torstai 30. huhtikuuta 2015

Have a nice one!

Bloody Mary, it is spring! Forget Tabasco and use the hottest Thai chili sauce you have and have the best BMs ever.




tiistai 28. huhtikuuta 2015

A new leaf

There will be some new leaves in the garden soon enough, but meanwhile I'll enjoy this "new" Arabia leaf from the 50's. The table runner is by Nadja Wedin for Hemtex.




maanantai 27. huhtikuuta 2015

Sometimes colder is better

Yesterday was cold and rainy. It was only plus five degrees and windy. The good thing is that the spring flowers are still in flower - the colder it stays the longer they last. On the other hand, the warmer it gets, the faster other plants start to flower. It is very difficult to decide what to want...but I do want WARMTH and now, please.


By the way, as there was really little snow last winter, almost all our garden furniture stayed out. We put only the wooden ones in. I hope to be able to put them out for May the first, but I won't if it is still raining.

sunnuntai 26. huhtikuuta 2015

Typical

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day and we did everything but garden work. Today it is raining and I  need to do things I didn't do on Saturday. I am going to move some bushes and hopefully have energy to do other things as well.


tiistai 21. huhtikuuta 2015

Taking it lying down

All spring fowers are really small. These crocuses are about 5 cm high but they look pretty impressive when photographed from a low point.


maanantai 20. huhtikuuta 2015

Something blue

This is one of those springs when it first gets very warm and after that it is freezing. The scillas started to flower last week but not much else is happening. Even my Easter narcissus haven't flowered yet! The crocusses are in flower but as it is neither very warm nor the sun shines they stay closed the most of the day.



sunnuntai 19. huhtikuuta 2015

Under cover

One of the most stupid things you can do is to try to cover your table top with patterned plastic. We bought a lacquered wooden table very cheaply as the previous owners had children and had decided to cover the table while the children were young. As the children grew older and the parents removed the cover, the table looked like this:


We lived with this table top for a year trying to decide what to do with it. Now the top is painted in shiny black. It took quite a lot of work as the top had to be sanded and painted twice - and a third time wouldn't hurt...We (=my husband) didn't paint the legs, they are still brown. The paint hasn't quite dried yet so you'll have to wait for the photos for a while.

perjantai 17. huhtikuuta 2015

Muddy waters

This week's posts seem to all be about art and stuff. At Vårkulla I tend to like colourful pieces but for home we usually fell for the more strict and muted 60's style.

The vase on the left is Arabia from 1963, the figure in front is by Arni Aromaa from last year and the other vase is from an unknown factory and time. It is fun to collect, just choose a theme and buy both old and new, this is the way to an unique collection. If you want to ensure a valuable collection, it is of course safer to collect only known names but I find it more fun to mix things up to my own taste.


torstai 16. huhtikuuta 2015

Glossy glass

We have been collecting green and brown glass for a while. These two are the latest finds. They are by Marja Hepoaho (Mafka).


keskiviikko 15. huhtikuuta 2015

Art corner

We have been looking for an art piece for our kitchen (doesn't everyone?). At last we found the right one, a small bronze statue by Laila Pullinen: Hädän kolmet kasvot (three faces of calamity). Pullinen designed the piece for the Finnish Red cross in 1977 as their 100 year medal of honor. The piece is not unique - Red Cross still gives it out to award its members.




tiistai 14. huhtikuuta 2015

maanantai 13. huhtikuuta 2015

Summer drinks

As every drink needs its own glass we started to look for some nice glasses for this summer's ouzo drinks. These Oiva Toikka's Flora glasses are perfect: a thin glass with fun floral ornaments, the icy ouzo will taste better than ever this summer!


sunnuntai 12. huhtikuuta 2015

Making movies

As my husband loves anything technical, this old camera was an irresistible find at a flea market.


lauantai 11. huhtikuuta 2015

Out with the old

We went to the cottage today to rake the leaves from the perennial borders. I used to clean up the borders sitting down on a low bench and working with a small handheld rake. This was when I had about two big borders but now as the whole yard is full of flowers it is no use to even try this. So I just grab the largest rake we have and clean the borders with it. And I confess, I leave most of the borders as they are, I only clean the borders you see first when entering the garden. I did this first time last year and to my surprise, most of the plants seemed to like this - they get more nourishment, the old stems hold the new ones up and the soil doesn't get so cold during the colder nights in spring. And most important, I have time to do more at Vårkulla, where there is so much to do that no time in the world is enough.


keskiviikko 8. huhtikuuta 2015

Have a smoke

Our cigarette tin collection grew again. The "new" ones happened to look very good with my Easter tulips as they have the same colours as the flowers and the pitcher. Looking good but can't help it :)




tiistai 7. huhtikuuta 2015

Straight talk

It is incredibly hard to put wallpapers on walls that are not straight. Especially when the wallpaper has 53 cm pattern hight (and if you in addition have a wife who isn't much help). Well, my husband did it, our hall now has new wallpapers and I just love them! There is still a lot to do before the room is finished, but I am happy for now. Our living room is of course a mess, as the stuff from the hall had to be moved somewhere and it is no use putting things back to their places as they would be in the way when finishing the room.

By the way, the small weights are very useful when spreading the adhesive behind the papers! Nice to have some use for things you just bought for decoration.




maanantai 6. huhtikuuta 2015

Have a cuppa

We might have to buy smaller coffee cups. I drink a lot more coffee than my husband and I always make more coffee than I need when using the coffee maker. So this old porcelain one cup filter is a perfect solution - but our cups are too big and the filter drowns in them. A perfect excuse to go shopping...



sunnuntai 5. huhtikuuta 2015

Happy Easter!

I am sorry if you are already bored with my Easter best wishes, but here we go again!

I bought some new Easter decorations yesterday but don't yet have photos of them so you'll have to make do with these old ones. By the way, the Alessi egg holders did come for Easter and I used them as decorations as I haven't boiled any eggs yet.


lauantai 4. huhtikuuta 2015

Not for lunch

I bought these napkins today from Porvoo, just right for an Easter lunch. Have a happy one, all of you!




perjantai 3. huhtikuuta 2015

Easter delicacies

I made a beer-chocolate cake for Easter. It is still waiting for the beer-chocolate-sugar-butter coating. For supper we are going to have a meze plate with Turkish raki (the Turkish version of Ouzo). Can't wait...

Have a happy Easter everybody!