alexandr Posted July 12, 2022 Author Share Posted July 12, 2022 23 hours ago, George N. M. said: What do you do with the flame? Warm up the already cooked cold food on forks, sort of like fondue? I assume this is a Russian birthday tradition, like a western birthday cake. Madelynn asks what are the types of food shown. HI George ! Flame for beauty, there are smoldering coals under the plate. It seems to me that we don’t have any traditions, everyone celebrates as it suits them. Some people like to drink and eat a lot. No one in our family drinks alcohol. Assorted platter, beef, turkey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandr Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 Summer! Everything blooms and smells! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 I'm envious; we don't even have weeds that lush! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandr Posted July 26, 2022 Author Share Posted July 26, 2022 Novgorod, an old Russian city. City of churches and temples. Founded in 859. Short rest. A few hours by car from St. Petersburg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 Another place in Russia I could spend a couple weeks walking around looking and asking questions. Maybe some day. <sigh> What is the structure in the 3rd. picture, it looks like an aqueduct but? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandr Posted July 26, 2022 Author Share Posted July 26, 2022 3 hours ago, Frosty said: Another place in Russia I could spend a couple weeks walking around looking and asking questions. Maybe some day. <sigh> What is the structure in the 3rd. picture, it looks like an aqueduct but? Frosty The Lucky. Market square, Yaroslav's settlement. (Ярославо городище) The place where the Novgorod Veche took place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 I just spent a couple hours reading and have an idea of how ancient and complicated the history of Novogrod is. Now I'm going over the bronze(?) door looking for scenes from other historic art I recognize. Is the "original" Veche bell still there? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandr Posted July 26, 2022 Author Share Posted July 26, 2022 22 minutes ago, Frosty said: I just spent a couple hours reading and have an idea of how ancient and complicated the history of Novogrod is. Now I'm going over the bronze(?) door looking for scenes from other historic art I recognize. Is the "original" Veche bell still there? Frosty The Lucky. The oldest bell is approximately the middle of the 14th century, before the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandr Posted August 6, 2022 Author Share Posted August 6, 2022 VID_169520923_161807_373.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les L Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 Alexandr, that rain looks like what I’ve been getting almost every day for the last three weeks, but it does make everything grow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 That's a hard rain for sure, how long has it lasted. Any flooding in the area? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandr Posted August 7, 2022 Author Share Posted August 7, 2022 2 hours ago, Frosty said: Any flooding in the area? HI Jer . We have elevation. Water does not linger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 That's good to hear, one of the things that made me agree with Deb to make an offer on the land we live on is it's near the top of a ridge so water doesn't build up here nor does much run down past us. We're also below the windiest top of the ridge. by in "your area" I was asking thinking of a little farther away. St. Petersburg for instance, are the rivers staying within their banks, etc. I'm just curious, an awful lot of the US is suffering flooding, some whole towns were virtually wiped out. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandr Posted August 9, 2022 Author Share Posted August 9, 2022 On 8/8/2022 at 1:18 AM, Frosty said: by in "your area" I was asking thinking of a little farther away. St. Petersburg for instance, are the rivers staying within their banks, etc. A few years ago, the construction of the dam was completed. No more flooding problems. Previously, with a strong western wind, the Neva overflowed its banks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 That's good to see, we're getting a lot of flooding in places, that don't get a lot of heavy rain. They're getting crazy heavy rain this year though. Larger cities or areas that have to deal with flooding aren't doing so badly but it's hard to prepare for things that haven't happened in a couple centuries. Your rain video made me wonder about you and yours. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobtiel1 Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 That's always difficult to deal with. here in the Netherlands the discussion is always about the height of the dikes, do we build them for a storm that happens once every 10.000 years, every 100.000 years? For "daily" use they are high enough, but if you have a storm like in 1953 that you are not prepared for, half the country floods. ~Jobtiel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 Here at over 4500' elevation down in the valley (and I can see 10K feet from my front door), it's hard to think of being below sea level. OTOH I was at an old miner's bar in Colorado once at 9000' and imported beer from the Netherlands tended to explode when opened according to the barkeeper... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandr Posted August 10, 2022 Author Share Posted August 10, 2022 18 hours ago, Frosty said: Larger cities or areas that have to deal with flooding aren't doing so badly but it's hard to prepare for things that haven't happened in a couple centuries. The dam solves 3 problems. Protecting the city from flooding, a ring road passes through it and connects the island Kotlin Kronstadt with the "mainland". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobtiel1 Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 Thomas, that's pretty cool actually! When we used to go to Switzerland and chips bags we brought would also inflate up to near bursting pressures. The realization hits sometimes when I drive over the bridge to the next island/peninsula over and the tide is up, sometimes the water reaches maybe half a meter before the top of the dike while from "ground" level the dike is 6 or more meters high! ~Jobtiel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 My Parents spent 4 years in Naarden and I used to visit them and bike around, no hills but *always* a strong breeze blowing against you! (Like the old joke about having to walk for miles to get to school when we were young and it was up hill *both* *ways*!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobtiel1 Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 That's true, very fun when biking somewhere and having strong headwind both ways! ~Jobtiel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 Altitude is something we have to deal with regularly here at 7500' (and we can see 12 and 13 k ' peaks from the house and shop). Air tight packages, like Jobtiel's chip bags, which have been sealed at lower altitudes are "inflated" here. When opening something liquid or semi liquid, e.g. yoghurt, you always tip the container so that the gas vents when opened rather than blorting out the contents onto your hand or face. Baking has to be adjusted for altitude (more flour, less heat). things have to be boiled longer. IIRC the boiling point of water at 7500' is about 198 degrees F. I probably have to crank the coal forge blower a bit more than at lower altitude and I'm sure my gasser would be hatter if run at sea level. When I tell folk my birth date I usually add, "When the world was young and dinosaurs roamed the earth." If they are skeptical I tell them that I rode a dinosuar (tricetatops) to school every day, uphill both ways and carrying my little brother and the dinosaur. Our oxygenation level is about 90+% which is pretty normal because when your body adjusts to altitude it produces more red blood cells to carry the limited oxygen. If you go up in altitude too fast you can develop altitude sickness which, in a few severe cases, can be fatal. Altitude sickness occurs pretty regularly in folk from low altitudes who jet into high altitude Colorado ski areas. Usually, it can be treated with rest and some oxygen therapy but in some cases people have to return to lower altitudes as quickly as possible. When we go up to the Medicine Bow Mountains, about 35 miles west of Laramie, to close to 11,000' we notice that even though we are acclimated to 7500' we still can get breathless with exertion and have to rest more often. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 10, 2022 Share Posted August 10, 2022 Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii is at 13796 feet on top of a peak there and they have a LOT of issues with folks coming up from sea level with no acclimation. (I've been to the ALMA site in the Andes, 16400' and they require a heart test and drivers must use supplemental O2. It's not even on top of a peak, but in a saddle!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandr Posted August 14, 2022 Author Share Posted August 14, 2022 Vyborg, an ancient fortress city 100 km from St. Petersburg. Close to the Finnish border. I went to work, at the same time walked around the city. VID_20220813_161558.mp4 VID_20220813_154615.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les L Posted August 14, 2022 Share Posted August 14, 2022 Alexandr, the architecture in your country is beautiful, I thank you for sharing it with us. I’m always amazed at the pictures you send of your work and your country, I wish that I was able to walk around and enjoy it with you. Did you help the blacksmith work on any projects while you were there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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