Willow Sunday!

Today was a classic Lviv day. Started with rushing to get dressed just right for church, embroidered shirts, etc., and ended with coffees and Spartak cake at a cafe (actually it ended with warm cheese sushi, but don't ask ;))

The country is observing the old calendar Easter, so today was Willow Sunday or Flowering Sunday (квітна неділя). We brought our own bundles of willows to be blessed at church. I carried my "verbu" wand I had made in Vilnius (in the Polish style), and the rest of the family had little pussy willow bundles someone had bought. Though of course you could pick your own, most people buy them from people on the street, who make them enticing by preparing them with extra decorations and embellishments. Our bundles were decorated with blue and yellow ribbons and little paper flowers, and were made to collect funds for the army.

We went to mass at the church in "Shevchenkivskiy Hai" (literally "Shevchenko's Grove), and stood outside with all the throng of people, getting baked in the sun, listening to the service over the speakers, as children whizzed by. (Typical of a major holiday, all the folks who don't regularly attend, show up, and it's crowded and rather raucuous :) It was an opportunity for ample people watching, and the outfits did not disappoint. Likewise the banter.

An extended heartwarming moment for me was while we were inching forward in line to receive communion, and the grandfather behind us was delightedly telling his buddy all about his breadbaking escapades (last night his oven broke, just as his loaf was ready to bake and he had to take it apart and fix it before baking the bread- which he did, successfully); that he's been making sourdough bread for years, ever since he learned from his wife; meanwhile, his friend reminisced how as a child, his mother worked, and so it was his responsibility to go out and buy the daily bread for the family, how the black bread cost 10 kopeks, and the white- 12. The baker and lover of good bread- warmly insisted he would bring him some of his homemade bread. Next time. Meanwhile the altarboys ran around giving out prayer cards (marking the parish priest's 25 years of service, where he thanked everyone for being part of the journey, etc.), delighting in being able to hand something out to all the people, finally dispatched on a mission. Again grandfather behind us openly expressed his delight, exuberantly thanking the boy who handed him a card, exclaiming "what a wonderful child, blessed be, be healthy & happy!" and everyone smiled, filled with his joy that spilled over into us.

the circle of folks gathered on the lawn behind the church listening to mass/ waiting to have their willows blessed

Joy marks this season as folks bless and wake eachother up to the wonder of Spring by whacking (or lightly tapping as it were) each other with the pussy willow bundles exclaiming:

"Верба бє не я бю, за тиждень Велиндень!" ( literally "The willow hits you, I don't hit you, in a week it's Easter!") An incantation for good health and preparation for the very big holiday to come.

After hitting each other and taking a requisite family photo, we went to walk about the "grove".

Shevchenkivksiy Hai is a "skansen"-- an open air museum, perfectly spread across a large hilly & wooded area not far from the city centre. It's one of my most favourite places to hang out of all timep- so dreamy and simply idyllic in the warm green months.

Old houses and churches from various regions of Ukraine (mostly the western part) have been brought there and beautifully laid out across the terrain. Each building has someone from the museum present, in some cases, they simply sit by, not interacting with the public, in others, they actively take up their post, dressing in the appropriate regional clothing and speaking to visitors; others have taken the opportunity to use their time to make crafts and sell them; a small number put their storytelling skills and passion to good use to excite the pubic about history or engage them in conversations about culture and politics.

The whole area is host to many seasonal celebrations, including holiday fairs/markets, Easter haivky (spring rites), and workshops; some buildings host rotating exhibits.

Below you can see by the signs what events regularly take place there.

a collection of all the beautiful handpainted signs in their resting place, waiting to be used

These lovely papercuts were on display in the entrance to one of the side buildings (where the washrooms are!)

Before setting out we filled up on delicious shashlyk, grilled veggies, saurkraut & kvass. This new outdoor cafe/bistro is an amazing new addition. Loved the kvas & handpainted sign (they also had "punsh" ie. punch ;)

We walked the whole territory, visiting every house. Most had thatched rooves, some of straw, others of reeds.

Each house a little different. Each one so simple and beautiful.

The Lemko house with the sweetest curtains:

The interior of the Lemko house, with pysanky:

The gorgeous joinery of one of the churches. The interior of the blacksmith's:

A yard with different beehives/skeps. Cross decorated with ribbons for spring.

The interior of the church that still functions as a church (where we attended mass in the morning)

Interior of a Podillyan house. The "pich"-- traditional cob oven/stove/ hearth. Pysanky in the window!

A huge woven storage container for corn:

As we walked further and further into the woods and up the hills, we visited the most remote regions, Hutsulshchyna (Hutsul region in the Carpathian mountain range), and Polissya, appropriately placed, it felt like, at 'the edge of the world'. :)

We saw that the birch sap is running :) Spring's tonic.

And near the very end, I found my straw peeps! :)

Pan Mykola was diligently working on straw plaiting and selling his creations.

They were beautifully made- I brought an angel home with me, and a perfect pear.

Before that, we listened to Baba Olya for a very long time, enthralled in her company, hearts warmed by her stories. But baba Olya and her pryanyky (gingerbread) is a whole other story of its own. God bless her.

May you be so lucky as to meet her :)

And to visit Shevchenkivkskiy Hai in the springtime, (or anytime!)

Lucky for us we went on the most beautiful day. Since then, it's been dreary, rainy, stormy and cold.

Perfectly fine for sitting inside and practicing plaits.

And that's what I've been doing. More on that soon...

April 5