We're having our first christmas in this house! Feels very nice. During the christmas holidays we will mostly try to fix the place and unpack stuff (I hope), entertain a dear friend from another country for new year, go to circus, meet friends, and I don't know, read, play, make origami, knit, watch movies.
I wish everyone a warm sweet wonderful & peaceful christmas ***
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Kaunista valkeaa kylmää ja lämpöistä joulua kaikille ***
A giant snow cat showed up and stayed for hours.
I should get out with the camera, there's a LOT of snow and snowing all the time more. Actually that's a reason not to go out with the camera.
Tomorrow I will make himmeli with 4th graders! There's a new book on himmeli in finnish now. When this book was being made, the maker was surprised to know there are no himmeli books in finnish (that's what I heard). I'd like to have it. I don't think I'll ever make a big one though.
She makes big ones.
Oh well. Take care. Beware of snow cats. They are heavy sleepers but still. You never know.
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Talvimaisemassa mittasuhteet ei ole ihan kohdallaan.
On taas aika ajatelle himmeleitä ja niiden tekemistä. Opin uuden tähden uudesta himmelikirjasta ja huomenna opetan sen neljäsluokkalaisille.
These pictures are from a different season, I didn't take snow photos yet. The winter came a bit suddenly, like over night, and then it kept on snowing. It's freezing, the house is freezing and we have to heat the ovens a lot. And add more layers. The cats are not so keen on going out anymore. The car doesn't like this either.
But it's beautiful. Bright starry nights, clear crisp days. The old lady next door gave me her old coat yesterday and it's pretty wonderful. Very warm. I think I look quite 70's in my flea-market winter pants and this new coat. The silhouette of my shadow looks like my mum in old photos when I was a kid.
The kids here have too many advent calendars, altogether 7 of them.
I could write a long list of things I'm happy about. It's been ages since I could do something like that. It means I'm happy! And I will tell it to everyone.
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Tämän kaiken päällä on nyt paljon kylmää lunta. Tai ei lyhdyn eikä kissan. Eikä uuninkaan. En ole ottanut lumikuvia, jotain iltahämäräkuvia sisällä vain. Talvi tuli yhtäkkiä, kyllä te tiedätte. Talo muuttui varsin kylmäksi, mutta uusia polttopuita saatiin ja vanhat villatakit löytyivät komeron ja säkkien uumenista. On pulkka ja kirppistoppahousut ja naapurin mummolta vanha hieno talvitakki. Sen hihoista vaan puuttuu noin 15 cm. Elämästä ei nyt puutu paljon mitään.
We received a beautiful package in the mail again. From Jaime and Charlie. This time also from Max to our little brother. Opening these parcels is always a lot of fun, and quite messy too! I got my copy if "Backyard Flowers" and it's beautiful. It is so wonderful that books still come to life. Not that I would fear for books to disappear, but still, books are being made. I still have no bookshelves to put any books on. But I will. And now we start putting our parcel together.
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Postia ystäviltä meren takaa. Aina yhtä ihanaa. Jaimen kirja on ihana myös. Kirjat on ihania. Mun kirjat on edelleen laatikoissa.
The lantern party/Saint Martin
M & T wedding
Little V 3 years in Manteli
Life at the oak place. We're living with a lot of unpacked boxes still. My calendar is quite full all the time, weddings, christmas fair workshops, meetings, friends from Berlin, some substitute teacher kind of jobs... And it gets darker and darker. I dream of sleeping.
I'm loving this new life here. My old life seems quite far away already. The 4 and half years in Manteli taught me a lot about myself. This change came with a good timing, before total exhaustion and breakdown. We're not back in town, but I want to try this out. Living in the countryside in the center. Oh man how I love to walk! And I do love asphalt and yellow leaves on it and street lights!
I tried to take a mirror self-portrait. Sometimes that works out somehow. The occasion: I did turn 38 some time ago. Birthdays call for portraits. (Little V turned 3 weeks ago and where is his portrait?? I always try to take the kid portraits on the actual day, but this time I have totally failed.)
We're painting in one place, packing in the other place. It's middle of the night, but we have a helper. Him and Y are heading to the house in the darkness. I made a packing list for tomorrow.
I come across such wonderful things while packing. All this music I have and all these movies he has and all these wonderful little unnameable things that I have hidden.
Looking forward to next week, quiet mornings and unpacking all this.
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Kaaosmainen muuttoviikko meneillään. Mikä määrä tavaraa! Löydän pieniä aarteita, joilla aion vielä tehdä jotain. Aion alkaa säännölliseksi pölynpyyhkijäksi. Siellä uudessa kodissa. Olen 38 ja joitakin päiviä.
We buried our old cat in the end of last month. He slept away at the vet. Sleep away, that's finnish. I had him for 16 years, he was always there for this family. He's buried at a grassy spot in the forest where he used to sleep in summertime. At least I could give him a steady life with outdoors for the last 4 years of his life.
We're very busy with painting and packing, this is the point when it feels like the move is not possible. But of course it has to be done. It will be so good to finish the going back and forth, it's very tiring to be in between places.
I will go and attend a wedding tomorrow. Meet a lot of relatives.
I listen to Cat Power: "Sun".
We will go, we didn't go yet. Although we go there almost every day. It is called Oak corner. There's a big oak tree, well on the corner of the yard.
The house needs massive electricity renovations, that came as a surprise. The electricity fixtures are totally haphazard. We don't have to pay for the renewal work, which is good. And we got a little and cute electrician to do the job! (I really don't get it why someone who isn't an electrician would pretend to be one. The previous owners have been lucky not having any accidents.)
We talk about colours, it's way too white as it is. The house is also missing quite many final details, like the boards between floors and walls. So after all that fixing we will be there for good. Until then, back and forth.
Beautiful dancers will move into Manteli!
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Valkoista on siellä, vaan ei kauan! Sähkötöissä menee kauemmin, joku on vähän fiksaillut sähköjuttuja omin päin. Tai ei vähän, vaan tosi paljon. Iso sähköremontti ennen kuin voidaan kunnolla muuttaa. Listoja puuttuu myös, mutta kyllä siitä tulee koti. Tammikulma.
So many things to remember. Today I remembered quite a lot, but forgot the sheets.
It's been raining nonstop.
One week until the new house is ours. The first party we had in Manteli was V's 3 years birthday. The last one is little V's 3 years.
We found wonderful people to buy our house. That feels like a miracle!
I wanted to get some rainbow crystal balls for quite a while. And when I finally got them, I thought I'd hang them in the new kitchen. But I couldn't wait, the kids didn't want to wait and now we have rainbows with the evening sun.
The kids started "the leaf-workshop" on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The first meeting (on the kitchen table) was with rowan berries. V has started to go to an art class, it seems to be very nice.
Some people came to see our house and some more are coming. Hoping to find the good ones to buy this place. The perfect ones.
We're all letting our hair grow, V is growing out her fringe and little V wants to have long hair too. My hair always looks like a wig at this point.
I am as much into pumpkins as last year.
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Talo talo talo talo. Kurpitsa ja toinen. Kaikki kasvattavat tukkaa. Keittiössä alkoi kokoontua Lehtipaja. Tiistaisin ja keskiviikkoisin kuulemma. Tänä aamuna näytti näkkäripajalta.
Some more log-house floor pictures. Totally different from the season right now. The weather is so unpredictable! Every day there is rain and shine.
My school starts again. Quite a puzzle with scheduling everything, getting one kid from school, having one of the grandmothers to babysit, packing, making it to my friend's car in time. And, apparently, blogging in between.
It is apple time in Finland. My list of the best things in Finland includes apples.
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Viimeisessä kuvassa riisuuntuu saapas.
Omenat ♡.
Lähden kouluun ja sitä ennen pupun synttäreille kamariin.
Ajattelen muuttoon liittyviä listoja.
The other half of the log-house has a floor now. This day was quite recently, but it looks like it was summer then. When the floor was finished we spent the whole day there. Lunch, dessert, coffee, reading, playing guitar. Quite a collection of wood! Collected from various sources by Y. It is a wonderful space. Sigh. And we will not stay with it. Our house is for sale. We have two houses at the moment. Oh the new one will be very nice. And it will make our life a lot easier.
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Aitan lattiaa. Hieno palapeli!
Tämä meidän Manteli on myytävänä. Ei missään ilmoituksessa vielä, mutta kuitenkin. Kauppoja on tehty. Jos tunnet jonkun, joka olisi tositarkoituksella kiinnostunut, niin sähköpostitse saa lisätietoja ja kuviakin. Sijainti: Länsi-Uusimaa, 70 km Helsingistä, 90 km Turusta.
Still August... This is a basket a sweet lady friend of mine has made. The kids were wearing it on their heads so I added some tape. Reminds me of Kaws. I didn't think of him while making the x's, but it looks pretty obvious now. The little one didn't really want to pose. The little one is getting a bit more used to the kindergarten life. I think. Or I am getting used to leaving him. Today I tied my shoe laces very slowly and I could hear he didn't go on with the crying. And he was talking something quite happily after a while.
I think I'm talking to people so much these days, making up for the past couple of years!
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Ihan ensin siinä oli kahvipaketti, sitten herneitä, sitten kaikki kirjainpalikat. Sitten kaksi päätä vuorollaan.
"Mä katoin ulos ikkunasta, ja mä ajattelin, että on tulossa syksy."
"Mistä sen tietää, että syksy tulee?"
"Kun lehtiä putoo puusta."
(Ei pysty sanomaan suomeksi mitään ilman että mainitsisi syksyn.)
