3 Days into My Meatless Experiment: Reflections and Observations

24 November, 2021 | Health & Wellness | 16 seen

I decided to take a quick experiment and stop eating meat for 7 days. Just meat, not dairy or eggs.

I guess age, current affairs, people around me, and go green hype have finally reached me. Despite that I still love meat, and I don't call myself a vegetarian. Not yet.

Today is day 3, and I noticed I eat a lot more veggies, bread, and fish. I will keep you posted

Going meat-free for a week is a great way to experiment with a plant-based diet and explore the potential benefits of reducing meat consumption. The growing awareness of animal welfare, environmental concerns, and health benefits has driven many people to consider reducing their meat intake or even transitioning to a vegetarian or vegan diet.

As a meat lover, the idea of giving up meat for a week might seem daunting. However, it is a small step that can have a significant impact on your health, the environment, and the lives of animals.

On day three of the experiment, it's not surprising that you have started to consume more veggies, bread, and fish. This shift in your diet has likely introduced new flavors, textures, and nutrients into your meals that you may not have…

Adding Custom CSS stylesheet to Drupal Olivero theme

23 November, 2021 | Drupal Development | 312 seen

Just recently I migrated my blog from Drupal 7 to the Drupal 9 platform, and this time I decided to stick with what I get, instead of building it all from scratch.

I really like the default experimental theme Drupal Olivero, but of course, there are a few things I would love to fine-tune. 

Instead of building a theme from scratch I decided to apply a few customizations for the stylesheet, and here is how (this is not recommended as when upgrading your Drupal theme you will need to patch it again and you risk loosing your custom.css file). 

from the themes folder (core/themes/Olivero) 

sudo nano olivero.libraries.yml

and under the base settings:

    css/custom.css: {}

now, I have my custom css stylesheet added and I can start fine-tuning / overriding existing theme

Top 10 Best Selling Mirrorless Cameras 2022

22 November, 2021 | Digital Photography School | 40 seen

When talking about mirrorless cameras in 2022, Canon, Sony, Nikon, and Panasonic are the brands to consider.

In this article, I've listed the top 10 best selling mirrorless cameras on Amazon.com

A quick note: Please note this list contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on the Amazon site, I will earn an affiliate income from that. Prices for mirrorless cameras listed on this page is retrieved by using Amazon Product Advertising API and is updated daily

• Dual Pixel CMOS AF for fast, accurate autofocus that helps you get the photo you want right as the moment happens
• 241 Megapixel APS C CMOS sensor and the DIGIC 8 Image Processor delivers incredible color, clear details, and stunning range
• Vari angle touchscreen LCD has a flexible tilt range ideal for high angle and low angle shooting, and reviewing your photos
• Built in high resolution electronic viewfinder features approximately 2,360,000 dots to see high amounts of…

Latvian National Opera

19 November, 2021 | Entertainment | 47 seen

The Latvian National Opera and Ballet is an opera house and opera company at Aspazijas boulevard 3 in Riga.

Its repertoire includes performances of opera and ballet presented during the season which lasts from mid-September to the end of May.

During a typical season, LNOB presents almost 200 performances, including, on average, 6 new productions. The largest is the Great Hall which houses 946 seats, while the smaller ones – the New Hall, the Dress Circle Hall (Beletāžas zāle) and the Red Hall – have a maximum seating capacity of 338, 170 and 100 respectively.

 The building is located on the bank of the Riga Canal, near the Freedom Monument. 

The origins of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet stem back to 1782 when the Riga City Theatre (Rigaer Stadttheater) a.k.a. the Musse Building was opened. It was designed by Christoph Haberland and housed a total of 500 seats. Its director Otto Hermann von Vietinghoff personally funded a symphony orchestra of 24 musicians. Conrad Feige who staged productions not only in Riga but also in St. Petersburg, Reval (Tallin) and Dorpat (Tartu), was invited to fill the posts of concert master and…

How to Rotate a video in Adobe Premiere Pro (Portrait to Landscape)

18 November, 2021 | Digital Photography School | 91 seen

Sometimes when filming with a mobile phone, I shoot in portrait mode. Portrait mode is Okay for social media posts, but not really cool looking on larger screens. 

Recently, when working on a larger home video in Adobe Premiere Pro, I discovered a few scenes shot in portrait mode, but actually where meant to be landscape. 

Without further ado, here is how to rotate a video in Adobe Premiere Pro

Upload your clip, from the timeline select clip, and click on the effects control, from there under Motion click Rotate and change to 90 degrees

Hope it helps. For a Youtube, tutorial check out this video: How to Rotate a video in Premiere Pro (Portrait to Landscape)

Vilgāle apt update: Hallway, Sauna and more

17 November, 2021 | Home Remodeling | 7 seen

It has been a few weeks already since the works with Vilgāle apt have been restarted, finishing the hallway, kitchen and sauna. more wiring were done, additional drywall constructions, some plumbing and a lot of sauna works. 

Hopefully the works could be done by the end of the year, but more realistic I'm looking on Spring 2022. Will see.

There is built a closet for storing wooden pellets, boiler and wood pellet stove itself.

Looks bit tidy, but will see

Still a lot to do, but the good thing, most of the plumbing is already done. Next tiles and wooden boards for sauna

here is planned to install little electric stove for sauna

Cost so far:

• Water plumbing: EUR 60
• Sadales Tīkls: EUR 60
• Electrician: EUR 155
• Architect: EUR 800
• Removing walls and floor: EUR 775
• Chalk removing, / wiring: EUR 500
• Wall plastering/frame for drywall ceiling (bedroom): EUR 875
• New windows: EUR 1,252 
• Window replacement: EUR 200
• Estrich floor with an underfloor heating system and all plumbing: EUR 1,916
• Rock wool for the ceiling, drywall…

Tskaltubo - Former Soviet Spa Resort

16 November, 2021 | | 98 seen

Tskaltubo is a spa resort town in west-central Georgia. The resort was especially popular in the Soviet era, attracting around 125,000 visitors a year. Bathhouse 9 features a frieze of Stalin, and visitors can see the private pool where he bathed on his visits.

Just like Chiatura cable car town, Tskaltubo is very interesting to visit and see the brutalist and futuristic Soviet architecture. 

In today's Piece of Life series - Tskalubo - former Soviet Spa Resort town

The resort's focus is on balneotherapy for circulatory, nervous, musculo-skeletal, gynaecological and skin diseases, but since the 1970s its repertoire has included "speleotherapy", in which the cool dust-free environment of local caves is said to benefit pulmonary diseases.

Tskaltubo  is known for its radon-carbonate mineral springs, whose natural temperature of 33–35 °C (91–95 °F) enables the water to be used without preliminary heating.

Architecture in Tskaltubo basically is a synthesis of Stalinist period classical style and of Georgian ethnic decor with Gothic and Roman features.

Unfortunetly there are not many (if any) World wide known…

The Grand Documentary of 2019

12 November, 2021 | Documentaries | 17 seen

Almost 38.8 GB (676 clips short clips per year) footage resulted in almost 2 hours of film. (1h 56 m).

As every year - documentary cinema - in the style of home video, but we have thought about your vestibular aparatus - trying to avoid the tremors of the hands and the desire to work with and around the zoom as much as possible (undoubtedly, the couple places ar filmed in a manual mode). Filming with a tripod and a baby on the move is difficult

The length of the film is determined by its main character - Renee. One year in our baby's life - running around, crawling, getting up and finally taking the first steps.

Kilogram of a cake for a birthday, farewell to Richard (white cat)

Travel to different countries, Georgia, Latvia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Italy, Switzerland (and maybe more)
Glued, sanded, laminated, beaten, and put together in Tbilisi, Georgia using Adobe Premiere CC

Chreli Abano Sulfur Bath in Tbilisi

11 November, 2021 | Health & Wellness | 145 seen

Chreli Abano is a sulfur bath located in the Tbilisi Bath district of Abanotubani. 

We have been heading to these baths a lot in the past (back in 2011-2013), since then we have changed our location, visiting other, not so fancy ones on Kyiv street, but lately again, we have started to visit sulfur bathhouses in the old town district.

As they are many, I will try to give a quick recap of all of them, though after revisiting Chreli Abano sufur bath in Tbilisi, seems I will stick with it for awhile. 

Located at the eastern bank of the Mtkvari River at the foot of Narikala fort across Metekhisubani, Abanotubani is an important historic part of the city — the place, where according to a legend the King of Iberia, Vakhtang Gorgasali’s falcon fell, leading to a discovery of the hot springs and, subsequently, to founding of a new capital.

Chreli Abano has gone through the renovation and is completely different than it was back in 2012. 

Nice private rooms are available, starting from GEL 50 per hour

We paid GEL 70 fo this little but nice room with a sulfur pool + additionally ordered some tea, jam and other goodies

Vilgāle apt update: Drywall for Bathroom, Kitchen and Hallway, Building Sauna

10 November, 2021 | Home Remodeling | 11 seen

It has been a while since I posted the latest updates from our Vilgāle apartment renovation, the active construction works have been paused since March, except some minor plastering was done by mid-June.

In the Summer months in Latvia, it is hard to find contractors. I was left with no other option than to wait for the fall/ winter season. 

Without further ado, works have resumed with lightning speed and there is a hope we will finish this apt by the end of this year (2021), at least the major construction works.

Rock wool, wiring. In the hallway there is going to be installed a wood pellet central heating stove.

We already started to look on Ikea store for some cabinets to install here

The more I look, the more I like this place

Looks very decent already

I hope to build here a little sauna with electric stove

Cost so far:

• Water plumbing: EUR 60
• Sadales Tīkls: EUR 60
• Electrician: EUR 155
• Architect: EUR 800
• Removing walls and floor: EUR 775
• Chalk removing, / wiring: EUR 500
• Wall plastering/frame for drywall ceiling (bedroom): EUR 875…

Le Meridien Batumi Hotel Review

9 November, 2021 | Hotel reviews | 21 seen

Le Meridan hotel is one of many 5-star hotels in Batumi I've stayed in so far.

We booked a one-night stay here in August 2021 to celebrate my 36 birthday. For this stay, we paid about $340, and this seems a bit overpriced. I still prefer Radisson or Hilton, but if money is no obstacle, why not?

We arrived bit late in the evening from Batumi international airport (flight from Tbilisi). It was already getting late, but I managed to capture the above sunset .

Beach reachable within only 656 feet, Le Meridien Batumi is a 5-star hotel and features 105 tastefully decorated and furnished rooms and suites with stunning Black Sea views. Guests can take a dip in an indoor swimming pool, work out at the on-site fitness center, and relax in a sauna. A garden as well as a sun terrace are at guests' disposal. The property also offers a casino.

At Le Meridien Batumi all guest rooms have restful colors and offer air-conditioning and heating. Every unit includes a wardrobe, seating area and mini-bar. Private bathroom features free toiletries as well as a bathrobe, slippers and a hairdryer. Towels and linen are also included. All rooms at the hotel come…

Halloween 2021

5 November, 2021 | Living in Georgia | 14 seen

Our spooky Halloween short. From the mist-covered Sighnaghi to  Bazaleti lake. Trick or treat!

Chateau Bruale Tkhilistskaro

4 November, 2021 | Hotel reviews | 18 seen

Chateau Bruale offers accommodations in Tkhilistskaro. Guests can enjoy the on-site restaurant. Free WiFi is available throughout the property and free private parking is available on site.

We booked a one-night stay at this place at the end of August 2021 and paid about EUR 30. Additionally, we ordered some dinner and breakfast, for an additional GEL 120

Chateau is located in the middle of vineyards and hazelnut grove. I actually bought some 5 kilos with hazelnut, paying about GEL 8 per kilo.

I held a small talk with the owner of the chateau, a retired colonel, and I was told that a good land for sale in Kakhetia cost about $20,000 per ha (albeit they are not selling to foreigners)

Quite a nice stay for a very affordable price. Hearty people, interesting discoveries. 

Book now on Booking.com

Autumn in Laidi

2 November, 2021 | | 36 seen

Laidi is a village in Laidi parish, Kuldīga municipality, Latvia.  The village is located some 28 km from the county center of Kuldiga and 167 km from Riga.

One of the most interesting objects to see: Laidi manor - Built in the early 19th century by the local German nobility, it has housed the Laidi primary school since 1921.

In today's Piece of Life series - Autumn in Laidi

Beautiful scenary with colourful trees

The Grand Documentary of 2018

29 October, 2021 | Documentaries | 14 seen

2018 was very special. Here is a brief recap in a 25-minute long documentary.

Some shorts from Tbilisi, relocating to Jūrmala. A lot of snow. Building a baby crib, chilling. chilling a lot. Picking up a baby name. First meeting with a little person. First bathing. Many things were done for the first time. Relocating back to Georgia. And many more. Enjoy!