maanantai 30. marraskuuta 2015

Putting things on the table (or not)

I have been on a lookout for a cover for our sofa for a long time. All the blankets I have seen have been either too small or too big. Now I found an Austrian table cloth that is just the perfect size. The cloth is of heavy cotton so it is well suited for a sofa cover, too. I would have liked the cover to be in a warmer shade but as this is from a flea market, there wasn't any choice.



sunnuntai 29. marraskuuta 2015

It's all about Christmas

We have been collecting cigarette tins for a some time now. My husband asked me yesterday if we should put all the red ones on the show for Christmas. A good idea, even cigarette tins can be Christmassy if they are red :)




lauantai 28. marraskuuta 2015

Violets are forever

I can't believe it is the end of November - the violets are still flowering in our front garden!


keskiviikko 25. marraskuuta 2015

Still trying to find its place

When you get something very cheap, you just have to buy it even though you don't quite have a place for it, don't you just? This Kupittaan Savi vase was a real find for 10 euros. They usually cost around 30 to 40 euros. So if I decide to sell this, I would at least triple my money back, not a bad investment (I am not selling it, though).


tiistai 24. marraskuuta 2015

Green leaves

For home I love the 1960's muddy colors. We found this Uppsala-Ekeby plate for a song in a flea-market in Kotka. It is by Sven-Erik Skawonius.




maanantai 23. marraskuuta 2015

Short visit to the cottage

All was well at the cottage yesterday. There was some snow when there was none at Vårkulla. The snow is good news as the plants will survive the winter better. Let's just hope the snow will not melt again - the worst thing for the plants is a wet winter! Its been a couple of difficult years already, now I'd like a normal Finnish winter.


sunnuntai 22. marraskuuta 2015

Waiting for the first advent

I started decorating for the Christmas yesterday. We don't yet have a Christmas tree but otherwise everything is in its place.

I found two copper pots last summer and they are perfect for Christmas flowers. As we have an old wooden table I have to have pots that won't let any water come out and you couldn't get safer ones than these two. Ceramics have been shown to be unreliable, I bought two really thick ones and still they seeped water on the floor.



lauantai 21. marraskuuta 2015

Fly me to the moon

I just love anything from the fifties: music, dresses, interiors, prints and now...I didn't even know that space theme 50's Christmas tree decorations existed before I saw these three in tori.fi. Sold, in minutes. We fetched these from Kotka and now we are dying to find more.




torstai 19. marraskuuta 2015

After dark

Don't you just hate garden lights that are so bright that they blind you instead making you see where to put your feet. No problem here, my Carpe Noctem lights are just wonderful, they look beautiful even when they are not on and they give just enough light for safe journey in the garden.


keskiviikko 18. marraskuuta 2015

Reconsidering the faith of the maple tree

As you may have noticed, we have large gravel areas in our garden. The autumn means a lot of raking as we also have a big old maple tree. I couldn't have guessed how much work this combo means. I don't want to reconsider the gravel as I just love it so it might mean that the maple is doomed. Well, not yet. Maybe I can take the about two months of work as the maple drops its leaves rather late and when they start to fall off, they all fall rather quickly.


tiistai 17. marraskuuta 2015

Where's the amaryllis, then?

I don't know if people put their red vases for sale as the Christmas is coming or if this was an coinsidence, but on Sunday I saw several red Kupittaan Savi vases in the flea-markets. I bought this one as it will be great for long stemmed amaryllis, don't you think?


maanantai 16. marraskuuta 2015

Burn it up, baby

A German glass cake mold from the 60's will be the perfect stand for my Christmas decorations. I will fill it with colourful bubbles that will look amazing when light shines through the glass. After Christmas I might use the mold in it is original use for baking cakes, or not - I don't much like hand washing the dishes and I wouldn't dare to put the mold in the dishwasher.



sunnuntai 15. marraskuuta 2015

Ready for the winter

I hate to have an empty yard in winter and therefore I try to leave as much of the decorations out as I can. I almost through the hydragenias away as they wilted but then I thought that they look rather good even when brown. I just hope the pots don't break during the winter.



I have bought some callunas for the winter as they look rather good even after they have frozen and melted again (thanks to cousin Tiina for the basket - baskets are great for the autumn as they don't gather water).

lauantai 14. marraskuuta 2015

I know what you did last summer

Or at least I know what we did, we  shoveled (a lot of) gravel! Now is the time to enjoy the fruits of the labour - even if it is wet and cold, there is NO MUD in the yard.





perjantai 13. marraskuuta 2015

No empty shelves here

We now have a large chest of drawers in the bedroom so there is lots of room to display globes, jugs and other stuff there, too.


torstai 12. marraskuuta 2015

Another man's souvenirs

You don't have to go travelling to buy souvenirs. This porcelain plate is a souvenir from Stratford upon Avon but all I had to do was to go the the local flea market...And as the plate is from the 1950´s I couldn't have bought it even if I had travelled to England myself



keskiviikko 11. marraskuuta 2015

Turquoise dreams

Turquoise vases are my weakness, especially if the vase is from the fifties. I usually only buy ones in pristine condition. This one's lower handle was glued but I bought it anyway as the price was right and the repair was rather unobtrusive.


tiistai 10. marraskuuta 2015

Avoiding the inevitable

I have raved about the longevity of carnations before and here we go again. I bought these three weeks ago and they still were looking so good that I cut the stems and put them outside. If there won't be frost, they'll still be beautiful next weekend.


maanantai 9. marraskuuta 2015

Japanese style

We have a lot of trays but there is always room for one more. This tray is not quite our usual style but as it was in very good condition, very cheap (3 euros) and in addition made in Japan, we bought it. Don't know yet where to put it, though.



sunnuntai 8. marraskuuta 2015

Yazy, anyone?

We bought a cigarette tin yesterday for three euros. The tin was filled with dices and of course we had to play a game or two of yazy. I lost. It must be because of the white dice, next time we'll play with a set of red ones and I will be a winner for sure. 


torstai 5. marraskuuta 2015

The worst summer ever

This poor pelargonium must think it was the worst summer ever as it didn't get to go out at all. On the other hand it is still alive and flowering when the ones that stayed outside for the summer are already dead.


keskiviikko 4. marraskuuta 2015

Art for table

I bought this ashtray for our outdoor table. Not to be used as an ashtray but for decoration. A boy lounging in a pool shaped like a shell. Perfect decoration for summer days.



maanantai 2. marraskuuta 2015

The devil is in the detail

Our kitchen lamp had a cheep plastic cord and the ceiling cup was also plastic. A definite no for an old house! My husband changed both the cord and the cup. The fabric cord and the ceramic (rosette) cup are much more suitable for our kitchen.




I found the ceiling cup in a new store Domus Classica  (link herje) that opened in Helsinki last Monday. I strongly recommend your visiting there if you have any interest in renovating old houses!

sunnuntai 1. marraskuuta 2015

Sweet things

I seldom bake but yesterday I made a carrot-ginger cake with orange-cheese topping. I put the topping in a separate bowl as there is no way we two (my husband and I) could eat the whole cake during the weekend. This way I can freeze the rest of the cake and make a new topping for next weekend.