Painting.

In 2005 just before we moved into our apartment it had all been painted with just one coat of white paint. The idea was that over time we would paint the different rooms with the colours we wanted. Well it never happened, there just never seemed to be enough time or the right time, with the exception of two bedroom which we were force to paint due to some water damage from upstairs everything stayed the same with the coat of white paint.  This year our summer looked a little quieter that other years so we decided that we would take July as semi-vacation and do the decorating necessary.  So this week we got started with the hallway/corridor and kitchen.  So with many helpers, in two days we were able to get all the ceilings and walls finished.  It was such a big effort to get it all done in such a short time and by the end of the two days we were all very tired and sore, so we are taking a few days break before starting on the next project, the living/sitting room.  Check in again next week to see how we get on with the living room.

Moscow by Night

From a vantage point high above Volgograd, Moscow resembles a bright, glittering star in a nighttime photograph captured by one of the crew members of the International Space Station. In the photo, the sea-green and deep purple lights of an Aurora Borealis burn above a yellow airglow in the northwest as a bright-blue dawn rises in the northeast, NASA said in a statement on its website. Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/international-space-station-takes-stunning-nighttime-photo-of-moscow/456471.html#ixzz1redRN7hZThe Moscow Times

Video clip from Paddy's Day in Moscow

Sorry about the quality of the sound, it was record on a phone!

St Partick's day on Stary Arbat, Moscow

A few more pictures of the St Patrick's Day parade in Moscow

Paddy's Day in Moscow

Happy Christmas

We wish you all, our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

This Christmas we decided to have a real Christmas Tree rather than the artifical one we have been using for the last ten years. So as soon as they were available we headed out to get one, as Russians normally only put up trees for New Years, usually it is closer to New Years before they are avaailable, but over the last few years we have seen them being available before the western Christmas of Dec 25, so we were able to have our tree up a week before Christmas.

First we celebrate Christmas, Faroee's style on the 24th with roast duck (sorry no photo of the duck) and all the ususlly delicious trimmings that go with it, stuffing, sweet roasted potatos, mashed potatoes, veggies and a nice sauce. Then after dinner we will sit and open presents and later have dessert. This day we usually have as a family day by ourselves.

On the 25th in the morning we celabrated the birth of our Saviour with our friends in our church and then later we had some of our friends and co-worker over for christmas dinner and as is becoming our tradition we had a leg of roast lamb, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, veggies and again a nice sauce. And of course mint sauce for the Lamb. After dinner we exchanges some small gifts and then had a time where we sang some christmas corals together before having dessert.

Altogether as a family and with friends we had a wonderful Christmas, but...

Christmas is not just about presents and food, christmas is about Jesus Christ coming to this world as a little baby born in a stable in the town of Bethlehem. He came not just to be admired as a new born baby, he came to change the world and to give us the oppertunity to enjoy fellowship with our God and creater. We celabrate Christmas not just because he came, not just because we get presents or enjoy nice food and time with family and friends, we celebrate Christmas because of the life we have with our havenly Father through that baby that was born and who became our Saviour.

Winter mornings

Dec 22, 9.30am, still dark and snowing.