Oak Tree

Here in our neighborhood are many oak trees. This one is only a short walk away from where we live. In the winter when there are no leaves on the trees we can see the top of the oak from our backyard. When the snow has melted and the path in the woods no longer is slippery we often walk the path down to the lake. I always stop to look at the tree. It’s so impressive, it’s huge, it fascinates me. I’d love to know the age of it it. It must have fascinated many generations here already for hundreds of years. Maybe there have been inhabitants here already when the tree was a tiny one. We have some books about the region and it says the first times our village is mentioned goes as far back as to the 1500 century. Back then here was large farms and also limestone mines. One can still see the remains of the entrances of a couple of the mines. Another reason is the King’s Road from Sweden to Russia went past here. Or maybe that is the main reason.

I looked for oak tree images on Google. There are many awesome pictures of huge oaks. I read some may be a thousand years old, even older. That I remember from the biology lessons at school. Biology was one of my favorite subjects in school as well as geography and zoology.

Marimekko Fashion Show

The annual Marimekko Summer Fashion Show in the center of Helsinki gathers thousands of citizens to the Esplanade park. The event is open to the public and is the opening of the summer season. This was my first time going there. It was so enjoyable. Beautiful dresses. Great weather.

Rhubarb Pie

For a week, almost two I have daily checked the rhubarb growing. Awaiting there would be enough for me to make a pie. Finally, yesterday there was. For years I made the dough myself but today I buy “Myllyn Paras” frozen dough for cookies and sweet pies.

For filling stir
2 dl sour cream
1 egg
0,5 – 0,75 dl sugar
cover with rhubarb

Bake in 200 degrees Celsius for about 30-35 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

So simple, easy and super quick to make. Perfect for lazy me.

Canelo 9 Years

Canelo turned 9 yesterday. One more time: Happy Birthday Dear Canelo ! Love you !

Throw the ball ! Please, throw  ! THROW IT !

Wait a second, I need to shake.

Okay, throw it again !

 Above two pictures are from our first visit at the breeder’s in June 2006.

Enjoying the beautiful summer days in our back yard.

48 Years

Today 48 years ago on May 14 we were married. I can’t believe it’s that many years. It, to me, seems it was yesterday. I was 21 and my husband 23.

Happy Anniversary Dear Husband !

I went to a hairdresser and wanted my hair done in the usual way. But when she heard I was going to get married she talked me over to wear a different look, a more festive one, she said. It was well meant but not my style so I was uncomfortable with it. You can see it from my expression in the wedding picture.

Marimekko T-shirts

I tend to wear my T-shirts till they are totally worn out. I literally mean that. It now was time for new ones. So once I was in Herttoniemi on Monday (where the Cherry tree park is) I popped in to the Marimekko Factory Outlet to buy a T-shirt. I bought two. Of course the same model I already have used for years in different color combinations. It’s an “Ilma”. A classic striped t-shirt with a boatneck and three quarter-length sleeves. The other one in dark green and black stripes and the other one in the classic red and white stripes. I’d loved to have the other in blue and white but unfortunately there were no available in my size . Nice, they were 30% off. My husband thinks I’m weird. He wondered why always buy the same Ilma shirt. Well, it’s because they are comfy, good quality and I’m so used to them.

Cherry Trees In Bloom

Sometimes I watch the Japanese television channel NHK. Recently there was a program about the cherry trees in bloom at Mt. Yoshino. I saw the same program once before but was pleased to do it again. Thousands of cherry trees in full bloom. So beautiful. Absolutely mesmerizing. I said to my husband that I hope he too will have the opportunity to watch the program. Also I said wouldn’t it be an amazing experience to once go to Japan to experience the cherry blossom. If you want to see many cherry trees, my husband said, you need not go further than to Herttoniemi cherry tree park to see them flower. Really! I did not know there is such a place ! Herttoniemi is only about 20 km away from where we live. Our first home when we married in 1967 was in Herttoniemi not far from the cherry tree park. We went to the park yesterday. Wow ! Oh how beautiful. There are about 150 trees planted 8 years ago. It’s not Yoshino but very much worth going there.

The Old Home Town . . .

Yes, the old home town still looks the same.

Yesterday we celebrated Mother’s Day. In the afternoon we drove to both my husband’s mother’s grave which is here nearby and then also to my mother’s grave to put flowers on them. My mother is buried in Borgå/Porvoo, my old hometown. It is about 60 km from us. The weather was beautiful. I could not help but, once again, take a few photos of the church and the old river side storage buildings down by the river. The views are to me so familiar since childhood and school years. I grew up in a small village about 10 km from Borgå. If we needed to go to a doctor, pharmacy, buy new clothes etc we went by train to Borgå. After my first five school years in the village I went to school in Borgå. I went by train. From the train station we (I and other school children) daily walked, the about 1 km walk, over the bridge through the old town to the school. So the views, to me, are so dear and familiar.

 My geography/zoology/biology teacher lived in the yellow house with a balcony. She invited our class once for lemonade and buns.

My aunt lived in the yellow two stored house up on the hill.

Happy Mother’s Day !

Happy Mother’s Day 2015 !

Windsurfer

Yesterday was pretty windy. So no wonder there was a guy windsurfing. It looked so nice. I couldn’t resist shooting a couple of pictures. When edited/resized the pictures I realized how green the nature has turned in a couple of days. Wonderful.