Liankacreations

  Today is May 8. By the time I publish this post, it may be the 9th or even the 10th. But the post will be about May 9 - Victory Day in Russia. It was and is a big holiday for all Russians. We said that we must remember the past so that something bad does not happen again in the future. This may sound funny or hypocritical in the current circumstances. Before the Russian-Ukrainian war, I used to write about Victory Day every year. Those posts together with blog don’t exist any more. So I could repeat some of my thoughts here, but even thoughts are not the same anymore. Here is a link to last year's blog. Before the Russian-Ukrainian war in May, I watched Soviet war movies. They were sad, but so patriotic. I sang songs from the movies, songs I never learned, I cried and thought about my two grandfathers and I was proud. Everything has changed or I should say president Putin changed everything.  Many cities are still getting ready to celebrate. But it all depends on how close t...

  Recently I saw a pin on Pinterest: a young woman was convincing others to become a blogger.  The usual story: she was very poor, had an unpleasant job, went to a school she didn’t like, was on food stamps. Then she was looking for different jobs online and somehow started blogging without knowing much about it. That is why she wanted to share her experience with other people - to make our (new bloggers) lives easier.  She was giving away a list of things ‘to do’ to become a blogger and offered a discount on hosting.  I read it and got a flashback.  A few years ago, I read a few similar posts and decided I needed this type of blog (a blog on the free WordPress platform). They said, “Oh, your blog will look professional, beautiful and attractive. You will start making money”.  The thing is, I created my first blog on Google's free platform. After about 6 months I decided I needed something better, something that all those successful bloggers were recom...

  Once upon a time, in another life, I heard the expression that you can't be pregnant a little bit (meaning that a woman is pregnant or is not; not about the stage of pregnancy). Now I'm thinking, you cannot be librarian a little bit . Well, I'm not a librarian, just a library assistant, but working in a library leaves a certain mark on my behavior - I can't tolerate unanswered questions. This week's question was, at what time of the day your son was born? The thing is, April 5 is my youngest son's birthday. I am usually not a person who would post on social media “ Oh today is my son/daughter's birthday..Dear baby, you’re so special, I learned so much with/from you, you are the best person in the world” …  I don’t do that, it’s too personal.  But yesterday my son’s mother-in-law contacted me and asked what time Eugeniy was born? I remembered that.  I did remember that. I thought I remembered.  How could I not remember, I have only two sons! I know for sure...

  Russian January is …kind of… rich on holidays. January 7th- Christmas. January 14 - Old New Year. January 19th - Epiphany In the Orthodox Church, Epiphany, or The Baptism of the Lord, is one of the most important holidays and is celebrated in Russia on January 19 (January 6, Old style). The holiday is dedicated to the baptism of the Savior in the waters of the Jordan River by John the Baptist. The holiday is non-rolling, it is always celebrated on January 19th. It begins on the evening of January 18, when Orthodox Christians celebrate Epiphany Eve.  Christmas Holidays also end at this time. The period between these two holidays (we don’t talk about the Old New Year)  is called Yuletide (Christmastide, Holy Days). A special celebration of the 12 days after Christmas exists not only among the Slavic peoples, but also in other countries. The main tradition of the holiday is the consecration of water. It is believed that water consecrated on the eve of Epiphany has a blesse...

  Do you know what day is today (Jan 13)?  Russians celebrate the Old New Year on the night of January 13-14. How did it happen that Russians celebrate the New Year twice?  Simply by adopting a different calendar. Of course, it was not really simple, but after the October Revolution (1917), the Bolsheviks switched from the Julian calendar to Gregorian one. Because of this, all the dates moved 13 days ahead. The year 1919 began on January 1st but in accordance with the new Gregorian calendar. The Julian calendar was 2 weeks behind the Gregorian one, as a result of which the celebration of the new year was postponed from January 14th to January 1st. The Old New year isn't an official holiday. There are definitely no people who would remember the old calendar. Russians, by definition, like to celebrate holidays. The more reasons to celebrate, the better. The Old New Year is usually less festive. There may be no more gifts under the tree.  Many Russians will wait until t...

  Journaling 5* It is getting colder but somehow it doesn’t bother me.  Russians say there is no bad weather but lack of right clothes*.   On my lunch break I watch videos of making simple crunchy cookies Khvorost.  I made them numerous times in Russia for kids.  Here, when I need to bring something to a family party, I like to introduce the Russian dishes.  Quite often it can be a dessert. One day I found out that Daniel's brother-in-law loves Khvorost! He called it “crust” or “frost” ….I don’t remember. In Russia, we call these cookies Khvorost** (“Brushwood”). But anyway, he said that his grandmother baked just such cookies. LOL. I am not a Polish grandma but I am familiar with these cookies. Unfortunately, I lost my Russian recipe. So I had to look for a new one, preferably simple and tasty. After a few tries I found the perfect one. Here is a YouTube video of the recipe I used. It is in Russian, but even by watching I believe you can  understand....