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Is it ever NOT cold during winter here

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Today is is cool (-13).  Earlier this week it was warm (-1).  On Monday, we had rain hitting the frozen ground making it extremely dangerous to drive anywhere.  I watched our neighbour drive past our house, then stop and just sit there before wisely deciding to slowly back up and put his car back in his garage.  I’ve seen so many cars off the road (and totally lost control myself more than once) during these sort of conditions over the years that I now willingly justify the expense of new tires for the van. 

It’s Australia Day and I feel like I’m pampering myself… watching the cricket while typing…  Smile  Two overs to go and 17 to get for Warner to reach his hundred… and no one to share the tension with besides an inanimate blog!  Ah well… 

Happy New Year

These days are the days of Christmas for us.  The holidays start just before January 1 and normally continue through until January 9 or 10… at least.  The kids had a day off school for the 25th but we will celebrate the birth of our King on January 7 with the rest of Ukraine.  Actually, we will celebrate it with the church on January 6th on what promises to be a beautiful evening.

IMG_1999Two nights ago, about 20 friends came over and rang in 2013.  It was a nice low key affair.  We didn’t get any fireworks this year and noted with interest that many people in Rzhyshchiv seemed to have had the same hesitation of forking out money on something that unnecessary.  (People are tightening their belts in preparation for even harder times financially.  There is a lot of talk around about higher gas prices, higher general costs of living… and job security has become very important.) 

Martin And Alexandra live just up the road from us.  They’re good friends and are part of our fellowship.

Tomorrow, we celebrate Elle’s 8th birthday.  We are celebrating a couple of days early so as to put a bit more space between Christmas and her celebration.  She is fine with that – two days early! 

 

 

Priscilla Shares

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(Written over five days during the end of December – finished today.)

? ? ????! (Ya v shokey!) I’m shocked! All that is left for us to do is land this year of 2012. Less than two weeks to go… did we pass out in the middle and skip some months or something?

What of import has been accomplished during the last year? Probably you’ve done very little in terms of world-changing accomplishments. And yet, the very act of loving and representing Jesus is culture-affecting. Is that encouraging?

As I type, frost is falling from a clear totally clear sky. It is -14 outside at 10:00am and the frost looks like snow falling. Pretty sparkles glittering in the sunlight make for a wonderland of beauty. The yellow-breasted birds flitting in and out of our little “bird-deck” just add to the magic.

At our local market, the seed and fowl-food sellers congregate in one area selling their different mixes out of their trailers. I bought leftover sunflower seeds again this year from “Vova” – four 12-litre buckets for $15. It should last “Priscilla’s” birds, (she calls them winter flowers), for the next three months until the snow melts.

Ya gotta love the beach in December

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Snow, snow and more snow. It continues to fall thickly and it looks like we’ll have 15cm before too long.  Our beach with it’s umbrellas and fancy colored changing “thingy’s” which are anything but private, was not surprisingly deserted.  With the wind blowing, it’s pretty chilly.  Jesse, my toughest child, commented today in the car that it sure looked nice, but he’d decided to change his favorite season to summer. (Earlier this morning, we’d worked outside in minus temps moving a large heap of thick logs off our pavers to make a way for the van to get into the garage. Our fingers became swollen, painful stumps that shot streams of pain up our arms every time we bumped them. I completely understand the reason for the change.)  We’ve seen a lot of cars off the road on their sides or crumpled against a tree the last few days.  Winter…  wonderful time of the year!  :)