According to the folk calendar - Timofey's day (Timofey-half-winter)

February 4 (January 22, old style) is Timothy's Day according to the folk calendar It takes its name from the church date of honoring the memory of St Timothy, a disciple of the Apostle Paul Having seen the miraculous healing of the lame man by the prayer of the Apostle Paul, young Timothy believed in Jesus Christ and became the apostle’s disciple Thirteen years later, Paul elevated his devoted mentor to the rank of bishop of the church of Ephesus When the persecution of Christians began, Timothy tried to convince the pagans of the wrongness of their faith, for which they stoned him in rage According to the old (Julian) calendar, Timothy's day fell in the middle of winter Hence he was popularly called Timofey the half-winter Since half of winter had already passed, the remaining half led to the arrival of spring But the peasants were not particularly happy, because the cold and snowstorms intensified from the day of Timothy and lasted almost the entire month of February In Timofey-half-winter, the owners checked what was left in the food bins A difficult time was coming, because the remaining supplies had to last until the summer, when the harvest for the year was again harvested The men on the cart were taking the last sheaves of hay from the field, and the women were sweeping grains for flour from the corners of the branches Beekeepers checked bees in wooden omshaniks - covered winter spaces for hives We fed insects and listened to what was going on inside If a calm hum was heard, then the bees were fine, but a loud buzzing signaled a problem in the swarm The youth had fun sliding down the snow slides The girls used the bottom of the spinning equipment for this It was believed that whichever girl rode the furthest on her bottom would have the largest flax harvest Noticing frosty patterns on the glass of the windows on Timothy's Day, they said that the winter would be long Foggy windows predicted the onset of heat Snow predicted snowfall throughout the week, and clear weather promised an early spring Large snow cover was observed to lead to a good grain harvest