Summer abundance

So what else can be found in dacha? Many others.

Grapes, for example. Of course they don't  just grow wild. 

Plums. They grow wild and sometimes can be pretty generous with fruits.

Cherries. Next to apples, they are the most industrious and generous. My first harvest was 7 kilos. 

Black currant. Wild as well. They regularly give ample amount every year. I love it on tea. The leaves themselves smell so good.

Rowanberry. They grow wild and left wild but the give a lot of fruit? berry all the time. Bears eat them! It's not people's  favorite cause it's sour and bitter. But I've heard health benefits of it. It can be made wine which is beneficial for liver and lungs. I haven't dobe anything from it honestly except trying how it tastes.

Shadberry. They're  small but very sweet and soft. It ha to be gathered fast as it can dry up in the sun or birds will eat them all - they love them!

Red bird cherry (prunus padus). Wild. They're  very pretty red and transparent. It's  not sweet nor sour. Not my favorite but birds love them too.

Sea buckthorn. Planted, later can beleft wild. The color maybe is like rowanberry but they aren't the same. I also don't know why the name is "sea buckthorn" as they don't grow near the sea. But it naturally growns on a sandy soil in the mountains of the northern hemisphere. 

What's  interesting about this plant is that, it bears fruit only if you plant the male & female shrub side by side. Funny eh? I never thought plants have genders too. :)

Now, here's more of what I've  collected. From the left: cherries, shadberry, black currant and a litthe of raspberries - there's not much of it.

Unfortunately these apples will be left and burried under the ground which served as natural fertilizer. They were already in the ground and the best ones have already been taken home.

How wealthy our earth is! It's in fact overwhelming. I hope this does not only remind me to be thankful and to care about nature but all those who receive the same abundance.

I love summers in Russia. You get all the vitamins you'll need to consume in the coming long and cold winter. 

Summer is to recharge and get vitaminized :)

Linking with: Our World Tuesday

The apple story

Apples are just one of the most common harvest in dacha. Most of these apples are as old as 40 years when dachas were just built.

They grow in every yard. Some people have time to cultivate & take care of them, others just left them growing wild. Either way, apples bear an abundant fruit every summer.

     

There are different sorts and sizes too. They are all good for jam, pies, compote and "kompot" - it's a Russian word and I'm  not sure what exactly it is called in English. It's a warm kinda juice from boiled apples (or fruit berry mix).

 

Like I said there's too much. Most of them are left on the ground or burried under. People try to share but neighbors have the same. If one tries to share at work, one might receive too as colleagues have dachas too.

What I like most about these apples is that they grow in absolutely natural conditions. Nothing can be in it except the minerals from the soil where it is growing.

Dachas /Resthouses

Dacha means a house where you take a rest in summer. They're not cottages, they're much simplier. In other words, they're not built for permanent living. They are used as resthouses in summer.

Majority of Russian families have dachas. That's where they spend summer relaxing and gardening.

Some dachas are near the river so many can be seen fishing.

The styles of dachas vary according to the type they were built. 

Originally, dachas were given free during Soviet Union times. The streets are named according to what group of people are living in the area. For example, musicians street, artists, writers etc. If some worked in a factory then the street would be named after the factory's name.

Some dachas have very beautiful botanical garden while others are more abundant in vegetables and berries.

While others are kept wild...

or abandoned.

The best thing I like about dacha is that it's in the heart of nature, away from the city. When you're in dacha, you don't have the complete comfort and convenience as you have in the city where you live. But that's what makes it exciting! For one season, you'll be totally living a different kinda life. Water and electricity are not a problem though as there is a normal supply.

Also, fruits and berries grow in the yard even without planting them, they're wild, without any fertilizers except minerals from the soil. 

Dacha is like another world in Russia, it's hot and green. But once fall comes, everybody goes back to the city and again lives the normal colder life. :)

Maslenitsa

Pancake Festival

The holiday dates back to pagan times when folks would bade farewell to winter and welcome spring. Maslenitsa has both pagan and Christian ancestry. 

Pagan's was celebrated on the vernal equinox day.

Christian's on the week preceding the Lent.

Maslenitsa, derived from the word maslo which means butter or oil in Russian owes its existence to the tradition of making pancakes, blini in Russian.  The holiday therefore involves a great deal of pancakes. 

There are different sorts. From plain to those with toppings or stuffed with, cottage cheese, sour cream, cheese, jam, condensed milk, meat, fish, vegetables, mushroom and caviar. My favorites ones are those which are stuffed with ground meat and the ones stuffed with boiled condensed milk. I love them and believe me I won't  exchange them with caviar. 

The holiday also involves a lot of fun. Lots of eating, drinking and festivity games for both adults and children. 

Maslenitsa is however not only about merry-making. There is a schedule of activities celebrated during a week. Here's a quick peek on that: 

Monday: Welcoming.

- ice-hills, seesaws and other mess for the games are created

- assembling the Maslenitsa doll out of straw and old woman's clothing

- (traditionally) the rich starts baking pancakes on this day while the poor, only on Thursday or Friday

(you can read about that here)

Tuesday: Day of Games

- sleighrides, home to home surprise of on-the-spot performances, etc.

- fun & mischief falls on this day

Wednesday: Regalling, the Sweet Tooth day

- feast on houses with blini and other dishes

- son-in-laws would visit to enjoy their mother-in-laws pancakes

Thursday: Revelry 

- broad Maslenitsa begins, highlights & climax of the game

- (traditionally) fist-fights happen on this day- it said to commemmorate Russian military history 

"Never hit a man when he is down" is a Russian proverb which roots from the holiday of Maslenitsa. 

I asked my Russian friends if they still practise such "game" nowadays. They said no. Not all of them are happy about this specific "game" though they recognize its origins and the significance of it in their history. 

I've first come along with this when I watched the film "Barber of Siberia".  It was an old, good movie.  

Friday: Mother-in-laws Eve

- a mother-in-law, with all her kind is invited to a son-in-laws home for a treat

I find this fun :) please read here if you want to know how is it all done

Saturday: Sister-in-laws Gathering

- young wives would invite suster-in-laws 

Sunday: Forgiveness Day

The title itself is self-explanatory. This is one very  interesting part of the festival. You can read details of it here.

The festival commences with the burning of Lady Maslenitsa (the doll).

It then the first day of Lent. Clean Monday, which ws considered the day of purification and fast forbidden foods.

If you want to read more details about the festival, please click the link below: Maslenitsa, Russia

(with pictures from the internet and source of information from russiapedia)

I'm  linking this post to:

Our World Tuesday

and WATW

Life goes on...

I am sorry for not keeping in touch for the past weeks. Life has somewhat battered me quite hard that I wasn't  able to get up fast and continue walking.

It started when in December the family lost our dear grandma. She's  the last living grandma we had from both sides.  I didn't  realize that having a granny is as much fun as having a grandchild for grandparents, until we lost her. 2014 wasn't  the best year for me. Many things happened as early as spring, it continued and culminated with losing someone. It's pretty devastating when you feel that you were not given an ample time to catch enough breath before you are struck again.

Christmas & New Year were both a quiet time for the family. Like my friends, I had you in my thoughts. I wanted to write a post and visit your blogs. But what did I have to write about? Death? That I'm mourning? What for? To spoil somebody else's festive mood? To look for sympathy? None of them gave me reasons. I thought that I can just write anything, like happy greetings for the holiday. Yet, I couldn't  cheat myself either. I can't  pretend to be happy when I 'm not. I cannot  rejoice for sole reason of socializing.

Holiday's over and I'm  back to work. I work with people and with children. I love my work and I know I have to gather myself together and move on.

There are new matters to deal with which keeps me sleepless and disturbed. However, I am  determined to walk with it, keep going wherever it'll take me.

Life goes on... no matter what.

I wish everybody a stress-free week. I miss seeing the world through your blogs.