Many Russians have “dachas,” little houses on a small plot of land outside the city.  Here they grow vegetables, potatoes, fruit trees, berries—all kinds of foods to eat fresh in the summer and to can for the winter.

But the dacha is not only a place for gardening!  It’s a great place to get away from the city and enjoy the peace and beauty of the country.  On August 30 our family went to our member Marina’s dacha to celebrate the beginning of the school year.[slideshow=76]

Marina’s dacha is very beautiful.  She is very creative and knows just how to make anything into a work of art.  She and her family have turned their dacha into a wonderful place to spend a relaxing day.  They have a little yard with flowers, benches and a decorative pond.  There is a stone stove built into the corner of the yard for making campfires.  A shed houses a ping pong table (Marina’s son Nikita competes in tournaments) and other games to play in the yard.  And, of course, there is a big garden filled with good things to eat.

We met Marina and another family from church just off the highway so she could lead us to her dacha out in the country.  The road there was pretty bad–like one continuous pothole. I’m sure it’s nothing like the bush in Africa, but compared to the dirt roads and field driveways of Nebraska, it’s bad.  We made it safely, and Marina gave us a tour of the house and garden.  The kids were busy playing and enjoying running through the grass.  Our son Peter, two, was delighted to chase the artificial duck in the little pond as well as the real pet turtle in the yard.  The poor turtle was much easier to catch!

We had a beautiful and very tasty dinner.  First there were open-faced sandwiches with a cheese spread topping, stuffed hard boiled eggs (something like devilled eggs), and a platter of fresh vegetables.  Then we had roasted chicken and roasted new potatoes along with red sweet peppers stuffed with ground pork and rice.  For dessert there was an apple cake and a zucchini cake.  (I had taken the zucchini cake.  Russians don’t make desserts or quick breads out of zucchini, squash or pumpkin.)

After dinner we played ping pong and badminton, blew bubbles and just visited.  What a wonderful blessing to enjoy God’s beautiful creation and fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters!

Jennifer Wolfgramm