Life must go on...

My hearts is broken and my brain is numb, but life must go on, so... some photos of home...

Oliver's Tomb Stone

                                                     HERE RESTS PRINCE OLIVER,
          WHO REIGNED IN THESE AND OTHER LANDS FOR SEVEN SPLENDID YEARS

satumetsä

Satumetsän laidalla oli portti… 
Se oli pieni portti, pienin kaikista. 
Niin vihreä se portti oli ja täynnä pieniä kirsikankukkia. 
Siitä mahtui kulkemaan läpi vain harvassa ja yksitellen. 
Se oli taivaan portti pois Satumetsästä. 
Ja sen portin läpi kulkivat kerran kaikki kissat, 
niin rauhallisena mieleltään, kevyesti askeltaen. 
Portin takana oli ikuinen meri ja suuremmat metsät. 
Se oli uusi kaunis maailma, satujen kissataivas. 
Kerran päivänä rauhaisana, portin luokse kulki kissa. 
Ei kovin vanha iältänsä, mutta uupunut voimiltansa. 
Rauhallisena se kulki, 
kulki ikuisuuden portille 
niin pienelle portille, 
josta läpi kuljettiin vain yksin. 
Kissa istui, katsoi portista kauas. 
Näki valon ja ihastui siihen, niin kauniilta valo näytti. 
Olisi valon ottanut kiinni, mutta se paistoi portin toisella puolella. 
Niin askeleen rohkean otti lähemmäs. 
Niin kuin tähdeksi olisi syntynyt, pieni kissa, 
se muuttui kevyeksi aivan, 
niin onnelliseksi se itsensä tunsi. 
Valo kaunis teki sen taas nuoreksi ja rohkeaksi. 
Se istui katsomaan, odottamaan seuraavaa kulkijaa. 
Niin on kissani mennyt siitä portista… 
Kauniimmalla puolen ne vapaana juoksentelevat. 
Miksi suren, miksi itken niin paljon? 
Kissani on rauhallinen ja tyyni. 
Sen on hyvä olla. 
-tuntematon-

The very best cat in the whole world

OLIVER

15.4.2004-9.2.2011

Our hearts are broken, but he is finally at peace

Life's a bitch!

Life is tiring at times... I'm losing one friend to cancer... she's in Rome and won't see her again
another friend is battling , chemo and such, in Finland... hope to see her next summer...
Oliver is not well... we're battling together...

I wish the sun would shine...

19 years!

My oldest son was born at 04:43 on the 23rd of January 1992... 19 years ago!

Happy birthday Luca !

        Chocolate cake and chocolate frosting, because he remains the same little boy as always! =)

Friend

When your vacation has passed worrying about your cat and trying to be there for all the kids coping with their feelings, and your family has gone back home and you had to stay behind because the cat cannot fly too soon after his operation, then arrives a friend from hundreds of kilometers with a train and cheers you up: Red wine, junkfood, internet, 'Sex In The City', wool and knitting... till the morning!
And she brings along lovely gifts too... and makes you forget your woes... thank you Mari, for existing! =)



                                               A beautiful box full of buttons!

                                  Two incredibly soft skeins of ecological wool in a perfect grey:

                                                  And three balls of yarn to try out:

Christmas books

Christmas gifts:

Housecleaning with elegance!

Another package waiting for me on my return from the holidays... From a dear schoolfriend who is in Cornwall and is an artist, made by her for ME!!!!

Flowers and ribbons and tulle and satin... =)

Makes me happy!

Seeing this sort of thing makes me happy! Such a fun idea, to change a lamp's look for a period of time...

LOVELOVELOVE

LOVELOVELOVE this new Schacht wheel, the SICEKICK!!!

I must have been very good...

    When one has been very good, one may receive a package like this in the mail!!! =)
    This was waiting for me here at home and it is GORGEOUS!!!! Alpaca-silk yarn to be precise...
    Thank you Ilu!

Vacation?

They call it vacation but it really was an ordeal and a roller-coaster of emotions... more on that later, but this is Oliver this morning... in the sunshine with the Mediterranean behind him... all I ask for is LOTS of happy days in the sunshine with my darling cat!

The Way We Were... young and beautiful!

                                   Calpe Spain August 1978... Tea, Lucio, Sandra

One more week

One more week and we're off for our Christmas vacation... Finnair gave me a scare with the stewardess' strike which lasted 8 days, but luckily the strike ended last night! They have a week to get things back on track because I'd rather not have delays and things...

Oliver, our dear cat is not well... He's been to the vet here but even though he's better and has stopped losing weight, but somethig is a little wrong and I'm worried sick... He has an appointment at the cat clinic in Finland as soon as possible... and I worry and buy him chicken breasts and things that I know he likes... worried worried... =(

And on a happier note... I received a lovely photo of Luca... Can't wait to see him!

This year's Advents Calendars

A calendar with illustrations by Rudolph Koivu...

One that represents the Villa Hakasalmi where Aurora Karamzin lived in the centre of Helsinki...

And one that Finnair sends to all it's little Finnair Plus clients...

And today is the first of December... we get to open the first window!!!!

The magic of making yarn!

It started with a gorgeous fibre dyed by Tuulia from Knitlob's Lair...

                   ...which was so easy to spin that even I made yarn-looking yarn...

     ... and then I knitted a simple cowl from it!!! (Better photographs when I can get someone to pose)

                                              
                                           Makes one feel very... capable!   =)

Scarf/Shawl

Scarf/shawl... beautiful pattern... Cinnamon Grace on Ravelry... beautiful yarn... Posh Yarn Martha (the pictures don't do the colour justice) ... I'm very happy with this!!!

Do your kids dress up???

She's 21 and she really enjoys make up and horror movies... =)

I sent a little box of goodies to a friend who always remembers me and my family and who has had a little rough autumn, and asked Minerva ,my 9 year old, if she'd like to make a drawing to include in the box. With her usual determination she sat down after doing homework and started drawing.

She didn't ask me what to draw or for ideas, and next time I looked she had filled a sheet of paper with birds!!! I almost wanted to keep it for myself , but it had been drawn for Merja so we took photographs and sent it along! Now that the packet has arrived at destination I can show the drawing...