Summer Time in Russia

 

On the shore of the Volga!

My Hobbies

 

I love to bake!  I also love trying new recipes.  

 

I also love scrapbooking except that lately I haven't had the time! 

Both of these hobbies require me to be a bit more creative in Russia

since a lot of the "tools" for these hobbies aren't sold here or if they

are sold here they are super expensive.  As you can imagine when we

return to the States you can usually find me in the baking and scrapbook

sections of most stores!

My hobbies

I wish I had more time to spend doing the things I love.........

Photography is my passion, I wish I could do more of this, there's something peaceful about taking pictures!

 Knitting is more of a winter hobby, I must have over 15 scarfs by now and one of these days I want to knit a sweater!

Cooking is not a chore for me!  I love to cook and that's my way of relaxing when I get home from work.  On the weekends I go through all my cookbooks and plan my menu for the week, I consider that a hobby!

My Town

These are the basic postcard snapshots from my town!  My initial plan was to go to an observation deck at the train station but the weather has been gray, cloudy, and rainy.  Plus the one time we went it wasn't open to the public!

 

Russian Orthodox Church in the background and the site of 

Samara's eternal flame.

 

The local train station.

 

The big "slava" statue.

The Valley

I have lived in the valley since 1978, in Granada Hills, and even thou I have moved away a few times, I've always come back!  Lately it seems like the city has been fixing up neighborhood and its' looking great!

 A view of the valley soaked in fog, normally June is known and June gloom in the valley and it feels more like Seattle!

 A tribute to the Veterans

A newly built addition to Chatsworth St.

Upside Down in Russia

We kidnapped Woody from my mom's daycare years ago.  The boys love him.  The other day my youngest put Woody in this position: