Lovely things from the 50's

For quite a while I had no luck at all while visiting flea markets and charity shops, but luckily I didn't give up too soon. This week I returned from my visit to a charity shop (to get some zippers) with almost as many things as what I had given away while cleaning the closets.

I have never really been to Paris, if you don't count changing flights in Charles de gaulle airport as a visit. My charity shop visit gave me a change for a really nostalgic trip there through this lovely book "This is Paris" by Miroslav Sasek, published in 1959. I just adore the pictures of this book. Even my kids wanted to have this as a bedtime story.



I also found a serving plate (Arabia), the embroidered table cloth, a tea tin, a couple of aprons, emroidered pillowcases, a leather purse and, yes, some zippers. This whole lot cost me 12 euros and the serving plate was half of the sum. This is what I call pleasing shopping!

Turning pink

For some years I was able to resist the pink revolution in our house. First I did my best by providing all sorts of colors in clothes of my daughters, but as it seems, about a three-year-old already knows, what colors she would like to wear. So first the closet of my elder daughter started to catch more and more hues of red.

And now, as I mentioned in one previous post, the color started to spread on walls. First I was a bit shocked by the pink in girls room, but now I've started to like it. Both my husband and I think that the pink wall compliments the old pull-out beds we got from a fleamarket. And I finally got a reason to make something out of this lovely Laura Ashley fabric, I found a year ago in a sales hamper.



Today I was able to add to the pinkness of this all a bunting, whichI finished yesterday evening. These buntings seem to be all over blog-universe. I had planned on making one about as long as I have been blogging, but I wanted first to have a pair of pinking shears to finish it . And I finally got myself a pair! With the price tag in them, you really need to consider for a while, whether you need them or not.

The bunting was a surprise for the girls and Elsi would have wanted to arrange a party right away, because now she had a bunting to party with. The party in their renewed room needed to wait though, because we were off to granny's.



The flower of clematis beneath is one example of the beauty in my mum's garden. I'm planning to show you more of the garden, because it's so lush and beautiful (and well, there's not that much to show in my own garden).

Getting linguistic with plants

Yesterday evening I picked a bouquet of Water forgetmenots (Myosotis scorpioides) from a near-by ditch bank. This morning I woke up in a house filled with their scent. I had totally forgotten, what an intense, yet pleasing scent they have. It's no wonder that this flower is so beloved, even the Finnish name of it "luhtalemmikki"contains the meaning of being liked or beloved. The Finnish name of the plant doesn't contain the same meaning as Germanic languages, like "Vergissmeinnicht" in German or "Vergeet-mij-nietje" in Dutch or "Förgätmigej" in Swedish. The Finnish name doesn't contain that fear of forgetting, it concentrates on the positive of just being loved and favoured. Not a trace of Finnish melancholia to be spotted in this case. As you can guess, I find the names of plants very interesting, but won't bore you more with them.


My husband brought me a nice stack of japanese craft books from his business trip to Asia in spring. I have been browsing through them and studying carefully every picture in them. There are so many nice tunics and little home decor ideas that I really didn't know where to start.



Finally I picked a tunic because it reminded me of my first shirt, which I sew at school in the 80's. The shoulder straps were the same. The pattern is from the Pochee Spring 2008. However, I took about 40cm out of the side seams, because there was way too much ruffle for me and about 20 cm out of the hem, because I needed a shirt, not a dress. The experience of sewing with pictorial instructions was a pleasing one. Despite the maternity look of this tunic, I think I'll wear it- even more after I finish the hem seam. As always that's the seam I hate the most, it's inevitable, but so boring.

(Sorry, about the dirt in the mirror)

And brought back by the summer

Thank you for all your encouraging comments on my previous post. It seems, that maybe sooner than I thought, I came to notice that I quite miss the blogging. Without blogging I don't take my camera out as much and my crafting lacks some extra motivation. I just need to keep it in my mind that I don't have so much time for blogging as I wish I had. Now in summer I might post more frequently, but when my work starts again, I'll aim for at least one post a month.



So far my summer vacation has mainly consisted of organizing and cleaning the house bit by bit(still unfinished), of reading as many magazines as possible and of just being there for my kids. There has been some major challenges, like teaching my youngest to be without diapers (so far a very successful project) and weaning her (really not that successful at all).

Somehow I haven't brought myself to serious crafting yet. Last week I finally managed to do something, though:



A simple apron out of linen for myself, which I have been wearing every day since. (Spot the new colour in kids room. I earlier said, there definitely wouldn't be a pink wall in our house, but well now there is.)


And quite as simple skirt for Elsi. The fabric is a thrifted tablecloth and the skirt made without a pattern.

My knitting has been on break as well, since I finished the lace hat. I still have one skein of this vibrant Koigu left and since both the girls have been wearing the hat, I should knit an other, but knitting two things a like, doesn't sound like much fun.



Despite the fact that I like working in the garden, I haven't liked it this spring and summer. First I didn't have the time for it, because May is one of the busiest months for a teacher and then the weather has been all but favorable for growing things this summer. First it was too cold, then too dry then too little of sunshine and now again too cold. Last summer everything was so easy in the vegetable garden, now the only thing really liking its' existence in my garden is rhubarb. Luckily these anemones keep on coming up and flowering. If I get some other crop from my garden than salad this year, I'll sure be boasting about it.