According to the folk calendar - Nikon's day (on this day they cleaned the hut)

Nikon's day in the folk calendar is celebrated on April 5 (or March 23 - according to the old calendar style) The holiday is named after Saint Nikon of the Pechersk, an 11th century Kyiv abbot revered by Orthodox believers on this date It is known that Nikon was the first student of the mentor of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery His duties included tonsuring new arrivals as monks However, Nikon was drawn to a solitary life, he went to the Kerch Strait and settled there completely alone The brethren were drawn to the wise monk, then he created a monastery in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos Years later, Nikon was invited to take the position of abbot at the Kiev Pechersk Monastery Among the Nikonov people, the day was spent putting things in order in the household In the morning they cleaned the sleeping places and replaced the old straw in the mattresses with new ones In the rooms they wiped dust from the shelves and washed the floors, and instead of detergent, a tincture of steamed mint was added to the water It not only gave the room a fresh smell, favorable for sleep, but also had antiseptic properties The peasants believed that mint could ward off evil spirits They also drove out evil spirits by cleaning and painting the stove with lime Dry mint branches were placed in it before kindling In the barns they cleaned and removed manure, and then laid straw bedding for the cattle, adding some mint branches Mint was popularly valued for its smell and was often added to drinks or as a spice in baked goods They prepared tools for gardening work, repaired them if necessary, and then collected last year's leaves and branches from the plots On Nikonov's day, they had already begun replanting garden trees in order to catch up before the period of sap movement in them In order to protect the trees from insect pests, birds were invited into the garden To do this, grains and bread crumbs were scattered around the area In the evening, the peasants went to the bathhouse to wash off the dirt Residents believed that its steam could cure diseases, wash away sinful deeds and protect against evil spirits On Nikonov's day, infused mint was added to the bath steam If the weather was warm on Nikon's day, and a light frost fell at night, the peasants predicted a fine April A thunderstorm with unmelted snow foreshadowed a cool summer season Clear stars at night meant there would be frost in the morning A squirrel was seen jumping along the branches as the weather warmed up, and the sneezing of a cat promised rainy weather