Blog Archive: August 2016
An ex-pat living in Georgia since 2011, I trade stocks, take photographs, work out at the gym, and many more. Here I write about travel, finance, and other things that might interest me.
Latest articles
Making Rhubarb Wine
In our garden we have a lot of rhubarbs, one thing you can make out of them is a rhubarb cake, but turns out there is at least one more thing you can do with rhubarbs - you can try to make a wine. In today's Do It yourself series - my (our )attempt of making a rhubarb wine - I'm calling this an attempt - because we actually didn't make any wine this year. But if you are looking for a receipt on how to make a rhubarb wine, here is one: How to…
Gravel for road surface and rock garden
The other day I first met with one of our closet neighbors, he approached me and told me, that in couple of days he will cover road (we are sharing together) with a gravel. I already mentioned it in my previous post about pond works. I asked what kind of gravel does he is using for road surface, and decided it would be a good idea to have a little bit gravel for upcoming home foundation works (concreting). We agreed that he will give me a…
Building a Rock Garden
Today we made a rock garden from scratch, well almost. The thing is - idea to have a rock garden have always been in our minds, but we hadn't yet figured out how to solve the biggest question - rocks. We had already idea of place were rock garden will be situated (in front of house, were use to had been a dump - see: The Big Spring Territory Cleanup ) Luckily after pond works were done, pond guy told he could help us with his New Holland…
Building a foundation for a garden oven - Part 1
Idea to have a nice garden pizza oven were sit first already last year, together with the works we started shaping a form of our rural house, we recently inherited. Thus we had to wait for more than a year, before actually proceeding. The other day, while the pond guys were finishing digging pond, I dug some soil, to lay in the foundation for garden brick. Laying foundation for garden oven With the help of a shovel, I will dug off the…
Pond Digging - Part 3 - The Result
This morning started with a surprise, I was still sleeping, when my partner awakened me and told - pond guys are digging. I was surprised, because I didn't heard a sound. Maybe I was too tired from yesterday's pond draining or as it turned latter - the modern excavators are quiet. Anyway, I was not surprised at all - because when pond guys started, they didn't even informed me, see how it started in part 1. I made (more correct, my partner…
How to drain a pond with a pump and hose - Digging Pond - Part 2
Today I had a chance to excel in pond works - I was left with no choice but to drain the pond. Luckily the pond guys brought an electric pump to make my life much easier. If you are new to home remodeling series, make sure you check out an article on how it all started about a year ago. And of course check out first part on pond digging, when we discovered that pond have been dug without our presence. Surprise pond digging in the middle of…
Chasing Sunset Photography with a Strong Foreground (Pāvilosta / Jūrkalne)
Chasing sunset photography with a strong foreground is a brief story, which happened on the next day after Summer Solstice. We took our moms and a little doggie and decided to visit coastal Latvian beaches. At start we headed to Pāvilosta piers, I left girls wandering around while installed a tripod and thought I will make a few HDR's here. I have been into HDR photography since the day 1 I discovered this lovely technique back in Tbilisi. The…
Jurkalne Seashore Bluffs
The Jurkalne Seashore bluffs (Jūrkalnes stāvkrasti) are one of the most picturesque parts of Latvia's Western part seashore, located some 20 km from Pāvilosta.Jūrkanle bluffs are great for photography or quiet walk near the beach. The bluffs in Jurkalne belong to the landslide-landfall type. The largest amount of erosion can be observed in Jurkalne.Seashore near JūrkalneA quiet beach untouched by civilization and bluffs of up to 20 metres high. …
Postcards from Pāvilosta
In today's Piece of Life photo series - Postcards from Pāvilosta. I made an article about Pāvilosta and Pāvilosta's lighthouse a while ago. This time we headed to Pāvilosta in company of five after we celebrated Summer Solstice. I was equipped with a tripod and I already knew - I will catch a sunset today Pāvilosta piers Much of the Pāvilosta history and foundation is related to harbor here - Information(link is external) about the history…
Rude Manor
Rude manor (Rudes muiža) is located in Laidi parish, Kuldīga district Latvia. According to Kuldīga tourism information center it's one of the best preserved Empire style manors in Kurzeme. Rude manor complex with a simple, but elegant Empire stylemaster’s house, a stable, a few barns and servants’ houses is located on the picturesque Rude hill. Rude manor In 1819 the estate became Firck family’s property. In 1882 Rude changed its owners…