This seems to be the latest in stilts. They were very awesome!!! There were two guys wearing them on Khreschatyk passing out fliers. They look straight out of Star Wars!
I spent a second day at Kyiv days. Suzanne went with me. We are the Kyiv fashion police. It is an over whelming job but SOMEONE has to do it!!! Our work is never done!

This is St. Andrei's Church down on Andreyevsky.
Another beautiful day for taking pictures of it. We climbed the steps up to the church and took pictures of the street with all the vendors and the crowds. These pictures show about a third of the street and vendors.
I got home just in time to miss a second down pour.

More views of Andreyesky Street

This weekend is Kyiv Days. Today Barb, Isobel and I went downtown after our trip to the commissary. I got home about 8:30.
We had a great time. It was wonderful to see all the art work! I bought this great mask and the tiles for my chicken collection. I picked up some other treasures also.
The weather was great. The church looked beautiful against the sky.

Some of the sites from today.

We saw this restored Buick skylark. It was beautiful!

Here is my beautiful mug for you all to see!
Isobel, Barb and I went to a concert tonight and I am glad I went. It was three members from the philharmonic orchestra we saw on Valentines day. The woman who plays flute is incredible! Also a singer and two piano players. It was very good. There were only 25 people in the audience!!! It cost about $6 USD to go!
Be fore the concert we ate at this outdoor restaurant. They have good food. It was a wonderful evening for sitting outside.


Aren't the sculptures great on the pink building?!

Poppies and what I think are perennial Bachelor Buttons.
Friday night we had a storm but I slept thru it. There are some big branches down.

This is the couple I had a wedding shower for today. We had fun. Gerry is from the U.S. and Olesya is from Ukraine.

After work today Patty and I went to Suzanne's for some WHINE.

I think I fixed the site so you can leave comments. Someone give it a try.

I forgot to publish this photo from Friday night when we made the Ukrainian dolls.
The lady in the white head scarf is the one who taught the workshop.

Two views of Kyiv from19 floors up.

Today I went on a field trip with a class of 11year olds to an orphanage where the kids worked with two artists. Some of the kids from the orphanage were also in the classes. The kids were divided up into two groups so that we could switch between artists. The kids enjoyed it and they behaved themselves.
This lady taught them a style of painting. I think it is similar to rose malling.

I think I will have to try using the technique to paint some chickens like this!

This man taught the kids how to make small half figures of an animal.
the other two pictures are of candle holders he makes. The first one is about 8" x8" and the bottom one is much bigger.

Friday night seven of us took a class to make traditional Ukrainian dolls. This is mine. We weren't given much choice for trying to coordinate colors while making them. There is no sewing involved when putting them together.
There is lots of symbolism involved when making these.

On our drive to Uman we saw some interesting things. One was a cow crossing sign. People have their cows, goats, and horses tethered out in pastures or else are out watching the animals since there are no fences. You even see an occasional cow stacked out in the grass of a highway cloverleaf. I saw two different people using a horse a cart. In one spot there were 8 babushkas spread out along the freeway with large bunches of Lily of the Valley's for sale.
I also used a toilet that was the worst I have ever encountered! I will not complain about port-a-potties ever again.

This is Laburnum, Golden Chain Tree.

This is Red Buckeye.

These are Mulberry trees. How they got them to grow like this I don't know. The trunks are very large and yet the branches are not that old.

This is a Tree Peony. I have to grow some of these when I return home.

This is Sofiyivka Park in Uman. This park was built by Stanislaw Potocki for the love of his life, the Greek lady Sofia, in 1796. It is all man made. It is almost 300 hectares (or something) big. Of course we didn't get to see all of it.
It is very beautiful.

More views of Sofiyivka Park in Uman.
In the top photo are the greenhouses. This view is looking up at them the second photo is looking down from them. The bottom photo is another view of one of the greenhouses.

More from the park.

Today we went to a park in Uman. It was beautiful. These are two views of the park. I am exhausted. It was a four hour drive there, we walked for three hours and then the four hour drive back. It was wonderful to get out of the city! The country side is hilly. I will write about it more tomorrow when I am not so tired.

A view of the park and some swans we saw. We also saw a mated pair of spotted woodpeckers and their nest.