose. Sigh. Sweet girls: Alina, Olenka, Karina, Tanya.

A hard day's work makes you tired.

Homemade ice cream! Olenka sat on the lid; Olesya and Tanya took turns cranking the handle. 

Kitchen

Different day, different people, same spot, same event. We like doing this! ;)
Kenny H, Kenda E, Sharon, Braden, Becky, Olena, Natalia

March! Spring!

Sitting at the university waiting for students who simply aren't coming, it's become clear. So. I read some blog posts and that put me in the mood to do one.
Seasons in the Ukrainian calendar officially start on the first of their respective months - so today is the first day of spring. And it looks and feels like it! WooHoo!
--Also - it's time for a new toothbrush. 😃 (My mom taught me that a long time ago - New Season, New Toothbrush. Out with the old!)
--There's a home visit in the very near (relatively) future now! There's a ticket! July! But we do have some special days here yet, first. And I'm glad about that.
-- The war continues. It will continue until Russia withdraws. It's that simple. Ukrainian troops had nearly contained the whole thing and reclosed the border in August of 2014 when columns of Russian tanks and truckloads of soldiers rolled in. These are things I really don't understand except in the context that we are all part of a larger plan and picture. Living in Europe, the memory of war is always just under the surface. The First World War. The Second World War. The Ukrainian genocide in the 30's. It's very clear that the Lord does not stop these things. The best we can do is be faithful in them.
-- We're busy, as always and I'm glad.
There are pix somewhere in this post. Since I'm on my phone, I can't see where they are.
----- birds on wires. 😎
----- the baby in our field turns 1 next week! Polina. With her mommy!
----- the snow and hoar frost: We had lots of both this winter. Really, it was a beautiful winter. Only a very few really cold days (5? 6?) Fresh snow most of the time so it was pretty and clean. And high humidity so lots of gorgeous hoar frosts, some of which lasted all day. 😊 And when it got warm, it got really warm really fast so that stuff melted and disappeared in about 3 or 4 days. Mind you, those were extremely muddy days. But. It's mostly dry now.
----- one of the old fortresses in our field at sunset. (This field is full of ancient fortresses- this is the best-preserved/restored one.)
----- oh yes. The stove. There was an emergency with the old one. No insulation at all around the oven. By the gas pipe. Also the electrical cord (from the stove) that somehow got wedged up against that uninsulated oven box. That nearly started a fire. But then I accidentally felt the gas pipe and it was too hot to touch. This was not my first near miss with gas because of shoddy work and poor appliances. I pretty much had a panic attack. The landlord wanted to put a sheet of asbestos between the stove and pipe, redo the cord (he's an electrician! He fixed that cord the first time that almost-fire happened! No- I wasn't there then.) I said No. Please take this hunk of junk out of here. Go blow up/burn down someone else. I accept that I won't live forever on this earth. But I'd like to not blow up a building today, thank you. So a new stove came to live with us. We like it just fine. 😊

----- Grandpa J (102 now!) is in FL (with my parents - Who knew there were snowbirds lurking within my parents' skins???? I'm happy they enjoy this, though. I just have one question: Next winter, can I come see you in FL Mom and Dad? I've never been there. Not even once. Also - I'll let you show me the alligators but you have to promise me they'll stay far away!) [The pic of Grandpa taken by Katie Troyer and used with her permission.]

Ahem

Yeah. It's true.

Where was I?

Oh my. It's been so too long. I loved blogging. I still do it in my head. But.... uff. Someone pointed out several months ago that it was high time for an update. And I really meant to do an update then. But I didn't.
So I'm going to find some pix and see where it goes. It's been a great summer. It really has. As always, by the time our preps and convs finish here, it feels like summer's pretty much over. July 25th. Phyllis' birthday. One month and 6 days of summer left, according to the Ukr'n calendar. I fly to the Czech Republic next week for a week. (What shall I take Phyllis for her bday? ☺😊☺😊)

Shashlyk! 

Start of Kisl preps. Tanya S, Sharon W, Ira S, Ruzan M

Dan W, Bill H, Tanya S 

Charlene M, Ira, Ruzan, Olesya T, Sharon

Bilo. Lovely walk

Bilo dining area 

Serving line at Bilo

Polish and Ukr'n kids bonding....over a tablet. Sigh

This sweetie had a blast on this scooter! 

Uncle D was the basketball goal! 

Post conv cookout. Laura E, Sharon A, Alan B

Hanging out on the grass in Kisl. (Story: at supper, Nastya says to Ruzan- We're friends but not (strong friends- like super close, I suppose) because you wouldn't hang out on the grass with us. So after supper, they did. 😆)

Anya H (Lutsk) and Nastya  (Ira S' step-granddaughter) were instant BFF's. Here they are playing 'Nova Poshta' (i.e. UPS)

Nastya's heart broke when Anya AND her mom AND everyone else left after conv. 

Anya, however, was off to the sea with her folks. No heartbreak there! She is one of the sweetest, happiest kids I know. 

Rain predicted for later in the day, so dining tent came down ASAP.

And on to the last place. Noviy Buh. And this monkey. He has his mouth as full as physically possible! Zakhar D

Ivan Ivanovych and Kolya visiting

Serious dog and her anemic pup. Named the pup Teo

Teo meets a terrified kitty. 

There are more pix but I can't get to them, for some reason. So maybe I'll add descriptions later. Xoxo

So- published and then got access to the rest of the pix. Charlene's cousin Kelly married to Ben- a cousin of Bill's. This makes C and B kin. 😆

My tent at NB. Not a bad place to sleep, really. All it's missing is a recliner. 😅

Baba Halya's kitchen table and stools. Love the colors! 

Kelly's pic. Love it! 

Olena's pic of her with Sonya and Zakhar D (Zhenya and Tanya's youngest).

Some Beautiful Soul brought me these! I ate a few but most are tucked away for later. 

Valer Kozak. In his Kozak T. 😊

Breezeway between house and mtg shed at Kisl. Coolest spot on the place. I would have slept there if not for all the frogs and spiders....and possibly a few other reasons. 

We found desiccated frogs everywhere at Kisl. This one was perched here until nearly the last minute.