sun!

Proof that sometimes the sun shows up in December in Helsinki (I read that this past December there has been unusually little sunlight).



















Been having some problems with publishing with Blogger, that's why all these posts seem to be posted in a row.

on christmas

This year I didn't spend Christmas with my parents in Eastern Finland, but with sister's family in Helsinki instead. It was fun to spend some time with sister, brother-in-law, and little A (who, I must say, was very patient for a long long time when sister and I cooked: there was a pile of presents under the tree, he didn't touch any, although his questions of when were we going to open the presents grew more and more desperate; finally we had to show the poor kid some mercy and open them before the dinner rather than after...*). Though somehow, as much as I like Christmas, they seem to come faster and also be over faster nowadays. Especially now, since I didn't spend the days after Christmas just knitting and enjoying Mum's cooking, as I usually do... Maybe it has something to do with growing up. Sigh.

But: we had good company, good food (on many occasions) - bûche de noël and scones in the photos were my contribution - and I must show you some of the presents. Maybe when I get back to Tampere...
I hope you all had a good Christmas, if you were celebrating one, and wish your last days of the year 2008 will be happy.

(I love that photo of A watching cartoons - I believe it was From All Of Us To All Of You.)



*In Finland we open the presents on Christmas Eve.

joulu*

I wish you all a good one!



*joulu = Christmas in Finnish

dreaming of snow

I've been meaning to post - actually, I have begun a total number of six box before this one - but I guess I just haven't had anything to say.
I'm dull and numb in all this darkness, wishing for snow to make it lighter, and waiting for vacation, as these last days of lectures and work have been a struggle.
Hopefully back here sooner than later...

And thanks for all the comments lately! It's been really nice to read them, as always.


(The photo is taken in November, when we had a blizzard. Right now, there's no snow whatsoever in Tampere.)

helsinki: faces

helsinki: stars

november light

I was in Helsinki for two days, pretending to be a teacher. For me the best part was the view from the classrooms...





9.20 a.m.




10.35 a.m.




1.22 p.m.



The mornings are so dark right now, it feels like leaving home at night. But that makes the pale November sunlight feel even more precious in the scant hours we get to see it.

messages

Tampere, October 2008




Helsinki, September 2007





Helsinki, August 2007

at home

November always seems to be a busy month for everybody. I feel like I'm battling against time trying to do it all, and while I have spent many late hours with my laptop, it feels like I haven't had time to enjoy my home at all. So today, when the day was as dark and miserable as only a November day can be, I was happy to stay in my pyjamas all day, relishing my only day off this week (luckily the Boy came over for a really quick visit, so I was forced to tidy up the place a bit). I had to do some schoolwork, but if you get to prepare a presentation of Astrid Lindgren, it's not that bad (and Swedish is coming back to me, finally!).

frost

Yesterday was a frosty, sunny, chilly day. The most perfect kind of day there can be in November. It looked as if everything was coated with sugar...

pretty packaging

The prettiest yoghurt pot there is! It's called 'Bulgarian yoghurt', it's a lot like Greek yoghurt.

I bought this for J before his birthday, and then forgot about it completely... White chocolate with poppy seeds (!). J likes white chocolate, and is also an avid botanist.

This little tin is a fleamarket find; it used to contain body cream, now it contains my pins. I love the name Saba, which is how Finns write Queen of Sheba's name.

solitary

When I came back from Helsinki, nobody had washed the used coffee cups I had left behind, or picked up the clothes from the floor (both sure signs of me being busy - or lazy, someone would say [hi Mum!]). The carnations had dried in their vase.

Still, it was lovely to come home. Especially because last winter I had no place in Tampere I could actually call home. And because after being several days in a row with someone all the time, I felt like the carnations myself; dry and tired and mute. That much socializing easily leaves me exhausted. I loved every second I got to spend with my friends, I really did - but right now being home, alone, is the best thing I know.





It's been a quiet Sunday. It's raining, so I've mostly stayed indoors, doing nothing much. Dreaming of a rocking chair, muffins and hot chocolate (I'd like to have this one or this one in adult size). No rocking chair here, but I just baked muffins, and hot chocolate can be arranged... So I'm good.

music = happiness

I was in need of some new music, plus there was a sale in my favourite record store. I usually listen to one cd for weeks, then forget it for maybe months, and move on to another... A cd can sit in my shelf for ages without me even remembering it - and then I find it again, and suddenly time is right and it's just the album I want to listen to all the time.
I seem to always end up buying mostly cds by female singers; I think that nine out of ten of the last cds I've purchased fall into that category, the only exception being the Chet Baker cd in the photo. So it is nice that miss H gave me the Thomas Dybdahl cd as a birthday gift, and it's especially nice because I had never heard of Thomas Dybdahl before. Sounds good after the first listening...

Ane Brun's gig on Flow festival in August was really really good, and I'm happy to say I like the record too. To cheer up the rainy day (or any kind of day you're having), here's The Treehouse Song, my current favourite from her album Changing of the Seasons; listening to it makes me very happy.




So, for the rest of the autumn I'll be listening to Chet Baker, Thomas Dybdahl, Jenny Lewis, Eleanoora Rosenholm and Ane Brun. I don't really buy cds that often, so I'm excited to have so many new! What music have you been loving lately?

midterm break

I've been in Helsinki for a few days.

I've shared a bottle of red wine and a lot of giggles with miss H. I've had coffee with miss A. I've gone for a hike in the woods. I've celebrated J's 30th birthday (I gave him this, among some other things. Thanks for the idea, Nina, and thank you sister for taking time to find this in London, so I didn't have to pay £9 postage.). I've bought four cd's and got one as a belated birthday present. I've met someone whose age is still measured in days and weeks. I've eaten a delicious bacon & mushroom pie.





And I've been sitting here. It is one of my favourite places to sit in Helsinki: there's good, affordable food and drink, art exhibited on walls, relaxed atmosphere, and always interesting people to look at. What more could you ask for?

patterned II

...finally.

1 Talo -print by Finlayson, for my kitchen curtains (not very well ironed, I know)
2 onesie for someone quite new
3 scraps from something I've been sewing

better

At least it seems so. Baking helped, although I managed to forget sugar when baking rolls - they still taste quite good. I think I'd be happier if I could bake every day. Also, yesterday was a busy day, and I think it's often better for me if I don't have too much time in my hands, so I'm not able to mull things over and over in my head too much.


This evening the setting sun reflected from the opposite building and created this artwork on my wall. I've been meaning to show you more patterns, but I have some problems with the photos... Coming soon, though.

dreary thoughts on a dreary day

I need





more energy

more money

more sleep

more confidence

more self-discipline

more time to knit & bake

a better memory

less inhibitions

a new belt

chocolate (not related to the 'new belt' -part)

and more elephant-shaped clouds to look at (don't we all?)









I'll be fine. After all, tomorrow is another day etc.

eleven details about me

Today it's a do the washing & do the dishes & tidy up your home & hoover & study & try to do some other useful things -kind of day around here. So it's a perfect day to answer some questions in lieu of doing all that. (Maikki tagged me, thanks!)




1. clothes shop - I'm not feeling very strongly about any shop I have the money to shop in... If I lived in Gothenburg, though, I would probably like this boutique a lot (found today via Camilla Engman).

2. furniture shop - I guess in my daydreams world it would be something like Tomorrow's Antique; in reality, my home is furnished with hand-me-downs, Ikea, and a desk bought from a film set...

3. sweet - chocolate

4. city - Helsinki

5. drink - water (or, if it has to be alcoholic, gin & tonic; I also love a glass of good port)

6. music - many kinds of music, all the time; at the moment, the cd in my stereo is Tori Amos' Beekeeper, and the song stuck in my head Regina Spektor's Ne me quitte pas.

7. tv series - my 'new' (borrowed) telly doesn't work yet; but lately I've been watching 'Allo 'allo! on dvd; I like Project Runway too

8. film - Pedro Almodovar's Todo sobre mi madre, an all time favourite

9. workout - pilates, if I had money to go to classes...

10. pastries - chocolate cake and cinnamon bun

11. coffee - cappucino


Sister took the photo of me with the Rabbitsquirrel. Who in the photo is busy putting a plaster on my finger (just for fun).

last of the flowers in the botanical garden

Took a train to Helsinki on Saturday evening, after work. The weekend was a flurry of fun things, like miss H turning 30 and the celebratory brunch in our favourite café on Sunday morning, complete with a candle on top of a piece of tart; and meeting my favourite (and only) sister and the rabbitsquirrel who lives in her home at the moment.
It always takes a while for me to go back to normal after spending a couple of days in almost constant company, though - I'm more used to solitude.



ps. This was in the mystery package from California: a limited edition ceramic figurine, 'Fox Gets a Bright Idea' by Etsy seller PearsonMaron. An inspiration gift to my sister; she's partial to foxes, and I thought she might need this on her desk, as bright ideas seem rare for all of us from time to time. The fox looked really good on my desk too - for myself, I'd love this Tree Ghost mini sculpture.

(Image from the PearsonMaron Etsy shop.)

patterned I

1 A charity shop find; the leaf pattern reminds me of this pattern I like. All Swedes seem to have those dishes :) - is it vintage Rörstrand? Can't remember.

2 Karpalo (cranberry) -mug by Heini Riitahuhta for Arabia. It's my favourite coffee mug right now.

3 Another charity shop find, a pyrex bowl I bought last week.


In the first photo you can also see part of the gocco print I ordered as a birthday gift to myself from Etsy seller sugarloop. I like it a lot - it was a tough decision to choose just one her bird prints - and it currently stays on my desk until I can decide where to hang it.