Now's the time

I don't usually pick flowers for inside use but as there was talk about storm today, I picked some lilies to have a few in case everything falls down due to wind and rain. Thankfully the peonies are still in bud so they should survive.

Is there anything better than (hot) chocolate?

I used to love O'Boy cocoa as a child. I haven't yet find any old O´Boy packages, mostly only Makao (which I hated). Well, they are right for the shop museum collection anyway.

There is never too much sugar!

Old cardboard boxes are hard to find. Luckily I have a brother who also visits flea markets. He found this rather big sugar box that now decorates the shop museum.

Just a minute

I am kind of hoping that by publishing these photos, we'll get an inspiration and the back yard will get a new look. We have been planning stairs, terraces and perennial borders, among other things. Well, at least the lilacs will be bigger...

Just for show

I pot my plants on a tarpaulin but it is fun to have a fake potting table in the garden. I had one at the cottage, too. It is a good place to store any surplus pots and vases as they are decorative even when empty.

Kneel down

I love woodland plants. The only trouble with them is that you have to go on to your knees to really appreciate the view.

Happy midsummer eve's eve!

The midsummer roses are at their very best right now - as they should be!

Not for seamstresses

We have a few old singer sewing machine tables in our garden. As my husband is a minimalist at heart, he wanted to take the things apart to make them appear a bit lighter. This means that there are several spear parts that look rather good on their own. The round ones are just perfect as garden stepping stones!

It runs in the family

My mum loved to decorate, both at home and in the garden. I am just like her and all her decorations are in use in my home and garden. A case in point are three metal ampels that mum used to have flowers in. As it is really windy in Vårkulla I decided to decorate the ampels with mum's little metal birds and some of the fake chrystals that used to hang in her living room ceiling light.

If you have nothing to do

We happy garden owners always have lots to do. Today we did a general clean up in the garden and everything looks rather great.

And even some of the parts of the yard where we haven't yet done any gardening look great, too.

Busy month

Everything happens at once. First it was really cold and nothing grew. Now it's too hot to be in the garden and everything flowers at the same time. This is the time I worry there will be nothing left in August but there always is, of course.

What a difference a little rain makes

In four days our garden has grown into a jungle! I love it but feel that I should have been here to witness every step of the miracle. Now I just see the results. A gardener is never satisfied.

Summer opening

The first poppy started flowering today. For me this means that the summer has (finally) begun. There are (and have been) a lot of other flowers already but for some reason poppies do it for me.

It seemed so big

The wintry painting is from my parents. At their house it seemed really big but in our office at home it seems rather small. I already had the colourful vases collected on the side table and I think I should get some more (and bigger) to contrast with all the white of the painting.

Living in a (small) jungle

The lielies and almost black tulips create a jungle feeling in the garden.

Seek and you shall find

I found two flowerstands from a fleamarket today. They are perfect for succulents and succulents are perfect for our front garden as it is the driest place in Finland due to wind and sun.

Cold but beautiful

The Finnish spring this year is as the best of movies star blondes: cold but beautiful.

Sweet inspirations

Good things happen to those who patiently wait. We have had a big pile of slate in our front yard for ages (around seven years). Then out of blue my husband decided to start laying them in front of the gazebo and after one weekend we almost have a new patio -  a couple of more days (and an aching back) and it will be all ready for midsummer drinks. No thanks to me as usual..