Football, birthday parties and necklaces

Yesterday my younger girl had a football game and then we gave a birthday party for her friends. Today she had football practice and then we had grandparents and godparents visiting. Her birthday was a week ago on October 17th. My little girl is 7 years old! Time flies!

I didn't have time to do any beading this weekend, but I thought I'd share some pictures of necklaces I made this summer:

The great wolf: ceramic pendant and ceramic beads from Mary Ann Carroll, wood beads, glass beads, metal beads and findings.

Pink bird: graduated tourmaline nuggets, brass chain and findings, freshwater pearls, shell pendant from Lillypilly, lampwork glass disc beads from Blue Seraphim.

Ruby flower: ceramic components from Round Rabbit and brass beads and findings.

I hope you all had a good weekend!

Circus

Today we went to the circus. It has become a tradition for us to go every autumn when Sirkus Finlandia brings their show to Helsinki. I think the first time was when my older girl was about three, which makes this the seventh time. There were dogs, cats, horses, ponies, seals, clowns, trapeze-artists, jugglers and a lot more. I was very impressed with Antti Suniala, who was juggling with burning staffs. It looked so beautiful in the dark tent. You can find pictures here:

http://www.anttisuniala.com/antti/main.html

Visiting Porvoo

We walk around in Old Porvoo shopping and taking pictures at least once every summer, but seldom during other times of the year. We went to my parents today and I decided it was time to get some autumn pictures too. This is the Cathedral.

Porvoo got its name from Borgå in Swedish, which means the fortress by the river (borg = fortress, å = river). The fortress no longer exists.

The red sheds by the river were used for storage when fruits, wine, spices, coffee and tobacco were brought by boat to Porvoo.

This is the Old Town Hall, which is a museum today, and the sheds.

This is my mother's orchid. It's so beautiful! I couldn't resist taking some pictures of it too.

A cold beautiful morning

It's been so cold that the leaves have seriously started falling from the trees. I could actually hear the aspen leaves fall!

It's been a good weekend. We've been outdoors enjoying the sunny weather and just enjoyed beeing together. No football practice or anything else. The girls have been out with their friends and I made some jewelry. Have a good week!

Last day of the fair

What a beautiful day! It was cold in the morning, but it soon got warmer. We all went to the fair. I bought all the fish we needed on Monday so we didn't buy anything at all, but it was still very nice walking around looking. Lots of people everywhere today. View over the Market Square and the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral.

The fish fair has been a tradition since 1743. This was the 267th fair! For most of the fishers this is the most important event of the year. They sell about 50 tons of fish during the week.

We had lunch at a pasta place. The food was good and then we had chocolate mud cake for dessert. Perfect!

Of course I just had to take some pictures of colourful leaves - even if the girls thought it was time to go home...

Helsinki Baltic Herring Fair

I had planned to go to the fish fair yesterday with my girls, but the heavy rain kept us home. Today I went to the fair on my lunch break.

Fishermen gather every autumn in the Market Square to sell their Baltic herring products and other fish products. Some are selling directly from their boats.

There weren't as many people today as there usually is in the weekends. It wasn't raining, but it was windy and very cold. Hopefully we'll get better weather next weekend before the fair ends. It would be nice to get a chance to visit with the girls in more cheerful circumstances.

Flower garden

I was very pleased with this necklace - until I noticed that I had made an error... I took the necklace apart and did it again, but it's been raining all day and I couldn't get a decent picture of the new version.

Ingredients: boro beads from Redside Designs, crystals and silver.

First cold morning

This morning was one of the first this autumn with the temperature below zero in the south of Finland. The sun quickly melted the frost away, but it was beautiful while it lasted!