BLACK CATS EVERYWHERE

My youngest sister gave me a set of Polkka Jam pastel cat prints for my birthday (she has a history of giving me cat-tings) that I now put up in the kitchen. I've always liked Polkka Jam's prints and I had always thought of putting something on that wall so these came in handy.

The theme of the prints also serves as a nod to our other kitchen, the one in the farm house, with the rugs and wood stove and so on.

And to the cats of course. But that does not even need to be mentioned.

WARM AND SUNNY

 We had a couple of warm days and stayed a bit longer out on the farm. Like a sneak peek of summer!

 The leaves are budding.

Dag was out even before he got his pants on!

 I did my yearly replanting and -potting of plants and cuttings.

 The neighbour's cows are out now. Dag is very excited!

 And a little frightened too.

 The cats follow our trails.

 Piggy-back ride away from the frightening cows.

 Then we say hello to the lambs too, who are still waiting for more grass to grow before moving outdoors.

 In the barn.

 Dag offering some straws to the babies.

Itchy teeth!

And then onto new adventures!

(...which would be the cousins' trampoline!)

APRIL

Springtime!

 (I know this one totally makes it seem like I would have done some yard work. But I so did not. Have no idea how that rake got there. In fact, I haven't done anything of use since autumn and everything looks there after... Well, at some point I'll have to if I ever want to have people over.)

Lulu in her hunting-dog pose.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: THE LIGHT IS BACK!

 I love this time of year! The light starts pouring trough the windows again and suddenly you remember it does not get dark at 3:pm al year round...

 We stayed over nigt in the countryside. Ate some left overs from the weekend's birthday party; my vegan apple-berry pie I made on spelt, oats and coconut oil.

 I like to put smaller plants in jars (of course I do, me and jars you know...) or big coffee cups.

And Dag is riding his horse.

NIGHT WINDOW WITH CAT

The sky in the city never really gets as black as it does out in countryside. And our view is lit up by a lot of things, but it doesn't really bother me. But when I'm out in the countryside I sometimes gaze up into the black and become amazed on how many stars there are out there that the eye can see.

A NEW VIEW / THE ROSEY CURTAINS

Here we have the Marimekko Ruusupuu (the Rose Tree) fabric. It has, among many,  been a favourite of mine for a long time. (picture source)

So I got curtains of the fabric in the apartment I had before moving to where we are now. 

Then as I moved the curtains got chopped off to hang in the study.

And now they are hanging in the kitchen! 

As the result of an unexpected little catastrophe actually; I washed the yellow gingham kitchen curtains and they shrunk with some 20 cm... Argh! Because I (finally) am in cleaning-and-organising mode now I thus can't stand things being "not ready" and as I would have packed the rose curtains aside anyway for a kiddo-set of curtains for Dag I made a quick save and hung these up.

Funny how a little fabric can change the whole feel of a room! I really liked it with the yellow curtains, but I am starting to think that this is not that bad after all.

Btw another little funny thing,  Marimekko fabrics / patterns are probably one of few in which it is considered totally alright and normal (and rather fancy too as   'it is after all Marimekko' ) for someone to show up to a, say, wedding in a dress of the same fabric as your tablecloth. Hipsters and old ladies alike.

PS. there is a Finnish survey about blog readership popping up here (once per ip address) on the blog. In Finnish. Thus not useable for many of you, so choose the "ei kiitos"option then to close it.

DOMESTIC BLACK CATS

A little kitsch around the house isn't wrong, especially when it comes to cats!

 The cat-bottle is of course a classic. We got the wine juts because of the bottle; I can't remember what it tasted like. I once saw a window with cat bottles in all colours in a row. Fun! And that meant someone had a lot of wine.

 My youngest sister gave me a black cat soap bottle, because, well, it's a cat soap bottle.

She also gave me the vintage cat lamp they'd found with her boyfriend as it was a little 'too much' for their home. It has just the same look as my Lulu!

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW - GLITTER AND SUCH

Started taking out some Christmas decorations - gotta glitz things up. (Yes, the pom-poms are making a comeback to delight our two neighbours and the occasional mailman at the door!) Quite funny, Lulu decided her resting place for tonight was next to the lit up soon-to-be balcony lights.


Managed to go via the post office to pick up a parcel with some skin care products I'd run out of just just in time for our sauna night. I got myself some Black African soap and shea butter from Akoma, all natural, Fair Trade and ecological. Can be used for everything on everyone!

Most old buildings have a shared sauna (in newer flats they usually build them in each apartment, aslo in small ones), and our shift is every Tuesday night. We seldom make it, but it's just  a few coins per months so it's not the end of the world. Tonight however I did. And I just grab my can of coconut oil and the black liquid soap and I'm good to go; that's all I need for far body and hair. Easy.

Eddi is with the boys at the farm with the lambs for the evening so I had a late dinner by myself, a bucket of salad and the newest interior mag (lots of grey and white and veneer in this one too...)


I didn't go out to the farm tonight because I had my nails done. I wanted them Christmas crazy. So they got glitter and Christmas roses and all. Originally I had thought of something a bit different with other kind of glitter and roses and such but I've noticed there is always this small language barrier at the salon. Well, they're fun (even though monsieur thought they look "a bit messy")! And they are very Mistle Tease, and that's what they are for.

And oh did I say Mistle Tease? Well why yes, and go get your tickets in time because they are -wohoo- selling rather well!

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: SUNDAY

 Having an autumn filled with performances and workshops around town and from city to city it is such a relief to have a day off that really is that; off everything. Dag and I are cosy in the countryhouse kitchen listening to the radio, with the nasty weather outside.

The cats are enjoying their breakfast. Or brunch. Or snack. A little hard to say what they consider it.

We had a late breakfast; porridge with homemade strawberry jam and banana. Although the kids have some several times a week, I haven't had porridge myself in ages.

We're going to go out a bit and then I intend to take it easy and go trough lots of interior magazines that I havenät had the time to browse trough. Ah, Sunday!

EGGSHELL BLUE, RETRO RED, CAT BLACK

Lulu in the corner, on the fridge, countryhouse.

BABIES AND CATS IN THE SNOW

(Or alright; one baby, but two cats.)

Spot little Lulu in the last pic?