Polya's House and Greater Dmitrovka

Polya cooking up the buttery potatoes and onions that I ate all of.


Back area of the property from the kitchen window, with the farm starting just behind the fence.






Kseniya's dad pointing at something. I don't remember what. I just think he's standing in for a statue of Napoleon.


Kseniya looking through generations of old photographs that Polya keeps in files in her house. I realized how uneasy it makes me these days to not have things digitized and backed up.




Chatting with a few distant relatives who raise the pigs. The pigs were adorable.


Polya laughs.


With Grandpa.


Three generations. The bag of candy was left for Grandpa. Apparently in Ukraine, every time you visit a grave you have to leave something. And Grandpa has a sweet tooth.


The cemetary is just behind the rows of farms on her street, so Grandpa and others aren't more than a short walk away. You can maybe make out scattered blue picnic tables and benches. They look kind of strange and out-of-place at first, but they serve a nice purpose -- the whole family can sit and spend some time together.



Bottles, containers, and shoes were placed all along the fence, I assume to cover up the rebar points. Made for an interesting, odd collection.


Kseniya recently pointed out that they could be there for drying or storage for future reuse. Also that it's been a custom for a very long time to put pots and containers on fences.


Polya loves color. Not only was the house painted in a pretty bold scheme...





...everything inside the house was full of color as well.










She did all the wallpapering herself, though I barely captured enough to do the work justice. There were at least a dozen different patterns on different walls, all very vibrant and lively. She really spruced the place up.