Happy New Year

I wish you all a Happy New Year!
I´m about to leave (again) and spend New Years Eve with my friend A.

Take care of yourselves. See you next year!

Above is a little clip I filmed from a musicbox that I found in the fleamarket and gave new life. I placed this picture inside the lid;)

Rare Exports

Today I´m going to see this film:

Very spoiled person reports following

Christmas has been relaxed and fun. I have slept, enjoyed "skinny-dipping" in the snow after a sauna (!), great food, chocolate, wine and champagne, good company, radio-programmes, music and I´ve been spoiled rotten with presents.

Now it´s back to (almost) normal.

Above is a vase I received as a gift some years ago. I use it as a winter-lantern by placing fairylights inside it.

Happy Christmas

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas.

I have made some changes in my christmas plans and I will be spending christmas away.

Take care of yourselves. Sending you warm kisses and hugs!

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And look what arrived in the post just before I was about to leave!
Soooooooooo many present from dear Nathalie at le Temps des Lavandes. Thank you sooooo much. I shall wait and open them tomorrow when it´s Christmas Eve. Sweet Nathalie, you have spoiled me!!!!

Thank you

Thank you for your kind words.

Now it´s just a few bits and pieces and deadlines to deal with and then I´m starting my winterholiday. Jeeeeeeeee!
And then it´s time to enjoy the wonderful old Walt Disney cartoons. I tend to watch one film every christmas. They are so wonderful. Some of them are so sad too...
Here´s Bambi on ice;) Enjoy!

I have these tiny little fellas to help me;)

Gone away from me

I have listened to Ray LaMontage´s song Gone away from me.

For a while I sat there staring at her photograph
For a while I cried and tried not to make a scene
There was a time when we were young
I used to make her laugh
But life is long, my love has gone away from me

Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me
Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me

Lately I can't seem to find myself no sleep at all
Lately I just lie awake and hear and dream
Of the time when she was mine
Felt like I had it all
But life is long, my love has gone away from me

Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me
Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me

Yesterday is gone
Yesterday is dead
Get it through your head and walk away
Yesterday is gone
Ain't no use hanging on to her memory
It only causes you pain

For a while I sat there staring at her photograph
For a while I cried and tried not to make a scene
There was a time when we were young
I used to make her laugh
But life is long, my love has gone away from me

Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me
Gone away from me
Gone away from me
Life is long, my love has gone away from me

Here´s a link if you want to listen with me.
I have to accept it does take time. I was surprised how my tears just appeared out of nowhere when I heard this song. I haven´t listened to Ray in a while. So then I just played it over and over, thought that ok, if there´s tears not cried over him then let them come.

Above is a french image pieuse dentelle I should frame...but for the moment I think this is a perfect place to keep a holy card.

Lecture

The countdown to christmas has started.
Above is where I´ll be spending plenty of time;) Welcome to my sofa! I´ve saved books that I hope and wish to be jewels, so that I can just endulge in good stories. And I think I might watch a few films from amongst those cushions too. I will also winter-bathe, have a sauna and enjoy good food in the company of dear friends.

Yesterday whilst travelling on the bus I heard some adults talking to a child, they really put a lot of effort into this hype about father christmas and how you have to behave otherwise you will not have any presents...
I suddenly started thinking (I do think a lot of people have thought the same!)
We are all (or at least most of us) brought up with this christmas-hype. We are surrounded by this hype. The magazines are filled with it, the papers, tv, the shops...it´s all about the P E R F E C T christmas, what it should be, what we should wish for, how we should dress, what we must eat, how your christmas tree should look like, what we should expect. Then finally, after months of prepaprations, families get together to celebrate christmas. Everyone has their own H U G E expectations and all children have H U G E expectations. So tell me, is this why so many people are terribly anxious and stressed just before christmas? That everything must be perfect or christmas is ruined!
And why is there more domestic violence and more heavy drinking at christmas than any other holiday? And why do people feel so terribly lonely at christmas? I´m wondering if it is inevitable because of the excessive expectations. That it is in fact impossible to create a P E R F E C T christmas.
Should we perhaps lower our expectations, stop the hype, stop forcing and also expecting christmas to be this something that is P E R F E C T and then maybe there would be less chance of dissapointment.

I don´t know. I feel very tired of the hype. That I know. I´m sorry about the looooong lecture;)

Wonderful evening

On my way home in the afternoon I decided to have a look in the nearby forest if there were any cut trees...I spotted one and walked in kneehigh powder snow to fetch fir twigs. I attached a few redonions as decorations.

My knitting-group had shrunk to only four participants tonight, but we enjoyed lovely mulled wine and chocolate muffins, traditional gingerbread cookies, ginger-orange cookies, strawberry chocolates and "spooncookies".

The funny dish with the boubles and the jug are from Astier de Villatte. I simply love the boubles on the plate, makes me smile and I adore the shape of the jug. It´s perfect to serve warm mulled wine.

I had a lovely evening.

Born under lucky stars

I won again! I´m defenately born under lucky stars! I can´t believe this!

I won a giveaway at I love my house. A wonderful blog. Thank you!!!!

Have a lovely day my dear dear friends.

It´s beginning to smell a lot like christmas

I´m baking gingerbread cookies for tomorrow as my knitting-group is gathering for the last time before christmas. We have decided on a potluck at my home. I´m making the gingerbread cookies and glögg, that is traditional mulled wine.
The scent here at home is divine. This is christmas for me. The scent of gingerbread cookies;)

Above is a candleholder my mother bought when I was a child. It was old then, so it is very old now. And some fabric I found in my drawer.

Snow

We have lots and lots of snow in Helsinki, the only sound you hear when stepping outside is the extensive plowing!
I´m off to school shortly, but first enjoying a cup of coffee and some chocolate. It´s chocolate and gingerbread combination and beeing a chocolate lover I must say I am no huge fan of this combo;) Oh my, do I sound like a snob or a snob?

Above is snowflake I tried out of old booksheets. Here´s the tutorial if any of you want to make it: http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2006/12/lacy-snowflake-tutorial.html

Terribly bitter Santa Lucia

Today we celebrate light. It is Saint Lucia day in Scandinavia.
As a child I was Lucia at home, I wore a crown made of paper. But at school I was a snowflake;) The thing is, at school there is a Lucia election, and traditionally it is the girl with loooong blond hair, blue eyes and with voicerange soprano who gets elected. So it leaves very little chance for girls with brown hair that never grows past your shoulders who are terribly shy and voicerange alto:(

Later when I grew more confidence I was Lucia at my mother´s office. My dad recorded my singing at home and when I started the procession my mum would turn on the tape and I could sing along to my own singing;) It really helped because it felt I wasn´t singing alone.

And when I grew older and worked at the city theatre in Stockholm we decided that anyone who wants to be Lucia can be Lucia! We were quite many! Me included!

Today I´m going to watch the national Lucia proceed down the stairs of our beautiful cathedral.

Happy Saint Lucia day!

Here is a youtube clip of a swedish Lucia-procesion. Enjoy!

Recykling the weekend

Today is recykling day in my household. We do not have glass nor metal recykling in my house. We have paper, cardboard, bio and energy waste. I have suggested adding both glass and metal, but it takes time and change is often slow. I use two old wooden boxes in my kitchen for glass and metal and once they are filled I take them to a nearby recykling site.

Later in the evening I´m going to the theatre with my friends.

But first of all, it´s all about recykling waste. This is a matter I´m quite passionate about;) In fact I enjoy challenging myself to produce as little as possible of any waste, even if it´s possible to recykle. I´m quite proud to say that I empty my energy waste twice a month. Previously it was once a week, or once every ten days but we also were two persons in my household at the time.

Wishing you a very pleasant weekend!

Above is a picture of the afternoon sky yesterday.

I spy missed connections and dust

Today I sat in the bus for ages, at least it felt that way. Traffic is very slow due to heavy snow. Notice it rimed;)
In front of me sat a man facing me, he wore a hat. The edge of the hat was covered in dust. I assumed many reasons to why the edge of his hat was covered in dust. I never told him he was carrying dust in his hat.

I had a Missed connections -situation a few days ago. I was waiting for my bus, and a man walked past me and slipped. We briefly exchanged a few words about the icy streets. After a long silence he said the landscape looked like a snowglobe and that he had always wished for a snowglobe as a child. He also told me he had recently spotted one in a christmas catalogue. So I replied that perhaps it was time he made a wish come true and got himself a snowglobe and we laughed and he said that he probably would;) Anyhow, we chatted away and I was a little dissapointed his bus came so soon. As he boarded, he turned to me and said it had been pleasant or fun waiting for the bus with me. He smiled as he walked inside and I think I blushed a little.
I seldom think back at situations like these. But for some reason I keep thinking what kind of "Missed connections" -image I would create of us. We would both defenately be standing inside a snowglobe, he could have a funny pose, similar to the one I saw when he slipped. I could be blushing.

I really do enjoy Sophie Blackall´s "Missed connections" -paintings.

Winterwonderland

Helsinki is so beautiful dressed in snow. And I´m just about to leave. I´m taking the train to a nearby town to have a look at two apartments. Say no, say no more;)

Independence day over

On saturday I had brunch at my friend M´s house. She had invited nine friends for brunch, it was lovely. We ate delicious breads, cheese, cakes and fresh smoothies with berries, bananas, pears and soy-youghurt. Drank plenty of juice and coffee. We talked and later decided to have a massage circle, four persons giving massage to one - and then change places so that everyone gets a massage. It was fantastic! I came home late afternoon feeling so happy and blessed for friends like this. And relaxed!

Today I had planned going skiing but it kept snowing and snowing I decided to stay snug indoors. What was supposed to be an active day turned into a stay in my pyjamas all day and eat chocolate and read read read.

Now it´s time to go to bed. Wishing you a good night.

Above are animals I´ve cut out of vintage wallpaper. I´ve printed contours of animals onto the backside of wallpaper. I cannot for the life of me remember the site that had these animals that you could download for free for your own use. If and when I remember I shall share it with you.

Pay it forward

I could never have imagined what a warm and caring community the blogworld is. I feel humble and grateful for all the support you have shown me.
My life did take a rather unexpected turn in the end of the summer, something I had not been prepared for. It still hurts. But not at all as much. Right now it is more stressful trying to find a new home and start over, but I´m filled with optimism. And that I have you dear friends to thank for. Your comments have made such a difference. I feel very grateful. I also think now is the best time ever to pay it forward. And, I have been exremely lucky, blimey, I´ve won two fantastic giveaways!


I wish I could hug and kiss you all. Virtually I can, so here comes my hugs and my kisses.

I also want to send something "touchable", so if you wish to receive something handmade by me, please leave a comment to this post.
Please leave your comment before the end of monday 6th of december, that is Finland´s independence day.

Once again, thank you. You are all incredibly generous.

I won again!

I can´t belive that I won again!
I won the giveaway at Le Temps des Lavandes. A lovely blog.
Thank you dear sweet Nato.

Flowerstand supermodel

I purchaised this flowerstand soon a year ago at a fleamarket for 4 euro. It had one "foot" missing and was covered in brown paint. I thought it had potential and brought it home with me. Now as I´m packing and organizing, I found it in the cellar. Just one of those projects...so yesterday I decided to do something about it. I scraped loose paint off, sandpapered the surface, made a new "foot" for it and painted it black as I happened to have leftover paint.
I think it turned out quite nice.
Decided to photograph it with two different pots. The flowerstand felt like a supermodel...it started acting abit like one too;)

Unfortunatley the apartment I wrote about in my previous post will not be mine :(
I had a phonecall last night from the seller, she informed me that a shareholder had stepped forward and announced interest in redeeming the shares. So I will have to continue my hunt. I will not be let down, this is just one of the backsides to apartmenthunting in old houses. I do think the system is unfair, but there´s nothing I can do about it. Well complain, but then I will bore you to the bone;)