Thursday is cleaning day. Clean house, clean body, clean heart. Since we could not hire our usual cleaning lady, I did the vacuuming and some dusting. Tanya damp mopped and more dusting.
Friday is baking day. Tanya swore she would not paint eggs this year nor make Paskha bread. She did both. Fifteen eggs (?) and 3 large, 4 small Easter bread. We also made 4 loaves of banana bread and two pans of Mexican corn bread. She sent baskets of stuff to Andrey's family and to Lina.
Today Tanya is back gardening, mostly watering as we are so dry. The winds which stop only at night suck the moisture out of the soil and fill the air with dust. Strong winds also reignited the fires in the Chernobyl area two days ago and they are burning out of control again. The pollution in Kyiv makes it impossible to go outdoors or open windows.
The fires were deliberately started, possibly with malicious intent. That aspect is being investigated by the FSU (Ukraine's CIA). There are other malicious activities ongoing as well.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate (UOCMP) has been an unofficial arm of the Kremlin's war on Ukraine. The Pecherska Lavra, a UNESCO site, is controlled by the UOCMP. It is a hot spot of coronavirus, with many monks and staff testing positive and two deaths reported. While the Autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has been fully cooperative with the Ukrainian government's stay at home orders, the UOCMP has not. Even though in Russia the ROC is encouraging people not to attend services, in Ukraine the UOCMP is deliberately undermining the government's attempts to halt the spread. There was a large gathering at the Pecherska Lavra last Sunday and another is expected this Sunday. This is simply to impede the control of the virus in Ukraine and inflict disease and death.
We will have a feast tomorrow, even if there is only the two of us. Tanya has the menu planned. I am going to attempt scalloped potatoes with ham, just to add a bit of Canadian to it.
Zhovti Vody is shut down from noon today, no stores, no taxis, nothing. People are being urged not to attend Easter services, to avoid congregating anywhere. Next week end is Memorial weekend when people traditionally visit the graves of loved ones, some even traveling long distances. One hopes that the visits will not all occur on Sunday but be spread out over several days.
Now I need to walk the dogs. My excuse to leave the yard and wander the back roads. A 75 lb German Shepherd pup on a 10' leash is a useful distancing tool incase I meet pedestrians.
Yes, stay safe and have a good Easter with just the two of you! And mmm, scalloped potatoes and ham -- sounds good!
ReplyDeleteReading your blog makes me realize how blessed I am to live in wonderfully isolated and sparsely populated northern Saskatchewan- and indeed Canada! Easter blessings to you and yours ♥️♥️
ReplyDeleteDebra,thank you. The ham and scalloped potatoes will wait to tomorrow. We had way too much food already.
ReplyDeleteConnie, wonderful to see you on here. Yes, stay isolated and safe.
Hope both of you had a Happy Easter last Sunday.
Our daily life is very similar. My wife and I are not involved in religious activity, but we are keeping distance from people and wearing mask when we do go out. We have the same political factions at odds here - just under different names. President Trump's only concern is his reelection, which he ties to the stock market. He has done nothing to provide testing because he doesn't want the actual number of infections to be known. If we knew how many were actually infected there would be more opposition to reopening society and that would be reflected in a further down turn in the market. For the Republicans it is about businesses and prophets and for the democrats it is about people.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing we can do is keep on keeping on. This is a thinning of the herd. I have been saying that the earth is maxing out with eight billion people - steadily increasing, and when populations become to condensed plagues like this happen.
You two take care and stay safe
the Ol'Buzzard
Thank, Ol'Buzzard. Things are sure heating up in America. Trump and GOP don't seem to care how many die. From what I gather deaths are not people who would likely vote Republican so the more the better. Also if reopening caused a second wave Trump can blame the Governors and use it as an excuse in November to mess with the vote
DeleteHappy Easter - your feast sounds wonderful! We ate leftovers, but it was no penance because the weather has been beautiful and we're out gardening.
ReplyDeleteStay well!
We are still around the 10C mark but windy and so dry. Tanya has planted a few things but mostly watered. Stay safe.
Delete