syko

Summer days

Days are passing by, while we are enjoying Summer and slowly decorating our new home. Today I will move in to my new work space in town, I am very excited and must admit that I will feel a teeny bit of relief when school begins in a couple of weeks and I can get back to work again!

Last week we went to Westers garden, an amazing place in the country with a cafe in a converted barn and a wonderful, wonderful garden! I ran around like fool ooohing and aaahing. Just look at this arrangement with poppies in the barn together with the cow art, sadly I cannot remember the artist!

And this... peony poppies and astrantia major, against the grey and blue shed make me happy at heart.

I had to take a picture of this bird, I want to carve some wooden birds for my own garden, or maybe I can get someone inspired to do it for me, I think I'm better at stitching birds...

At this point I have far too much of these, cute but disastrous small creatures in the garden. They are really having a feast this rainy Summer!

I think I need to sew a little snail when I get into that new craft room, I am loving those tentacles... But first I have loads and loads of stuff, mostly fabrics to go through and sort out. Anyone want to help??

My garden

A few weeks ago we moved into our house, the reason why I have taken such a long break from blogging. Our home is still very much a work in progress, but we are trying not to hurry, we are decorating with a small budget and with as much second hand and vintage pieces we can. Which takes time. I am determined not to run off to ikea whenever I need something... It's been a cold and rainy Summer, but sunny days I have spent a lot of time in the garden, finding beautiful plants among the weeds. The lady who planned this garden must have been a real romantic. I am so happy :)

Beautiful peonies:

 Peach poppies

And the prettiest climbing rose, next to our doorstep, I think it is a "New Dawn".

Happy days! 

dream happy

Helsinki is in bloom and I enjoy it fully! I think the older I get, the more I love this season. Right now the town smells sweet of bird-cherry and soon it will be followed by lilacs. Just look at me! I'm running around hugging cherry trees!

I got some flowers for the balcony too, a rosy Busy Lizzie, a romantic little lady.

 For Mother's Day I gifted myself with this Clematis 'Omoshiro', such a beautiful name, don't you think? I hope it will be happy to live with us, but above all I wish that I will soon have a garden of my own to plant it in... *sigh*

We have found a house (we have been looking to buy a house for a long time now) and I am crossing fingers and toes that this time everyhting go well and we will be moving in June, but more about that later, when I hopefully have some good news to share! Until that I am focusing on:

I hope these two words will help! And the winner, I hear you asking? First I want to thank everyone who participated! The winner of Skandinavische Näh-ideen is: Katrin!!! Herzlichen Glückwunsch!

 

What happened...

...while I was away on my unintended blog break. I think I got a bit over-whelmed with this TV thing. The program can now be seen by anyone anywhere in the world, without the copyrighted music: here. Just to keep you updated, here are few things that I have been doing.

I made mead, which is a traditional drink at 1st of May celebrations.

I got myself a new dress for Summer from the Marimekko sale and took a picture of it in a mirror in desperate need of dusting...
I picked some flowers in the forest.

One of my Mårbacka geraniums fell on the kitchen floor, luckily it survived! I love these old geraniums, they grow really tall and are great for people like me who do not like curtains.

I love that pale pink colour of the flowers, so romantic! And I am pretty proud that I managed to nurture the plants one more winter.

I have also done some sewing, these dots were for a set of "mod handbags" I made, I'll try to get a picture of them for my next post!

The sun is shining in Helsinki today, I hope it is shining where you are too!

Kajsa goes to town

Last Thursday I took the tram into town. My Finnish publisher Gummerus had invited all authors that will be published next Fall for a party. I wore my heels. It hurt, but I felt pretty :) I made the linen skirt a couple of years ago, I think the fabric was actually meant for curtains. I love the little swallow and the oriental feel of it.

I have a bag made of a long zipper, a gift from my m-i-l. It looks great and fun and the best thing is that it does not weigh much so it doesn't hurt my shoulder.

I tried to find something beautiful to show you along my way, it was kind of hard, but I do like this hospital building by Olavi Sortta from 1936 (thanks wikipedia)! 

The tram was museum quality, I liked the lights.

I stopped at Pulu to drop off some Syko-stuff, they had alarmed me because my shelf was looking empty (I love it when it happens!) One of my buntings went straight into the window. 

I had 30 minutes extra time so I picked up some more white alpaca for my crochet blanket at Menita, my favourite yarn shop.

The party was just around the corner...

All authors got to wear white carnations, it looked quite romantic on my linen jacket. I decided I need to read more novels when I heard about the new releases. Food was good and drinks were free. I took the last tram home. That doesn't happen very often :)

And because I stayed late, I got to take home some of the flowers that had been used for decoration.

I enjoy them so much, I am not spoiled when it comes to fresh flowers. I hope this hydrangea will love life on our balcony.

Today it is T's turn to go to a party. I will be watching the Eurovision song contest finale with the kids. We are crossing our fingers for Paradise Oscar!