V's spot

it is the last Manteli weekend this year. all of us went in the morning, stepped by to say hello to the little baby girl of S & R and the proud big brothers A & O. ("i will protect the little sister!") me and V did a little forest adventure. it was beautiful today, no sun, no snow, but bright frosty green moss. me and V took a bus back. now it's late, i started to make christmas cookies. or the dough, to be baked the next day. piparkakkuja siis, oliko niille joku vakiintunut nimitys englanniksi? i didn't have syrup, but used all honey there was and indian sugar, so i'm sure it's gonna work out fine.
lately, Y has been busy with building "V's spot" in Manteli. it is a secret hide-out place above the closet in "working room". the door in the photo will be the door to the closet. it's ready except for the wallpaper. yesterday i showed V some wallpapers from tapettitalo homepage. Y suggested the cherry tree one that i like for this little space. V liked it too, and picked the colour blue that i also think is the best. (i also showed her the birds, but she wanted to stick with flowers.) then i called Y, who went and picked up a roll of it. there was only 2 rolls left of the old stock, the newer one was paler or something. yey! i find it quite cute and moving that the father who is away on weekends is pouring his heart into this 2m3 space for the precious little girl. there will also be secret door to the attic/second floor...
this week a mason guy is repairing the brick wall behind the oven, a friend of S & R. almost for free. he's just looking for stuff to do, he says.

red blue and glue

some guys who are permanently on the kitchen table. the glue i am so excited about gave me the chance to make wonderful hair for the girls. the blue one is my dream hair! i have to get more heads to make more coiffures.

V wanted this kind of photo because the red ball is so beautiful too.

i made this wonderful decoration from the scraps of calendar numbers (same style as the rowan tree berry thing from autumn, hih). as i was cutting them, i noticed they were coming from Moomin's milk road picture.

i moved them here though, because cat H couldn't resist them.

inai inai baaa!

here's a funny story (greetings to Y): my aunt came over and was asking about J & A's wedding that we're going to (it's next week!!). she's hoping we would get inspired to do the same, and said that she's even willing to pay the expenses!!
i said that we are very much tied together anyway, we have a child (in the photo) and a house (a bank loan). i grew up in a family with 3 different last names though, and i must admit that i would like to have the same name for all of us... (you knew that, Y!)

four days

this week it's four Manteli days for Y. none for me and V. rain for everyone. christmas markets all around. i've started knitting a scarf for V, but ended up buying one today. it's very cute, a fox. V dreams of foxes. a fox eats lingonberry in the forest. the one i'm making is very ugly, i don't know why. but i was looking at the calendar picture here, and it looks like a child made it! here, live, it blends in with everything and looks kinda happy. but happy looks easily quite childish. and the pockets are sewn very un-straight. in the dark and while watching tv. but that's how it is. i'm eager to try and make things, but definitely not too good at it. and usually i don't really have such good materials to start with. now my big enthusiasm is glue. i found erikeeper in my drawer (i always thought i don't have glue). i want to have gluing projects.

fourth day

the advent calendar was finally finished on the evening of Dec 3rd! "secrets" from the pockets so far + an extra present for V that arrived in the mail yesterday from N: beautiful buttons from Kamakura "Milk Hall" - sounds wonderful! my idea was that the numbers are easily taken of, so it can be used as pockets for whatever afterwards. but the pockets are a bit too small for storing things. i want to make another one for that purpose, a bit more elegant one. just a couple of big pockets in nicer fabrics. i'm totally having a christmas crafting mood, even though we won't even be home for it. and anyway, the problem with my mood is that i don't have enough time to realise things. or maybe it has more to do with having energy than time... i've started to make packing lists in my head, exciting busy happy stressed times before the trip. it's been a good letter week, i got a letter from the December bride and a love note from Marseille too. and the ANP magazine arrived normally for the first time!

present mood

this was my birthday present from Y. now that it's present thinking season, it seems fit to show one of my favorite presents ever. like i don't need anything after i've got them. (wish i could give someone something like that!) they are coat hooks from France -what decade was it now? 50s?- that Y found for me (from e-bay). quite in the style of Eames' Hang-it-all, that i've been wanting to have, maybe. now i don't need that anymore. they are waiting to get a place in Manteli. i'm thinking bathroom or veranda. Y went there today with C, i'm hoping they make wonders this weekend.
i realised yesterday around 10 in the evening, that tomorrow is december 1st, and i still haven't even started the pocket advent calendar! so i started it! it' been ages that i've been doing something late at night, and i was so inspired! even Y went to bed before me, and little cat H was confused about why i'm not in bed, offering her a warm sleeping nest. i managed to find enough different fabrics. only first 3 pockets are sewn in their places, otherwise the calendar is full of needles. i have to continue tonight (i have to remember my movie assignment too). in pocket number 1 there was a bird picture. V put it on the kitchen wall.
i found beautiful bird badges in town today! i only have eyes for very small things now, the pockets are pretty small.

mother's day

i went to town today after taking V to kerho (morning daycare) and had coffee with F, my dear mother friend. i got to know her in mamma yoga, and our daughters are born almost exactly 2 months apart. we've been planning to do this for so long, but i always have to work. we met in our usual café but sat on the other side from where we always are with the girls. our baby time was so intensive, we met 2 or 3 times a week, almost always at the same café. now we meet so rarely, her kid E is in kindergarten. and F is pregnant, i'm always so amazed by that. i always thought that 4 years would be good age difference for my children (if there is another one - you never know), but something is working inside me, preparing me for the idea a bit sooner. maybe. yes, instead of hurrying home to work and cook, we even went to some shops! i got some little things to put into V's advent calendar (which is yet to be made). a moomin house magnet, a little prince spoon, a wind-up blue bird and pink apple underpants... hmm, the rest is probably more modest: buttons, hairpins, pictures, stickers, pens. i made a long list. at home after picking up V, i made fast food i was so proud of: soba (buckwheat noodles), mushrooms with sesame seeds, broccoli and cottage cheese (weird combination maybe). it was so pretty too, that i should've taken a photo. this is after eating. V has always been a good eater. sleeping is our problem area. for F's daughter the other way round.



after lunch V put on all her necklaces and bracelets. then she took photos of the lens cover with a sock camera.

tiles ready

we spent a rainy day in Manteli yesterday. the hot air conditioner machine is now installed, there was a sweet warm breeze to my neck every time i went out. (on the way out the diamond handle doesn't work perfectly, so it's always a little stop there. now with the warm wind it all makes sense! we will change the handle later.) the bathroom surfaces are all done! superhero had a super weekend, but now he's questioning the choice of tiles... both tiles are from basic hardware store sale piles. looking at just one of the wall tiles, it looks beautiful, but a whole wall of them brings out the plastic looks of industrially made unevenness... we'll see how it looks with normal lamp instead of working spotlight. i'm quite happy with it anyway. we of course dreamt of portuguese tiles, but since a whole space of handmade tiles is not really possible (at least in finland, in england there would be great bargains according to e-bay!), i wanted to have quite neutral tiles. the combination of big white ones and grey on the floor has been a trend some time ago, said Y, but i was looking at some interior magazines and there were many with that style still. it would be horrible to have a bathroom where you could immediately see what year's trend it was... ours is an accident. on the dry side we have wall paper, and it makes the space so much warmer and softer. i'm quite positive it will never end up looking like a trendy bathroom.

i'm so happy to have my happy girl back (not sick and eating well). she is still quite stubborn about many things, but i guess we've both learned something about making the other one angry.

lumps of snow

this is an attempt to reuse this kind of packaging stuff... we got a huge box full of this from ebay shopping. the little cat H loves it. when i was making this, it looked ugly, but hanging somewhere, it looks quite nice, i think. very winter-y. so i'm gonna make more. i guess they're going to end up in trash eventually though. a winter "decoration" is not the answer. but if there was really many of them, it would be a nice installation. in some glass veranda for example. in the countryside, S is already past her due date. exciting. will it be a baby girl?
(oh no, V just went out with my aunt, and it started to rain a lot!)

new life

it's been a heavy week with a semi-sick kid who is angry as hell. i didn't know this is how it really is when it starts... NO! to everything. it's difficult to program my teenager reaction mode to a gentle, safe, forever patient mother mode. but i'm gonna do it! one difficulty is dressing up and down. for about a month now, V has been very particular about socks. they have to be mismatched and changed many times a day. pants and underpants as well, she gets new ones from drying laundry or from her closet. this i find rather sweet and cute. and i guess i've been directing her into this, letting her choose what to wear from two alternatives. when you have just learned to dress and undress, you must practise a lot too! but of course, it becomes a problem when you really need to go somewhere and she goes crazy wanting to change her underpants when she's already wearing an overall... today was a new start, sunny crispy day, and V went to the morning daycare singing and dancing. it was a beautiful walk. i washed my hair and got some work done. also a phone call from an old friend M whom i haven't met since summer.

we got more Milja books from the library, they are indeed very informative. and the Maija Isola book i've been wanting to have. it's published with a variety of cloth covers of her designs. when it got out i couldn't make up my mind which one is the most beautiful. not all of them are nice though. the one i have at home now is "Tori", which is a strong candidate.
speaking of Marimekko, i just met Fujiwo Ishimoto at the supermarket. i helped him get kitchen paper from a shelf as i was taller. we met him on a walk one other time too. i was looking at him, and wondering if i should bother him, then he suddenly shouted "kenkä!" V dropped a shoe.

sick

now V is sick. is it possible to catch a virus from blogs? feels like a lot of kids have been sick these days. Y is gone for the weekend, so we are really in trouble if i get sick too. and i have a concert to go to tomorrow. (my mum has promised to come. what if she gets sick? she was here today.) today i had a sudden interpreting job for a peaceful and serene noise artist, i borrowed O's bicycle to get there in time. bicycling was great. i had to do some waiting again, but meeting him was beautiful. he made me think of Enlightenment. his noise was very noisy, from what i heard of the soundcheck. but he had peace.
upper photo is Manteli working room (the so-called working room). it is next to the bathroom. the windows are to the forest, to sauna and to fields. this is where i dream to have a steady sewing table (i would need a new sewing machine too), removable tables to make one big table in the middle of the floor when it's needed, tidy corner for translating and dictionaries and proper notes (no more random scraps of paper!)...
my winter inspirations are coming from the book Miljan talvi (Milja's winter). it is written by the same woman as Makkarapiruetti, R Niemelä and illustrated by L Lumme, whom i know from other books as well. her illustrations are a bit basic, nice picture book style, but i really like how she draws all animals and plants realistically. what i dislike are people's noses, why do they have to be so big and ugly? we are learning a lot! how to make a shoe for the house, and herb-steam-tent for someone with a cold, and to recognise birds. i grew up hearing the names of birds from my mum and aunt, but none of it entered my head. with my own child i miss not knowing all that.

cadillac

here it is, our Cadillac oven. it is called Kotiliesi 20. Y just had a meeting with a professional guy yesterday, and he said this kind of oven is the best! (or something like that...) it's place needs some fixing before it can be used, but there it is, waiting.
(i don't know any english words for this subject, so this is it...)


this is the door knob from the veranda inside. shopping ebay usa, we got 3 slightly different ones. i'm crazy about them, but i was shocked to see a knob like this in some boring home in a mainstream american movie, it looked so kitschy and American. in our place they're supposed to be like diamonds in a barn.


and bathroom from last weekend. the color of the walls is just wall material, we have big, white, a bit uneven tiles to put there. floor tiles are dark grey, natural stone looking(?). the window is towards hill and forest (where i wanted to have the golden curtain) and the bathtub will be in front of it.

values!

we went to a birthday party again. this photo is of V's 1 year party decoration i made. it was hanging in the kitchen a long time afterwards. i think birthdays are quite revealing about people's values. and i think it's so important to have people around you that share the same values in life. i'm always quick to tell about our friends who live close to Manteli, and it always makes people think more positively about the moving. i guess there are so many stories of young families moving to the countryside and coming back after a couple of years because it was too lonely. in our case, it's not only some people, but friends who do have same values, on how to live, what to eat, how to raise your child. today is father's day, and Y just came back to a sad little (actually it's too big) purse i made and a date cake we made. he put tiles on bathroom floor!

happy things separately

this week has seen a carrot cake, my first green pea soup (made of organic dried green peas and a very nice recipe: coriander!), a concert of Au Revoir Simone (nice and sweet, but too many people and not so much emotion), exhibition opening of F, beautiful new soy sauce bottle and new friends maybe! (and a school shooting tragedy in finland...) today it was rain and meeting with S and M (mother + daughter) that we have decided to meet with regularly. the girls get along so well! and me and S too. photos are from a party last week.




"i'm stretching while the others eat."

a princess and a collection

this was supposed to be V's belt at her name giving, but i forgot it at home then(i also forgot the whole dress -which was made by Y's greatgrandmother, and has had 20 babies using it- but my mum came back to get it in time). it showed up and i tied it round her head like this. she looked in the mirror and said "princess". what does she know about princesses?! the little pirates at the birthday party wanted to kidnap princesses, but there was no talk about how they dress. it's built in, or what?


part of OUR collection of visit card photos. i collect only women, and only women who move me somehow. the expressions, dresses, hair-dos are endlessly fascinating. these are some favorite ones. Y doesn't discriminate. thanks to that, we have some handsome sailors too!

Annette Messager

as the busy week turned to it's end, which meant also completion of two extra jobs, i started to be so happy and light and inspired, i couldn't fall asleep last night. as i was lying awake, i was mostly thinking about all the posts i could make here in Manteli. i'm so happy about yesterday, i mean V's ponytail photos, that i almost don't want to put anything new here. being inspired to write this blog means inspired in general (i have a small crisis about what i want to do here). i suddenly even feel like i'm ready for winter! ...today was first snow here in Helsinki. Y said on the phone there's 4-5cm snow in Manteli!

Y is in Manteli (bathroom works, water insulation), and today me and V (with, C, O & baby M) went to Espoo museum of modern art (EMMA) to see the new exhibition, Annette Messager. i've been waiting for it since nowember seemed very far away. and it was - i have to look for words. it is easier to talk about V's reactions. and with her, i couldn't really look at the works as long as i could have done. but impressive it was. beautiful and dark, funny... V is always a bit drawn back when it's actually dark, but when i got her to come sit with me in a room with red "Casino", she was really into it. well, i won't talk more than this. except for the fact that Messager lives with Christian Boltanski since decades.

EMMA's museum shop is very nice, it is shared with Helinä Rautavaara museum, so there's a lot of "anthropological" things as well. this poor little dog is from that side, i couldn't leave it. he/she is made in Nepal, tibetan refugee camp... (fair trade jee!) there's a reason to his/her sadness then. we are having a welcome party. my mum and aunt are visiting and making pancakes.


(the dog is actually very fitting with the artist's name here, as she uses old plush toys in her work. quite a craft inspiration too, for a bit twisted things.)

plans

V had a beautiful ponytail for a little while.

these are my plans, what i want to (or have to) do when we move to Manteli:
-write my master's thesis
-get more translation work (after master's)
-have V start in kindergarten, maybe 3 times a week (they need her there, there are too few kids right now)
-have button installations on the wall
-make ice lanterns (with water buckets)
-make snowball lanterns too
-have dvd movie nights with friends (sounds pretty cool, huh)
-have curtains and rugs (two things i've always had difficulties with)
-save money to go to Japan (this is almost more in the "i have to" section)

superhero

it is now official that we won't move in to Manteli this year. our trip in december is only part of the reason. realising that we won't have a quiet ascetic first christmas there is a bit sad. even though i'm thrilled about the trip and about spending the holidays away from here. it actually has been my dream, to walk without baggage in an unknown town, free from all the fuzz. there is forever and ever lots and lots to be done, and Y only has the weekends to work there. he has been spending practically every weekend in Manteli since march or april. he's not experienced in any of this, but he finds out about things, finds the good prices, works carefully, and doesn't get completely discouraged. he is the superhero of the title. (this photo is taken by him too, molding wax(?) birds with hats on)

one of the newest things is the oven, Y said it's like a Cadillac. it really is! beautiful. and it has the place for heating water as well. no photo of it, since the big camera rarely makes the trip. maybe blogging would need a pocket camera.

last weekend Y was building a hiding place for V, above the closet in the working room. i really like it how he works too, taking his time to have a coffee and read a book, and concentrating on not so urgent things which are fun.

last weekend we also went to a pirate (Peter Pan inspired) birthday party of a 4-year old A. that family lives at a walking distance from us. i wish i had had a camera there, it was so so wonderful. i thought i want to make a children's party inspiration book - i know there are quite many, but they're so boring. what a happy day it was. V had a lot of excitement with 6 more or less wild boys around. they are having a third baby soon, i can't help hoping it's a girl...

home again

home sweet home! it was good that V still likes the train, she says "i really like in the train to ride". on our first day in There, the first snow came down. it was gone the next morning. we went to bakeries a lot, and checked all the fleamarkets (2 of them were gone, a big one had appeared). V's two cousins from Norway were visiting at the same time, which was nice. i had three amazing moments, too difficult to describe here, but they were, well, amazing. one of them was a William Eggleston moment.



we continued thrifting here today. it was the start of the winter season for us, going to the huge indoors fleamarket. the trip took way too long, but some good things found a new home. first thing: a book called Mirri Manteli. it has semi-wonderful illustrations and a bit weird story, but what a title! and the cover cat is same color as our H. also an eastern european counting book (foxes), some buttons, Finland made violet wool curtains (to be used for anything), a beautiful basket AND an old mattress fabric. one of the first times i met Y, he was wearing pants made by himself of an old mattress. (maybe this last sentence makes some sense into writing my shoppings in such detail?) the third book is from the trip, it is made by the sisters L and I Krohn. my favorite spread. and a cute cute sweater for V. don't know yet if it fits her, she was not cooperating.


i've noticed how V loves this type of horses, so i got this wild-eyed one for her.


another spread from the Krohn book (it's called Vihreä vallankumous (Green revolution)).

speechless and a lot of words

we are just back from my aunt's place in Porvoo. i had a little mission too; hardware store at the old train station of Porvoo. i got what we need, paper to put under the real wallpaper or paint (makulatuuripaperi) and real glueing powder (without plastic, the guy said). i also got blackening treatment for wood oven's iron parts. it was a beautiful sunny day, and the place was super inspiring and full of stuff. old locks and handles and tools, lamps and hooks and screws. V got a copper cat hook. in this day and age i get so happy when people trust each other: he didn't take credit card, but suggested that i wire the money to his account. a nice day, and nice ride back in the darkening evening. oh, there's also a super cute toy shop and a good eko shop in old Porvoo.

tomorrow evening me and V will take the night train up north and visit my dad and brother. so, Manteli is off for a week. real Manteli is very much on though, Y is trying to get a new wood oven from some guy for a reasonable price. it would organise our cooking area better. in the photo it is mother and daughter on Manteli veranda. on the side where the windows are installed. walls full of the blow wool stuff. then my birthday flower and our 10 euro swing, we got it this summer, and it feels like it was always there.



i am quite speechless with the package from Elisabeth (Fine Little Day) - the wonderful book by J Nordström and a surprise! i am so happy to look at this nonparell strössel fabric in our kitchen, feels like it jumped from the computer screen. and V wants to read the book all the time! "i want to read 'sailor and pekka on sunday' too!!" the illustrations make so much sense with his art, no compromises. i will put some favorite spreads of it here (for Alex!).

distracted

she can count to eleven. she counted eleven pink buttons on breakfast. i should work.

oh oh

what a nice weekend it was! it was wet and grey on friday, total sunshine and wonderful on saturday, when we went to Manteli, and wet, grey and windy on sunday. the veranda was not at the point that i said it should be, but it was too chilly to sit there anyway. we had C and baby M in our car, O came by bus and waited for us at the café. then later, 4 more people and then our friend who lives close by, with her 2 sons and a big belly. and Y's parents. we had the building site house full of people, and it was super cosy! i made soup, C brought a cake (i always count on him to do that) and M brought portwine. cooking feels so different on real fire. having guests there is so nice, when it's not about working, but more like testing the space. it's so promising. in the countryside it's often problematic to have people visit enough from the city. we must have a lot of parties. V is always having a party when she gets something nice to eat. like carrot!

on saturday morning i got breakfast in bed and the presents i already knew (but had only seen in photos on e-bay). they were better than i imagined. a wall clock and 6 coat hooks (from France 1950's!). maybe i take a photo of them, is it weird? but the best of all things, a kind of present that i have only dreamed of... Y has reserved us tickets to Marseille! we are going to Berlin for a wedding of my very dear friend before christmas. so we continue from there to Marseille, where another dear friend has her new steady home after a long time in between places. oh oh... secret planning. i'm so excited! i haven't been to france since i was there as an exchange student in high school. i love french language. we've been adventuring in google earth, flying back and forth.

here's some pics from from K Tukiainen's book "Kisun ABC" (Kitty's ABC) that i like. continuation to nice books and for Elisabeth. V's favorite is F and pharaoh!