Easter and planting is done!

Sorry I didn't write in a week, between

 computer and phone problems to solve and the busy Easter long weekend,  I just didn't get it done.

Thursday the students and Nelly and I made Easter paska bread for cooking class, and decorated boiled eggs.  I had to hunt for a recipe that only took two and a half hours instead of six. They were a bit disappointed not to eat them as usual,  but I said we'd save them for the Easter picnic.

The guys finished planting corn Friday or maybe Saturday morning. They had to get a couple more bags of sunflower seed to finish the last acres because they had run out.

Friday evening we had our last meeting for our SEI follow up group so Garry and I drove into Dnepro.

We had a couple former students out for the holiday weekend, Andrey, who is working in Dnepro,  is often out for weekends, and Losha, not the artist one, but the other Losha from three years ago, he's attending an agronomist course at a trade school, it's the first time he's visited but he often calls Victor to talk on the phone.

They were in on some work and fun activities with the students.  Andrey helped bale straw with Max and some of the guys Saturday.  If you're thinking, wait, how could they bale straw in April? While they were planting sunflowers last week, they discovered that the field next to them had never been baled last summer or worked up, and we are running out of straw bales (and hay, hoping to bale some next week) so they baled almost three wagons of straw. Max said the baler worked great, Garry had been trying to get it ready to use on Friday,  the last thing they baled in the fall was plastic water line tubes, and he said they were stuck everywhere in the machine.

Saturday morning I drove into Dnepro to get groceries for the big picnic planned for Sunday afternoon.  Then with Leila's help I made a lot of salads and put them in the fridge.

Sunday morning I made hot cross buns after Garry got a 5:30 am call from Yana for a cow that was calving.  Then I made pancakes for breakfast while my buns were rising again.  The buns were done in time to take half to church in the village at ten.  The rest went in the picnic bins, except for the warm one Garry ate.

Alona and baby Danil were already in church when we got there, our visiting guys and the three girls from our house attended with us and Nelly.  The Crawfords left to go to Dnepro at 6:30 because Scott was speaking at the early riverside service at 7:30.

After the service,  which had lots of singing and Bible reading, and me holding the baby, we were told to stay for tea, with lots of stuff to eat. Meats, cheese, blini, paska bread, candies, colored boiled eggs, and my hot cross buns,  which got me a thumbs up from Pastor Ivan.

By two Garry went down to the pond to start the fire and set stuff up with a couple of the guys.  By three everyone was heading there with all the food.

The first shaslik meat went on the fire while some students played volleyball in a circle and with the cornhole game. When the first batch was done,  more meat went on to cook and we prayed and everyone loaded the thin plastic plates with salad and just two pieces of meat- mostly Turkey breast- and started eating. Later there was so much shaslik to eat we had leftover pork. The girls are still eating leftover salad.

Sasha got his jeans wet getting the volleyball out of the pond when it rolled in. Then he nearly set them on fire trying to dry them.

Everyone got a little wet when a rain shower came over just as Scott was speaking, giving his personal testimony (with Nelly translating) to the students.  They were really quiet and listening,  even had questions.

The frogs were not quiet in the pond, however!

Sunday night Garry and I were tired and went to bed early, I was so tired, I was asleep already when Garry's phone rang. He stumbled over to where it was plugged in, and answered it. It was his dad, calling from Ontario at two in the afternoon.  Garry thought it must be four am and told him that,  then  I told him it was actually nine PM! They had a pretty good chat anyway, once Garry woke up, and then Garry went right  back to sleep, leaving his phone beside the bed.

Monday morning Garry had canceled classes,  since Steve was coming to talk and play games with the students at four PM.

Garry thgot a bunch of the students working on finishing the trusses at eight am with the promise that he would take them to see the Avengers movie when they were done.
 I went with him to Zaporosia to pick up some more plywood.  We got all six sheets on the floor by the checkout when the cart upset. Luckily we didn't break anything. On the way home Garry mentioned that his phone wouldn't charge, so I googled it, and the fix worked when I tried it in the afternoon.
They got all but two trusses done by three, and so they finished this (Tuesday) afternoon and are off to the movies in Dnepro now.

Every one had a good time with Steve and Jo and the students stayed playing pingpong and eating the Easter goody bags I had made up for them.



Meanwhile, we, with Jessica and the Harders headed to the Crawford house for our first annual small group Easter potluck dinner. It was a good time, Steve, Jo and the kids had brought their crokinoe gameboard.