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Greetings from Scotland! Over the past week, we've been making the most of the school break by travelling to this beautiful part of the world. We've explored Edinburgh…
As of October 16, 2026, our options-selling-powered dividend stock portfolio stood at $13,456, marking a weekly decline of 1.37% compared with the previous week.This…
As of October 9, 2026, our options-selling-powered dividend stock portfolio stood at $13,643, showing a decent weekly increase of +0.72% compared with the previous week.…
There are many options to open a bottle of wine without using a cork screwer, last summer I tried a new method - using an old school hand drill.f you have been following my blog and especially home remodeling series you have probably noticed I have been trying out a lot of interesting tools lately, how about mowing a grass with a scythe? Tools you will need:A bottle of Badagoni, semisweet Khvanchkara wine (produced in Republic of Georgia)An old school hand drillOptional: A good companyHere is the drilling processAuthor of this blog captured in actionOpening bottle of wine with hand drill
Last summer taught me a lot of new things. I tried mowing grass with a scythe after which I "upgraded" to a trimmer. After all I was doing a new thing for me - home remodeling.
In today's Piece of Life photo series I will share with you another great outdoor activity I did last summer - stacking firewood in barn.
Firewood waiting to be stacked in barn
Stacking firewood in barn
Stacking firewood in barn
Stacking firewood in barn
Turns out there are even tutorials on how to stack firewood in barn the right way:
When it comes to preparing firewood, stacking may be the most pleasant part of the job. The hard and sometimes dangerous work of disassembling a tree…
In today's food blogger series I'll share a photo recipe on how to prepare traditional Solyanka soup. Solyanka is among my favorite soups and I prepare this some 3-4 times in a year. Pictures in this article are back from summer 2015 when I boiled a large pot with this delicious soup.
Solyanka is a thick, spicy and sour Russian soup that is common in Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union. There are three basic types of solyanka, with the main ingredient being either meat, fish, or mushrooms. All of them contain pickled cucumbers with brine, and often cabbage, salted mushrooms, smetana (…
Michelangelo Square is one of the best place in Florence to take picturesque panoramic views of Florence. We found this place thanks to suggestions on some travel guide and indeed, the pictures taken here are amazing.We were lucky enough to find this place quickly as it was located in just some 3 minute drive from our hotel. Read more: Villa Carlota hotel review. We parked our car at Michelangelo Square, I installed a tripod and took some lovely views towards city of Florence.Views toward Florence from Michelangelo SquareViews toward Florence from Michelangelo Square in HDRYup, I couldn't resist here to take HDR photography.Bronze cast of David facing Florence…
In today's digital school photography project I'll show how to take night HDR images and post-process them in Adobe Lightroom and Postmatix.
A year ago - taking a decent night photo sounded mission impossible for me, since I have acquired a DSLR camera a lot has changed, and I'm starting to feel being capable of creating even night HDR's now. Take a look on this tutorial: Practicing Photography: Doing Night Shots - Tbilisi By Night.
Although I don't like to spend a lot of time on post processing images, I must admit - post processing is very valuable science to master to make your photos look even better. Since there is post processing involved in HDR photography, I'…
Villa Carlota hotel in Florence is a 4-star hotel. We stayed here overnight just day before New Year in 2015. We arrived here after paid a visit to the leaning tower of Pisa and short wanderings around Tuscany vineyards.
Previous night we spent at another 4-star hotel in Lucca. Read more: Albergo Celide Hotel Review in Lucca, Italy. Villa Carlota compared to Albergo Celide is a truly a 4-star hotel and I will definitely return to this hotel next when spending time in Florence.
Villa Carlota hotel in Florence, Italy
Villa Carlotta is a 19th-century country manor surrounded by parks and gardens. It is near the panoramic terrace of Piazzale Michelangelo, and a 15-minute walk…
If there are a thousands things to see before we die - I believe to see vineyards in Tuscany are among them. At the end of December 2015, we traveled around region of Tuscany in Italy and to memorize those fascinating places I created a few panorama photos. Vineyards in Tuscany - Piece of Life.
Vineyards in Tuscany
It is amazing to observe how using a simple DSLR camera with kit lens I figured out to create a panorama photo here (stitching together some 6 photos). I believe it is all about experiment and never stop, so even when in travels you can end with a decent looking final images.
Panorama photo of vineyards in Tuscany
Vineyards in Winter in Tuscany,…
I Fossi is a small roadside restaurant located in San Gimignano town in Italy. We arrived here just shortly we paid a visit to the Leaning tower of Pisa.We made a stop here by chance, just because noticed there is one free parking spot available. Unfortunately we managed to order just two cappuccinos and noticed there is a queue with cars on the nearby street, some lady had arrived to the hotel (turns out there is a hotel as well at this place) and waited to park her car. I told her, could she wait for some 10 minutes while we will finish our cappuccinos and then she well have a place to park her car, she was happy of such offer and agreed, so we enjoyed our 10 minutes here and…
Cafe Jumis in Skrunda was among my top dining places during Summer 2015, because of it's close location to our rural house.
Located next to the highway connecting Riga with Liepaja in Skrunda town, they serve a typical bistro food here for a very attractive prices. They definitely have the best desserts I have tried in these parts of Latvia. Banana, plum and other milkshakes just rocks here.
Cafe Jumis in Skrunda
Daily menu at Jumis cafe
Typical Latvian bistro food - boiled potatoes, cabbage salads and meat sauce
The same menu, but instead of meat sauce you can choose meatballs
They have a free WiFi so you can check your e-mail as well (take a look in the…
If you are the lucky one and you have a chance to visit picturesque Latvian town of Kuldīga, make sure you make your dinning out at town's of of the best cafe's/ restaurant - Cafe Pagrabiņš.
Or take a look of another Kuldīga restaurants here.
Located in the heart of Kudlīga Old town on Baznicas street, this place offers traditional Latvian cuisine for a very reasonable prices.
Cafe Pagrabins in Kuldīga
Located next to the town square in Kuldīga, where major town events are held, like Feast in Kuldīga
Cafe Pagrabins Logo
Interior at Pagrabiņš
Menu at cafe Pagrabins
They have a wide selection of traditional Latvian cuisine here, prices are reasonable.…
This time of the year have come when I'm looking back on previous 2015 year. In today's article I will reveal some data behind the scenes - both traffic and income for whole year of 2015.
If you have been following my blog for a while, you have already probably noticed that once in a month I cover monthly traffic and income reports. Make sure you check them out. This article is a round up posts for previous twelve reports.
This blog has gone a long way and has increased it's monthly visitor count from 19,798 in January to 43,941 users in December. November marked all times best result - more than 50,000 monthly users.
In total this blog reached 347,035 users in 2015
In…
We all have heard about Pisa tower, I won't be too original by saying - it's that leaning tower located somewhere in Italy.
At the end of 2015 I had a chance to visit this place second time in my lifetime (my mom, told me that I was here back in 1990 or 1991, but was so tired that refused to leave our tourist bus and took a lovely nap instead of wondering at this oblique tower).
This time I felt very energized, armored with a tripod and a lot of new photography skills I have learnt since I started digital photography school project. I experimented a lot with HDR and Panorama photography at Tower of Pisa. The result? Take a look:
Pisa tower in Italy
It is situated behind the…
Restaurant Antica Drogheria is located in Lucca, Italy, we discovered this restaurant by accident, just shortly checked in at Albergo Celide hotel and decided to make an evening walk beyond Lucca's city wall.
And here it was - another great Italian restaurant located on Via Elisa, 5.
Antica Drogheria in Lucca, Italy
We had to wait for about some 10 minutes to get a free table (seems this place is extremely popular), by waiting for a free place we ordered a cappuccino in the restaurant's anteroom
Italian cappuccino
Comes with a very low price here - just EUR 1 for a cup of cappuccino (although it's everywhere cheap in Italy)
Pizza oven
When in Italy…
A brilliant festival is held in town of Kuldiga (Western Latvia) each year just shortly after midsummer. In today's Piece of Life photo project series I would love to share some images from Feast in Kuldiga (taken July, 2015)
Such trade fairs are pretty popular in Latvia - visitors can buy goods from local craftsmen, artists or small producers.
Cider sold from retro car in Kuldiga
Feast in Kuldiga banner
Basket ware sold at fair
Smoked chicken
Visitors at feast of Kuldiga on Liepajas street
If you have been following home remodeling series on my blog you might tell I'm starting to repeat - another article on lawn mowing? Yes, another article on that. After trying mowing grass with a scythe I just understood how hard it actually is and started to look for some more serious tools, and then trimmer replaced scythe. Just after some month I realized the grass is back, and I was left with no option as to loan a trimmer again, this time a petrol Stiga trimmer from a good friend.Grown grass at the backyardIts hard to call it a lawn yet, it is actually a ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria)Aegopodium podagraria L. commonly called ground elder, herb gerard,…
Postcards from... are actually a really cool photo project some can run, after submitting postcards from Tbilisi and postcards from Sighnaghi (both are located in wonderful Caucasian Republic of Georgia) I realized - postcards from.. are going to be more often featured on Piece of Life series photo posts.
In today's article - let me share some postcards from Jvari monastery (again, Republic of Georgia)
Postcard from Jvari monastery
Jvari Monastery stands on the rocky mountaintop at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers, overlooking the town of Mtskheta, which was formerly the capital of the Kingdom of Iberia. Read my article about Jvari monastery
Jvari monastery…
It was an early morning at the end of January when my better part awakened me and told me - hey, it's snowing - it's time to make those lovely and socially sharable Tbilisi winter photos!
That's exactly we actually did - after some five minutes the coffee was served, and 10 minutes later we were already on street catching a taxi. I was so excited of seeing a snow (again, after some 3 weeks, previously I seen it back in Italy, when we did a week long trip there, and prior to that - in Gudauri, during Christmas time). I asked to the taxi driver - how is "snow" in Georgian? He replied - "Tovlis". Now, I know one more word in Georgian language.
Tbilisi Old Town with Narikala Fortress…
Signhaghi (Region of Kakheti, Republic of Georgia) has always been a special place for us to visit. Probably because it's pretty far away from nations capital Tbilisi, we have been heading rarely, but every visit here has been spectacular at least. Learn more about my Travel guide to SignagiView to Sighnaghi townThe town and its environs are also known for their landscapes and historical monuments. Sighnaghi has recently undergone a fundamental reconstruction program and has become an important center of Georgia's tourist industry.Panorama of Sighnaghi townRuins in SighnaghiStill evening before Christmas in SighnaghiGeorgian Orthodox church in Sighnaghi
The Monastery of St. Nino at Bodbe is a Georgian Orthodox monastic complex and the seat of the Bishops of Bodbe located 2 km from the town of Sighnaghi, Kakheti, Georgia. Originally built in the 9th century, it has been significantly remodeled, especially in the 17th century.
The monastery now functions as a nunnery and is one of the major pilgrimage sites in Georgia, due to its association with St. Nino, the 4th-century female evangelist of Georgians, whose relics are shrined there.
When traveling to Signagi in the region of Kakheti you will most probably be taken to the Bodbe monastery located some 3 km from the city. I first visited this monastery complex back in 2011 and huge was my…
Albergo Celide is a four star hotel located in Lucca, Italy, we stayed here overnight at the end of 2015, although this is a four star hotel, speaking of staff members I can call it barely one star hotel.
Probably arriving to this hotel requests that you arrive in a suite or evening gown, since we arrived here from Milan after some 5 hour drive and were in our casual clothes staff members probably thought that we are some misunderstanding for their precious place.
Our booking included a visit to hotels center, we asked what, when and how - I was told that they will send me info to e-mail. I asked, so should I go back to my hotel room and check for an e-mail…
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