Welcome to my web site 

My web site is actually group of linked web sites, because I have (too) many interests and hobbies.  Renaissance woman or dilettante?  You decide.

I have split up my site into several sections, each with its own domain.  The bulk of the site is pysanka-related materials; they can be found at the first link below, which will redirect you to pysanky.info.  Photos from St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox church and school are at the link further down, which will redirect you to pokrova.info.

Everything else is here at lubapetrusha.com: family photos, travel photos, friends, recipes, Christmas letters and UCARE-related material.  You can search this site with my very own Google search engine:

Direct links to related sites and sections:

Pysanky: to learn about and look at my pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs). I have hundreds of photos of pysanky, photos of people making pysanky, a huge section on symbolism, and downloadable instructions and pattern sheets. It is the biggest and most comprehensive web site about pysanky on the internet, bar none. 

                                                            

Travels: Photos and some writings about my travels both around the globe and in the USA.  There are pictures from Australia, India and Ukraine, with other spots to come (if I ever get around to them......)

Friends and Family:  I have lots of photos of the extended Petrusha clan, and many of my friends around the world.  There is even a section for my niece Maria and her (mostly) inanimate friends, including the Petrusha Elementary School 2005 yearbook.  To see photos from my parents’ 50th anniversary, go here.  To have a look at the slideshow I put together for their anniversary, click here.

Archive: This is where I am posting old, pre-digital era photos of my family that I have been scanning the past few years.  The oldest are from 1930s Ukraine, and there will be photos from post-WWII Germany, 1950s Chicago and Detroit, and various photos from the 1960s through 2003.  Many of the old photos have been made into a family history slideshow which you can view here

Holiday Photos:  Lots and lots of photos of holidays spent with family and friends, including a whole section on my infamous Christmas tree. Old Christmas photos, dating back to the 1950s, are here, too. My archived Christmas letters can be found here, too.

Christmas Letters:  I’ve been writing Christmas letters since I can remember, but only began doing them on my computer in 1995.  All these more recent ones are available for download here.  In recent years, I have produced some enhanced “web-only” versions with photos and other illustrations, which are also available here.

House and Garden: Actually, it’s mostly garden.  I love photographing flowers––they don’t wiggle and make faces, unlike my nephew Nick.  There are a lot of pictures here of (mostly my) flowers from years past, and a few of the house and yard.

Recipes: A work in progress.  There are photos of and recipes for favorite Petrusha family recipes.  More will follow as I convince my relatives to put them down on paper and share with us all.

UCARE: The Ukrainian Children's Aid and Relief Effort is my pet charity, and I am an active participant in many of their activities. On these pages you will find lots of photos of our activities, of orphan art, of summer camps, and of our kids in Ukraine.  If you want to go directly to our website, it can be found here.

Свята Покрова / St. Mary’s Church: While my cousin Vera was principal of our Ukrainian school, I became the de facto official photographer at our Ukrainian church and school.  On these pages you will find photos from various church and Ukrainian school events,  including the blessing of the baskets at Easter, student photos, and the annual Christmas pageant (snowflakes and bunnies, with the occasional dinosaur).  I’m still taking photos since she retired, but not as many or as often.

Files: My files are no longer located in one central location, but are scattered throughout the site. Christmas letters are included on the Christmas page, and all my pysanka downloads are in the Pysanka section (they are listed in detail here).  Camp letters and articles are in the camp section.