teakkk

Bulevardi

2012-01-26T19:03:00.002+01:00

Santa Claus gave me a curtain... by Vallila interior ... It's called Bulevardi and I LOVE IT!!!

Storms and smiles!

2012-01-26T09:56:00.000+01:00

Life is a bit stormy right now, but the elections went as they should have gone and now there is the second round... Number 2 rules!!!

And then there are little things that make one smile and feel happy inside... like this flash mob dance performed once again by Finnair personnel! GO FINNAIR! YOU ROCK!!

Election Day

2012-01-22T16:38:00.002+01:00

2 - PEKKA HAAVISTO (vihr)

3 - TIMO SOINI (ps)

4 - PAAVO VÄYRYNEN (kesk)

5 - PAAVO LIPPONEN (sdp)

6 - SAULI NIINISTÖ (kok)

7 - SARI ESSAYAH (kd)

8 - EVA BIAUDET (r)

9 - PAAVO ARHINMÄKI (vas)

Today Finland votes for a new President... an election that was pretty obvious from the start has becme more interesting as days have gone by... I didn't have a chance to vote this time, it's just too far to travel right now, but I sure know who I would have voted! Hoping to see him on round 2...

The funny thing is that if all the people I call friends were the only ones voting there would be no doubt on who would win... I think atleast 95% voted Number 2!

BIRDS

2012-01-20T15:58:00.004+01:00

Couldn't help thinking of Hitchcock's Birds... a little scary...
Half an hour later there were no birds anywhere anymore...

From a Friend

2012-01-19T15:34:00.001+01:00

From a Friend... the kind with a capital F...

Brings good feelings to these 'not so great' days.

Next week the waiting will end and the action will begin, so it'll be better for sure!

Hats

2012-01-12T15:32:00.000+01:00

I love this hat... and the button that tikru gave me for Christmas a few years ago... and I had attached a lovely flower that Mevrouw Walvis had given me as well... and then I lost the whole bunch at Christmas and I'm so mad at myself... =(

And this one is LOVELY... the Rikke hat is really perfect knit in Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend...

... as is Quynn , made from yarn handspun by zeska

And then there's Matteo's muikkuset that really kept him warm in the wind in Helsinki... It's knit in Filatura di Crosa Pampas and it's SO warm and soft!

BACK TO ... NORMAL

2012-01-09T16:47:00.002+01:00

We are back from Finland, Christmas, vacation... Luca is back in Florence and right now it feels like a long long way to ... vacation!
Will blog soon...

MY CAT

2011-12-16T13:46:00.002+01:00

I just told someone that after ten months I still miss Oliver but the pain is gone... and then today I happened to look at my kids photos of Oliver in Facebook... it brought a shower of tears...

My dear dear cat...

Cowls

2011-12-15T08:54:00.002+01:00

Finally got someone to pose a
few cowls...

Bandana Cowl in lovely bluish yarn spun by Zeska from Tuulia's gorgeous fibre

and Setzer Cowl in a beautiful grey from Ilu's Luxury Club... this is a Jared Flood pattern ... simple but genius!

December? Really?

2011-12-14T13:29:00.004+01:00

Some knitting..

2011-12-14T08:56:00.002+01:00

There has been knitting, but boone to model the cowls and things... so only photos taken by Minerva of my new sweater:

Idlewood by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

I used Rowan Felted Tweed Aran in the colourway Heather

Very quick, very easy but next time I would make it less wide on the hips!

The Buxus shrub in front of our house is looking like this.

Driving in December...

2011-12-10T08:51:00.001+01:00

Looks more like spring than December...

94th Independence Day

2011-12-06T17:57:00.001+01:00

Proud to be finnish!

Tonttu family

2011-12-06T10:05:00.001+01:00

Our homes in Finland and here in Italy are home to gnomes, tonttu in finnish. They are Santa's helpers, but they are also good little spirits that take care of us and our homes!

This little guy looks over our livingroom:

This guy keeps an eye on our apartment in Finland... he even has the key...

And these two little guys are actually the figurines of the real live gnomes that live down under the pine-tree in our garden...

Presepe/Nativity scene

2011-12-04T14:45:00.001+01:00

Our kitchen window last Christmas

And our Nativity scene... made by Aurora, Luca and Matteo years ago, and some pieces added by Minerva later...

Our Christmas tree last year

2011-12-02T14:11:00.001+01:00

Chocolate and things!

2011-12-02T07:32:00.001+01:00

Salty pretzels and slices of banana dipped into good quality dark chocolate... Yummy!

Aurora enjoys making things and we enjoy eating them!

Four weeks to Christmas

2011-11-27T16:48:00.001+01:00

Last year's gingerbread house... Hogwart's style..

Winter sea

2011-11-25T15:15:00.001+01:00

From the car... Those are the electric wires (or whatever) that I always go on about... I hate them!!!

Ugly ugly weather

2011-11-23T18:13:00.001+01:00

Just to prove to some friends that it's not always nice weather here... taken today while returning home (I was not driving this time)

That is Castro in the back, and usually the blue sea is visible right ahead... not today! =)

More Driving and Snapping Photos!

2011-11-17T07:32:00.001+01:00

On the way to school to pick up Minerva... for the first three I had to get out of the car because of the electric wires that would have cut the photos in half, but the others were all taken seated in the car...

Hold Your Needles

2011-11-16T16:07:00.001+01:00

I HAVE IT!!!!!

The E-book in english will be published this month in two parts... BUY IT! More information here: nytlahtilapasesta

I also got sheep earrings and chocolate and chewing gum...

AND ... I need a haircut!!! =)

A year ago...

2011-11-14T09:30:00.001+01:00

I must be feeling a bit blue... keep thinking that a year ago I noticed the first symptoms that all was not well... but he was still my sweet puffy Oliver, even with a 500g weightloss.

... Sleeping among hand-knits...

Snapshots while driving...

2011-11-11T18:47:00.001+01:00

I have a funny friend who often takes photos while driving... so I tried, but I did stop the car, AND I was on small country roads...

And then... this wall was built over twenty years ago and the cave-man and I noticed something funny the very first time we drove by... can you spot it?

I have yet to find someone who has seen it before we point it out to them... =)

Halloween night

2011-11-06T09:50:00.001+01:00

Our gnomes that live down in the garden (and guard our dear Oliver's tomb) always leave a little surprise on Halloween...

Torch in hand the girl's go exploring and find two little bags og goodies...

Matteo and Minerva on their way to 'Trick or Treat'...

(we wouldn't send her alone)

And this year Aurora was a Sugar Skull

Cleaning up?

2011-11-01T12:01:00.000+01:00

He's cleaning up the plants outside...

...and I'm cleaning up the stuff inside... 1st of November! =)

Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T10:10:00.000+01:00

The dining table has been covered in Halloween things gathered in the years ... and some of Minerva's rubberducks that suit the atmosphere...

Aurora and boy-friend baked some Halloween cookies... and thankfully also pizza for dinner...

PS Behind the scenes some of the other rubberducks are lurking... and playing... =)

Olive trees

2011-10-28T20:26:00.002+02:00

The olive trees are getting heavy with their fruits, which will be picked in the next month or two, even though the land is dry from lack of rain.

I have always loved olive-tree trunks... even though these are quite young ones...

Knitting... lots of green?

2011-10-22T18:23:00.002+02:00

I am SO behind on blogging!!!

There has been knitting... a bit on the side, and lots of ripping... frogging... Can one frog more than one knits? It seems so at times...

Stripes to keep her warm

Hazelknits little-colonnade made with a lovely skein of Hazelknits Artisan Socks... gifted by a very talented blog friend with a exquisite Etsy Shop...

Then my LYS lady gave me some leftover Borgosesia Alpaca, and I knitted a second Shaelyn shawl (the first one flew to California to warm Alice)

This week I grabbed two small grey skeins of Handu and knit myself a Stripey slouchy lamb to go with the cute lamb button that a friend gifted me years ago at Christmas...

And last but not least, I had a bit of Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend left over from other things and I REALLY wanted to knit a Rikke hat so... I LOVE it!!!

Gravad or Rimmad Lax?

2011-10-21T11:46:00.000+02:00

Luca goes to University in Florence, and left home over a month ago... now he's coming for two day visit for his dad's birthday, and he's bringing his girl-friend too, so ofcourse I asked him what he wants to eat those two days and what he wants his girl-friend to taste... Right off his answer was salmon! So.... this morning we bought a 4,5kg fresh salmon... we put a part in the freezer for a good soup one day, and the rest we cured with salt and sugar and dill.... wrapped it up and put it on a tray in the fridge with a weight over it, and it'll be perfect for birthday lunch accompanied with boiled potatoes and maybe a sauce...

Finally Fall?

2011-10-08T09:45:00.002+02:00

It is finally finally raining... slowly, calmly but enough to actually wet the dry earth and clean the streets... Bliss!

Mr. Apple

2011-10-06T11:58:00.002+02:00

Our world is richer because he lived, and poorer because he died.

The Rising Sun

2011-09-26T18:17:00.002+02:00

I have not been taking any photos lately... luckily my husband has...

We live on the coast that faces east, towards the sunrise... I wonder if it makes us be more Sunrise-people than sunset? My friend who lives 40km from me, on the other side of the heel of Italy, is definitely a sunset-person...
Anyway... the first photo was taken at 6am at the beginning of September... the second just the other day at about 8am...

I have been knitting too!

2011-09-19T19:12:00.001+02:00

Gorgeous hand spun from a dear friend... turned into a hat and cowl... LOVED knitting with this yarn!

I was asked to test-knit... This was absolutely lovely and easy to knit, and I finally found a way of using my skein of Handmaiden Casbah that I have had in my stash for ages, waiting for the perfect project!

Four different shawls, all patterns by Martina Behm, used Wollmeise three times and Colinette Jitterbug once... Great shawls!

Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier, in Hopeasäie yarn dyed by Pirre... this might end up as a gift because it's just a bit small, and someone seems to love it! (Caveman's daughter-in-law) =)

Folded, by Veera Välimäki in Wollmeise colourway Moses...

Both sweaters were logical and I could see myself knitting them again... and the yarns were lovely!

Last Saturday at the pool September 10, 2011

2011-09-19T14:12:00.000+02:00

Around and around...

2011-09-03T14:58:00.000+02:00

Around and around... in the pool and on the needles... =)

Today

2011-09-01T18:18:00.001+02:00

My Daughter

2011-08-31T09:33:00.000+02:00

22 years ago, this beautiful baby was born making me a mother and us a family! Happy Birthday Anna Aurora Linnea, my little girl!

When kids are bored

2011-08-29T08:47:00.000+02:00

Sometimes I wonder, with all the activities kids have nowadays, if they really need all that organization.

When kids are 'bored' they usually come up with some really fun things... even kids that are already 18!

Matteo sat in the garden with some pine cones and made these:

They are somehow woven together so that they don't fall apart and I think they are lovely!

Earth and Sky?

2011-08-25T14:15:00.000+02:00

When Stephen West announced a KAL (Knit-along) on Ravelry, I immediatly signed up... I'm not so good at KALs, but I love Stephen's patterns...

SO... when we were yarn shop crawling with my girl-friend in Helsinki, I bought six skeins of Drop's Alpaca in three beautiful shades of grey... urged on by my friend who knows exactly how easily I'm hooked with greys!

The first clue was published on August 1st, but I didn't start until when we came back to Italy... The first two clues were quickly knit:

... then we were hit by a heat-wave, AND my rows got awfully loooooong (size 3mm needles and a million stitches) so I slowed down a bit and finished it yesterday!

It's grey (love) it's BIG and it's gorgeous! It's also 100% alpaca and very warm... taking these photos was... painful in 30° weather, not to speak of the looks I got when the other day I was knitting this at the pool-side... =) but I'm going to love this this winter!

Reading

2011-08-23T08:52:00.000+02:00

There are days, and books, which keep her all day in the books world... reminds me so much of myself as a kid...

Sunflowers

2011-08-21T14:15:00.002+02:00

Little things please little minds - I saw this from the corner of my eye while driving home one of the last days in Finland... I love sunflowers!

What is this?

2011-08-20T13:03:00.000+02:00

I woke up rather late this morning ... and was shown this picture and asked if I recognized the view! =)

(It's the view from our toilet-seat, with the door wide open...)
=)

For the love of Internet

2011-08-19T12:44:00.000+02:00

Internet has brought me SO much!

There is Ravelry, which is too much to describe in words, and through Ravelry I have found some of the best friends I have, and then there is Facebook, where I have re-connected with long lost friends, and that has been a joy.

And then there are blogs... blogs in which one gets a glimpse of people's lives and sometimes, sometimes you just feel a connection with someone, after reading their postings...

and then you just feel like connecting, you see something that you want to send this person... you find yourself in a bookshop and you just think of this person on the other side of the world, and so you send them a package!

And then you receive one too... even if that was not at all expected, and you see that this person is a friend, because she really has stopped to think of what would please you...

... and if you're REALLY lucky, your friend has amazing talent and she sends you some cards made by her!!! Thank you SO SO SO much Kristen!

25 and 28 and flee markets

2011-08-18T17:10:00.001+02:00

In July we reached 25 years together!!! (Scary... silver wedding if we were married) and next week I'll turn 28 again.

This year I was really lucky at the flee market:

A bronze Kalevala bird from my eldest, Aurora

A pretty pendant and necklace...

And last but not least a GORGEOUS silver bracelet, which I was told was from Sweden and from the 1930's. Lucky lucky me!

An August morning...

2011-08-17T12:50:00.000+02:00

I was dragged away from the computer this morning for a swim... Just a stairway from home the Mediterranean looks like this:

The slight murkiness is from the sweet water that springs from the rocks and is cold ... it rests on top of the seawater, so if one dives the water is warmer (almost too warm in August).

Ice cream for breakfast:

Last day in Finland

2011-08-15T09:52:00.000+02:00

Last day in Finland... salmon at my mother's house

Then home to pack... Luckily I had a brilliant idea to go and have an ice cream at the seashore near home (Munkkivuoren ranta)

As soon as we finished the birds wanted their share...

The sky and the view were spectacular!

(photos by Nini)

An early birthday present...

2011-08-13T17:23:00.000+02:00

When one is very lucky, one has a mother who buys one birthday presents!!!

This is my very favourite Marimekko bag... in LEATHER!!!

The softest , most beautiful pitch-black leather!

I'm VERY lucky!

And now we're back in Italy!

2011-08-13T12:15:00.000+02:00

And life goes on....

They're all here!

2011-07-31T21:48:00.000+02:00

All three older kids , in their beds, all in the same room, same country, all with me!

The family is complete and two more weeks of vacation!

Lunch by the sea

2011-07-24T21:28:00.000+02:00

Lunch in cafeteria by the sea, close to home...

Each of us with our own salad... to taste

The sky was, and is again as I write this, very dramatic

And these cool guys with their sunglasses... are the 'little' ones...

We cry with you.

2011-07-24T20:28:00.000+02:00

Flags at half-mast today in Finland ... we cry with you Norway!

This the flag in front of our apartment building in Helsinki...

UTØYA

2011-07-23T10:34:00.000+02:00

http://falkvinge.net/2011/07/23/who-kills-80-teenagers-one-by-one/

It is all in there, in those words... everything else just disappears...

18.07.2011 Tallinn, Estonia

2011-07-21T21:09:00.000+02:00

Day-trip to Estonia with the ferry with 25 other knitters from the 'Kahelit' - group in Ravelry... knitting and laughter and rain and humidity and wool and all good things... and at the end of the day a wonderful and unexpected gift from a friend... BEAUTIFUL stripey socks!!! Thank you each and every one and especially you Anni and you Maija for organizing the trip!

16.07.2011 Fiskars

2011-07-21T20:27:00.000+02:00

Fiskars
... the sky
... a gorgeous cat
... and Mari's photos mixed with ours... =)

(my battery died at breakfast so the photos are Matteo's and Mari's)

Sushi and Ipad

2011-07-17T09:05:00.000+02:00

Waiting for sushi... so much more fun with an Ipad to play with!

Tammisaari Flee Market Finds

2011-07-16T21:08:00.002+02:00

Opera binoculars... New York 1960 written inside, even though the binoculars are japanese...

Leather container with a glass bottle inside... missing the cork?

Silver- coated glass case
G and S written on cover and 17.2.-39 inside

Girly Weekend

2011-07-15T09:31:00.000+02:00

I have a friend over for the weekend! Happy!

'Only' two glasses of wine...

Sunset 13.07.2011

2011-07-14T17:42:00.000+02:00

13.07.2011 FOOD!

2011-07-13T18:38:00.000+02:00

Today: Sushi

And Ice Cream!!!!

Trees

2011-07-13T08:22:00.000+02:00

The Clown...11.07.2011

2011-07-11T14:10:00.001+02:00

My third, Matteo... preparing to do some clowning... assembling the costume one piece at a time...

Bad Moon Rising? 08.07.2011

2011-07-11T14:01:00.001+02:00

A quarter to midnight in Helsinki... the (BAD) moon is rising...

Best friend best enemies

2011-07-10T08:51:00.000+02:00

I managed to capture Matteo and Minerva in some of their 'best friends' moments..

08.07.2011 The Market Square part II

2011-07-08T23:31:00.000+02:00

08.07.2011 The Market Square part I

2011-07-08T23:06:00.000+02:00

Helsinki 07.07.2011

2011-07-07T21:56:00.000+02:00

Walking at the market and Havis Amanda

Minerva having her first manicure... the colour she chose is called Mermaid's Tears

And then we met a whole bunch of lovely knitting friends and ate
Fish and Chips with tartar sauce

and Caesar's Salad with chicken

Helsinki 0607

2011-07-07T08:56:00.000+02:00

Breakfast in downtown Helsinki ... I LOVE this city!

And we get the drive with this!

OFF WE GO!!

2011-07-03T16:56:00.000+02:00

Half the family is off to Finland tomorrow at dawn... I'll miss the remaining half, always torn in two, but it's time to spend some time with my mother!

Tomatoes

2011-06-22T10:06:00.000+02:00

Buying , and eating, tomatoes on the vine still gives me thrills... and the gorgeous perfume... a bit of basil and voila', perfection!

Summer

2011-06-21T09:46:00.002+02:00

2011-06-16T20:48:00.001+02:00

It has been four months and a week and tears are still daily... and memories and smiles that they bring... Our love is all there... it always will be, little Oliver...

Haircuts again...

2011-06-05T18:49:00.000+02:00

The more I want my boys with long hair ,the more they cut them??? Matteo and Aurora went to the hairdresser yesterday... no more ponytail for Matteo...

And Aurora has bangs...

Books from Finland!

2011-06-03T19:26:00.001+02:00

A package from Finland from my mother always means books and magazines and chocolate in the winter and good things!

Todays books: a great art book for Minerva and Marimekko's sewing book (now I need a sewing machine)

Cookbooks are always present... Gwyneth Paltrows surprisingly good cookbook and The Humming Bird Bakery's Cake Book... yummy!

Books for Minerva, recommended by Heli <3... Minerva read them as soon as she came home from school and loved them..

Muses (?) and Paul Auster for me...

So... the sofa and books call me...

Some spinning

2011-05-23T17:55:00.001+02:00

Fyberspates merino/nylon plied with KnitLob's Lair merino/nylon

And KnitLob's Lair Falkland plied with merino/nylon

And fibre from Skein, that I received in a lovely exchange from Thuja

What fun spinning is!

Lemoncurdpie and strawberries

2011-05-17T20:41:00.000+02:00

Aurora has a boy-friend who has lemon trees, which is always a good thing... so today I made lemon curd, and then I made a pie crust, and then I assembled the pie

And just make it a little more perfect I bought a load of strawberries which Minerva sliced for me...

And so we had lemon pie with strawberries... pure heaven!

The tablecloth is vintage Marimekko...

2011-05-16T17:25:00.000+02:00

Just a little update ... the swedish newspaper updated the finnish lion-cub on their own...

On the right, Sunday before the game: Finlands lion has become a cub with pacifier and the title is: 20:30 It'll be a child's play

On the left Mondays version: The cub has thrown the binky to the side, and is devouring Swedens Three Crowns... the title is: It was a child's play...

I like that they kept their humour! =)

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!

2011-05-16T08:36:00.000+02:00

This what Sweden thought of us before yesterday's match:

And this our answer after yesterdays match:

SO SWEET!!!!!!!

You leave them for a moment...

2011-05-11T19:42:00.000+02:00

Went to the dentist with Aurora and Matteo and left Luca and Minerva at home... This what they did while we were away... =)

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T16:57:00.000+02:00

Beginning of the 60's

Mid 70's, about to go sailing...

1975, on ferry from Malta to Sicily:

Pool in Rome, 1976 (same age as I am now...)

Men

2011-05-03T14:32:00.002+02:00

Katja blogged about handsome men... so I thought I'd post my favourites too...

Alan Rickman... that voice... and Gabriel Byrne... the silences

Paul Newman ... for the absolutely perfect beauty..

and Mick Jagger... for the energy that he oozes

And last, but not least, Liam Neeson for just about everything!

The funny thing is ... 2,5 are Irish (Rickman is half-Welsh)... and all are over ten years older than I am! So?

Lazy Sunday?

2011-05-02T07:20:00.000+02:00

I had lasagne in the freezer from the other Sunday (I try to always make two) ,so I knew I didn't have to cook yesterday and thought I'd lazy around...

But it was MayDay and it didn't seem right ,so I asked the kids if they wanted cinnamon rolls or doughnuts (munkkirinkilä) and they chose the latter... with cinnamon sugar instead of plain sugar...
We made 40 and they were SO good, still warm...

MAYDAY

2011-05-01T09:16:00.000+02:00

MayDay does not feel like MayDay outside Finland... Not at all...
So... I will spend the day missing the 'sima' and the 'tippaleipä' and it will just be another Sunday... trying to avoid all the Pope John Paul 2nd stuff on TV!

Ironing Beads are so much fun... maybe we'll make some more decorations for the window... =)

One of my favourite books as a child

2011-04-29T17:23:00.001+02:00

This book was printed in 1956, the original is in french, and it is based on the movie...

It totally fascinated me as a child... so sad and yet so ... not sad.
Does anyone else recognize it? Is anyone there as old as I am? =)

My Eternity Project

2011-04-27T07:38:00.001+02:00

Last summer my mother saw the Jali cardigan in Interweave Knits and said she wanted one. We bought some yarn for it then and there, but after I returned to Italy I decided to change and bought some gorgeous Lane Borgosesia Alpaca

I hated knitting the thing!!! The figure on the back crumpled up and it was really hard to judge lengths and widths and the frigging thing was not ready at Christmas!

At Easter mom came here, for six days... on the very last night I finished the cardigan... we photographed it just as she was leaving for Rome (At the B&B where she was staying)

Not bad for almost 84! And the cardigan is nice too... only 400 grams of softest alpaca...

Easter Treasurehunt 2011

2011-04-25T09:08:00.000+02:00

As every year The Easter Bunny had put up a little treasure hunt for Minerva...

It all started on the terrace with this note on the Ficus beniamina tree:

The theme seemed to be duckies... there was a little basket with some on the smallest ducks inside:

The first clue sent us the bathroom, where we found more duckies

And on the wall a beautiful collecting folder to store her drawings... and clue number 2:

Which sent us to the steps that lead to Aurora's loft, and found yet more duckies, some candy and lollipops... and underneath the steps clue 3

Which took us to the dvd player and an Uncle Scrooge dvd...

In the dvd there were some Hello Kitty badges and clue 4

This took us to the courtyard, and a BIG package ,more duckies and clue 5

Back to the terrace again!!! How did we miss these the first time?

And hidden on the steps we found Hello Kitty stickers and clue 6!

And back inside!!! Rubber duckies were climbing the steps to our loft...

Up the stairs and the final clue!!! (ignore the mess please...)

And there they were! In the corner were four big Easter eggs, one for each child! (so what if they're 21, 19 ,18 and 11?) =)

And then Minerva opened her package that had been hidden in the court yard!!! The mystery of why-the-duckies was resolved!!! A beautiful goose to hang in her room!!! Here she's watching over us while we eat!

I hope everyone had a lovely time yesterday... we even managed to make our Easter grass grow this year, in time!!! =)

Saturday

2011-04-24T09:23:00.003+02:00

Yesterday's table was filled with cheeses, salamis, vegetables and zucchini bread rolls... dessert was strawberry ice cream, lemon ice cream or pistacchio ice cream... some had all three! =)

Today

2011-04-18T19:11:00.000+02:00

Today it's her collection of rubber duckies...

That's my Easter tablecloth underneath all the duckies and games... can't see it much... =)

Wisteria

2011-04-18T10:12:00.000+02:00

The rain has stopped and the sun is shining but there are no words for the election results in Finland... so I'll say no more, and will try to brighten the day with some wisteria... just snapshots by the cave-man with his pocket camera...

Sunday

2011-04-17T16:06:00.000+02:00

Cannellini beans in water overnight

Then into a pot with some celery, carrots and an onion, a dash of olive oil

And after a few hours, seasoning an a quick whirl with the Minipimer...

Some zucchini bread, and voila'... Sunday lunch is ready!

It's drizzling outside and it's quite cool, so having soup is still OK.

Knitting

2011-04-15T19:58:00.001+02:00

I did a little exchange of skeins with a friend, and just look at all the extra yummies she put in the box!!!

All things one misses when away from Finland... THANK YOU!!!

And then some quicky knitting... Little Things by Veera Välimäki, knitted in 100% merino sock yarn from Handu in the 'Laps olen köyhän' colourway...

I love the way the edge striped and the rest pooled... funfunfun!

Birthday Boy

2011-04-15T19:43:00.001+02:00

My third born, my son, my Matteo, turned 18 years old this morning at 03:19...

Time flies, it seems like yesterday...

New York Cheesecake with wild berry topping... not very pretty, but it tasted as good as always..

And the Birthday Boy, smiling as always (NOT), staring at his computer screen.... Happy adulthood my love!

Knitting

2011-04-14T07:21:00.000+02:00

There has been test-knitting... but also some brainless take-along knitting... Noro... no more words needed!

The miracle of the two different skeins... wonderful!

Over The Helix Cowl... The first one is 120 stitches as said in the pattern, the second is slouchier, 140 stitches, I think... size 8mm needles ... and I still have some yarn left, maybe to make one of those flowers... if I'm capable... =)

And some real oldies...

2011-04-13T06:35:00.000+02:00

And these are the real oldies, either my parents or my brothers mostly, from the early sixties...

With a few of mine from the early seventies... like The Jungle Book and Pippi Longstocking...

LP Collection

2011-04-12T16:20:00.000+02:00

Since my boys discovered my vinyl record collection and the sound that LPs have, there has been no CDs playing in this house...

Now we' ve dug all the records from storage and are airing them out and listening... these are just some... all originals from the sixties and seventies and eighties...

Thank You

2011-04-08T20:45:00.000+02:00

A lovely friend painted Oliver ... so Oliver and so beautiful and such a lovely thought... I burst into tears when I opened the package... This will be framed as soon as possible!

And a crochet flower... it'll adorn a summer hat... I'm still deciding ,but it might be brown... =)

THANK YOU!!!!! <3

Spring II

2011-04-05T07:18:00.001+02:00

SOMEONE HAS BEEN WASHING WINDOWS! =)

Spring Cleaning

2011-04-04T16:05:00.001+02:00

You know that Domino effect, when you think you'll just open a closet door to let the closet air out, and all of a sudden you have taken the entire contents of the closet and find yourself washing and brushing and cleaning, even though you had no intention of doing any such thing???

Well, the boys dearest old toys had been put away some years ago, and they were dusty and there was even some mould on the soft parts, so...

Fisher Prices were washed and are still outside drying out in the sun and wind...

The Action Men have all been washed and toothbrushed with bleachy water, they have dried outside all yesterday and now they await a final drying on the radiator... looks like group sex exclaimed one of the boys, laughing...

Action Men accessories have all been washed and tooth-brushed as well...

And Action Men clothes have been washed in the washing machine and hung up to dry...

As always, the Cave Man said that I had been playing all day... =)

Meanwhile Minerva has dusted another doll's house... looks more like playing to me... =)

SPRING I

2011-04-01T08:59:00.000+02:00

PARVI-LOFT

2011-03-26T10:00:00.001+01:00

We are a family of six living in a house that was constructed in 1883, so the rooms have high ceilings but there is very little storage space... and since there aren't that many rooms we have constructed two lofts. The newest one is from a few years back and it is where the cave-man and I sleep... Our youngest daughter has her room below, with an Ikea Expedit bookshelf dividing her part from the computer table and the passage to one of the bathrooms.
So our 'bedroom' is a bit of a haven for us all, when one of the kids wants to nap or just read in peace, or play with Pippi Longstockings house, or something, they head up there...
(There are kites and things hanging everywhere in the house... among other useless things that have found their way into our lives)