Blowing my own trumpet

Do you know that idiom, "To blow one's own trumpet"? Well, it means to brag or boast about something you have achieved.

This post has nothing to do about that. Haha!

Actually, I am going to do the opposite - admit my weakness.

You see, I used to play the cornet (a small trumpet) some time ago. But what happens when you don't practice something for a long time? You get "rusty" or bad at it. You can even lose that talent totally. This includes speaking a language.

Well, that's what happened when I didn't play my cornet for around 3 years.

So, today I have been practising my cornet and it's taking me quite a while to regain the muscular fitness I need to play well.

Playing a brass instrument, such as a cornet, trumpet, trombone, tuba etc uses a bunch of muscles in your face and torso that don't often get much use.

I'll stick with it. I am determined to keep practising and improve my playing. Maybe you have a favourite tune that you'd like me to try and play? Feel free to send it to me.

What instrument do you play?
How often do you practice?
Is there an instrument you really, really wish you could play?

Back in Australia

My family and I had the pleasure of living in Siberia for three years. The time then arrived where we needed to move back to our home country - Australia.

We miss Russia, but no doubt we will visit again from time to time, since we have so many great friends there. We also have many fond memories!

So, following such a big adventure, how can we just return to normal life? The answer is... we can't!

Thankfully, Google Maps helped us to plan our next adventure. We didn't move back to our old city. Instead, after lots of searching on the satellite map, we found a beautiful small town.

Sure, it was a place we'd never been before, but when we arrived to "check it out", we fell in love with it.

What is the name of that place? Bega!

This is our new town. You can find a lot of information about Bega on the Internet. Go ahead, do some research and then tell me in the comments what you discovered.

Make sure, if you come to Bega, you say "Hello"!

What did you discover about Bega?
Do you like big cities or small towns?
Is there a city on Earth where you wish you could live?

Travelling by train

One of the many things I love about Russia is the train system. You can easily travel great distances at a very affordable price.

Since Russia is the largest country on Earth, you can imagine that cities are very far away from each other. But this is not a problem when you can sleep in a bed or relax at a table and watch the scenery while travelling.

Recently my wife and daughter travelled by train with a dancing school for a competition. They spent around 30 hours on the train across Siberia.

Of course, it wasn't totally boring! They had a great time playing games, singing songs and eating ice cream. At each train station along the way there were peddlers selling all different things: fur hats, toys, dried fish, pastries and much more.

What a great way to see the country and experience the culture!

Do you like travelling by train?
What is the rail system like in your country?
What is your preferred method of transport?

How do you say that?

Sometimes I learn new words in Russian, but I don't know how to say them correctly.

Today I found a very cool website. This website is called Forvo and it lets you hear the correct way to pronounce a word in any language. All you need to do is type the word into the search box.

Did you ever wonder how to pronounce this word? Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Now you can learn! Click here to listen

Where does this word come from?
Have you seen the movie?
What is one of the longest words in your language?

Crazy weather

It's the 2nd of May today. That means it is the second month of Spring and just one month until Summer! Yet, as I look outside today, I'm amazed by what I see.

Perhaps I should expect such crazy weather. It seems some strange things are happening with weather patterns all over the world.

There is an old Christmas carol called "White Christmas". The lyrics in the chorus start with "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know."

Well today, it seems we might be dreaming of a White Summer! Who knows.

What's the weather like in your city?
Has the weather been crazy?
Do you like snow?

Sleeping babies

I have a big family - FIVE kids! We currently live in a small apartment in Siberia.

At the moment, my wife and two daughters are away in another city. My daughter is dancing in a competition.

So, I am at home with my sons and baby daughter. Sometimes it is VERY difficult to achieve any goals, because I need to give all my attention to my baby.

Tonight she was very active, but finally she has fallen asleep! Now I can do something for myself. But... oh... I'm so tired!

Do you have a big family?
Do you have a baby?
How do you keep your baby busy?

Yum! I love pancakes!

In the holidays, I cooked some pancakes.

In Australia, we make thick pancakes! Russian pancakes are very thin. They are called bliny (блины) here. I like them too.

Usually, we have honey, cream, butter or jam on our pancakes. Maple syrup is also a popular choice.

Look at my pancake, I made it myself!

Do you like pancakes?
Can you cook pancakes?
What is your recipe?
Would you like pancakes like this one?