Wordless Wednesday {First Day of Spring}

First Day of Spring in Dayton, OH

Household Hint

Washing windows...a love/hate relationship. I love clean, sparkling, spot-free windows but I hate washing them. Having two dogs in the house doesn't make it easy to keep clean windows, especially when they are at nose level. Lots of doggie nose art around here!

In a recent Heloise column, she gave a "recipe" for a shower door cleaner. If this works on water stains, certainly this should work on dirty dog nose windows. I gave it a try. It worked. Mind you, I had tried Windex and the nose prints smudged. A little bit of elbow grease on a few of the spots and they were gone. Sparkling windows! Until the next time...

Window Cleaner Recipe

Mix: 

1/2 c. vinegar (white or apple cider)

1 pint rubbing alcohol

1 t. dishwashing liquid

Finish with enough water to make a gallon.

Put the mixture into a clearly labeled spray bottle and whatever other containers you have to hold the rest.

Pysanky {Ukrainian Easter Eggs}

The art of pysanky, the beautifully decorated Ukrainian Easter eggs, dates back to pagan times. Folk tales reveal that people who lived in the region now known as Ukraine worshipped the sun. It warmed the earth and therefore was a source of all life. Eggs decorated with symbols of nature were chosen for sun worship ceremonies and became integral to spring rituals as benevolent talismans.

The word pysanka is derived from the Ukrainian verb pysaty 'to write.’ Pysanka is an egg which has been decorated with a wax-resist method where a person draws (or "writes," as Ukrainians would say) the design on the egg. 

ArtStreet is an innovative learning and living arts complex located in the South Student Neighborhood at the University of Dayton. ArtStreet offers creative programs and spaces for the entire UD and Dayton area communities to enjoy. Recently, Christina Pereyma and her daughter, Helen, offered a hands-on workshop on the art of pysanka. Helen is the 5th generation of pysanka artists in her family. 

A special tool called a kistka is used to melt the beeswax and write on the eggs. The kistka is the pen and the beeswax is the ink. Each successive color is waxed and dyed until the entire design is created on the surface of the egg. The wax is then removed, a protective finish applied and the contents emptied. The eggs are shared with others as an expression of friendship, good will and love. Each participant learned how to use a kistka by practicing on a piece of paper. Blobs form easily and if the beeswax blobs on your egg, that “design” will stay there. Once we felt comfortable with the kistka, we created our own eggs.

Christina brought some eggs that her 87-year old aunt decorated. They are exquisite works of art. Her aunt escaped from Ukraine and came to the United States when the Soviets invaded the country and consequently suppressed the traditional arts. Christina’s aunt is considered a living, national treasure of Ukraine because of her mastery of this art form.

Exquisite pysanky

My first-time attempt at pysanka

Among Ukrainians there is a belief that the fate of the world depends upon pysanky. As long as egg decorating continues, the world will exist. Should the custom cease, evil in the guise of an ancient, vicious monster chained to a huge cliff, will encompass the world and destroy it. Each year the monster's servants encircle the globe, keeping a record of the number of pysanky made. Should there be too few, the monster's chains loosen, and evil flows through the world. If there are many, the monster's chains hold taut, allowing love to conquer evil.

Wordless Wednesday {Wintery Yard Scenes}

 

 

One More Winter Storm...

Headlines...

"The Biggest Widespread Storm of the Winter" 

"Winter Clings on With Upper Midwest Snowstorm"

"Tracking Winter Storm Saturn"

"Get Ready for Saturn's Wrath"

"Winter Storm Saturn: East Coast Beast, Midwest Mess"
"'Heart Attack Snow' Falling on Broad Swath of US"

In my Dayton, Ohio neck of the midwest woods, predictions are for rain and snow this evening, turning to snow tonight, anywhere from 2-6 inches. 

Winter storm, schminter storm, spring is on its way...16 days!

Wordy Wednesday {Walk}

On a warmish 40 degree, sunny February day in the Miami Valley, I needed to mail some letters and get my big ole dog outside to burn off some energy. Put those two things together and the answer is a walk to the post office. 

We wound up with a wealth of Ws on our walk!

War Horse...my good ole Tahoe that we drove to Lincoln Park to begin our walk.

Whiney...my dog leaps into War Horse and is so excited to be going somewhere but he whines the entire way. He's such a nervous Nellie!

Windy...it's blowing hard. Flags are almost straight out.

Whoops...didn't wear a hat. Ears got cold...my bad. I would always tell my kids to dress warmly...need to follow my own advice.

Wander...no planned route to get to the post office; Hunter's nose created our route...to a certain extent.

Wonder...what does Hunter smell that makes him sniff so intently? A dog's sense of smell is amazing.

Who's walking whom?...my dog is a happy, excitable 85 pound lab. He's a big, strong guy and usually pretty good on a leash. But today, we're going every which way to explore this new territory that offers all kinds of new sights and smells. We zig and zag from one side of the street to the other!

Waving...the green Cricket mascot was on the sidewalk to attract attention to the Cricket store - the promotion is a free car charger. How would you put this kind of a job on a resume? Public relations liaison...marketing rep...

Worn out...we put in a good 3 miles at a pretty quick pace. 

Wet your whistle...big drinks of water for both of us when we got home! 

Ice, Ice Baby...

The winter storm that hammered the Great Plains states did not reach my neck of the woods here in Dayton, OH. We got freezing rain and a coating of ice. My dogs slipped on the front porch as they made their first trip to the yard this morning and now they give me that "Yeah, right" look when I open the door for them to go out again. The farthest I have ventured out today was to take a stroll around the yard. The icy grass crunched as I made my way around the house and snapped some photos. Last night, in anticipation of being house-bound, I went to the grocery store and bought ingredients to make pasta e fagioli soup...comfort food for a wintery day. I have a few chores to do, a book to read on my Kindle, some letters to write, and maybe even start a hairpin lace afghan. Who says staying at home is boring?