Sports holiday

I'm so tired of looking at all the snow that I thought I'd post some flowers instead.


The girls have had sports holiday from school this week. We've been in Lappeenranta visiting my husbands parents most of the week. There was quite a blizzard when we went there, but after that the weather was pretty nice. A new record was made in Lappeenranta: 85 cold days after one another. The old record 84 days was from the winter 1969-1970.

The girls had a chance to ski and skate and play with their grandparents. We got to see our god-daughter and her family. My husband and I had a chance to go out for dinner just the two of us. We went to a Greek restaurant called Tassos. A glass of sparkling wine, traditional Greek salad and fresh bread, dolmades, steak Samotharaki, a bottle of red wine, rhubarb-sparkling wine parfait and a double espresso. Absolutely delicious!

Today we're having +1 C. I had a lot of trouble digging my car out of all the wet heavy snow. The weather forecast promises snow and rain and after that it's going to get colder again. At least it's getting lighter even if spring won't be here for a while yet.

I have read a lot, here are some of the books:

• Ilona Andrews : On the Edge
• Karen Chance : Death's Mistress
• "Inked"
• Laurell K. Hamilton : Flirt
• Faith Hunter : Blood Cross
• Caitlin Kittredge : Witch Craft
• P.N. Elrod : The Vampire Files volume two
• Agatha Christie : Miss Marple Omnibus 1

I hope you had a good weekend. Enjoy your week!

Snowy mountains and jewelry

This is what our playground looks like this winter. My girls are playing Queens of the Hill.

Bee charms from Chinook Jewelry, lampwork from Bead Addicts, copper beads and findings.

Ceramic pendant from Chinook Jewelry, ceramic connectors from Artisan Clay, lampwork disc from Blue Seraphim, brass, olive jade, red howlite, red aventurine, golden jade, glass beads.

A weekend in Porvoo

We went to Porvoo this weekend to celebrate my mum's birthday. It was very cold (almost -20 C) on Saturday and really windy. I decided to go and take some pictures anyway because it was sunny and the weather forecast promised more snow on Sunday. The shops were already closed and there were very few people out anywhere. Quite a contrast to the masses of tourists strolling around in the summer.

Winter and summer

Looking at these pairs of pictures of the same scenes, one taken in winter and the other in summer, it's interesting to see that some things are revealed and others are hidden. These are the Devil's Stairs in the Old Town.

This is the Castle Hill (Linnanmäki / Borgbacken), where the castle by the river that gave Porvoo its Swedish name Borgå was built.

This is the Porvoo river, Porvoon joki / Borgå å.

The Cathedral from the Old Bridge.

The Cathedral and the Old Town across the river.

Mum's flowers

Mum's orchids are incredibly beautiful. They are just gorgeous. How she manages to keep them all alive and in full bloom is something I'll never understand. I once tried an orchid and it didn't last long! I'm only good with plants that require minimum care.

I don't know the name of this flower, but I just love the orange colour!

This is a bromelia. I love the yellows and reds in this one too. Very pretty!

A walk around the Espoo Cathedral

On Sunday I went on a walk around the Espoo Cathedral (Espoon tuomiokirkko / Esbo domkyrka) while Mirja was at football practice. It was sunny and cold and absolutely gorgeous weather. The Cathedral is the oldest building in Espoo. The oldest parts are from the 1480s. The Cathedral is special to me because both my girls have been baptized in it. The Cathedral is going to be closed until the end of November because of restorations. The Cathedral is built next to the Espoo river.

Have a good weekend!

Jewelry photos

Ceramic pendant by Mary Harding, polymer clay connectors by Humblebeads, ceramic leaves by Diane Hawkey, jasper donuts, fire-polished beads, wood beads, copper, brass and hemp cord.

Agate slice, brass leaf and findings, bronze seed beads, four shades of freshwater pearls and lampwork beads from Bead Addicts.