It’s Sunday, it’s sunny and it’s time to get out and see the neighbors. Since every man, woman and child in Legedzine has something they want to show you, social calls become opportunities to share skills, resources and information. First stop: Ded Ivan’s for advice on picture framing and a look at a vintage village wedding photo featuring many of today’s grandmas and grandpas as young whippersnappers. Next up: Ded Mikolai’s workshop where we get a demonstration of his handmade grain mill and knife sharpener (Ded’s going to give us some knive-making lessons soon). Then we pop in across the street to pick up some fresh milk and check out some old cloth-bound family bibles, one of which contains a 1914 death certificate. Next door, Baba Marusha shows us an icon that belonged to her great-grandmother and tells us the story behind all of her beautiful, intricate embroidered pillows: “After my son died, I was so full of grief I couldn’t sleep so I’d stay up all night, doing this embroidery…” Soon it’s time to ride over to Kolia and Svieta Kulyk’s house to make a cake with strawberries and rhubarb picked from their extensive and lovingly-tended garden. Although the Kulyks are concerned the cake recipe may not contain enough sugar, this Sunday has been pretty darn sweet.
This was a lovely post. The embroidery is beautiful!