Watching Summer Photos on My Birthday

It's a pleasure to watch summer pictures in cold January. They remind me green lawn and colorful bright flowers that will grow instead of white snow around me now.

Today is my Birthday

and here's a special video to me:

 

I always feel happy on my birthday despite of how I am old :-)

What do you feel on your birthday? Is it your happy or sad day? 

Do you enjoy any gift, any call or a postcard at this day?

 

My Garden in Mid-January

This is a Christmas week and I want to share my wintry garden photos with you. My garden is quiet, all perennial plants are asleep under a snow blanket. The weather is enough cold and frosty -7 C or 20 F . I'm glad that finally snow has fallen and covered the plants because frost without snow is very dangerous for them.

Evergreens always please me, especially tujas and pines. Their long green needles shine in sun rays and smell awesome. Snow lies on big and wide rhododendron's leaves and its buds are bathing in sun rays as well.

Of course I shoveled paths and my favorite patio. As always I threw up some snow to the roots of clematis, spring bulbs, pond ice.

The January day is short, sun is going away very fast and I decided to drink a cup of tea with hot sandwich heated in a microwave.

The last, long and low sun rays lighted snowy lawn and pine trunks. I was glad to visit my garden on Christmas week because I was very busy before the coming of New year. 
The nature's quietness gives special mood in our busy and unpredictable life.

Orthodox Christmas + Cake

Orthodox Christmas is on January, 7th. After breakfast I've driven to my garden. It's my tradition to go there in Christmas. I have wanted to have a look at the plants if they are covered with snow or if it melted at all. 

Having come back I decided to cook something sweet making it myself. All ingredients that I needed I've found in my kitchen except vanilla. 'No problem, I make a cake without vanilla :-)'

The recipe is very easy. Biscuit: 5 eggs, 
1 glass of flour, 
1 glass of sugar. 
I whipped eggs with sugar - 5 min, and added flour. Bake 30 min, 180 C  350F 
While biscuit was in an oven I've made cream:  
I whipped sour cream - 1,5 glass and 1 glass of sugar. Cream is used instead of butter.
When round biscuit was ready and cooled I've divided it on 2 layers.

I've spread cream on both layers of biscuit, put the upper layer above the first one and smoothed cream over.
There was a dark chocolate bar in my fridge, so I grated it up the cake to adorn it. I've thought it was not enough and arranged some plums in sugar (from my garden) and ground walnuts on the cake top. 

When Christmas evening comes my family and I will have nice piece of cake with cup of tea or coffee and a glass of red wine. 

  

A Merry Christmas on January 7th!

Here is 'Silent night' in Russian: