Blossom!

The cherry tree has come into flower, so I hung the "house martenitsa" sent to us by Ю (who is И's mother) as well as my martenitsi (one sent by Ю and the other given to me by И). The hanging of martenitsi is an ancient pagan tradition from Bulgaria acknowledging Баба Марта (Grandmother March).The large martenitsa represents the male and female fertility symbols (Пижо и Пенда). Pizho is white and Penda is red. I've been putting up martenitsi when our cherry flowers for a three years now so, thanks to Blipfoto, I've got a record of when it blossomed. Last year's martenitsa went up on 23 April, but it has been as late as 7 May.