Simple Things that Make Us Happy

Not Seriously

2011-05-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

One more set of photographs - these are not for toursits. It's something that cought my eye: things, people and places that were somehow different - funny? strange? Well, I will let you decide.
----------------------------------------------

Part 2 - Riga not Seriously

Carpe Diem

2011-05-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

This is the tree that I've been trying to "catch" for a few years now. Don't get me wrong, trees don't move much over here in Lithuania (unless we have strong winds), it's just that every spring I am very fond of its white blossoms and tell myself that I need to bring my camera and make a few photos. It's the first year I've acctually done it! Usually the petals would fall off and I'd regret thinking "I still have time, I will do it tomorrow". Oh, well once again I'm back to carpe diem subject, when I wish I would learn to live here and now enjoying everything what life brings to its full...

I hope I can start pulling myself together and stop thinking that everything's still in the future. Hmm... sometimes it isn't easy, but I must admit it is possible! One of these things was my journey to the neighbouring country - Latvia. I took my mum there for a long weekend. We haven't been anywhere abroad just the two of us for years and I don't think she'll be rushing to do this soon again. On the day we got there I got food poisoning and thought I'd end up in a latvian hospital... Oh, my did I feel rough... Anyway, I got better and we still managed to enjoy the trip, so I will leave you with some photos of Riga.

Just don't forget the falling petals and the wise latin phrase - carpe diem.
-------------------------------------------------------

Part 1 - Riga for Tourists

All is Good

2011-05-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

After the marathon of holidays (Easter, a few Birthdays and Mother’s Day, oh and the Royal Wedding) it is time to finally start enjoying spring and everything it brings.

The weather was improving pretty quickly: we’ve had some days that were perfect for a relaxing walk or a few hours in an outside café and even enough sun to get sunburned! Yet today we woke up to the strangest thing ever – frosts (I guess it happens every year, but it still always makes me think: how is that possible?). Frosts in May! I’m keeping my fingers crossed this doesn’t last as the trees are about to bloom and these conditions would simply kill the crops we are planning to get in the autumn.

While the cats are acting as solar panels, their fur heating up to about 40C, I’m hoping that soon I will be able to start transferring my seedlings to the garden. At the moment nearly every window in the house is blocked by trays, pots and boxes containing all kinds of green matter (the other windows are blocked by cats of course), so as you can imagine it is a bit messy.

Still – all is good. I can no longer imagine that we had big piles of snow and it was getting dark very early in the evenings. The first flowers are out and it’s definitely the prettiest time of the year (hmm… could argue of course, but lets just say it is).

Catzzz

2011-04-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

Not only people are happy that the weather has finally warmed up. Our cats are sitting on the windows soaking up the heat and, whenever we are going out, we hear a loud "MEOW" meaning they want to come out too.

Birds should be very careful as these fluffy creatures, who have gained some extra weight during the cold winter, are eager to get some exercise trying to catch anything what's moving.

Some lazy portraits, before they rush off...

Mischievous boy with his loooong white whiskers:

And the very curious girl:

Mrs.Beeton's Bread 'n' Butter Pudding

2011-04-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I planned to bake a cake or maybe a batch of cupcakes, but my plans had to be altered as I heard “when will you make me a bread and butter pudding?” just as I was reaching for the flour… I must admit it wasn’t the first time I heard the phrase this year. This constant nagging had to be stopped, so I gave in. (For Christmas, just like a little hint, I’ve been given a book called “The Best of Mrs.Beeton’s British Cooking”, so I couldn’t even use the “I haven’t got a recipe” excuse...)

It certainly isn’t difficult to make the bread and butter pudding and it tastes good, so if you ever decide to have a go, here’s what you need:

9 thin slices of bread and butter, crusts cut off

75g currants or raisins

grated rind of 1 lemon

grated nutmeg

40-50g caster sugar + extra for sifting

4 eggs

900ml milk (can be substituted by cream, if you want your pudding to be richer)

Butter a large oven proof dish. Cut the slices of bread and butter in half or into quarters, layer them in the dish. Sprinkle each layer with a bit of currants, lemon rind, grated nutmeg and caster sugar.

Beat the eggs with the milk. Strain the mixture through a sieve over the pudding. For best results leave it to stand for about 2 hours, so that the bread is well-soaked (you need at least 30 minutes for that).

Set the oven to 180C (350F or gas 4) and bake the pudding for 1 hour, until it has risen and is golden and set. Sift some caster sugar over the top and serve freshly baked.

Serious on the 1st of April

2011-04-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

With just a few posts in March I‘m bravely taking care of this situation right at the beginning of April – I plan to have lots of good things to share. Well, there‘ll certainly be many posts on gardening and trees that turn white, sunny days on the beach and Easter. Meanwhile, even though I‘m posting on the 1st of April, I‘m going to be serious and comment on the photos that I took last Saturday.

The white stuff on the ground is snow and we didn‘t expect to see it, but as we travelled further in land, away from the Baltic Sea, I suppose it made sense for the climate to be just a bit colder. The aim of our journey was to have a look at some old manor houses, parks and pretty churches. We didn't go far and ended up in Šateikiai - a little village, now just a shadow of its previous glory.

At the end of the 18th century a noble family (Pliateriai) built a huge manor house and lots of barns, stables, a beer brewery, a water-mill, a gardener's house and other buildings, also established a beautiful park with many rare trees and a few ponds and funded the building of the church. At the time this little village must have been a cultural centre - the manor house had a concert hall and a painting gallery. Now it's hard to believe that the most famous Lithuanian painter and composer M.K.Čiurlionis chose to get married in Šateikiai.

The neglected park hides the ghostly buildings and it seemed a bit spooky with no people to be seen around...

The wooden manor house (we haven't got many of these left in Lithuania) has last been renovated in the end of the 70s! It could be turned into a nice museum or a concert hall, or a painting gallery, well, anything that would attract people who are fond of history and culture.

I'm not sure if the locals would cheer for that idea - they might be too used to their quite life and might be too busy with their agricultural duties, but I believe that our heritage has to be looked after, especially as we haven't got that many authentic manor houses.

At least the church, that looks too big for this village, doesn't seem to be falling down... I'm sure it's full every Sunday.

My poor shabby country with insufficient funds and stupid laws. I could find a lot of things to moan about... Yet it's still number 1, ask any Lithuanian!

A Change in Scenery

2011-03-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

I haven’t posted for such a long time that I’ve been feeling guilty for not updating the photos – the snow and ice are gone and spring is finally here! (Although I think I should mention that we were back in winter wonderland this morning. It lasted just a few hours as the sun did its job, eventually…).

Fur coats can be hung in the wardrobes and hats and scarves can stay – the wind is still a bit chilly these days. But even though the dull and lifeless garden hasn't started waking up, it's time to sow seeds - tomatoes, paprikas, basil, stevia and loads of flowers. I'm afraid every year aesthetics wins over the practical and edible.

Sowing is one thing - just lay them out pretty and wait for the result, but when the seedlings start coming up I'm facing a bigger problem - they need to be put into separate pots. If you saw how many of my precious flowers have already appeared, you'd know why I am panicking... but this massive plant migration will certainly need a separate post!

Well, it seems that lots is happening at the moment: everything's going well at work (fingers crossed it stays that way or it can get even better, I won't mind), there have been many positive changes that are leading us closer and closer towards our dreams coming true, so it's not only my green fingers that have been busy - my mind has been engaged all this time too. That's why in my opinion I deserve a holiday or at least a few days of cat life...

When you think about it it's - have something nice to eat and then take a nap... another nap and some more tasty food... Although to tell the truth spring has changed their routines as well. They seem more eager to go outside and if you listened to some of the determined meows, you'd think they're stressed even more than we are!

Ah, everything's ok, so no more complaining. Just hope that spring can cheer us all up and remember - the more you sow, the prettier your garden (even if you are a vegetable and not a flower person).

Spring?

2011-03-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

The first five days of March have been very winter like – no temperatures above zero, no sign of little white snow-drops and of course no wonder Shrove Tuesday is so late this year (on the 8th).

Will the old traditions help us to get rid of this forever lasting cold? Well, I’ll certainly be asking for this while eating round pancakes – the symbol for the coming sun, safety, stability and wholeness. Maybe if we all shout "winter, winter run away from our yards" it WILL get the hint?

Even though the view by the sea hasn’t changed much – the waves can’t reach the shore because of the ice, we must be in the transition period. The sun is coming out more often and the birds are singing louder (this morning I was amazed listening to a great tit - I could have sworn it had a loudspeaker!).

I'm really happy this is happening. I'm looking forward to spending more time outside. Meanwhile my window has been transformed into a small spring oasis - everytime I look at the daffodils, I'm certain - if it isn't here yet, it will come!

Soon? I hope.

Cold as Ice

2011-02-27T04:15:00.000-08:00

It’s been very cold lately, but I couldn’t think of a way to capture this in my photos…

Staying at home, while the bright sun is flooding the rooms, you can be fooled into thinking that the spring has finally arrived. The second you leave your front door - it hits you! Then the song “Cold as Ice” by Foreigner comes to my mind and I can’t get it out while shivering in the icy wind.

Today, we were walking on the frozen sea; the temperature had dropped to only -7C, but I bet that these photos won’t reflect what I’m talking about. Yeah, what am I talking about? The sky is clear and light blue just like in the summer, the sun is shining like mad… but you’d better look down under your feet as it can get very slippery.

Have you ever been skating on the sea? I haven't, but I can prove that it is actually possible.

In some places Nature forces have formed icy terraces...

In other - pretty white lace ornaments.

The frozen water has incapsulated sandy hills, created by the Baltic waves.

It has trapped colourful pebbles and water bubbles...

And some seaweed!

No matter how spectacular it all looks, it’s very cold as well. I’m afraid on that you’ll have to trust me.

The Moon

2011-02-22T10:05:00.001-08:00

Last night I couldn't believe my eyes - the sky was dark and cloudless and right in the middle of it there was that bright yellow disk. It looked as if someone had just turned a modern lamp on! I swear I've never seen anything like that before (of course it might be just because I don't look up often enough). I knew it was the Moon, but the sight was very different to what we are used to.

I took some photos and was glad to discover that my zoom lens is quite powerful - can you make out the landscape!?

I wasn't into Astronomy until one of my friends showed me the stars through her telescope. I can't describe the feeling once I started to realise how vast the space is. It made me feel very small, lonely and helpless. Suddenly everything we do seemed so pointless...

The optimistic approach could be found in Tom Hanks'es words: "From now on we live in a world where man has walked on the Moon. It's not a miracle; we just decided to go. "

Hope this can inspire you to just decide and do something. Something that you have been too scared to do before; something that you'd love to do, but never find time for; something that would make you happy; something that would put a smile on one's face, if just for a moment...

Books, books, books…

2011-02-18T07:22:00.000-08:00

The more books I want to read, the slower it goes. It so hard to find time for reading these days – in the evenings I feel so tired that I can manage just a few sentences and in the mornings the dog puts her head next to me as soon as she can hear that I’m awake. So the list and an actual pile of books keep growing!

I feel helpless as finishing one book I can already name a few more that would be an interesting sequence to the previous one… What’s on the list? Anything you can think of: Biography of Charles Dickens, "Girl in a Blue Dress" by Gaynor Arnold (that's based on C.Dickens' life), "House Rules" by Jodi Piccoult (been sitting on my desk since last December, although I love J.Piccout's books), "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (need to fill in the holes in my education), "Vanity Fair" by William Makepeace Thackeray (one more hole I guess), "The Child Called It" by Dave Pelzer (another glimpse at a story I read a month ago) and so on... And as if all of these weren’t putting enough pressure I sometimes stumble upon books that look like worth giving a try.

One of such “accidental” ones was “Stealing Athena” by Karen Essex. I knew nothing about the author and I guess if I had seen something like this “Essex’s articles, essays and profiles have been published in Vogue, Playboy, The L. A. Weekly, L. A. Style, and many other periodicals“, I wouldn‘t have „wasted“ my time.

In reality it turned out that Karen Essex is "an award-winning novelist and journalist and a screenwriter. She is the author of the national and international best-selling novel, "Leonardo’s Swans", about the rivalries among the powerful women painted by the great master when he was employed by the Duke of Milan." (This book has also been added to the growing list.) Well, she is definately capable of writing interesting books that reveal historical facts that I have never heard before. And what’s even more exciting - in some cases this depicted history can still be witnessed these days!

“Stealing Athena” chronicles the story of the controversial Elgin Marbles.

"Elgin or Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799–1803, had obtained a controversial permission from the Ottoman authorities to remove pieces from the Acropolis.

From 1801 to 1812 Elgin's agents removed about half of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon, as well as architectural members and sculpture from the Propylaea and Erechtheum The Marbles were transported by sea to Britain. In Britain, the acquisition of the collection was supported by some, while other critics compared Elgin's actions to vandalism or looting.

Following a public debate in Parliament and subsequent exoneration of Elgin's actions, the marbles were purchased by the British government in 1816 and placed on display in the British Museum, where they stand now on view in the purpose-built Duveen Gallery. The debate continues as to whether the Marbles should remain in the British Museum or be returned to Athens."

The book is actually told from the points of view of two fascinating women, Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin (image above), and Aspasia, mistress to Pericles. You get too see two periods - when the temple was being built and when its treasures were being removed and shipped to England. Periods when women had no rights, when men ruled the world. And once you know more about Mary's and Aspasia's lifes, you begin to realise the real price that had to be paid for the fame, which blinded Pericles and Elgin.
------------------------------------------------------

I've never been to the British Museum in London, although it was always on my "need to see" list (I must be mad about lists). I'm sure that next time I'm there, I will make a special efford and hopefully this will happen some time soon, before the Elgin Marbles are decided to be returned to Athens.

By the way, what would be your answer: "If there were a referendum on whether or not the Elgin Marbles should be returned to Greece, how would you vote?"

In 1998 the results were as follows:
40% in favour of returning the marbles to Greece
15% in favour of keeping them at the British Museum
18% would not vote
27% had no opinion
In 2002 the results were very similar.

Lovely Biscuits

2011-02-14T06:18:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas I bought one more baking book – “Baking Magic” by Kate Shirazi (with Susannah Blake). I’ve been picking it up and flicking through pages ever since, but couldn’t decide what to start with: cupcakes, cakes or biscuits? In the end it turned out that Valentine’s is the right day for magic, even if it’s only baking magic.

I fell in love with a simple recipe for lovely biscuits aka lemon snaps. These are unbelievablly easy to make and very tasty!

You will need:

125g butter; softened
125g caster sugar (fine sugar)
3 egg whites
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
125g flour

Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until very stiff then fold them into the butter-sugar mixture. Add the lemon zest and mix until combined. Sift the flour over the bowl and fold into the mixture.

Take small teaspoons of the mixture and blob them onto the lined baking trays, leaving plenty of space between them. Flatten the blobs with the back of the spoon and spread them around in a circular-type manner.

Bake 5-6 minutes until the biscuits are golden around the edges. Leave on the trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
-----------------------------------------------------------

And... "Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and a richness to life that nothing else can bring." Oscar Wilde

Turning into Something

2011-02-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

Slowly my love for photography is turning into something. It’s come a long way, especially if I consider my first childhood memories as a photographer - being about 9 or 10, I was saving money for the photo developing equipment (to tell the truth even now I’d love to have that, oh, and a secret dark room as well!). Later on I was taking lots of crap photos that would be interesting just for the family or the ones involved and, even though they aren’t of any significant artistic value, it’s always nice to hear my friends say that I’m the one with the best documented school life. Being at uni I got my first digital camera and that’s when it hit me – I can practice as much as I like, as everything I don’t like, can be easily deleted.

At the moment I got to the stage where I’m not embarrassed to show my photos – some are better, some are worse and several can be called interesting. To my mind “interesting” is good, as it means the photo evokes emotions or makes you notice something you wouldn’t have noticed unless pointed to you. I’m still documenting everything what catches my eye and avoiding taking photos of people (although nice portraits is something I’d like to be able to capture; I guess that’s my ultimate goal). This year I’ve managed to compile a calendar using my images and suddenly got a few requests – in May I’m going to be shooting my first ever wedding and in the middle of the summer my first ever christening! But this means taking photos of people, so I guess I’m a BIT worried…

I’m very flattered my friends and family trust me and are sure they will like the results (I’m keeping my fingers crossed). I’ve finally started feeling that my photos are worth something and I’m not talking about money here. For e.g. I was very glad I could help out my friend taking photos of an interior she has designed and created – professionals might do a better job, but I know a few years ago I wouldn’t have taken anything like that. So while my portfolio is growing it’s time to think of the next step… An exhibition? Prints for sale? Why not! The bigger the goals, the more can be achieved. Hey, but first of all concentrating on the two requests.

A very cosy bedroom:

An art lovers office:

P.S. I love the paiting on the desk. It's painted by my friend, the flat owner, who has never learnt how to do that, so I guess it proves that all you need is a bit of enthusiasm and you can perform wonders.

There's Always a "But"

2011-02-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the sun was out all day. I think many got confused and actually decided that winter can be left behind. They’ve made a big mistake – although the fields are getting rid of their white coats, today it’s been miserable, foggy and too damp. Oh, and if to believe the latest weather forecast, a huge snow storm will reach us just in a few days. (February is well know for its severe blizzards - hard to believe!)

Althought we couldn’t enjoy the first rays for too long, they’ve already started their job – some of the snow and ice has melted and it’s very nice to be able to walk on a solid ground: without being afraid of slipping, falling off and breaking bones! But (have you noticed how there’s always a “but” in life?) some Lithuanians must be dreading the warmer weather – every spring certain areas of western Lithuania flood and force the locals to leave their houses.

The floods have started and several families have already been moved; vast fields are still covered in ice, but the process has begun… Even the main road can end abruptly and you can cross it at your own risk, just make sure you follow the high white/black poles that mark the tarmac strip beneath the water.

Every day someone has to measure the depth. 15cm isn’t much, but they might have used a faulty ruler or chosen the highest point (the situation looked a bit worse than just 15). Still there were plenty brave ones who managed to reach the other side and plenty curious ones to observe the natural forces or wonder why no one does do anything about this. (By the way, the sign reads "water depth" and the "add", next to the informative sheet with 15cm on it, has been stuck by a helpful person, who is offering something that the English call "chesties" - long waders that go up to your chest. Some have brilliant businessmen in them!)

Twelve Minus One

2011-02-04T06:26:00.000-08:00

I guess we already can nearly touch spring – January is left behind and February will be over before I know it, so very soon, on the 1st of March, I will be celebrating a new beginning.

It’s snowing hard at the moment, but the temperature is above zero; huge white flakes disappear just as they reach the ground and even if they manage to form a thin layer, tomorrow they’ll be gone. Simple mathematics comes to mind: twelve minus one and we can add the plus next to the degrees on the weather maps! twelve minus two and it will get even warmer... I'm sure I will keep counting.

Winter activities continue to be something you can do while snuggling on the sofa – knitting wooly jumpers, reading books and watching films. Light deprivation pushes to seek for more colours, so painting is an option too – just on a sunny day, which happens hmm… once a week. As soon as we get more light during the day I will use my green fingers for opening hundreds of seed packets (maybe not so many, but it certainly seems that way) I’ve acquired in the past few months and sowing seeds, that hopefully will turn into big and healthy plants.

I must have missed gardening a lot, otherwise why would a flowering amaryllis evoke so much emotion and wake my sleeping secret talents up? I’m not sure the outcome will be worth bragging about, but it certainly was fun to follow every outline of the stem and bursting buds. The painting hasn’t been finished yet, I’m getting there slowly… It takes hours and hours, but this time flies.

The flower has changed a lot, as it has fully opened up by now, but this will only provide more inspiration for another canvas. Can't wait!

Core Details

2011-01-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

If it wasn’t for the white fields you could easily be fooled the sun was rising somewhere hot!

Looking at the edge of the bright disk, tangled in the leafless bush, I’d even go for Africa. Sadly the bright red sky over here means - it’s freezing cold outside. (Just when I hoped that winter was getting milder, the temperature dropped to -16C at night.) We’ve also had some more snow, so it’s really pretty out there, but I am getting fed up with the never ending cloud that has occupied the skies.

I shouldn’t complain much as just a few days ago the sun was so bright I even thought of getting new sunglasses. Hopefully, as we are getting closer to the warmer months’, such occasions won’t be a rare thing, and, if I get the new sunglasses, I'll know it was money well spent. Meanwhile, the more light, the warmer it feels and the longer I can stay outside trying to capture the smallest core details comprising our winter. Here you go, my scientific self has looked at the anatomy of frost!

Birdie Matters

2011-01-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

How much do you know about wild birds? Are you fond of their songs? Do you ever notice them on a busy street? Would you travel a long distance just to see a rare squeaker?

I must admit I could tell a sparrow from a stork, but I don’t consider this as a great achievement: the size difference is a pretty big giveaway. If asked to name some wild birds I’d probably manage about ten, but the problem is I wouldn’t know what all of them look like.

As years went by I noticed that birds can strongly influence my moods and even state of sanity. I like birds coming back home in spring as this cheers me up, but I’m afraid I’m ready to kill a few in the middle of the summer, when they constantly attack our cherry trees. Likewise in autumn, when they head for the sunny east, it makes me feel sad thinking that one more nature cycle is coming to an end. Up until recently winter was the only period when I didn’t think about birds - I’d have some sparse ideas on hanging some bird feeders, but they wouldn’t last long; and then spring would come…

I’m not sure what has changed, but at the moment I’m eagerly hanging apples, choosing the right birdseed and putting up fancy feeders, also trying to spot the little ones that have stayed here for the very cold and snowy winter. It looks like I’m developing a sense of compassion, well transferring it on the birds (just in case you thought I’ve never been a compassionate person), and turning into a bit of a birdwatcher*. The next stage might be birding, which “often involves a significant auditory component as many bird species are more readily detected and identified by ear than by eye” – for the moment it would be hard to practice this indoors, behind a closed window; and then – twitching, which, to be honest, scares me to death.

“The term twitcher is reserved for those who travel long distances to see a rare bird that would then be ticked, or checked off, on a list. The term originated in the 1950s, when it was used to describe the nervous behaviour of Howard Medhurst, a British birdwatcher. The main goal of twitching is often to accumulate species on one's lists. Some birders engage in competition to accumulate the longest species list.” I’m afraid all of this brings back memories of school competitions, where so much effort has to be put into staying at the top, being popular or in teenage terms – cool. I’m afraid there’s no competitive gene in my gene pool – so I will always stay just an amateur birdwatcher behind my Canon... All I need to do is to follow the code of conduct:

To promote the welfare of birds and their environment; to avoide stressing the birds by limiting use of photography (I’m trying to!); to keep back from nests and nesting colonies; and to respect private property (I haven’t moved anywhere beyond my garden yet!).

On the promoting bird welfare note: winter isn't over, so I hope you will find time to make a simple feeder and, after filling it with seeds or nuts, hang it somewhere for the birds to enjoy.

--------------------------------------------------------
*Birdwatching is the observation and study of birds with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars, or by listening for bird calls.

Did you know that?

- There are about 10,000 species of bird and only a small number of people have seen more than 7000. (From 2008 the top life-list has been held by Tom Gullick, an Englishman who lives in Spain and who has logged over 8,800 species.)

- Although the study of birds and natural history became fashionable in Britain during the Victorian Era, it was mainly collection oriented with eggs and later skins being the artifacts of interest. Wealthy collectors made use of their contacts in the colonies to obtain specimens from around the world. It was only in the late 19th century that the call for bird protection began leading to the rising popularity of observations on living birds.

- The term birdwatching was first used in 1901. It appeared for the first time as the title of a book "Bird Watching" by Edmund Selous.

- Most birdwatchers pursue this activity mainly for recreational or social reasons.

- Networks of birdwatchers in the UK began to form in the late 1930s under the British Trust for Ornithology.

- Initially, birdwatching was a hobby practiced in developed countries such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, since the second half of the 20th century citizens from developing countries started engaging in this pastime due to influence of foreign cultures that already practice birding.

- Twitching is highly developed in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Finland and Sweden.

- The most popular twitches in the UK have drawn large crowds.

- Twitchers have developed their own vocabulary. For example, suppression is the act of concealing news of a rare bird from other twitchers.

- Ethologist Nikolaas Tinbergen considers birdwatching to be an expression of the male hunting instinct while Simon Baron-Cohen links it with the male tendency for "systemizing”.

Here We Go Again

2011-01-12T08:15:00.000-08:00

It seems that I haven’t even noticed how, but 12 precious days of this New Year have already gone. The holidays’ period must have been very stressful, as it has taken me longer than ever to get back to the normal life. We’ve been fighting with snow and ice (at the moment the temperature is above zero, so everything’s melting), working hard on new projects and finishing off old jobs. Everything’s slowly moving forward and it looks like we are making headway. I guess that’s what life should be about - a step at a time, but to the right direction.

The above image represents January in my 2011 calendar. Can you believe it, I’ve done it! I’ve been dreaming about this for so long… Well, too long. The printed versions haven’t reached me yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed I won’t be disappointed with the quality. I know it’s not a huge achievement as I haven’t sold any copies, but would you argue if I said that that’s one of the small steps to the right direction?

I haven’t set any enormous goals for 2011, although I could think of a few. I have mapped out a few destinations and if everything goes well I will add more and more. Meanwhile I’ll try to stay focused and live the rest of the 353 days to the full!

Thoughts for 2011

2010-12-29T09:18:00.000-08:00

It feels as if only yesterday I was getting ready for Christmas and I can’t believe that now it’s time to get ready to say “farewell” to 2010... Time flies, it really does. That’s why it’s a bit scary to look forward to a new coming year. I need to squeeze in as much as I can: places to visit, new activities to try out, books to read, plants to grow, things to build and to make, to learn and to practise… This can be a bit overwhelming.

Looking back helps – counting every detail I get a better picture of where I got to and how much more still needs to be done (loads!). My New Year’s resolutions will be laid on paper and hopefully by the end of 2011 I might be able to mark some as “achieved”. (I need some structure as at the moment there's too much I want to be doing - I must be good at something, but I haven't yet figured out what it is...)

Meanwhile I’d love to thank all bloggers and my blog readers, my friends and family for sticking by one more year. You’ve inspired and encouraged, made me want to improve and simply be a better me. Thank You for your comments (especially Anne; hey, the second year in a row!) and silent thoughts of approval. All the best for the year ahead! I hope I can make You feel just like I feel, when I draw strength from Your well of love.

Kristina xxx

Just Before Christmas...

2010-12-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas I wanted to share some photos of a beautiful church that is definitely “one of the greatest secrets of London“. I’ve been to this city for quite a few times now, but only on the last trip I’ve discovered Westminster Cathedral and how much effort people can put into building God’s houses.

Some facts that I didn’t know: "Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster. It is dedicated to the "Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ" (the Eucharist)."

It is the largest Catholic church in England and Wales and, to tell the truth, I've never seen anything like that before. The architecture could be called atypical as looking at the tower I'd suspect it's actually a mosque. And the interior is stunning - the colourful mosaics make you think you've actually gone back in time and ended up somewhere in the Byzantine Empire.

God inspires us to do great things, something you might not even think is possible. I hope you can keep it in your mind not just before Christmas and not only through the new coming year.

The White Silence

2010-12-20T02:45:00.000-08:00

How many photos of snow can you take before you get bored? Me? Thousands!

There’s something so special about snow covered trees, fields and little houses. The scenery is so calm and peaceful, a perfect set for proper white Christmas. And while watching TV you can be disturbed by the white noise, such “white silence” (a new term, no doubt) makes you wonder - where’s all the life gone? The sneaky foxes and the fast running hares, the vivid little birds and the hard working woodpeckers? They surely have to be hiding somewhere underneath this thick blanket?

P.S. On the way home I saw two deer in snow up to their bellies, grazing on the bushes that could still just about be seen above the piles of white.

Christmas Colours (London)

2010-12-19T02:02:00.000-08:00

Shop keepers definitely know how to get their shops ready for Christmas. Every detail counts and the neatly arranged stock simply lures the passers by to go inside. I’m afraid the spell hasn’t worked on me – I was impressed, no doubt about that, but these days I’m glad to just seal all this up into an image and later on, when I’ve got time, to admire the creativeness and imagination that can make Christmas feel special again, just like it once was – in our childhood.

You could say that too much colours and glitter makes us forget what Christmas is all about. Well, if you’re only interested in stuffing your belly and getting some presents it certainly isn’t the right way, but if your festive ornaments are just the means to make this holiday the most special in the year, why not?

Let it Snow?

2010-12-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

I know I keep bragging about the snow, but the situation is – you need to see it to believe it!

The temperature keeps dropping to about -12C, but even then you could say it’s not too cold; unless it’s windy. The wind causes snow drifts that block the roads and pavements even more and if there’s blizzard outside… trust me it’s better to stay indoors.

As the song goes - "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…" And what do we say to that? Oh, no! Not again.

The woods, on a day like today, when the sky is covered by a huge cloud that’s about to burst with more snowflakes, look more like something from a ghost story than a winter wonderland. It was so dark at 1pm that I needed to check my watch, I was convinced it was much later.

I’ve never done so much digging in my life and I don’t think my dad has ever been scared the swimming pool roof could collapse under the enormous weight.

To finish this post on a good note – not everyone’s disappointed. The bigger the pile of snow, the better! Jumping like a kangaroo our husky can’t hide the excitement. She’s asking to go out every 15 minutes and in the end it gets very annoying, but this is definitely her time of the year, so why spoil the fun?

London Christmas Frenzy

2010-12-13T04:46:00.000-08:00

Where have I been!? Everyone’s already counting days to Christmas and I’m still not in my panic mode – although to tell the truth it’s time I was… The snow’s falling on our land continuously; the neighbours have got their festive lights out, so how come I’m still sure I’ve got time to get everything ready?

I wish I had prepared earlier… Although it’s not time to wince now, is it? Anyway, it’s the 100th post on this blog (something to boost my self-esteem), so I promise there will be some changes – the photos are going to get a bigger, there’ll be more colour and hopefully more posts. I’d also like to take this whole blogging thing one step further, but for now I’ll keep it a secret, just in case God decides to laugh at my plans.

Meanwhile I’d like to share my London photos – oh, boy, it really felt Christmassy there!

The trip went really well – we avoided the snow, didn’t get stuck at the airports or train stations, missed the student riots by a day and even the tube workers’ strike was an advantage – we had to walk and of course this way saw a lot more! (My legs were aching, but I was so happy – I could snap snap snap…)

Westminster Central Hall, just opposite the Westmister Abbey, where next year on the 29th of April history will be made.

Old Ben and the fence round the Parlament, ornated with the royal symbol - little crowns.

The London Eye! A rather young construction, but can you imagine London without it?

Trust me, it's massive! You quickly realise that when you get right under it.

That's the real Christmas spirit! I never dreamt I'd still go on one of these in my lifetime. In London everything's possible!

London traffic - will they ever decide to drive on the "right" side of the road?

More colours, cars and people. The shops were full, the streets were full... I'm afraid after sometime it becomes tiring.

Impressive Christmas stars.

Just one of the many theaters - Victoria Theatre. (I hoped to see a musical this trip, but it looks like it's the thing I will have to come back for.)

----------------------------------------------------

The photos were taken without a tripod, so are a bit “shaky”; also it was very cold (excuses, excuses…) so I’m happy with the outcome quality and quantity wise.

Lithuanian Village

2010-11-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

I bet if I asked you to think of something exclusive the last thing that would come to your mind would be “village”. Can such word be used to describe a village? I think it can, especially if we talk about a REAL Lithuanian village.

When chicken and cows are kept in big farms and our vegetables are grown only in the huge fields, that go way beyond the horizon, it’s getting impossible to find a little family that would keep their own animals and grow their own crops on a small patch of land. Impossible to find people who would be proud of their hard work, who could lead a good life in a village and get enough income from their produce and wouldn’t need to drown their sorrows in alcohol. And so, something that used to be pretty standard is getting exclusive, rare.

This weekend I went to see some friends of ours, who have kept their roots on an old estate. I took some photos as I want to “freeze” in time a real Lithuanian village that sadly is dying off: giving in to the globalization, cracking at the threshold of the economic crisis, witnessing so many broken lives.

(Surnames on the old post box - only one of the four is still alive. Parents die and their children run away, flood the big cities looking for a better life.)

Everything’s run by a 75 year old lady. She gets some help by one of her daughters, who comes to visit every weekend and other relatives, who give a hand mainly in the summer.

We sat at a table covered in a white table cloth, had massive portions of potato pie, cooked on a real fire stove, and felt very welcome, probably just like the local priest, who comes for a special meal several times a year. The yard might not look very tidy, but everything’s done with care and love. That’s what Lithuanian village used to be like, that’s how we should strive to keep it.

I’m not afraid of hard work and keep dreaming that one day I will join some small community, where we can share our goods: swap eggs for fresh milk, give advice on growing carrots and beet root and always be there for each other in case something bad happens. I still believe it’s possible! To prove it I would gladly get rid of my city life and stay closer to nature and warmer people, who saying “Good Morning” actually mean it.

Hope you enjoy the photos and realise that sometimes even the dirty and smelly, old fashioned and ordinary can at the same time be very beautiful and dare.

The Magnolia Project

2010-11-05T03:02:00.000-07:00

I always thought that November is a month to slow down. It starts with the All Saints’ Day when we remember our dead relatives and friends by lighting candles on their graves and later on, after changing the clocks, the days just seem to get really short. The weather more and more often plays some nasty tricks - even if the Sun's shining in the morning, it doesn't mean that you won't get soaked in the afternoon (but as everything's done in the garden, there's no need to stay outdoors). So when it gets dark (every evening at about 5pm) or when it's raining (looks like every day) it seems like a good time to go into hibernation.

Well, I'd gladly shut myself at home and try to figure out what to start with, but there's work and other responsibilities... I moan a bit and carry on and it doesn't look like it's the right time to slow down. I can see myself being very busy till Christmas, which is good in a way - the more you do, the more gets done.

I'm carving pumpkins for the first time in my life for our also first ever Bonfire Night, knitting my own dog (how could I resist after seeing these cute things: http://dog-milk.com/best-in-show-knit-your-own-dog/?), planning my trip to London and playing with the latest obsessive idea - my Magnolia Project.

I love these trees. We've got a few in our garden, but I'd love to have even more. Greedy? You wouldn't think so after seeing their blooms in spring! At the moment they aren't a pretty sight - leafless sprigs, but I have found lots of orange seeds. After some research on the net I'm trying to follow the instructions:

Gather seeds from magnolia pods just before the pods open. Seeds will be covered with a reddish orange coating. Soak in tepid water for 24 hours to remove the coating. Remove from water and squeeze the pulp in your hands to force the glossy black seeds out of the pulp. Wash in warm water to remove any flesh or residue from the coating.

Plant your seeds to a depth of 1/2 inch in a tray of potting mixture of two parts peat moss, one part all-purpose potting soil and one part sand. Water thoroughly and cover the container with plastic wrap to maintain moisture.

This part is done. This is what remains:

Set in a warm location to germinate. Monitor closely. Keeping the soil evenly moist, but avoiding soggy soil. Open the plastic daily to provide air circulation and to stabilize moisture. Seedlings emerge in 4 to 6 weeks.

I hope they will emerge. As I would love to finish my project off with:

Removing the plastic wrap and placing seedlings in a sunny window. Planting in individual pots once seedlings have developed the second set of leaves. And planting outside in the spring after all danger of frost has passed.
----------------------------------------------

P.S. Photos of Magnolias for this post will appear as soon as (or better IF) the first seedlings appear.

P.P.S. I loved our first ever Bonfire Night. We've even got the neighbours wondering what all of this was about.

Neglected

2010-10-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

Is it really nearly the end of October? Is it really time to change our clocks and finally properly step into winter and its dark evenings!? I must have relaxed too much taking in the bright colours in the parks and haven’t noticed that lots of bloggers have already been talking about Christmas for a while! What does it make me: someone who’s behind or someone who’s just not in a hurry?

To be honest I’d like to stop the time and make the days at least a bit longer. I don’t understand people who get bored if there’s nothing decent on the television. I might get depressed thinking that there’s so much more I want to do and not the other way round. I certainly wouldn’t need anyone to entertain me… or to keep reminding me that it's "nearly" something. That's when I get stressed and, instead of doing something quicker, I stop completely.

I haven’t been stressed (not yet; wait till it really is nearly Christmas and I start panicking I haven’t got all of the presents), so I haven’t stopped. On the contrary, my blog has been neglected just because I’ve been trying to do too much: preserving autumn in between an old book’s leaves, knitting long warm scarves, painting pomegranates and still getting the garden ready for the immobilizing cold.

Well, looking on the bright side, tonight I'll get an extra hour. Will that help to fit everything in? This remains to be seen...

2 Good Weekends

2010-10-18T00:59:00.000-07:00

I must admit we have been spoilt with the weather. I thought that by now it would be raining every day and that we’d have one of these miserable autumns where all you want to do is to stay indoors. But I don’t think I have a right to moan. Yes, we had some frosts and it is wise to start wearing gloves, but the last two weekends have been absolutely fantastic!

I loved our walk on the beach. The sea was very calm and the water was clear – just like during a summer month. Well, you could easily be fooled it still was summer!

And that’s what you see if you get to the beach early enough – before crowds of people have flooded to enjoy the clear air:

It must be really nice to gallop on a lovely horse taking in the scenery from above.

By the way, this reminds me of one photo seen in some magazine about the south of France, where they also take horses along the coast. I never thought I’d see anything like that in Lithuania though. France and, of course England, are countries with deeper equestrian traditions, so somebody riding a horse is not a rare sight. Meanwhile here, in Lithuania, it isn’t that popular – I think we are only starting to revive such traditions and I’m really glad about that.

And yesterday was all about leaves… After clearing some in our own garden we headed to have a look at the changing colours in a park.

The Green seems to be giving up and the Yellow and the Red are starting to prevail, before they force the leaves to slowly cover the ground.

It’s a constant battle even for the clouds and the sun. Look at that angry sky! Lucky this didn’t turn into a storm and the clouds were pushed away, so I could continue trying to capture yellow leaves spinning in the air before reaching the still green lawns.

At the moment it’s only one or two at a time, but any stronger wind will leave the trees naked… It will take time to get used to this, but by then we’ll be looking forward to seeing some snow – sooner or later winter will win the seasons' battle.

Colour Scheme

2010-10-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

I’m trying to choose 12 photos for my 2011 calendar, but it seems it’s too hard… I have lots of photos that I like, but I need to stick to those that would represent each month best. So far I have chosen about 15 for January and wanted to put all of them on one page as little images, but I guess it won’t work – the pc is too slow to cope with high resolution and huge files. So I’m back to the process of slowly browsing through the photos I have taken in the last 5 years and noticing something I haven’t before.

I’m still obsessed with colour and I must admit I’m happy we have distinct seasons - this makes it easier choosing photos for eg for Spetember or October. Yet with all the red and yellow leaves around us I’m still fond of green and it's shades!

I’m sure I will figure out something, maybe will even change the whole approach and have a distinct calendar with images that are linked together in a certain way (lets forget the 12 months!). Hope this doesn’t evolve too much as I’m already getting too fascinated with the colour world and the weirdest titles someone’s come up with: atomic tangerine, banana mania, electric lime… Well, wish me luck.

An Explosion of Colour

2010-10-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

Usually I don’t have enough time for painting – there’re millions of jobs that need doing and a constant illusion that once these are done I’ll be able to do something that I enjoy. Needless to say, the stream of jobs is never ending… so I simply have to MAKE time.

What does it look like? Well, I wait till I can’t wait any longer and then stomp my feet and announce that I’m busy. I also try to shut my mind off, because if I didn’t do that I’d be constantly worrying that there are far more important things I should be doing.

What about the inspiration? One could argue that with such an artificial “making of time” there’s no space for it, but I’d say that the emotion is being accumulated for a long time and then results in a better outcome. If I could drop things whenever I’m inspired by something I see, by now I’d have about a thousand paintings, but I’m not sure I’d be happy with the result.

Well, this time I must have been seeing too many bright colours – green and red apples, orange chilies, yellow and violet plums… This kept building up and exploded one afternoon on a square canvas. (You have a rare opportunity to see what it looked like in reality and then probably to think I’ve gone a bit mad with the colours afterall…)

So what do you make of it? At the time I was painting everything seemed right, but now even I think it’s too bold! Anyway, just for fun, I turned to the psychology of colour and had a look at the basic meanings of colours and if there’s anything that could be applied.

Red: If you want to draw attention, use red. It is often where the eye looks first. Red is the color of energy. It's associated with movement and excitement. Red is not a good color to over use but using a spot of red in just the right place is smart in some cases (one red accent in a otherwise neutral room draws the eye; a red tie with a navy blue suit and white shirts adds just the right amount of energy to draw the eye. Red is the symbol of life.

Blue: Ask people their favorite color and a clear majority will say blue. Much of the world is blue (skies, seas). Seeing the color blue actually causes the body to produce chemicals that are calming; but that isn't true of all shades of blue. Some shades (or too much blue) can send a cold and uncaring message.

Green: The color of growth, nature, and money. A calming color also that's very pleasing to the senses. Dark forest green is associated with terms like conservative, masculine and wealth. Hospitals use light green rooms because they too are found to be calming to patients. It is also the color associated with envy, good luck, generosity and fertility. It is the traditional color of peace, harmony, comfortable nurturing, support and well paced energy.

Yellow: Cheerful yellow the color of the sun, associated with laughter, happiness and good times. A person surrounded by yellow feels optimistic because the brain actually releases more seratonin when around this color. It is the color associated with optimism. It has the power to speed up our metabolism and bring out some creative thoughts. Some shades of yellow are associated with cowardice; but the more golden shades with the promise of better times.

Orange: The most flamboyant color on the planet! It's the color tied most this fun times, happy and energetic days, warmth and organic products. It is also associated with ambition. There is nothing even remotely calm associated with this color. Orange is associated with a new dawn in attitude.

Right... So the painting is sending on one hand cold an uncaring (blue), on the other happy and optimistic (yellow) message. As these too meet down the middle could we say there's some balance? Not too much red and enough orange - warm and energetic, oh, and ambitious! Also hopefully a new dawn in attitude. And the light green? I hope it's for good luck.

Cold Weather Alterations

2010-10-01T04:37:00.000-07:00

We’ve had our first frosts. The neighbours’ roof turned white and the ground for the first time, after the rain we’ve had, felt hard. I could almost see a smile on the dogs face – huskies would always choose winter over summer.

We’ve also had our first cold victims in the family. Their runny noses and sore throats remind me that it’s time to start putting on warmer clothes (even gloves!). Occasionally we might get the sun out, but this doesn’t mean that the wind’s not cold. I don’t like all this, but at the same time I know that it will get worse…

The last of the crops is being dragged into the house, everything neatly put into the freezer or jars. We might as well be giant squirrels, getting ready for the cold period! It certainly feels that way, especially when I’m picking walnuts :)

Even the cuisine is being altered and adjusted to the weather outside. We drink more hot tea and cook more thick soups. And while the other part of the world is saving their pumpkins for Halloween, I gladly chop them up and bang them into a pan.

This one came from our garden. I love the colours and the sweet scent of melons that filled the kitchen when I cut it open. Back in spring I got a few little plants from a friend of mine, who told me that the seeds were ridiculously expensive. I wonder why, as even the little pumpkin was full of them! (I would gladly share them with a keen gardener.)

Anyway, the soup might not be as fancy as the one cooked by Jamie Oliver, but it tastes really nice. All you need is some meat, for making stock, the usual soup spices (I put pepper corns, bay leaves and salt), carrots, pumpkin, potatoes and a stem of celery. Cook vegetables till they’re soft and then, using a blender, turn everything into a puree. Of course don’t forget to take out pepper corns and bay leaves before you do that.

Right. The sun is out! It's one of these rare moments, so I'd better jump into my wellies and do something useful outside.

Shades of Green

2010-09-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

With a “to do in the garden” list ticking like a time bomb I’m taking photos of the indoor plants. I must be going mad! I should be outside: digging, planting, gathering, covering etc. But to tell the truth once you are woken up by a pouring rain and, after taking the dog out, realise that your back lawn has turned into a swamp, there’s not enough motivation for everything mentioned above.

At the moment the sky is clear, but it’s so unpleasantly damp outside… I’d rather be scraping everything indoors - till the door knobs shine! I’m only joking. The day like today is for snuggling up cozily with a good book, for sipping hot tea, for enjoying an interesting film… Oh, and then the sun comes out and I feel so guilty – there’re so many plants that need repotting, so that when the winter comes they can ornate our rooms with those perfect shades of green.

“Repotting” is only one, but a very important item from my non existent list. Well, the list is real; it’s just that it’s not on paper, YET. It’s in my head, getting bigger and bigger constantly. I’m so scared of forgetting something that I can feel how the list is turning into a monster. I need to get in control. Definitely. All I need is a pen and paper…

And while I'm writing this it started to rain AGAIN - looking out of the window I’m considering putting “build an arch” as number one. This time I’m not joking. I've just found out that the forecast is like that for another 4 days. I guess the garden and my plants will have to wait after all...

In the last photo – leaves of my fragile pomegranates that have been grown from seeds. They have sprung so much, but at the same time look so thin and week. I’m really not sure how to turn them into proper trees.

$25 000

2010-09-16T05:57:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered how to make $25 000 taking photos? Sounds like every photographers dream! It seems it has come true for Judith Stenneken, who has been announced as the Grand Prize Winner by the Blurb team (http://www.blurb.com/). I haven't been keeping an eye on the photo books, that have been submitted for this competition, so I can't say if there've been better ones, but Judith's "Last Call" certainly draws interest.

The photos themselves might not look anything special, but they start making sense once you discover where and under what circumstances they've been taken. Berlin Tempelhof Airport. Does it ring a bell? To tell the truth I'd say: No. Although it seems that once its main building was listed among the top 20 largest buildings on earth.

Anyway, now on Wikipedia you'd find that Tempelhof WAS an airport in Berlin, Germany, situated in the south-central borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. The airport ceased operating on the 30th of October 2008. Looking at any busy airport this would be hard to imagine, as these places always seem so full of life. And it's really hard to understand how one could become empty and deserted, just because it's impossible to think that there would be a day, when people would stop travelling by air.

That's what the author says about the book:

When I used to step in the main entrance hall of the airport, it always felt the same. In contrast to the stress of the city outside, this place was calm and relaxed. Although the airport was still operating, it felt as if the building was deserted and the only people who were there acted like extras in a movie: a man reading the newspaper and waiting for his flight, a woman from the ground crew standing behind at the check-in counter waiting for passengers to come. Nobody speaking, no announcements from the loudspeakers.

It was a place where time did not seem to matter. A place which slowly lost its function, where desertion had been taking place for a long time, where the future is still unkown.

For me this feels as if it's a script for some scary movie that depicts our future (too many people shouting about the end of the world). Well, make sure you have a look at the photos in the book that was worth so much money:

http://www.blurb.com/books/1561541

And if you are interested in what’s fashionable in the photography world at the moment, don’t forget to view the other winners and the runners up. The whole list can be found here:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/pbn-winners-10?utm_source=Emailoffer&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&utm_campaign=

I particulary liked Lauren Orchowski's "Rocket Science", Alexey Vanushkin's "Merry-Go-Round" and David Beach's "Fetzer's Tale" (recommended for cat lovers!).

Hope you can find inspiration in every single one!

Flower Profiles

2010-09-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

We’ve been blessed with weather this weekend – it’s been sunny and warm (lets forget the short interval of rain early in the morning). Even knowing that there’s so much to do in the garden, I was fooled into thinking that all of these jobs can wait. I must have thought that the summer was back. I know it’s not, but still keep my fingers crossed that the weather stays warm right to the Indian summer in the beginning of October. Meanwhile everything’s fine – we haven’t had the first frosts and the flowers are holding on.

Here are the most stunning ones:

This was the first summer I grew zinnias. I was very lucky to see them in bloom as there was a time, when my mum wanted to get rid of them thinking they were weeds. I’m glad I managed to convince her that we should wait a bit longer… Now I’m sure I will be growing them again as their colours are so bright!

Zinnia is a genus of 20 species of annual and perennial plants of family Asteraceae, originally from scrub and dry grassland in an area stretching from the American Southwest to South America, but primarily Mexico, and notable for their solitary long-stemmed flowers that come in a variety of bright colors.

Their flowers have a range of appearances, from a single row of petals, to a dome shape, with the colors white, chartreuse, yellow, orange, red, purple, and lilac. They seem to be especially favored by butterflies.

Zinnias are popular garden flowers, usually grown from seed, and preferably in fertile, humus-rich, and well-drained soil, in an area with full sun. They will reseed themselves each year. Over 100 cultivars have been produced since selective breeding started in the 19th century.

Dahlias can be very pretty indeed, but the main downfall with them is that they need to be removed from the soil before winter. This can be annoying, but there’s also the storage problem – ours are kept in boxes in the cellar, we cover them in peat. And here’s the next bad thing – such boxes attract naughty cats…

Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, perennia plants native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. There are at least 36 species of dahlia. Dahlia hybrids are commonly grown as garden plants. The Aztecs gathered and cultivated the dahlia for food, ceremonies, as well as decorative purposes, and the long woody stem of one variety was used for small pipes.

I’m really impressed with begonias, they’ve been blooming on my window for nearly three months! And although, like dahlias, they have to be removed from the soil and kept warm and dry in winter, I think it’s worth the hassle.

With over 1,500 species, Begonia is one of the ten largest angiosperm genera. The species are terrestrial herbs or undershrubs and occur in subtropical and tropical moist climates, in South and Central America, Africa and southern Asia. Terrestrial species in the wild are commonly upright-stemmed, rhizomatous, or tuberous.

Because of their sometimes showy flowers of white, pink, scarlet or yellow color and often attractively marked leaves, many species and innumerable hybrids and cultivars are cultivated. The genus is unusual in that species throughout the genus, even those coming from different continents, can frequently be hybridized with each other, and this has led to an enormous number of cultivars.

Most begonias are easily propagated by division or from stem cuttings. In addition, many can be propagated from leaf cuttings or even sections of leaves, particularly the members of the rhizomatous and rex groups.

Autumn out of Focus

2010-09-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it’s enough to change your point of view and you’ll get a completely different picture. You might create an illusion, but if it makes you feel better, why not? Wouldn’t you want just for a moment to become a magician who can bend the reality? I certainly need this ability, if just to survive the cold period that is slowly creeping up.

Oh, if I could perform miracles… I’d try to do it with an even bigger precision and patience than a spider, who can easily divide space using perfect lines of the web.

At the moment I feel like a photographer, who can’t get a clear image as everything is out of focus. I’m trying hard to avoid autumn, but it will come anyway, won’t it? I still believe that we will get hot days and a chance to go swimming, but it gets colder and it gets darker, so my hopes are shattered every time I step barefoot into the morning dew.

I guess I’ll have to give up fighting the inevitable – first I’ll need to get the warm boots out and then... try and focus on the beautiful things that the new season will no doubt bring. Will it work?

Magic! It already does.

P.S. I'm not sure I will remember I need to start putting warmer clothes on, so the whole process of "bending the reality" might take time.

The Easiest Apple Pie – Dutch Apple Pie

2010-09-04T03:26:00.000-07:00

When the apple tree branches are nearly breaking from their load and it’s impossible to keep up with the new ripening varieties, an apple pie always seems like a good idea. It’s just that sometimes the preparation of the pie might kill the enthusiasm – all the complicated ways of mixing sugar, flour, butter and then adding the separately whipped egg whites, oh, and if you also have to use a rolling pin… No, no, no! That’s not for me.

A few weeks ago I found and easy recipe of an incredible apple pie. 15 minutes and you shove it into the oven. Job done. And after 50 minutes of baking, you’ll definitely receive loads of compliments! (Guaranteed.) Anyway, here’s the recipe – an interpretation of a Dutch style apple pie.

Ingredients:

For the filling:
6 or 7 middle sized apples
Cinnamon
A few tb spoons sugar
Raisins (only if you like them)

For the dough:
400g flour
250g butter
250g sugar
1 t spoon baking powder

Preheat your oven to 200C. Melt the 250g of butter. Put the melted butter and sugar into your food processor. Add the baking powder to the flour, mix well. Put this mix, spoon at a time, into the food processor together with the butter and sugar. After a few minutes of mixing your dough should be soft, but fall into pieces easily.

After greasing a round tin sprinkle it with flour. 2/3 of the dough spread on the bottom of your tin - work with your fingers, pressing the dough down and covering, more or less evenly, the whole surface.

Prepare the filling. Get rid of the cores of the apples and slice them into little pieces. Add a bit of sugar, cinnamon and raisins. Mix well and spread everything on top of the dough in your baking tin.

Cover the filling with the remaining 1/3 of the dough. Just form crumbs, that wouldn't completely cover the apples. Bake for about 50 minutes. Keep an eye on your pie - if the top starts browning too much, lower the temperature in the oven.

And here are some facts for increasing your culinary knowledge:

Dutch apple pie (appeltaart or appelgebak) recipes are distinct in that they typically call for flavorings such as cinnamon and lemon juice to be added. Dutch apple pies are usually decorated in a lattice style. Dutch apple pies may include ingredients such as raisins and icing, in addition to ingredients such as apples and sugar, which they have in common with other recipes.

Recipes for Dutch apple pie go back centuries. There exists a painting from the Dutch Golden Age, dated 1626, featuring such a pie.

The basis of Dutch apple pie is a crust on the bottom and around the edges. This is then filled with pieces or slices of apple, usually a crisp and mildly tart variety such as Goudreinet or Elstar. Cinnamon and sugar are generally mixed in with the apple filling. The filling can be sprinkled with liqueur for taste although this is very uncommon. Atop the filling, strands of dough cover the pie in a lattice, holding the filling in place but keeping it visible. Though it can be eaten cold, warmed is more common, with a dash of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. In the Netherlands it is usually eaten cold, sometimes with whipped cream on top. *

-------------------------------------

* Information found on Wikipedia.

Holiday Photos Part 3 - CULTURE

2010-08-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

While being abroad I love to have a glimpse at the country’s history and culture. This can easily be arranged by visiting museums or old castles, manor houses. I prefer the latter as museums can sometimes be boring, but castles never cease to amaze me – vast spaces, colourful rooms, smallest details, huge fires and kitchens, where servants prepared feasts for the rich...

I’m really glad that this time we managed to visit Schleswig and Glucksburg, right on the Danish border.

Scloss Gottorf - has been turned into a huge museum; it has several halls that can make you say you've never seen anything like that before.

A wine inn that used to be in Lubeck. The whole room has been brought to Gottorf! If it stayed where it originally was, we wouldn't have seen it - the inn was destroyed during the war.

The Hunters Hall. It's a shame that nowadays the cellings are mostly only white...

The cobbled yard. I'm sure it looks nicer on a sunny day...

Glucksburg - a little town right next to the Baltic Sea and the beautiful Castle that was featured in a German TV series my grandma used to watch last year!

Huge yard and nice paths. The gardens must be taken care of by several gardeners.

The entrance - believe it or not, but you can take cars down there.

Coming up to the castle. (We were unlucky as we got there to late and couldn't go round the inside, but I was lucky as there was no one around and I could take uninterrupted photos.)

If I had such a post box, I'd expect to get letters every day!
--------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess it’s time to forget the holidays. The kids are back at school, the trees are changing their colour and the autumn is here, so it’s time to think of something else to look forward to... Well, in the coming cold and darkness it has to be Christmas, although I’m sure there’ll many more nice things in between.

Holiday Photos Part 2 - GERMAN STYLE

2010-08-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

Location: Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

German Style – that‘s red bricks, neat gardens, clean streets and colourful surroundings. Everything’s so tidy! Especially in the small villages (Dorfs), where every house is covered in flowers and you never see people working on this (I even developed a theory that such gardens are tended to late in the evening, just after the sunset).

And the big cities? Well, they are just like anywhere else in the world – full of people, who seem to always be in a hurry; places that make your head spin - with too many inviting shops and a hidden sense that even a cup of tea in a local café can leave your purse “a bit” lighter…

Every detail counts, when you want to create something that catches the eye.

Cute red brick house and all the flower pots, that make it so special.

Monkey Puzzle Tree - I'm told. Would like to own one, but I'm not sure if it would surrvive Lithuanian winters.

Red bricks again. But how do you lay them like that!?

Hamburg on a cloudy day.

Overlooking the railroad tracks - all these paths that can take you further into the country.

Holiday Photos Part 1 - COAST

2010-08-27T05:26:00.000-07:00

Location: Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

We’ve been to the same spot for about 3 or 4 times, but it still interests me. Maybe it’s because they have tides, that make the sea water somehow disappear from under your feet, maybe it’s because the beach has no sand, just grass with lots of sheep on it… Well, everything’s so different to where I come from, although we live just round the corner, so to speak. (22 hours on a ferry, that travels at about 40km per hour and you’re in another world.)

This year I didn’t take many photos, but they can still be divided into a few sections. I’m starting with COAST, inspired by an English TV series that grabbed my attention this summer.

(COAST - BBC documentary that covers various subjects relating to both the natural and social history of the British and Northern Irish coastline and also more recently that of the Republic of Ireland, Norway, Faeroe Islands and France)

How not to get tangled in the Kieler Bucht?

Not sure what that is, probably a sponge of some sort that we don't get in the Baltic.

And this was a spectacular sunset on a nice August evening.

I haven't got a clue what that sign says, but I think the sea gulls weren't worried at all.

Sheep on the beach and lots of wind turbines in the background; that's how I remember the German coast.

That's so cozy and romantic, just shame about the water - what if someone decides to go for a swim?

The same sunset and a nice company that reminds me of my childhood - the four of them seem to be plotting something and of course having fun.

More sheep on the beach!

Where the sea once was... Looking for shells? Or sea water?

New Lens. Garden Wildlife: Hide!

2010-08-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

It was very unexpected, but I’m finally a proud owner of a lens that lets me have a closer look into insects’ life. The world below us can be fascinating indeed – all these:

perfect petals to make a perfect flower

spiky edges of a shrub leaf

soft butterfly wings

long long spider legs…

I would have experimented even more if it wouldn’t be so hot: +34C isn’t something we are used to! The air smells of apples, that are nearly ripe, but it’s unbearable to sit outside to soak it in. I’m glad the evening brings some cooler breeze, but if such heat continues, I’m scared I’ll be glad to see the first signs of autumn too...

P.S. This year I’ve decided to make some calendars using my photos, which seem to be quite popular (I mean calendars, not my photos). I plan to be very organized and get them printed as Christmas gifts for my relatives. As far as I know lulu.com offers such service, but maybe there are other sites that could provide better deals? Any information would be appreciated.

Very Berry

2010-08-09T05:07:00.000-07:00

Did you know that cupcakes can be very addictive!? I certainly do, as I can’t go on long without baking some (suspicious disorder…). I love their shape, their smell in my kitchen and of course their taste!

As this summer is coming to an end (I can’t believe this!) and the garden is full of delicious things, it would be a shame to waste a single berry. To tell the truth I got fed up with trying to fit them all into jars, so some went straight into the batter...

Black Currant Cupcakes

(It’s an altered recipe; the original one was for blueberry cupcakes, so if you prefer some other berries, use them instead.)

Ingredients for 12 standard size cupcakes:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups fresh black currants, rinsed and dried
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest, (from 1 lemon)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan). Line a standard (12-cup) cupcake tin with paper cups. With an electric mixer, cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time; beat until combined.

Liquefy black currants (I’m using cocktail blender) and get rid of the skins/pips by running them through a sieve. Add to butter mixture, along with lemon zest; beat to incorporate (mixture will appear separated).

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture in alternating batches, beginning and ending with the flour.

Spoon or scoop batter into cups, and sprinkle tops with remaining tablespoon sugar.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out cupcakes onto a wire rack to cool 10 minutes more before serving.

I love their colour! They are so unusual - came out a bit sour, so they'd be ideal for those who enjoy sweet and sour flavoured dishes.

Worth Reading

2010-07-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

As the two previous posts started with the word “before”, this one is going to be about “after”.

AFTER I read Lionel Shriver’s book “We Need to Talk about Kevin” I decided that she’s an author that has to be added to my “looking forward to reading more” list.

I knew “We Need to Talk about Kevin” was going to be about school shooting (or a columbine monster - a new term for me) and as I’ve already read the famous Jodi Picoult’s “Nineteen Minutes” I expected it to be somehow similar. I wasn’t prepared for a thorough analyses of such a long chain of events that might have led a boy to committing dreadful crimes (the whole thing starts with his mother being not sure about having a child in the first place).

As the story is told by Kevin’s mum, in a series of letters written for her husband, there’s not a lot of direct speech and it made the reading a bit difficult. But all I can say – Lionel Shriver is a very intelligent woman, who succeeded in portraying how things can go wrong, no matter how badly you want to make everything right.

Nature versus Nurture

I’ve been always of the opinion that no one can be born evil. Is that possible? No doubt I would have always shouted: No! And thinking about it, even now I’d say that any dysfunctional behavior has it roots somewhere in the course of the upbringing. (This goes with Jean Jacque Rousseau’s theory that everyone at birth is like an empty sheet of paper.) That’s why it’s a bit peculiar that, without noticing how, reading this book I became sure that the main character - Kevin - was bad from the very first days of his life. I jumped on his mum’s side and was getting angry that no one else noticed the boys will to harm people. So if Lionel’s plan was to shake some strong believes, she’s done it.

To Have or not to Have

The other important subject in the book is fears concerning motherhood. In this day and age couples more often decide to postpone having children and the fears, that arise before the desicion to have a child is made, are really multiple: what if the child has some terminal disease, what if he/she is killed in an accident, what if the parents won't manage to provide for the child etc. But I've never thought of the one the author suggests - what if the child turns into a monster and causes so much grief for the others?

Well, if you decide to read this book, there'll be plenty to think about afterwards. And after you've read it, have a look at this inteview with Lionel Shriver, where she "discusses her chilling novel "We Need to Talk About Kevin," her fears about motherhood and how Columbine monsters are made":

http://www.salon.com/books/int/2003/05/08/kevin/index.html

Oh, and it seems that in 2011 there should be a film based on this book!

Before the Rain

2010-07-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

I don’t think any of the plants or insects knew what was coming…

Just before the storm hit it was quite hot (+31C), like on a normal summer day. Yes, it might have been a bit windy, but we needed that breeze, otherwise it would have been unbearable.

After a while the sky started turning grey and we could hear thunder in the background. I did a sensible thing (for a change) – got all the washing in. Usually I’m brave and leave it till the last minute, but this time I think I wouldn’t have cared if the washing got soaked. Huge rain drops started pouring for the sky, as if someone had just emptied an enormous bucket!

This rain must have whipped the plants badly… and now I’m scared to look how many got broken…

Before This Beauty Fades

2010-07-16T04:06:00.000-07:00

This week it has been way too hot. I get up in the morning and I feel as if I’m practicing for taking part in a slow motion film – I move very sloooowly: every move uses up too much of my energy, clothes seem to be sticking and there’s nowhere I could hide. Cool shower seems to help, but in about 15 minutes it’s the same all over again. (I even keep catching myself dreaming of autumn!)

Meanwhile very early mornings and late evenings are devoted for watering the garden. And even though July seems to be a very pretty month, with lots of flowers in bloom, I can see this fading away soon – sadly the hotter it gets, the quicker our flowers wilt.

More and more often I get out with my camera and shoot, this time becoming a director for the documentary called “Summer 2010”. I hope that this way I’ll at least gain some more time for enjoying the spectacular colours of sweet peas and roses, calendulas and hydrargeas and will be able to say – yes, we definitely had a summer, a very hot summer!

Gambas Pil Pil

2010-07-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

The temperature has reached nearly 40C - it's impossible to stay in the sun during the day and really hard to fall asleep in the night, but we still dream of holidays in some far away and probably even hotter country! We must be mad? Or probably just know the rule - stay at home and there will always be jobs to do - too well. I must admit I can relax fully only when I am away: I prefere worrying if I have seen all of the most interesting tourist attractions and not if it's time to water the garden, wash the dishes up or clean the bedroom. I'm sure you get the picture...

While we still haven't left our cosy-lots-to-do-aroud house we dreamt we were somewhere else... lets say in Spain! Do you know a way how to make a dream seem at least a bit real? We decided our way would be to cook Spanish food. Tapas!*

I love sea food, but don't get to have it very often, so every time we have shrimps, muscles or squid it turns into a bit of an occasion! And if someone else is cooking and you don't have to worry about a thing... just look at the clock every five minutes and ask - is time yet? - the only thing I can do is exclaim - SPLENDID - in a strong posh English accent. (Thank you, Andrew!)

This is our famous prawn and avocado salad with a secret ingredient, that makes the sauce so special.

Muscles in tomatoe and ginger sauce. Believe me, in this sauce they are gorgeous.

This is something we didn't prepare from scratch, I think it's cod pretending to be crab, but was nice nevertheless.

Anyway, if you want to smell and taste Spain follow these simple instructions:

Put some oil (100ml) into a pan and make it real hot, so that when you add prawns (350g), finely chopped 4 garlic cloves and 1 chilli pepper (without the seeds if you don't like spicy food) they'd sizle. Wait till the garlic turns golden (this should take about 1 or 2min.) and pour everything into a bowl. Serve your gambas pil pil with white bread and lemon wedges.

Now close your eyes and imagine you are somewhere on the cost of the Mediterranean...

----------------------------------------------------------------

*Tapas is the name of a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. They may be cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or warm (such as chopitos, which are battered, fried baby squid). In select bars in Spain and maybe in North America or the United Kingdom, tapas has evolved into an entire, and sometimes sophisticated, cuisine. In Spain, patrons of Tapas can order many different tapas and combine them to make a full meal.

Just A Perfect Day

2010-07-06T10:32:00.001-07:00

When I go through the photos that I took on the 1st of July for my friend’s Birthday I keep hearing the song by Lou Reed – “Perfect Day” - in my head. And even the song goes: “just a perfect day, drink sangria in the park and later, when it gets dark, we’ll go home” – I think that drinking champagne in the dunes is just as PERFECT. Oh, and a BBQ in the dark is also quite spectacular (although if things go wrong, you end up feeling like a smoked sausage)! But what made the day so special for me was meeting my friends, whom I don’t get too see very often. So I could keep singing:

“Oh, it’s such a perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with you…”

Location: Juodkrante, Lithuania. A tiny town on the Curonian Spit, with not many people, but loads of colourful old houses, green meadows, smoked fish, yahts and of course water (Curonian Lagoon on one side and the Baltic on the other).

Birthday Girl: Jovita. Eighteen again, and what did you think!? Lots of Happy Birthday's were received via mobile phone - oh, that 21st century...

One of the Guests: Dovile - another victim of the BBQ (there must have been something wrong with the logs that night?). I must admit we were good and managed to finish what we've started, without moaning too much; although eating at midnight can't be very healthy.

Flowers: A nice bunch of colourful summer flowers. You must admit, it counts as a good reason to be happy that your Birthday is in the middle of the summer!

Cake: An even better reason to celebrate choosing the best time of the year to be born! Home grown stawberries + self picked wild strawberries, whipped cream and suckulent spunge... Well, it tasted as good as it looks (if not better)!

By the Lagoon: You can see that this is the place where you can relax, think slowly and forget all your worries. Open your eyes widely and admire every single wonder of nature.

That's where we saw a pretty seagull, probably wondering if we've brought any bread with us (we hadn't).

And a busy bee on a bright green plant. (It's a pity I didn't get its companion, just half of it flying in from the right corner.)

And these neglected boats would be the best image to reflect that time in Juodkrante runs slowly: from summer to summer, as that's when the tourists bring a bit of novelty into previously probably even a bit dull life.

Beach: As I still haven't mentioned the dog, here she is! Jumping happily when she's told she's going out and at all times not trusting the guests - it's a dog that can't be touched and you have to move around the room on her terms. (Look at that balance! How doesn't she fall on one side!?)

Some soft evening colours (at around 9pm.). Couldn't wait for the sun set as we still had our BBQ to fit in!

And nearly the whole of the company (somebody had to take photos) in the dunes; hiding from not so warm summer breeze, remembering funny stories from the past, wishing all the best for the years to come...

As I said before - just a perfect day! And still humming: "I'm glad I spent it with you..."

On Lithuanian Summers

2010-06-29T04:36:00.000-07:00

It might take a long time for a Lithuanian summer to start properly (in June we had just a few sunny and hot days), but when it does, it is something to be happy about!

The meadows then are full to the brim with wild flowers. White chamomile, red poppies and blue cornflowers – I wish Lithuanian landscape would never change.

Even the air is full of life. Someone’s buzzing; someone’s changing their flight path and accidentally bumps right into you!

The water must be getting warm. And even if your first dip this year is making you anxious (is it warm enough already? I remember skating here last winter…), the others will be enjoyed to the full.

And let’s not forget the garden. When would you have a better opportunity to become a florist and make the prettiest arrangements?

Everything’s just perfect – any worries? Hmm… How to scare the birds away from all the cherries and to make such summer last forever!

Wild Horses

2010-06-23T05:31:00.000-07:00

They’ve been here, next door, for eleven years and I had never seen them! I can’t believe this; although I’m sure than not a lot of Lithuanians know that they could have a glimpse of wild horses in our neighbouring country – Latvia!

A few weeks ago I heard on the radio a woman called Velta talking about some Nature Park. It turned out it’s the one based right next to the Lithuanian-Latvian border (Pape Nature Park). I knew that this park is an ideal place for birdwatchers as there’s a big lake and lots of marshland, but Velta was talking about a possibility to see the wild horses!

Anyway, here are the photos from our trip.

I must admit, on the way to see them, I hoped they‘d be very big and gallop around, and I’d get lots of good shots of the mustangs, but when we got there I saw a gang of grey ponies (actually 41 of them) that seemed to lazily graze the grass.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t disappointed as I love nature, but I was informed that in England (yeah, in England!) somewhere in the New Forest the view would have been much better. So I guess there’s one more place worth visiting to put on my list.

Some action shots that I got when one of the horses tried to come closer to us, but was guided back further away by their pack leader.

Icons of England

2010-06-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

As expected my long summer evenings have been devoted to reading. At 10 pm. my body starts craving for a soft bed, but it’s still light outside, so while the mind is alert, a good book keeps me company.

At the moment it’s “Icons of England” – a compilation of short stories written by “high profile and well respected commentators” portraying their feelings towards the English countryside. And I’d recommend it to anyone who’s been to the country and fell in love with it.

The English might seem a bit strange to the rest of the world (just think about the separate taps for cold and hot water, their habit to put milk into their tea, endless conversations about the weather), but I admire them for sticking to their way of doing things without worrying if it looks funny or weird. So if anyone can preserve the best things from the past it will be the English. Although it seems that even they might have to club together in order to achieve the goal.

This book was where I first heard about the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) - http://www.cpre.org.uk/ strangely enough led by a famous American writer Bill Bryson. (Even HRH The Prince of Wales starts his foreword with “There is perhaps a rich irony in the fact that it takes an American … to recognize, celebrate and fight to preserve so much of what is precious about our country.”) An initiative that I would welcome in any country, that wants to conserve what is unique and so dare to its nation.

So what’s so magical about England? What do we have to save that we wouldn’t ruin the spell? If you are intrigued, read about the icons of England – red post boxes, country churchyards, hares, estuaries, rural branch lines, ancient trees and many more.
--------------------------------------------------------------

I’ve been to England many times, but now I’m dead set to see Land’s End. “…Land’s End is magnificent. Even with the vast ocean on three sides, it still manages to make it’s mark – rather than engulfing it, the giant Atlantic has taken it in its lap. … When the summer sunshine beams down on the water and the mild wind blows inland from the ocean, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.” – Muhammad Abdul Bari

I’d also love to buy some fossils from Mary Anning’s shop in Lyme Regis. “Around ninety-nine per cent of all the species that ever lived are now extinct and only a very small fraction are preserved as fossils; and even smaller fraction are ever actually found. And at Mary Anning’s shop, you can get all this for just £2.50.” – Rosie Boycott

Oh, and plant an apple tree that would produce those special apples. “Old pearmain, recorded in the thirteenth century, is probably the only one of our contemporary English apples that Shakespeare would have recognized.” – Raymond Blanc

Moments that Were Caught

2010-06-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

I’d say that after taking lots of photos I have developed something that might be described as a “frame vision”. I’ve been catching myself looking at something and then thinking – that would make a brilliant photo! But guess what, most of the time during such insights I’m nowhere near my camera. Call it sods law or, even better, blame me for not dragging that thing everywhere I go, but I agree myself that sometimes I loose moments that I’d like to share and keep in digital form or on paper forever!

It seems that just the other day I looked at some lilacs and decided that these would look good with the bright blue sky as a background. I think I had more than a week to take that photo (the sky can’t have been grey for the whole week as it’s summer and that lilac grows just the other side of our gate), well, I lost the opportunity as the blossoms have died down…

So that is why these little images are moments that I MANAGED to catch this June before they disappeared. It’s our crab apple tree in full bloom, my dog spying on the busy bees, our first BBQ this year, a duck diving in the river and the very white tip of one of my cats’ tail.

Lithuania 6 a.m.

2010-06-14T05:50:00.000-07:00

I can finally feel that the summer has begun – I can no longer stay in bed after it gets light! Some would say that I need better blinds, but to tell the truth I prefer the world with not so many people in it. I wouldn’t say I dislike people; it’s just that sometimes city or, in other words, that busy ants nest can get me down.

I like empty roads and nice mist, that you sometimes get early in the morning. I also love to be able to just stop and take photos that in other circumstances wouldn’t be taken.

This morning I deliberately returned to a field of lupines, that we passed just the other day.

I’d love to get into the middle of it and take some flowers home, but after having heard so much about ticks I guess it’s better to admire them from a safe distance…

Later on I spotted a stork. I think I scared it, as after I took my camera out, it started to fly away.

Then there was a very friendly horse in between white flowers. It was the best model I ever had – just a few nice words and it turned round a few times! Probably expecting a carrot or a piece of sugar...

Oh, and that very Lithuanian shrine – just by the road, in the middle of nowhere, next to a forest: yet the candle was lit.

-----------------------------------

Today all our prayers go to the people who had been deported to the Soviet Union/Siberia. June the 14th marks the day when the first mass deportations started in 1941.

Best Novels

2010-06-07T06:14:00.000-07:00

I think it is exciting how looking for one thing you might find something else that might interest you. I guess it’s not that hard when you’re surfing on the net, otherwise I don’t think time would just disappear while I’m on my computer…

This time I was looking up Vladimir Nabokov – multilingual Russian-American novelist. I have read one of his books recently (I‘m ashamed to admit I haven‘t read his famous "Lolita") and stumbled upon something called Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels list.

As this is a list of the best English-language novels of the 20th century, selected and compiled by the Modern Library (publishing company) in 1998, I decided to have a look how many I’ve read or at least heard of (by the way, V.Nabokov's "Lolita" is number 4 on this list).

Oh, my… I’m a keen reader, but obviously not keen enough. I will have to make up for this as soon as possible; just after I finish my Virtual Trip around Europe… Well, long summer evenings and light nights are perfect for reading!

If you’d like to test yourself, you can find this list just here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Library_100_Best_Novels

Don’t get upset if you haven’t read many of these books - the list did not include enough novels by women, and not enough novels from outside North America and Europe. In addition, some contend it was a "sales gimmick", since most of the titles in the list are also sold by Modern Library.

Black/White

2010-06-04T11:38:00.001-07:00

Although the summer has just begun and everything’s in colour, my mood is pretty grim. (Been thinking about life in general a lot and felt so small after realizing that nothing changes after someone’s gone – the sun still rises, the birds sing their songs and the whole world keeps moving forward...) I love colours, but influenced by the recent atmosphere I decided to apply the black and white test to my photos.

Black and white photography has always seemed very sophisticated to me. You need such photos to carry so much more feeling within them in order to portray the mood or emotion, to capture one’s eye.

I guess I’d be the one who’d say that there’s never only black and white – there’re so many shades of grey; still sometimes it feels as if the darker side is stronger...

Maybe that’s why it is important to hang on and to put as much effort as you can so that the light and the good would prevail?

Trying Out

2010-05-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

Just trying out my new ZOOM LENS (EF 75-300mm) that I got for my Birthday. And where would I find better subjects than in the garden or at home?

I love being able to zoom in and spy on people, animals or birds… I also love how in the photos the subject I concentrate on comes out sharp and the background is blurry.

Well, soon there will be more photos and for now – you can judge these.

Spring, to Spring...

2010-04-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

Although we’ve been hearing on the news that we still might get some sleet over Lithuania, the weather hasn’t been bad these days. I can finally say - spring is here!

The days are getting warmer and flowers are poking their heads from the soil; more and more gardeners bend their backs over fresh and neat bedding that will soon SPRING to life.

(Anymore meaning for 'spring'? I can think only of the 'spring of life'... Need to consult a dictionary.)

Looking at the fields you could say it’s still pretty grim.

I agree that the colours are still a bit dull, but the storks have come back, so the summer is on its way as well.

(Wish I had a better zoom on my camera... Oh, and one for macro shooting too...)

Well, for me Lithuania is beautiful at anytime of the year and I’m glad I had a day out visiting some lovely little towns. Hope to have enough SPRING to do it some time soon once again.

(Yes, I had a look in the dictionary…)

An Update in Pictures

2010-04-13T07:06:00.001-07:00

Right... it must have been nearly a month since the last post... Everything's ok, I've just been too busy, but hope to start finding time for blog again!

So here's a little update on what's BEEN and IS happening over here:

The Easter cupcakes have been eaten...

...and while some of us are "soaking up" every bit of Sun...

...I finally found out what colour is the flower that I've been given by my friend...

...and I'm getting ready for the gardening season!

More from me will follow soon. Let's hope so... ;)

One of the Promised Portraits

2010-03-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Here’s Prada – one of the newly "catnapped" individuals. (Black as a devil and as we all already know 'devil wears prada' - hence the name.)

Very brave and agile, yet looking so scarred! So it is true – looks can be deceiving.

Born on the street, still knows all of the cat secrets: the best spot is in the sun, sleep makes you beautiful and you should avoid water at any cost!

One word to describe her – nutter!

Spring? Where is it?

2010-03-06T06:02:00.001-08:00

Although the sun is very bright and sitting indoors one might be fooled into thinking it’s summer, we haven’t even reached the actual spring!

In theory it is spring (well, looking at the calendar), but when you look out the window all you can see is snow… It’s not very pleasant in the morning as the temperature still drops far below zero (for e.g. to -11C) and on a windy day you certainly would prefer spending time somewhere by a fire place.

But just to remind ourselves that sometime soon (hopefully) we will be able to work in the garden and sunbathe and hide away the heavy coats, gloves and scarves, we keep buying spring flowers!

At the moment I’ve gone for yellow daffodils and tulips. And probably tomorrow will go out to get some birch branches that should be covered in little green leaves just before Easter.

Oh, and just after this weekend the sowing season begins!

A Little Church

2010-03-01T06:29:00.000-08:00

So many things have happened since my last post… First of all it seems that spring is on its way! That’s really good – more sun and loads more time spent outside – I can hear my cats cheering as these are proper sun bathing enthusiasts :) (The cat community in our house this year has increased twice! When the two new ones get better I promise to post some portraits.)

I wouldn’t say that it’s very pleasant outside at the moment - the snow is retreating and it’s quite damp, but last weekend I’ve been to a surprise Birthday party where we managed to spend lots of time by a still frozen lake.

It was a bit chilly and in the end I had wet feet, but none of us had to swim in the freezing water (like the guys in the above photo) and later on we were treated to a very nice homemade cake.

As the party was held 200km away from where I live, I even had a chance to look around some places I’ve never been to before. The best was seeing a little church that’s in almost every photo album about Lithuania - Zapyškio Šv. Jono Krikštytojo bažnyčia.

It’s a pity we couldn’t go in as the church is opened only for special events. It’s been built in 1578, but there haven’t been any masses since 1901. It’s had such a long and sad history (been used as a place for storing, been damaged by the flooded river) that we should be happy that after all those years it’s still there, on the bank of the biggest river in the country.

Cupcakes for Valentine's

2010-02-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

Valentine’s Day isn’t popular here, as for a long time we didn’t know it existed (being occupied we didn’t know about a lot of things that the rest of the world happily consumed, celebrated or savored). It also is too close to another important date – 16th of February, the day we became independent for the first time, this happened in 1918. So I guess it will never be very important for an ordinary Lithuanian, maybe just for the young school kids, who see it as an opportunity to secretly express their love, or for the businessmen, who want to sell more flowers, champagne and little tacky things.

Well, I got a card from my admirer and, to make this day at least a bit special, decided to bake some cupcakes. This recipe can be found in a book by Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas “Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery”, where it is presented as a perfect winter dessert!

Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes

You will need:

115g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
90g butter at room temperature
175g caster sugar
Grated zest and juice of one orange
2 large eggs
185g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of skimmed milk at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 160ºC (fan).

Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it. This can be done in two ways: 1) in a microwave – on a medium setting in 30s bursts, stirring between each session; 2) in a bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water.

In a large bowl cream the butter, sugar and orange zest until the mixture is pale and smooth. Add the eggs and beat again briefly.

Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Mix the milk and orange juice in a jug.

Add the chocolate to the cream mixture and beat on a low speed until the mixture is just combined. Add one third of the flour mix and beat until it all comes together. Add half of the juice/milk mix and beat again. Repeat these steps until all of the ingredients are in.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases. Make sure you fill just two-thirds. Bake in the oven for about 28-30 minutes.

They can be decorated with some chocolate buttercream, but I think they are really nice even without it!

Walking on the Sea

2010-02-07T03:22:00.001-08:00

It’s been a long time since anyone could walk on the Baltic Sea. Recent winters have been pretty mild and we hardly had any snow. You could describe them as boring periods in between autumn and spring, when the temperature stayed above zero and the sky was constantly grey. So the stories that our ancestors could get to Sweden on a horse drawn sledge seemed like legends.

If you think about it, it’s only 300km and the Sea is more like a lake – we don’t even have floods, so if the winters were cold enough maybe this has happened?

This winter is as it should be! After experiencing -20C several weeks ago, -7C feels really warm. Fields are covered in snow, we all have taken out our warmest hats and scarves and when the sun shines, we rush out to the Sea, which has actually started freezing!

I wonder, how deep is the water underneath their feet?

To my mind this photo proves that Sun is a star!

As the local river has frozen all of the ducks have moved to the Sea.

This was a huge and brave seagull, until someone decided to scare it away...

Testing My Patience

2010-02-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

Right… The first month of 2010 is gone and the second one will disappear even quicker, as 28 days isn’t much, is it? So I’d better start doing something interesting and useful!

We are still snowed under and an ordinary day starts with me lifting my shovel higher and higher (it’s because the snow piles are growing!). The situation on the roads isn’t good, so to tell the truth it’s so easy to give up and just stay at home…

Don’t get me wrong, nothing has stopped – children go to schools, their parents to work, shops are open and cafes at dinner time are quite full, it’s just that to get from A to B you need to put in twice as much effort as you’d need in the summer. (By the way, I have no problems with snow piles, with these you just have to lift your legs, but icy pavement is a disgrace!)

With blizzard behind the window and several seasons of English “Most Haunted” on DVD (people hunting ghosts all over the UK) my recent favorite activity in the evenings has been crochet. I’ve decided I want a proper granny square blanket! (I think that’s what they are called.)

I bought lots of colourful wool and started on the squares. After doing just one square I realized – it will take me ages… (4 per evening – need at least 16 for one row – how many rows? – maybe 7? – 8 would be better) So I guess that’s why these blankets look so nice – so much patience goes into making them.

The pattern for the squares I got from Vanessa’s blog: do you mind if I knit: http://doyoumindifiknit.typepad.com/ . There’s a tutorial with loads of photos, so it’s perfect even for an absolute beginner.

I guess that’s all for now, as I need to make at least 4 squares in an evening and I need to stick to my plan!

Oh well, I hope I can finish this blanket before Easter…

More of January

2010-01-19T09:48:00.001-08:00

It’s still cold here, but it hasn’t snowed for a while, so everything is starting to look dirty. Need more snow! Or maybe for the spring to come early? I must admit I’m already thinking of what flowers we are going to plant this year…

Anyway, here’s a few scenes that have been captured this January with my new camera that I got for Christmas. I still have to learn how to use it properly, so I’m sure there’ll be many more photos to share.

Birdie Matters

2010-01-14T23:30:00.000-08:00

I’ve asked a builder, who has been doing some work on our cellar, to make me a little house for feeding birds (there must be a special term, but I don’t think I know it). I assumed he’d think I’ve gone mad, but it seems he liked me and all of my unexplainable dreams to live on a farm (hey, not every city girl dreams of such things!), so he never said a word and built it.

Remembering a phrase from some film – “if you built it, they will come”, I started waiting. Well, after I’ve put some bread crumbs obviously.

1st day – I waited.
2nd day – I waited. (Crumbs seemed to have frozen, so I added some new ones.)
3rd day – I was still waiting.
4th day – THEY CAME!

The feast lasted about 5 minutes as it seems that there came the wrong ones!

I expected lots of tiny yellow bellied tits or bright red robins, or at least little brown sparrows, but I got just magpies, which are well known for being thieves.

Anyway, the crumbs have been replaced and I’m waiting again.

P.S. I was told that the special term is feeding tray.

Moving On – Slowly

2010-01-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

Not much has happened recently as it’s so cold outside that the most appealing option is to stay indoors and drink big cups of hot tea. Don’t get me wrong – I do go out occasionally, especially when the weather conditions change and I’m eager to get them on my camera!

Just like this fog, that crept up unexpectedly and hid everything around us.

Believe it or not, on an ordinary day you’d be seeing a forest, but the fog has turned this path into “a road to nowhere”.

If I decided to put some wet washing outside it would freeze within five minutes. Yes it’s that cold! (I haven’t experimented yet, but I’m sure the result would be pretty amusing - “wooden” t-shirts and trousers…)

The Baltic Sea looks calm, but definitely not inviting.

The grass has turned into hay.

And the only place you could find something resembling a flower is by the running water, a stream that hasn’t been stopped, where cold has formed some graceful sculptures.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T08:07:00.001-08:00

As the year has come to an end I decided to remember some of the new things I learnt in 2009 while browsing other blogs and writing my own – things I liked a lot and made a big impression on me. So let’s announce the awards!

Painter of the year – Alfred Wallis: http://www.alfred-wallis.co.uk/

Alfred Wallis (18 August 1855 – 29 August 1942) was a Cornish fisherman and artist, who started painting when he was over seventy, as he said "for company" because his wife had died and he did not care for the rest of the company in St. Ives, where he lived for the last fifty years of his life. The paintings might seem childlike, but I love the colours and perspective. Well, look where they ended up – even the Tate gallery! So, next year, when you decide that you’re too old to start doing something, please remember Alfred.

Writer of the year – Jodi Picoult: http://www.jodipicoult.com/

Jodi Lynn Picoult (born May 19, 1966) is an American author, who has an amazing ability to talk about the things that we usually avoid to talk about – feelings. If you haven’t read any of her books (pretty unlikely) – try them, I can guarantee it will be hard to put them down. And in the coming year start to express your feelings, life should become easier.

Singer of the year – Duffy: http://www.iamduffy.com/

Aimée Ann Duffy (born 23 June 1984), better known by her stage name Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. This is the woman, who was asked to leave her school choir because her voice was "too big" and she "didn't fit in”! She’s good and hmm… different. Well, even if you don’t like her songs, next year don’t believe in everything people say – simply know that you can do it!

Happy 2010!

May it bring you lots of nice expierences xxx

And the last award goes to Anne, my blog reader of the year ;) - http://nikkipolani.wordpress.com/

Thank you for your kind comments and would like to wish you all the best for the year ahead!

German Honey Spice Cookies

2009-12-28T06:34:00.000-08:00

This is the last recipe this year. I found it in a book called “Easy Christmas. Classic recipes for the Perfect Christmas”.

I must admit I haven’t tried any of the other recipes listed in that book, but these cookies are really EASY to make!

Ingredients:

150g plain flour
1 table spoon ground cinnamon
¼ table spoon ground ginger
¼ table spoon ground mixed spice
85g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
3 table spoons clear honey (mine wasn’t clear though)
Something for decorating (use your imagination)

All you need to do is mix all of the ingredients together and form soft dough. After you’ve done it chill it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough to about 5mm thick. Cut out shapes using biscuit cutters and put them on a baking tray (spread them apart a bit). Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (350F) for about ten minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool. Decorate.

Done!

Wishing You All...

2009-12-24T06:40:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through! ~Author Unknown

Lithuanian Winter

2009-12-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

I love proper winter – when the temperature drops far below zero and the lakes freeze, when the snow crunches under the soles of your shoes and the frost makes your cheeks red, when everything turns white and your warm house seems like a bliss…

Straw Decorations

2009-12-19T08:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas must be the nicest holiday of the year as it‘s the time when everything seems so mysterious and special. We remember the old traditions and try to do things as they‘ve been done many years ago by our ancestors. We follow certain rituals and know that they have great meaning – for e.g. here in Lithuania on Christmas Eve on a white table cloth we put twelve dishes (as there were 12 disciples) and under the table cloth we put some straw (as Jesus was born in a stable). Although this holiday has been changed a lot by keen businessmen it’s nice to know that we haven’t forgotten what it’s all about.

I’d use every opportunity to learn something new about old ways and traditions, so last Wednesday I attended a lesson for everyone who wanted to try and make straw Christmas tree decorations, which have been very popular before the glittery bauble times.

It wasn’t very difficult and I enjoyed it a lot, but there’s a problem – these days it’s a big dilemma where to get straw. It has to be gathered in the summer: end of July, beginning of August; and if you don’t know any farmers… hmm… you’d need to pick some from someone’s fields. But if the idea of “scrumpping” doesn’t appeal I suppose you could use reeds instead.

Symmetry is very important, so all of the straws you will use have to be the same length, width and preferably colour (colour differs depending on the type of the straw (rye or wheat) and the are ways how to make it brighter – you have to boil your straw in water with baking soda).

You have to use a needle that would be longer than your straws, so that you could take it out at the other end. And the thread has to be similar colour to your straw, so that it wouldn’t be noticeable. (We as beginners got a bright orange one, so that it would be easier to untangle it if need be.)

The outcome: a rather complex symmetrical shape that, after decorating it with dried flowers, doesn’t look too bad.

On the other hand you’ve probably never seen traditional Lithuanian carcass shapes that are called "gardens". They are very complex and ornate, decorated with straw birds, garlands, dried flowers and berries. These are given as presents for newlyweds as a symbol of rich life (sorry I haven't got any photos, but if you are interested here's an example:
http://savaskampas.blogas.lt/uploads/r/Rutela/113928.jpg).

It is said that these “gardens” contain the idea of creating a perfect world, where “grapes are falling down”, in the middle “there flows a river” and in the trees “the birds are talking” (words from national songs). That’s why these straw “gardens" used to be a nice present – not only for decorating your home, but also for bringing you happiness.

We've Got Snow!

2009-12-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

The driving conditions aren't that good (not a good thing for an unexpierenced driver like me), but I still hope that this snow will last till Christmas... Everything's so pretty - completely covered in white!

Not sure if I'm the only one excited in the family (I went out twice to clear the yard!) , but I have the dog on my side - can't ask for better weather conditions for a husky.

Orange Biscuits

2009-12-07T06:43:00.000-08:00

With Christmas getting closer and closer I decided to devote my weekends for baking homemade biscuits. I’ve got a German book (Weihnachtsplatzchen alle Jahre wieder) with lots of nice recipes, so I hope to try and taste at least a few.

Yesterday I chose the ones that are easy to make.

Ingredients:

250g flour
1 spoon of cacao
1 tea spoon of baking powder
60g sugar
1 egg
1 orange
125g soft butter
30g finely chopped or grated almonds
200g castor sugar (for decoration)

Make dough from flour, cacao, baking powder, egg, sugar, butter, orange zest and almonds (I’m sure you can use some other nuts and orange can be replaced with lemon). Once it’s done wrap it into tin foil and put it into your fridge for at least half an hour.

Preheat oven to about 180C. Using a rolling pin roll your dough till it’s about 1/2cm thick. Cut out your biscuits and place them on a baking tray, on some baking paper. Bake your biscuits for about 8-10 minutes. Let them cool.

For decoration use 3 spoons of orange juice mixed with caster sugar. Apply this mix on your biscuits. (I used some strawberry jelly and dried grapefruit – they might not look very professional, but are very tasty!)

Next Sunday I’ll try to go for something more adventurous…

Christmas Tree Garland

2009-12-02T12:36:00.000-08:00

I can finally say that it‘s time to get ready for Christmas. (Well, the shops over here have been doing it for ages – they‘ve started just after the 1st of November, but I refuse to believe that this is right – I don‘t want to spend half a year waiting for this holiday!) The 1st of December is the perfect date – it still leaves about 20 days for the hardest bit – finding presents… Meanwhile I have started on my decorations.

This year I had several ideas how to decorate my parents’ Antique shop. I’d love to capture the look at feel of vintage Christmas. I’m sure my mum would love it too, but she gets carried away and we end up with lots of stuff that I wouldn’t use. We already have a white Christmas tree, lots of candles and two white deer, which look quite nice, but I’m afraid that more decorations are coming and I won’t be able to stop them piling up on the tree, beneath the tree or somewhere near the tree…

What I had in mind was some handmade decorations that people would have used in the old times, when they didn’t have fancy baubles, or some old toys that would remind people of their childhood. Well, I’ve started with a handmade garland that I’m making using dried watermelon seeds and little beads.

I must admit I had this idea a month or so ago (the Christmassy stuff in shops must have stimulated my brain back then), so I have prepared – I’ve collected lots of watermelon seeds, that have dried nicely and it’s really hard to stick a needle through them now!

If you want to try this out all you need is seeds (any chunky ones should do, just make sue they are soft and not dried, this should help you to avoid little holes in your fingers), little beads, a needle and some thread. Also some paint, that you could make your garland look gold.

I promise I will post some more photos so that you could see what the garland looks like on the tree. Meanwhile I’ll continue trying to stick my needle through the dried seeds… as it’s not going as fast as I would hope it to be…

Bright!

2009-11-29T09:10:00.000-08:00

One of my many hobbies is painting.

I don’t paint very often as it’s really hard to find time for it - once I sit down I usually spend at least a few hours. So I try to leave it till I simply can’t think of doing anything else.

This time for about a week I kept thinking of creating a still life with lemons in it. (I guess it’s because the weather is so miserable and I needed some bright colours.) I invited one of my friends, who shares the same interest and we spent the whole evening and half of the night painting! Well, before we started on our creations we had a lovely supper and even baked some biscuits, no wonder we finished at 2 am.

Some fruit in a bowl and two different interpretations! Really enjoyed the evening and hope to feel the urge to paint some time soon again...

Dog's 4th

2009-11-24T11:40:00.000-08:00

On Sunday (November 22nd) our dog was celebrating her 4th Birthday - you could say it's serious age, no longer a puppy, but sometimes she's still as daft as only a husky can be!

We took her out for a long walk by the sea, where she went for a paddle (she won't go any deeper as she is scared of water) and wanted to make friends with every human or dog she could see!

Not everyone would enjoy such friendship, as the dog looks like a fierce wolf and we saw a few people, who were keeping safe distance. Admit it, looking at her you wouldn't think she is not dangerous - but she really isn't. She is very gentle. Well, we are talking here about a dog who lets our cat sleep in her basket and drink water from her bowl!

We saw quite a few, you might think, "crazy people", who were in the water despite the terrible weather. Can you guess what they are doing? They aren't fishing, by the way.

I'm sure these men weren't very warm (it's nearly December! and we are talking about the Baltic sea), but they were using their nets to gather amber. Yes, amber - Lithuanian gold. We had some strong winds the day before and whenever we have a storm the sea gives us back some of the prehistoric goods.

It was very sad to see that the storm had done some damage - lots of flat fish were thrown on the shore with waves and didn't manage to go back... I've never seen anything like that before. Poor fish.

It looked like the seagulls were also talking about the storm - they kept close to each other and were constantly looking around, I guess they were also secretly observing the men with nets, probably hoping for some fresh catch. They must have been disappointed in the end...

Colours of the “Sleeping” Garden

2009-11-20T07:06:00.001-08:00

Once again I’ve been taught a lesson – I need to carry my camera everywhere! If I don’t have it, no doubt I will see something worth documenting!

You could ask “so what did you miss this time?” and I would tell you a story about a crow that panicked loudly and a young black cat, that was very ambitious and brave…

First I heard a crow, I could tell the bird was worried, but couldn’t figure out why. It was sitting at the top of a tree with its friend, both swinging on the week branches… One more glance and I realized it wasn’t another bird! It was a black cat, slowly moving towards its prey. Everything looked so terrifying, just because the branches were very week indeed…

Anyway, the crow wasn’t stupid – it flew off and the cat, being a very agile creature, happily reached the ground. So the story has its happy ending, but I just wish I had some photos to illustrate all this.

No cat and no crow, just some photos I took in the garden. We actually saw some sun today! And I managed to find bright colours in our “sleeping” garden, where the plants are slowly dying off for winter.

Making Presents

2009-11-12T06:50:00.000-08:00

I’m keeping an eye on quite a few blogs and it seems that more and more bloggers are getting into Christmas spirit. Just like me!

First snowflakes and dark evenings are signs that the magic holiday is getting closer and closer…
I love this period and the whole anticipation – I have so many ideas for decorations, presents and treats… I hope I won’t run out of time!

I knew I wasn’t the only one with Christmas on my mind when a few days ago my friends started talking about swapping Christmas presents. It was decided that this year we should swap presents that we have made ourselves (don’t know if this decision was triggered by the economical crises or the fact that handmade things are getting more and more popular, but I said “yes, let’s do it!”). We haven’t agreed on a budget for the materials that we’d need, I think that someone even suggested that: “the present has to be made of something you already have at home”, so I guess it will have to be something not expensive, but original…

I could make lots of things (blowing my own trumpet or what???), but whatever idea I had, I realized that for most of them I’d need to go shopping – need yarn for a scarf, need a wooden box or a frame if I want to decorate them using decoupage technique, need canvas for a painting…

Anyway, after several days of thinking and looking through my crafts box I decided that I’ll make an effort to create a bracelet from small beads! I’ve never done that before, but… always wanted to.

It turns out it’s not that hard, but you need to be patient. I’m using a lid from a shoe box – made small carvings at each end where the threads go and then just work with a needle.

At the moment my only concern is what to do with the threads on the ends once the bracelet is done. I guess I will have to look into it…

Autumn Stories

2009-10-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

It’s been a long time since I last posted anything, but there’s a reason – I feel very guilty of rushing off and telling everyone about Kitty. The day I did it, we were sure she was going to make it, but her illness must have been stronger than we thought it would be.

We had her for less than a week, but she straightaway became a member of the pack, so no doubt it took some time, before I started to calm down and realise that despite such sad moments life CAN BE and IS beautiful.

Now I keep looking around and enjoy all of the autumn stories:

- about leaves silently changing their colour, sparkling in the sun and then falling on the ground;

- about a boy, who tried to catch the wind and for a split second took off the solid ground;

- or some simple joys of life: a warm scarf, a cup of tea and an ability to watch the setting sun form inside a cosy house.

Showing Kitty to the World

2009-10-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

The cat that we "catnapped" last week, Kitty Emerald is getting a bit better: she’s eating more, doesn’t hiss at the other animals and is cleaning here fur! When we got her she was a bit smelly, but now she seems to pay a lot more attention to her personal hygiene. I’m sure she won’t ask us to get her a tooth brush, but if she continues her rituals, she might even avoid a bath!

Sadly a vet had to be involved, but it seems that the injections, that we will have to give her for a couple more days, are helping. Syringes and needles, as you can imagine, aren't our best friends, but antibiotics and vitamins are certainly doing their job. And as Kitty seems to be more confident in the house I took some photos.

Sorry about the quality – we have an immensely jealous dog, who can’t understand why someone else gets a bit more attention than her… So one sniffs, the other moves and here’s what comes out:

Here you can see my slipper and extremely cute bent Kitty's whiskers!

Here's a better one. But she looks a bit worried... The dog must have stood just behind me.

Lovely green eyes.

At the Right Time

2009-10-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

Today in the morning we had our first frost this autumn - it's a bit early, but still very exciting.

I woke up thinking it will be another wet and miserable day, but the sun was rising in a clear blue sky, so I looked out of the window and the fields around the house were white! It was so pretty... I admired the sight for a few minutes and then decided to grab my camera and take some photos, while walking the dog. (By the way, when we left the house the dog looked like she had just won the lottery - show a husky something what looks at least a bit like snow and they go mad!)

Walking in the garden I realised that so many jobs haven't been done - still need to put turf on roses, lavender and other plants that are likely to suffer during the winter period, need to dig out dahlias, rake the leaves, and gather walnuts... Well, I think you are getting the idea of what I'll be busy with this weekend… But I shouldn’t complain, as there are certain things that HAVE been done at the right time.

First of all I've nearly finished my extremely warm mohair scarf - a few more evenings and I'll be ready for the coming winter, and more importantly - I think we've saved life to a cat. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but our Kitty Emerald (yes, she’s got a very posh name!) is so thin at the moment… She doesn’t do much, just stays in her new cosy bed, doesn’t eat much and seems a bit miserable, but I hope she will survive. Well, she wouldn’t have much of a chance if she had stayed on the street in this weather… I’ll keep you informed.

Colours of the Passing Storm

2009-10-05T09:38:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had a nasty storm – the wind was blowing so hard that it was knocking the trees over! It kept raining all day long and a few times the rain turned into hail. The harbour was closed, so several ships had to stay rocking on the waves before the wind dropped down a bit and it was finally safe to enter the port. I must admit I was tempted to go out just to see what it looked like on the beach, but in the end it was decided that it might be a bit dangerous to leave the house.

Today, when the wind isn’t so strong, I managed to take some photos of the Baltic – so have a look at the colours of the passing storm.

Rustic Apple Pie

2009-10-04T02:37:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe that it’s October! Already!?

Well, if I look out of the window… I suppose it really is. The wind is very strong and it keeps raining non stop. I raked all the leaves yesterday, but the grass is covered in them again today… Don’t want to go out! And I don’t think I will, although I’m tempted to see the waves in the Baltic… Anyway, till it stops raining I will sit in our warm house, read my book and enjoy the so called rustic apple pie that I made last night.

If your or your friends’ orchard is full of apples, don’t be lazy and make one as well!

Rustic Apple Pie

125g melted butter
125g sugar
2 big eggs
375g flour
2 tea spoons of baking powder
¼ tea spoon of salt
70ml milk
4 biggish apples
2 spoons of any jam

Use food processor to mix sugar and eggs, add butter and mix till sugar dissolves completely. Flour, baking powder and salt should be mixed separately and then this mix should be gradually added to the sugar, eggs and butter mix. Keep pouring milk, so that your dough wouldn’t go hard.

Prepare a round baking tin – cover it in butter and then coat it with flour. Once your dough is solid place it in the baking tin. The top of your dough should be then covered in sliced apple without the skin.

Bake your pie for about 40-50 minutes, your oven should be preheated to 180C.

When you take your pie out of the oven cover the top in jam. Eat it while it’s hot! as autumn is all about colours and hot food :)

Oxburgh Hall

2009-09-24T06:48:00.000-07:00

Before leaving for any foreign country I warn everyone that I would like to visit at least a few interesting places – it can be just a walk by a picturesque river, a little village and their local church, Sunday’s market or a museum of some sort… So I spend hours on my computer searching for anything that seems suitable.

This time I was prompted to have a look at a place called Oxburgh Hall. I had a look, liked it and said that we need to see it!

Oxburgh Hall is a moated country house in Oxborough, Norfolk, today in the hands of the National Trust. When you arrive to its car park (a green lawn in front of the brick fence) you can’t actually see it, so you are left to keep guessing how big it’s going to be… Before you enter you are asked to part with some money – I can’t remember how much we paid, but I think that the price wasn’t too steep. So they don’t actually ruin your mood on entering the premises – or maybe I remember things so just because the sun was shining and everything around looked really nice?

I fell in love with the view immediately after the first glance! - the house itself, the pretty lawns, the knot garden and the so unusual square moat.

Here’s some historical information that I found about Oxburgh Hall on the internet:

"Built around 1482 by Sir Edmund Bedingfeld, Oxburgh has always been a family home, not a fortress. The manor of Oxburgh came to the Bedingfeld family by marriage before 1446, and the house has been continuously inhabited by them since their construction of it in 1482, the date of Edward Bedingfeld's licence to crenellate.

A fine example of a late medieval, inward-facing great house, Oxburgh stands within a square moat about 75 metres on each side, and was originally enclosed; the hall range facing the gatehouse was pulled down in 1772 for Sir Richard Bedingfeld, providing a more open U-shaped house, with the open end of the U facing south.

The hall is well known for its priest hole. Due to the Catholic faith of the Bedingfeld family, a Catholic priest may have had to hide within the small disguised room in the event of a raid. The room is reached via a trapdoor, which when closed blends in with the tiled floor. Unlike many similar priest holes, the one at Oxburgh is open to visitors."

I must admit the priest hole was an interesting room, but I really wouldn’t recommend it for someone who suffers from claustrophobia. (And NO, I didn’t go there – it seemed to me that I would get stuck!) But as I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside the house, sadly I can’t really show you what it looks like… Instead here are some more photos of the façade.

That's the "...grand fortified gatehouse, evoking the owner's power and prestige, though as fortification its value is largely symbolic...". This is what it looks like from the inner yard. By the way, I really liked the square sun dial at the top. Well, as you can see while it was sunny, you could actually tell the time!

The whole house is very ornate – there are lots of sculptures, interesting shapes and even the chimneys are like little pieces of art! I guess these must be the Victorian additions that are mentioned on the internet “…Victorian additions include the Flemish-style stepped gables, the massive southeast tower, the oriel windows overhanging the moat and terracotta chimneys”.

And once we climbed one of the towers, looking around the estate I remembered a song sung by a Lithuanian singer called Jurga. The song is named “Nebijok” (“Don’t be afraid”) and the refrain goes like this: Mes su Tavim turim naktį drąsos/ Įsiklausyt į kalbą tamsos/ Lipt stogais ir žiūrėt žemyn/ Kas brangu – nebijok apkabint.

It could be translated to something like that: „at night we have enough courage to climb the roofs, listen to the language of the darkness, to climb the roofs and look down, don‘t be afraid to hug the things that are precious to you“.

Anyway, to me these roofs looked like the one‘s that would be perfect for a romantic date while watching a sunset! And here's a link for the song, if you're curious:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VynheEdHe0w

Pretty gravel walkways that take you round the country house and down to the small Catholic church... Which I think it isn‘t that common in England?

The church itself is rather small, yet quite cosy and not as ornate as it usually is popular in the Catholic tradition. But the thing that stuck in my memory the most was in the church yard - a little grave of a stillborn girl, who was born in 2003 and a very meaningful sentence on the grave stone – „home without a journey”. I found it very comforting – we keep saying “life’s journey”, but to my mind we never see the end of this journey as a return home…

Have I mentioned the gardens? They are really nice – you could find there lots of vegetables and flowers. And if you haven’t got a garden and would like to show your children how tomatoes, cucumbers or pumpkins grow, come to Oxburgh Hall in Autumn!

And if you are looking for a special treat – come to Oxburgh Hall before Christmas. We were told that then the staff dresses up in old medieval clothes and you can see what this country house looked like several ages ago.

Catching up... What's happened in September

2009-09-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a month since I last posted anything on my blog - and I must admit I really missed searching for the best photos and writing about things that I like...

Well, there's been a good reason for my silence - September has been FULL of nice events, but in order to take part in them I had to get on a plane, which is a real torture for me! Don’t get me wrong - I like travelling, I love seeing new and interesting places, but I can only calm down once I've landed safely or maybe even only once I’ve left the airport…

One of those scary flying things... Stanstead Aiport, the 9th of September, 2009

Whenever we get plane tickets I get anxious and I'm sure I annoy everyone else by not being able to get excited! About a week before my journey at nights I have problems sleeping and during the days I quite often lift my eyes into the sky in order to judge the flying conditions... I know it’s not very normal, but I think that I can still cope with my fear. When would I say that I can’t? Probably the time when I would kiss the ground after getting out of a plane (a bit of turbulence, a few bumps and one day that might happen – no, no, it won’t… everything will always be fine – positive thinking!).

Good flying conditions a few days before leaving for England

Well, this time I just couldn’t stay at home – my boyfriend’s granddad was celebrating his 100th Birthday! (What’s the secret of longevity? In his case we think it is cod liver oil – so from now on boys and girls, please don’t forget to swallow a spoon or two a day!) It was really exciting as I don’t think that many people reach this age, oh, and if they live in the UK they even get a Birthday card from the Queen!

How old would you say is this guy? 100! (the one who's acctually blowing the candles)

I like England – it’s so different to any other country, but somehow it’s very appealing. I’m glad that people there stick to their ways of doing things and maintain their heritage. Lots of stuff in England is very ‘country livingish’ – it’s fun to go hiking on a Saturday or Sunday, there are so many Manor Houses and Castles that are packed with goods from middle ages, it’s not surprising if someone owns a horse, gardens are kept well and cooking can be turned into a ritual that unites the whole family…

Anyway… this time in England I got lots of lovely magazines, for eg. ‘Country Living’, ‘Homes & Antiques’, '25 Beautiful Homes' etc. (10 out of 10 in the scale of pleasure!) and went to see a country house in Oxborough, Norfolk (9 out of 10 in the scale of pleasure – as the only things that are left are my memories and a few photos…) –I’ll tell you some more about the house later on this week!

Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk - worth a visit!

A Few Signs that it’s Nearly Autumn

2009-08-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago I was thinking that summer will leave us soon, but at the same time believed that there are still enough days to enjoy the rest of it. Now I’m noticing that everything’s changing quite fast – we get more and more rain, the sky is turning cloudier and I have to push myself hard to get out into the open. No, it’s not cold (yet), but my mood is somehow different – I guess I’m turning into a rodent (not literally!) who wants to prepare its den for the winter.

Since last April I haven’t touched my knitting needles, but now in just three days I’ve managed to make a new jumper! No need to think I’m some “SK” (superknitter) – it’s just a small jumper for my 2 year old godson, but still it’s a garment that will have to keep him WARM.

What do you make of it? I’d say that my biological clock is working well (apart from the fact that I’m 29 and think that I’m FAR too young to have children). Anyway, let’s shout “hurray!” for the knitting season. And here’s one more knitting pattern.

It isn’t difficult and looks good, can you ask for more?

Please use the diagram below.

Hopefully one day I will be able to post some photos of my nephew actually wearing the jumper – it’s hard as he lives 300km away from me; but it seems that my niece likes hers a lot! She couldn’t put it down while spending a week here with us. By the way my nephew is in one of the photos below – he’s the stripy one on the horse.

The Crafty Mess

2009-08-22T02:04:00.001-07:00

Just the other day I read Kel's (a friend from the Independent New Zeeland!) post about how he is working on his book and what things help him to concentrate and generate original thoughts.

(This post can be found here: http://www.lunch.lt/the-writing-of-the-ziploc-bag.html)

I realised that indeed there has to be a special media where you'd feel good and inspired. (I haven't got a room that would be dedicated for my 'projects', so arty things happen all over the house... but I'd like to have one. And meanwhile I have just a special box that is kept for inspiration: there's lots of magazine and newspaper clippings with photos or stories that attracted my attention.)

Anyway, yesterday I dropped by a family's friend, who makes jewellery and realised that her source of inspiration can be found in her kitchen!

That's the kitchen window with lots of angels and stones, and a very nice view into her private garden.

I was allowed to take some photos - to tell the truth I've been willing to do that for ages, but never was brave enough to ask if I could... (What was wrong with me that day???).

Handmade pots and an old hmm... thing for dusting your carpets. Do people still use them?

For someone who likes modern things this room would look like a complete mess, but I think it's simply brilliant!

Wooden boards and a salt-cellar with a lazy cat.

Bright yellow walls, colourful kettles, tiny details and a real stove that produces lots of heat in the winter! (Sorry I didn't get the stove, but I had some camera problems that day.)

This kitchen might not be suitable for a gourmet chef (there aren't any fancy pots, cookers or food processors), but it's perfect for a busy artist, who's experiencing her angel period at the moment.

The cluttered work table with lots of metal things on it.

And here's one of the silver angels with golden halo and heart. Still not finished, but getting there...

Denmark And Austria - More Books

2009-08-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

I haven’t posted anything on my Virtual Tour for a long time, but it’s not because I haven’t been reading… it’s just that I didn’t have enough time to write thorough reports. So I guess it will be best if I just give a quick update on several books at a time and provide some links where, if need be, more information can be found.

Denmark – Peter Hoeg “The Quiet Girl”

This book appeared in 2006 and in Denmark ‘was generally disregarded as being either too complex or too post-modern’. I must admit it was quite complicated – reading it I could feel that it’s been written by a very intelligent person whose knowledge in most subjects is far greater than of a standard European (no doubt mine as well…). At the same time it was a book which made me laugh out loud – the author’s sense of humour is simply brilliant – I wish I could have such a healing attitude towards life!

You might already be familiar with Peter Hoeg if you’ve read his “Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow”. For more information on this book please have a look here:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article2645069.ece

Austria – Susanna Kubelka “Ophelia Learns to Swim”

Susanna Kubelka was born in Austria, but now is presented as a German speaking writer who lives in France. Although “Ophelia Learns to Swim” was written in 1987 it can be easily confused for a very modern book, which encourages women to live their life with no regrets, taking every chance (hence all the 40 lovers that Ophelia has counted…). Such attitude isn’t for me, but I know that nowadays it’s quite popular. Well, the book wasn’t too bad and I guess in some ways it was even inspiring – advertising the thought that you shouldn’t stop and should always continue to follow your dreams.

For more information on this book please have a look here:

http://www.shvoong.com/books/novel/255074-ophelia-learns-swim/

2009 Summer Favourites

2009-08-16T03:14:00.000-07:00

That’s it: from now on the rest of the summer days will simply melt… I can already spot the changes – cool breeze, stormy nights and swirls of yellow leaves on the road sides… It’s not that I’m not ready for autumn (it has its own charm), it’s just that the summer has been so short… yet full of nice and exciting moments.

Don't forget to open your eyes wider, grab the last summer rays and fill your life with colourful memories!

Hundreds of Masts

2009-07-31T06:28:00.000-07:00

Where are you going to be this weekend? If not in Klaipeda (Lithuania) you will miss the hundreds of masts that reached our harbour yesterday evening…

So far I’ve seen just a few, but they all make me want to explore the far away seas – the Mediterranean and the Aegean… (I prefer hot countries and light blue waters that you can see in the fancy post cards!). I’m so jealous… but only for a few minutes, as looking at the rocking boats I remember that I’m very good at feeling dizzy whenever I’m not on stable ground... Still, I hope I can overcome this one day!

The Tall Ships’ Races 2009 is the greatest event of the Millennium anniversary of Lithuania in the West of the country! (Oh, yes, it certainly is!)

Some info from the official website: „for the first time in the millennium history of our country so many sailing ships with foreign flags are going to visit Klaipeda Seaport simultaneously. This supreme event will serve as a good occasion to our country’s citizens understanding that Lithuania is not only the Maritime State engaged in cargo handling, but the port’s activities are also related to sailing ships.”

To my mind sailing is getting more and more popular (the theory classes I attended last spring were full), but no doubt it’s a sport for the rich. It’s not enough just to buy a yacht – you must think of how much it will cost to keep it. I guess it’s the old story about any expensive thing – even if you can buy it, but you can’t afford to run it or keep it - it’s not for you.

Anyway, it’s free just to have a look at them, so at the moment I’m using this opportunity and keep my fingers crossed that one day someone else will be looking at my vessel!

More on Tall Ships’ Races: http://www.tallships.lt/lt/the_tall_ships_races_baltic_2009_klaipeda.html

Holidays (Part 3) – The Way Back Home

2009-07-29T00:53:00.000-07:00

On the way to Kiel, from where we had to sail, we chose to have a look at some small towns on the coast of the Baltic Sea. We avoided motorways and kept going along narrow country roads: looking at cabbage or corn fields, admiring German gardens and occasionally smelling fresh cow sh…

The first place we stopped at was a car park in the middle of nowhere – according to the map we had to be very close to the sea, so we jumped out and hurried down a paved path. What a shame! It ended with a sign that said we weren’t allowed to carry on. We could see some buildings and satellite dishes and it turned out there was some military base.

Back at the car we spotted some people walking the other direction, crossing a field of rye and disappearing in some woodland. We had a theory they were going to the beach and we were right!

That’s how I imagine the book cover for the book ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D.Salinger (although it’s definitely not a book on agriculture!) – an enormous field of rye just ended and we came up to a huge creek.

The water was very warm, but the beach was full of stones, so it was a bit hard to walk on it and to get into the water. Well, it was the same Baltic Sea, that we are used to, but it looked so different! Even the sea weeds (fucus vesiculosus), that we also find on our coast, looked somehow bigger…

Just before reaching Kiel we stopped in a town called Strand (the name means ‘beach’) and we could straight away see that this was a place for the wealthy ones. Situated next to the Kiel Yacht Club it had cosy hotels, busy cafes and a lovely sand beach, once again filled with those German baskets (Germans must be allergic to laying on the sand!).

During our holidays we stayed close to the coast and it was so rewarding! The Germans must be so lucky to have the two seas next to each other and of course a much longer coast line than we have here in Lithuania (only 99km).

So I left the country thinking that it would be very nice to own a yacht and to come back one day to these parts at least for a long weekend…

Holidays (Part 2) – More on German Style

2009-07-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

The first night we arrived we were invited to a Yugoslavian restaurant by our friendly German hosts. To tell the truth, by the time we got to Meldorf we were quite tired, but it seemed rude to refuse, so we joined in… And I must admit we had a lovely evening!

Well, I certainly did as I ordered a plate of prawns with salad and they came in a huge bowl, laid out in a circle somehow pointing their heads up like small cobras. It was impressive, but I didn’t have my camera with me. And thinking about it, even if I had it, I’m not sure if I would have taken a photo… Germans have lots of rules, some things are ‘Verboten’ (forbidden) and for some things you just need to have an ‘Ausweiss’ (license). I have noticed that several years ago and while visiting Germany I tend to be very cautious.

On the day we went to Busum (a small, but busy German North sea resort) and didn’t have our hosts with us, I sneakily took a photo of my plate – so you can see that their cooks are good at creating wonders! And if you ever end up in Busum you must have fish or sea food – lovely smell from some restaurant just won’t let you go by.

Talking about small towns, which are worth a look if you happen to travel round those parts – make sure you spend a few hours in Friedrichstadt. It’s a town situated on river Eide and its history goes back to 1621, when it was founded by Dutch settlers! Duke Friedrich III of Holstein-Gottorp pursued them to invest capital and knowledge in this region in turn for freedom of their Mennonite and Remonstrant religion and opportunities to reclaim fen and marsh land in the vicinity of the town. At the time Dutch became an official language, but by 1630, many citizens had already returned to the Netherlands as the city did not become as successful as anticipated. Nowadays it’s a cute little town with very ornate architecture, long canals and in the summer – lots of colourful roses.

I think that people in this German region lead very good lives – the food is tasty and they can spoil themselves enjoying sea food, small towns are close to each other and are easily reached by not busy country roads, the nature is nice and provides all sorts of ways to spend your free time… Have a guess what Germans like the most? Of course cycling! If you ask me they are ‘enbischen verruckt’ (a little bit crazy) with their bikes, but on the other hand it must be healthy and eco friendly.

Yes, Germans have a lot to teach... ‘Ordnung muss zein’ (there has to be order) is obviously working – my boyfriend kept wondering: ‘the country is bigger than England, but trains are always on time!’. (Well, nearly always…) Just before going home we had a chance to visit Hamburg and we went there by train. To get to this city we had to change 2 times, so we ended up traveling on 4 German trains - all were clean and comfortable and only the last one was 5 minutes late, but we were going into the second biggest city in Germany (6th biggest in the EU), so you can always expect such delays.

I must admit the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is nice, but a bit too big for my liking. There’s much to see and the cultural life must be amazing, but I had to do a lot of walking, so my feet were hurting and I was turning into a grumpy tourist, who didn’t manage to take lots of photos… Just a few – a busy café near one of the canals (these are always packed with tired grumpy foreigners) and of the town hall, which is really huge!

To be continued...

Holidays (Part 1) – A Study on the North Sea

2009-07-21T05:29:00.001-07:00

Right… where do I begin? Hmm… probably that we travelled on a ferry that sails between Lithuania and Germany three times a week. It’s a huge white boat that can carry more than 500 passengers and God knows how many cars and trucks… better not to think about it, as my limited knowledge of physics always makes my brain spin – how did we manage to float???

It’s supposedly the biggest ship in the Lithuanian fleet and therefore it’s named Maxima, although my dad says that the previous ferry he used to work on – Gloria – is 40 centimetres longer. Well, maybe it is, but I don’t think that this matters, when you stand on the six’s floor and look down into the water…

Most of the journey we didn’t see anything, but the Baltic Sea. Occasionally we’d spot a boat, so far away that it would look just like a dot on the horizon, but it got more and more interesting when we entered the outskirts of Kiel.

We were greeted by several lighthouses and lots of yachts and we could immediately tell that it must be one of the main maritime centres of Germany. (Later on I found out that the Olympic sailing competitions of the 1936 and the 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Kiel.) Having learnt about navigation I could only sympathise with the captain, as the traffic there was really heavy…

In Germany we stayed in between Kiel and Hamburg, in a little town called Meldorf. Well, it’s actually a village with a population of about 7000, non the less it’s cute and every Friday has a big market where you can buy delicacies from the North Sea (didn’t go there this year as we had some arrangements in Hamburg).

The North Sea is a lot different to the Baltic and always attracts my attention. First of all they have floods! I can’t even imagine turning up on the beach and finding out the there’s no water…

Another minus - in the region where we stayed, there are no dunes! You climb over a hill covered in grass and find more grass… Well, this can be explained – these are flood banks that clever Germans started building in the 11th century (back then they were only 40 centimetres high, now they reach 8 meters!).

The other clever thing they do is let their sheep on these hills so that they would trample the grass down and make the whole construction stable. I love sheep, so I have to say there’s something positive about the North Sea.

The green grass might look good in photos, but I prefer lying on hot sand and not sitting in a basket, oh, and I also prefer to wear my bikini! They say do in Rome as the Romans do, but I don’t think I would ever dare to demonstrate my naked body the way Germans do – they have no changing cabins, so just take everything off and go for a shower to wash the sea water off! (No photos to illustrate that, I’m afraid… just the crazy basket.)

I might be moaning a lot, but I can think of one more positive thing - they have lots of crabs and shrimps in the North Sea! Several years ago in Wales, amazed to how easy it is to catch crabs (and then informed that I shouldn’t say anything like that as somebody might have other ideas) I never loose the opportunity. This time just on a string with a bolt to weigh it down and some German cheese to lure the strange creatures, I managed to catch two at once! (No worries, both went back into the sea.)

It might seem that the holidays in the small town on the coast went pretty slowly. Yes, we did watch the sunset and yachts returning to the harbour before the gates were shut, we walked on the beach and observed some wild life - but just one night. In reality we managed to pack a lot into our five days!

To be continued...

De Cuba Garden

2009-07-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

To my mind this is the best outdoor restaurant in Lithuania. I love their colourful garden! The plants look really happy here and I think that if I ever get to the stage, where I can finally build and plant on my piece of land (mad Lithuanian regulations...) I will strive to make my garden similar to this.

By the way, the designer, who made it happen, is British!

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

2009-07-06T02:42:00.000-07:00

I can finally say that I’ve been to the beach this summer! And I can tell you that it was quite rewarding… Well, I have to use the word ‘quite’ because not everything was perfect – the sun was shining, there were no clouds, the sand was warm, even the sandwiches, that we’d brought, tasted nice (I guess food always tastes nice outdoors), but… the water of the Baltic was still too cold…

I had my camera and was looking for some models. Suddenly some seagulls caught my eye.

Most of them were flying round the dunes – spreading their wings widely and then diving down. I was too far away in order to see what was happening, so I decided to move closer…

It turned out that a real life drama, probably worth to be shown on Natural Geographic, was taking place right next to the bent grass. Loads of bugs were happily enjoying themselves in the greenery and didn’t even anticipate that someone might be after them.

At first the seagulls thought I looked suspicious, but later on they had no problems flying around me and doing their dirty deeds.

Some of the photos that I took will be used to make a present for my friend, who’s getting married in August. She used to live on the coast, but now moved 300km away from it, so hopefully they will remind her how great our beach is! She’s also been fascinated by the book by Richard Bach ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’, so I’m sure it will be something personal and very special.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Jonathan is that brilliant little fire that burns within us all, that lives only for those moments when we reach perfection. Richard Bach

Ireland (The Virtual Tour)

2009-06-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Finally a book that you can read just for pleasure... like eating a chocolate bar - it lasts till the last bite! But on the other hand it's easily forgettable - admit it, time passes and then you realise that once again you are craving for something sweet...

'Sushi for Beginners' is easy to read, entertaining and has an uplifting ending. I'd classify it as a book for women though. (Well, one can also wonder - do men read? Remembering my dad‘s joke "What if I buy you a book for your birthday? Oh, no, I already have one book!" - probably they don’t… at least not as much as women do.) I don’t think I know a man who’d be willing to analyze feelings or emotions and to soak up all the details of an everyday life of young women, who try to find their happiness (i.e. the other half), to be good mothers to their children or strive to become fashion divas.

Although some people (women?) who’ve read her books say that Marian Keyes creates novels that ‘…are an unusual blend of comedy and darkness‘ (cover subjects like depression, addiction and illness) I‘d still put them as an easy reading for your summer holidays. I guess it‘s just because you know that everything‘s going to be fine in the end.

- (For those who'd be interested to find out more about depression I'd recommend 'Prozac' by Elizabeth Wurtzel and 'The Bell Jar' by SylviaPlath)

Synopsis

Hard-nosed, bitch-goddess London fashion editor Lisa Edwards was certain her "fabulous" promotion would mean more A-list parties, society page photos, and jet-setting jaunts to the fall collections.

Instead, she's being deported, Prada wardrobe and all, to supremely un-chic Dublin to launch Colleen magazine. Her assistant editor, over-organized world-class worrier Ashling Kennedy, however, is thrilled with her new job . . .until she discovers it comes with a very high price tag: Lisa Edwards. And then there's Ashling's oldest, dearest chum, Clodagh "Princess" Kelly, who seems to have achieved true happily-ever-after suburban fairy tale bliss -- but lately has this irresistible urge to kiss a frog. The chances of three such diverse, equally unsatisfied women bonding would be remote anywhere except in staid Dublin town, "the magazine version of Siberia." And once they do, they're going to start shaking things up -- in print and out of it -- especially when Colleen's rumpled, moody, wickedly attractive head honcho Jack Devine is tossed into the mix.

Almond Flavoured Pretzel

2009-06-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

Whenever I crave for something sweet and there’s nothing that could save me immediately (a bar of chocolate, some sweets or biscuits) I decide to make a cake. Yes, the process might be long and tiring, but you benefit at least twice – 1. you get to lick the bowl and 2. later on you can enjoy hot homemade dainty!

I’ve got a huge book for such occasions: imagine a thick colourful catalogue of cakes and tarts… Of course I would always go for the ones that look most spectacular, but usually my choice is limited to what ingredients can be found at home. So here’s a list of what I needed and actually found:

375g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
125g butter
185g sugar
3 eggs
vanilla flavour
125ml milk
125 raspeberry jam
125g coconut shavings
almond flavour

At first you need to take just 125g of sugar and mix it well with the egg yolks; later on add the melted butter. Mix flour, baking powder and salt; then start adding it to the previous mix. Keep pouring milk, so that the mix wouldn’t be too hard. Add some vanilla flavour. Your dough should be solid and a bit gummy (trust me it will be hard to get it out of the bowl - but more is left on the walls!).

A round baking tin should be covered in butter and sprinkled with flour. Then lay your dough. On top of it place the raspberry jam.

Now you can prepare the almond flavoured top for your cake: whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar (you should have 60g left) and almond flavour. Once the whites are hard add the coconut shavings. Stir them in carefully. Put the whites on top of the jam.

The cake should be baked for about 40-50 minutes, the oven should be preheated to 180 degrees.

I’m sure you’ll like it!

SUN?day

2009-06-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

It’s nearly the middle of June, but looking out of the window I simply don’t believe it… The calendar must be wrong! It’s cold and miserable and it’s raining cats and dogs…

I woke up to the sound of drops attacking our roof – quite a cosy symphony, while you’re still tucked up in bed, but not as pleasant, when finishing your breakfast, you realise you’re going to be stuck at home.

In the afternoon I decided to be brave and to go outside just too make some photos – the colours look somehow brighter in the rain. I must admit I didn’t want to stay out long: one lap around the garden was more than enough!

Why do English people say it’s raining cats and dogs? Hmm… there must be some explanation… In this weather, we Lithuanians also tend to mention dogs, but we would say that a good owner wouldn’t even leave his dog outside. Mine is certainly indoors, spending her SUNday on a warm carpet.