On Saturday November the 11th, the annual bazaar of the Orthodox Parish of the Annunciation
took place in the Wesley Memorial Hall in central Oxford. The Bazaar this year coincided with
Remembrance Day. We therefore observed a two minute silence at 11 o'clock, and not a pin could
be heard to drop in the hall.
On Friday evening we began collecting huge pots of borsch from several 'borsch cooks'.
One of the pots was so huge that we needed two people to carry it!
On Saturday morning the kitchen was a hive of activity with the borsch simmering on the hobs,
and food coming in from all parts of the globe, so to speak. One rarely sees so many people
so busy in the kitchen on a Saturday morning! We had pirozhki from Eastern Europe,
filled variously with mushrooms, cabbage and minced meat. From Greece we had moussaka,
spinach pies, cheese pies and baklava. It all looked so tempting and we obviously have
wonderful cooks in our parishes, both Russian and Greek. People were actually queuing down
the hall waiting to be served with food. It was very exciting. Apparently this year's food
stall made more money than ever before!
Our bookstall was well stocked with books on every topic, and the booksellers had spent hours choosing and
pricing the books on an evening beforehand. They were very busy and a lady phoned one of the organizers
after the bazaar complimenting us on the bookstall. Unfortunately, she had left one bag of books in the hall
which were lost and she was very disappointed indeed.
One of the highlights of the bazaar this year was an icon painting demonstration by a Russian Orthodox
nun iconographer who lives and works at present in Oxford. She was sitting under the window calmly
painting away in the midst of business or talking to people interested in finding more about icon painting.
One could even try out the job of the apprentice - like grinding pigments! Some icons that she painted
were on display - truly beautiful, with lovely colours and a peaceful and prayerful atmosphere.
It seemed that the gift stall was as well subscribed as ever, but with some very attractive and
interesting gifts this year. We had potpourri, candles, branches of twigs, which were quite new to us,
and homemade items as well. As always we had a lovely selection of icons and cards, and on the children's
stall we had a marvellous family of knitted characters, which sold like hot cakes.
We had very many people, both parishioners and friends, helping us to make this year's bazaar so successful.
They cooked, served on stalls, made and gave gifts. It was very heart warming and to all those who helped
us we give enormous thanks.
Some pictures we took on the day can be found here - click on the thumbnails for larger images.
