weekends are for

enjoying the weather, because we know there’s a change coming.  Baking for an evening with with friends having cocktails and desserts.

And just relaxing.

I hope your weekend was a lovely one.

a day late corner view–silly

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane, and hosted by Francesca.  It’s where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme.

This week’s theme is from Heather whose corner is Florida, USA!

there have been a lot of these moments lately!

For more silly’s visit our host.

Tuesday

we went out again today, our group of photography enthusiasts! This time we headed out to a small village not too far, but within 10 minutes of our arrival we were unceremoniously asked to leave – yep we were kicked out!

So I was only able to get these pictures:

Apparently this was some kind of memorial. I think the red star say’s a lot.

So then after being kicked out we decided to head back to a part of the town called Old Germany (apparently there used to be a German POW camp there) and took pictures of this guy instead, Vladimir Lenin.

The story behind the statue – apparently it was constructed for a competition but the Kazakh did not win.  When they brought it back they were going to put it in the main part of the city but then when Kazakhstan became an Independent country they decided to put it out of the way…..this is what I was told today.

After only a month here there is a lot of Russian/Kazakh history that I need to, or want to learn actually.  It helps to know a little about the country that we’re living in!

Hope you had a pleasant day!

wondering why…..

every Monday I start out with a plan for the week.

what meals to prepare, what days to do the laundry. When to go grocery shopping, fitting in Joshua’s play-dates and maybe even a little me time with the photography trips, exercise and walks by the Ural river….

but then something happens! And then I just end up going with the flow.  I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not!

Wishing you a great week, wherever you are!

weekends are for….

Exploring Atyrau, travelling to Saraychik to visit a museum and an Archeological site. 

A small group of us went on an excursion today (without a tour guide) but we were able to see a lot.

Hope you all had an adventurous weekend too.

Hugs!

Friday’s Fave Five # 4

I’ve had a wonderful week and because it’s Friday, it time to share. Thanks Susanne for hosting Fave Five.

1. Paruski urok (I’ve written this phonetically!) – and it means Russian classes.  After 4 classes I like it.  I’ve learnt the alphabet(it’s still confusing but I’m getting there). I’ve learnt many words that I’m able to put them into sentences.  Now when I get around town I’m able to decipher the shop signs etc and it’s much easier. I have to say this though, I’m motivated to learn the language and I think that helps a lot.

2.  Photography.  I have joined a group of people who are interested in photography.  I enjoyed our first photo/class together.  Not so much the location, but it’s exciting to be with people who are interested in the same thing.

3. Coffee morning.  We had a newcomers coffee morning this week.  It was good to put names to faces together.  Because I have kids I tend to hang around more with the other parents who also have kids in school. So it was nice to meet some empty nesters and get their perspective of life here in Atyrau.  Oh and I also came away with a disc of recipes as a welcome gift.  It’s great because the recipes are geared to what we are able to find in the supermarkets here.

4. Pretty Roses.  they always make me happy when I see them outside my house.

5. Independence Day.  My home country celebrated our independence today.  Actually the celebration will be all weekend.  I got a facebook message from my sister, that my brother was part of a group that built a lakatoi (double hulled canoe).  The canoe will sail from one island to the main one tomorrow,  re-enacting the arrival of the boats that set sail and traded with the other sea cities. When I get such messages from home I get homesick and wish I were there.  below is an old picture I found on google. 

Happy Independence Papua New Guinea!

So what were your favorite’s for the week?  Join us and share.

Happy Weekend.

today

was my turn to do recess duty, then I was a newbie at the newcomers welcome coffee.  I also watched T’s class have their final swim lesson and then late in the afternoon I took my kids to the park.

How was your day?

corner view– iconic

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane,  and hosted by Francesca.  It’s where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme.

This week’s theme is iconic. This is the best I could come up with for my corner, The Russian Orthodox Church.

my photo isn’t the best one as it’s a side view. The one below (from google) is from the front.

I’ve heard that it’s really pretty inside. I will one day go in there.  I drove past the other day and they’ve planted some trees nearby the church. 

It should look real nice in a couple of years.

For more corner view’s start with Francesca.

of all places…..

we ended up at a local cemetery. Last week they went to the wharf.

Anyway this morning I went out with a couple of other’s who are interested in learning how to take photo’s – good photos. Only 1 of us in the group is a professional photographer and it’s so kind of him to be sharing his knowledge with us.

It felt awkward walking around in the grave yard clicking away.  Here are some photo’s that I took.  I’m so use to putting my camera on auto focus and so now I’m trying to shift to doing the settings manually.

I don’t know what the dome is or who it belongs too.  It was interesting but I would not go again.

Next week I hear we’ll be going to some local homes….

Happy Tuesday!