F...f...f...f...fifty....oh f***

Greetings Gentle Readers.

Today is one of those days. A landmark in a life. A day to stop and reflect about what life is all about and think about the future.

Yes, today I turn 50.

50 isnt so bad....is it?

I was talking to Lena last night, while i was still in my 40's about how old is old and how old I actually feel.

When I was 18....50 was old...

When I was 21...50 was old....

When I turned 30 I went a bit crazy and had a hard time.

When I turned 40 I gtumpily accepted the fact.

Now I turned 50 I understand that age is just a number. I have an 8 year old son and a 35 year old wife who keep me young.

I work with teenagers so I have the values and outlook of a much younger man.

Happy Birthday to me

When i was 18, 50 was old. Now I am 50, 18 is stupid.


#happybirthday #50

Lena's "Outer Space" Cupcakes

Mmm Gentle Readers, Lena has got her baking bug back and she went all Jackson Pollock on her cupcakes. The reason for this is I bought us some nice looking donuts for dessert and it turns out they were red bean donuts...yuck. Lena wanted sweet stuff she could actually eat.

Van Gogh's "Starry Night"

Just goes to show what some food colouring can do and they taste awesome.

Ingredients
4 eggs
180g sugar or honey
150g flour
Food colouring
 Also you could add nuts/dried fruit.

Method

Break the eggs into a bowl and add the sugar. Use a hand mixer and mix until it has expanded by 6 to 8 times.
Add the flour and carefully mix using a spoon. Lena suggests that you do this quietly.
When it is mixed you can add the fruit/nuts/food colouring and mix.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake molds and bake in the oven at 180-200 for 15-20 minutes.

Robert loves cupcakes...

...but not red bean donut

#recipe #multicolourcupcakes

One year in China

Hello Gentle Readers.

A little over a year ago Lena, Robert and I arrived in China to start our new adventure.
What a year it has been.

The school has been really supportive and I have been promoted to Middle School and IGCSE coordinator.
Lena has started her teacher training.
Robert has recieved an excellemt school report and has settled in well and has made friends.

We have travelled to Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong with flying visits to Malaysia and Vietnam and we intend to do much more in the next year.

China has been good to us and we hope this will continue. We have made a lot of good friends and we hope to make some more

I will continue to blog about our life here and I hope you will continue to read it.


#guangzhou #oneyearinchina

Today in History: August 11th

Hello there Gentle Readers. Its time to get oiled up with 299 men and face the hordes of history while wearing the bloody loin cloth of time.

3114BC: The Mayan long calendar begins. It predicted the end of the world in 2012.

480BC: The Spartan King Leonidas dies during the Battle of Thermopylae.

1897: Childrens author Enid Blyton is born.

1920: The Latvian-Soviet peace treaty is signed.

1929: Babe Ruth becomes the first Baseball player to hit 500 home runs.

1984: While preparing for his weekly radio broadcast, Ronald Reagan jokes that "We begin bombing in 5 minutes."

2014: Actor and comedian Robin Williams commits suicide.

#robinwilliams #ronaldreagan #baberuth #latvia #enidblyton #leonidas #mayancalendar #august11 #todayinhistory

Robert's Latvia

Hey Gentle Readers. Robert has been having fun in Latvia over the last few days. Here are some photos.

#latvia #robert

შანგრიის ღვინო

Hello Gentle Readers.

Tonight, as its summer and we are on holiday, Lena made Sangria.

We didnt have any Spanish wine however. The solution...Georgian wine.

Hence the name of this blog post is Sangria wlne in Georgian.

Her recipe was

Half a bottle of Red wine
1 orange
Half a lemon
250 ml Sprite
Ice

Chop the orange and lemon into small bits and put in a jug. Pour in the wine, sprite and ice. Stir and drink.

#recipe #sangria #georgianwine #tasty

Beautiful Latvia: Liepaja

Yesterday Gentle Readers we went to the beach in Liepaja.

Mermaid Robert

#latvia #liepajabeach

Beautiful Latvia: Kuldiga

Hello Gentle Readers, today the family and I went to one of my favourite places in Latvia. The beautiful town of Kuldiga.

It is where Europes widest waterfall the Ventas Rumblas can be found and the weather was wonderful.

Latvia is truly beautiful and if you get the chance well worth the trip. Here are some photos.

#latvia #kuldiga

Today in History: August 1st

Hello Gentle Reader. Lets tie the knots of time and sing around the campfire of  history.

1774: Oxygen gas is discovered by Joseph Preistly.

1834: Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire.

William Wilberforce.

1907: Baden-Powell holds the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island.

1927: The Nanchang uprising marks the first real battle of the Chinese Civil War. The date is commemorated in China as the founding of the People's LiberationArmy.

1936: Hitler opens the 1936 Berlin Olympic games.

1981: MTV starts broadcasting. The first video shown is "Video killed the radio star."