Our Garage from Space

The red square marks the little garage (tin box) we keep our car in.

Our apartment is in the end of the building next to the garage.

Driving in Moscow during the winter.

It was snowing real nice this morning so I thought I would bring the camera along and take some photos as I drove (for safety reasons not recommened) through the city but by the time I was out the snow had stopped. Anyway here are a few photos as I drove through town.

Here they are loading snow to be hauled out of the city.This is us back home and the car tucked away into its little garage. It is really nothing more then a tin box, but it keeps the snow and froze off the car at night. Keeps it a bit safer too.

Colours of Summer and Winter

No! not the colours of the leaves on the trees, but the colour of our car, as during the winter when the streets of the city are constantly dirty it is in possible to keep it clean so our car is usually dirty for long spells. It is illegal to wash you car on the street or by the building you live in, so you have to take it to a car wash, as it normaly cost from €10 to €15 to do this, I don't do it too often and somtimes even if I do it can be dirty again in a few days. In a effort to keep the city clean and pretty the Mayor was instructing the police to make drivers of dirty cars wash their cars before entrying the city and driving on his dirty streets. By law you should be able to read the number plate from 25m. I was only 2-3m from the car when I took this photo, can you read it, have a go, you can even zoom in, if you can get 4 or more correct and in order I might have to consider giving a prize.

During this snow shower, the snowflakes keep getting bigger and bigger till they were about the size of a fist, I tryed to catch a short video clip of it on my camera but in the few minutes it took me to figure out how to do this the snowflakes has gotten smaller again. Sorry it is not very clear.

Happy New Year-2008

Russians celebrate Christmas on the 6th & 7th of January according to the Orthodox calendar On these days there are special Orthodox services to mark the occasion, however this is not the big or main celebration of Russians for Christmas and New Years. New Years Eve is their main or big celebration, this is the time family and friends will get together, have a special meal and exchange presents. They will welcome in the New Year with champagne and then go outside and shoot off fireworks. Usually you will begin to see fire works from the time it get dark, but most come out after midnight and very often will continue till 3 or 4 in the morning. This is the night Russian party all night long with many not going to sleep till 9 or 10 the next morning. Here in Moscow many will go to different fireworks displays put on by the city, like the big one down on Red Square. This year we were with our friends for New Years Eve, had some nice food went out and shot some fire works, came home after midnight, went out with the kids and shot off some more fire works with all the other folks around our place that were out doing the same.

Daniel's youtube ambitions

Daniel keeps making these photos strips which he then wants me to make into a move strip and post on youtube! What do you think? (this is only a short sample)

Kids with a Camera

As I was up loading the photos from our camera to the computer, I saw a lot of picture on it that the kids had taken. They like to take the camera and go around the house taken snaps of just about anything, so I thought i would share a small selection of them with you.

Sonja in braids

Karina & Timothy

Gudrun and her boys

Who is spiderman?

Karina's stuffed animals arranged for her to take a photo of them!