Top 10 Fun filled J.K Rowling and Harry Potter Facts

Hello Gentle readers, today is J.K. Rowlings birthday. To help us celebrate with her, here are some Magical (get it) fun facts about her greatest creation.

1. Both J.K and Harry have their birthday on the 31st of July.

2. The Dementors from Azkaban prison represent the depression J.K Rowling suffered from.

3. J.K was the first author to become a billionaire thanks to her book sales.

4. The K in J.K. is made up. Her name is just Joanne Rowling. The K comes from her grandmother's first name.

5. J.K. told Alan Rickman his characters fate before the last book was published. He was the only actor to know anything before publication.

6. J.K. took the name Hogwarts from a plant she saw in Kew Gardens.

7. According to J.K. the T at the end of Voldemort should be silent. In French the name means "flight of death".

8. The character of Hermione was based on J.K. She was an overachiever at school.

9. The first Harry Potter book was rejected by 12 publishers before Bloomsbery got it.

10. J.K's parents met at Kings Cross Station, which is where Harry catches the train to Hogwarts.

#jkrowling #harrypotter #top10

A Scotsman Back In Riga

Hello Gentle Readers. Yes our European oddyssy has seen us return to where the blog began 3.5 years ago. Here are some photos.

#backinriga

Today in History: 26th July

Hello Gentle Readers, its time once again to bask in the heat of history as we lick the sprinkles from the Mr Whippy of time.

1856: Playwrite George Bernard Shaw is born.

1943: Lead singer of The Rolling Stones Mick Jagger is born.

1945: Oscar winning UK actress Helen Mirren is born.

1947: President of the USA Harry Truman  creates the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

#26thjuly #todayinhistory #georgebernardshaw #mickjagger #helenmirren #cia

London Baby.....

Hello Gentle Readers.

We took a day trip to the capital of the UK today to celebrate Lena finishing her week in Nottingham and to show Robert the sights. Here are some pics of our day.

Who's a Horny Man?

Boys and their toys

Moose @ Buckingham Palace

Ice Cream

#londonbaby

UK trip so far

Hey Gentle Readers. Sorry for not being on more. Here are some photos if our trip to the UK so far.

#uktrip 

Back to Europe

We are flying with Vietnam Airlines.

Well Hello Gentle Readers. As Robert keeps saying, "Today is a big day."

For the first time since August 2017. Lena, Robert and I will be on our way back to the UK and then 2 weeks later, Latvia. We are going via Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam....another new country.

I miss Europe and I am pretty sure Lena does too. She keeps whistfully saying "I want to be in the UK."

Its a big trip for us because not only is it our wedding anniversary on Tuesday, Lena will also be starting her International PGCE teaching qualification at the University of Nottingham.

I intend to write some more Lazarus Rising and also to spend lots of time with the family.

As usual I will try to blog about our trip so stay tuned for updates.

See you in Europe.

#europe #uk #latvia #pgcei #nottinghamuniversity #vietnam

CBIS presents.....The Lion King

Hey Gentle Readers as our first school year in China draws to a close, I want to share with you some memories of the School musical.

I wrote before about The Black Rose play which was a very serious play. For the summer production the Drama teacher Mr Elly decided to go for broke with his imagining of the Broadway and West End smash 'The Lion King' which was based on the 1994 Disney cartoon.

The whole school has been preparing for the show for what seems like an age and now its over.

The kids worked very hard on it as did all the staff.

The parents who saw it on Wednesday were very impressed and the kids on Thursday loved it too.

Robert played a bird. Lena and I worked backstage.

#cbis #thelionking