Two weeks before half term it looked as though the thaw was underway. Very early but very welcome. But no!!! Despite the heaviest snow in 100 years, more has fallen in the last few days. As soon as the footpaths are clear and the snow in the sunshine starts to melt - no off we go again. I took there photos at school.
This roundabout is not going round at the moment
Seat anyone?
See Saw with no see saw!!
This week is Maslenitsa, a mixture of pagan and Christian celebrations. Is the week before the Orthodox Lent which is taken very seriously so there is much eating of pancakes - blini with a whole variety of fillings. Pancakes are round like the sun and golden in colour. We had pancakes at school on Wednesday and the children enjoyed filling them with sprinkles, condensed milk and other treats.
The pagan part of the celebratons is the Maslentisa doll. Usually female she is gaudily dressed and displayed until the end of the week when she is burned so her ashes can fertise the ground. Some say the bonfire is to remind the sun to shine and warm the ground.
We have had games in the playground in the past but when we were planning this the snow had become very hard and slippery and we didn't know if we would be able to do them. So this year we decided to make our own Maslenitsa dolls - male and female. As we couldn't burn them on the grounds of safety we threw potatoes with paper streamers attached to them instead. The children thought they were wonderful.
Aren't they just wonderful. The children had a great time stuffing them with newspaper. I have to admit I enjoyed doing it too.
Down in the city there have been stalls, stage shows and designer Maslentisa dolls on display. On Saturday I had a chance to go and have a look. It's amazing what you can do with a wire frame and some straw!!
This is the symbol and colours of this year's celebration
I had to photograph every one as they were just so varied. There were also a couple of live song and dance stages. We caught up with this group on Kusnetskiy Most. The costumes they are wearing, particularly the ladies, are based on the boyars outfits from 400 years ago.
Even a Chinese dragon got in on the act
A brilliant celebration and lots of fun.
