Sunday fun day

Wow, what a week.

I worked 46 hours at my clinical training. I actually enjoy that place which is a very good thing since I'm always a bit wishy-washy about nursing. Ugh. Me liking a place makes the time spent go by so much faster...and while it's wrong to wish time away, I can't wait to graduate and be done with school!

I had Wednesday off, it was a gorgeous sunny day. I spent it seeing a friend who I rarely get to see. We took her daughter to a playground and watched her go. So sweet! Then I went home, made a casserole that I ate the rest of the week for lunch (ew, definitely casseroled out!) and then took my big bear for a looong walk with another friend. We were gone for 1.5h! So the total of my walking that day came to about 13km!! I walked ALL day! Once I did the math through google maps, I realized I should really get a pedometer. It'd be interesting to see how many kilometers I walk per year. :)

 (NO SNOW!)

So yes, I actually didn't do much of any crocheting! What?! I know... I couldn't really believe it myself. There just didn't seem to be enough time between work, getting ready for work, sleeping, taking care of Koda... I only made a few more rainbow parrot baby blanket squares. I think I'm up to about 25 squares already!

So now that you know what a boring work-filled week I had, I reaaaaaally enjoyed yesterday! Hubby is home again, life is back to normal, the sun is shining and spring is officially here. I met up with my friend Pinni, and we went for a long walk through the woods here. I've passed so many photo opportunities on my way to work and back that all week I had been planning to go back and take pictures my next day off. 

I love when plans come to fruition! 

So please, enjoy the million pictures I took. 

Yeah, there are a lot.

 Here is my glorious Sunday!

We headed out and discovered a little "pond" from melted snow... It was covered with frogs that I think were in the tadpole making business if you catch my drift... Lots of ribbiting going on.

"Leskenlehti", always the first flowers I see each year. 

Tampere bayou. All this from melted snow. I love it!

Sinivuokko, or anemone hepatica.

The main thing I wanted to take pictures of. Obviously. I love them and the woods are covered in them right now!

Small starts.

Big sunshine. 

I found pussywillows in various stages.

Figured out how to get bokeh from a puddle in the background. Then swore later that I would learn bracketing.

Enjoyed a patch of birch. When I have a farm one day with a ton of land, I want lots of birch to admire!

We found a patch of these flowers, no clue what they are. They attracted quite a few bees and butterflies. The chase began for bee and flutterfly pictures, but was mostly in vain.

The path then brought us back in to woods like this. Green with spring. :)

...and the view beyond was gorgeous. Melting ice!

Down we went to the water's edge... The rocks, the reflections, the sun... It was just so pretty!

It was such a great walk with good company! 

That evening, my little Manta bear came back home from her grandparents' and she had been washed! She is looking mighty pretty now!

And we celebrated hubby's and Manta's homecoming with sesame soy salmon, potatoes and salad with ginger salad dressing. 

The marinade for the salmon was SO good! I added grated ginger and minced garlic to it, delish! And now I am fantasizing about chicken with the same marinade... 

YUM!

So yes, that was a real Sunday fun day.

Tomorrow is May day and today starts the partying! So I should be off to take care of chores so I can enjoy the celebration later!

Have a nice May day!

The plan for the week: Crochet

This weekend I've been pretty darn busy. I have the same stupid tasks from week to week on my to-do list and it's been getting to me! It's not like it's all hard stuff to do, it's just boring/tedious/annoying and I'd rather spend my increasingly precious free time doing fun stuff! 

However, I have been a responsible adult (pah!) and gotten some things taken care of. Bachelor's thesis work (blah), school tasks (still 2 to go! argh!), cleaning (mega blah!), so on and so forth. 

Ugh, I'm almost grateful tomorrow is Monday! (JUST KIDDING!)

I'm looking forward to this week flying by and I intend for it to whiz by me by filling up my free time with crochet -- mind-numbing! 

I'm alone for the whole week with just Koda and Kissa (Manta is at her grandparents!) while my wonderful husband is away on a school trip... 

This is weird! 

I'm only on the first night and it's already too quiet, too boring, and downright lonely! I see why I am married and we spend so much time together! Lol! 

(I'm sure this is the face I'll wake up to ♥)

So my mind-numbing/time passing tactic has been to set up a bunch of projects requiring different levels of energy, time, and skill. It may seem crazy to plan something so meticulously but I believe you never know what crochet mood you'll be in, so it's good to have several choices! Thus I've been busy tackling projects all weekend when I've had the chance. Wanna see? 

Of course you do! :)

 

This is my next granny square and baby blanket. I'm keeping this one all to myself should we hear the litter patter of little feet one day. I love the yarn (novita papukaija = parrot) and I've been holding onto it for about a year! I finally figured out how to best work the variegated yarn into squares -- by using same colored scraps of similar yarn! Many thanks to my aunt who has kindly donated all her scraps...I'd seriously be a lot poorer without them! 

So basically, the plan is as usual, to make as many squares as I can with the material given or until I'm pleased. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, I am adding a row of white around the squares, I think it'll make those colors really POP!

 

Ah, and were there is POP! there is also soothing gorgeousness. This is my ultimate favorite yarn. EVER. I'm soooo in loooooooove. 

I waited for a long time to figure out what to make, a pattern that suited me and brought out the yarn perfectly. Well, I decided on a shawl, this pattern, and I'm in love still. I'm going to add some "Irish roses" to the edge to really make it romantic.

I'll wear this shawl with one of my favorite dresses (pink!) and the perfect first occasion will be to my friend's wedding in early June. She's getting married on the coast in Helsinki. I'm sure it will be windy and chilly as usual there, so it'll definitely be put to good use!

This is working up quickly, I've only worked on it for a day! :)

Ah, and let's not forget the gray granny... 

My mom was over today with her sister as well as a friend. The four of us yarn lovers ooh'ed, aah'ed, and spent a good while arranging the squares. We all decided random was best, but on the condition that none of the colors stuck out in an unappealing way. 

This is what we came up with and I'm pretty excited to start sewing them together. Insvisible seam, here I come!

So, there will be a lot of "hooky" time happening this week (despite the perpetually growing to-do list haunting me) because I just want to. And this is going to be a crap week so I deserve some happiness. There, justification! HA!

I'm going to crochet on the couch with the Koda-bear and Kissa-panther (Happy 4th birthday shout out a few days late!) and sip some tea or coffee from my new favorite mug and flea market STEAL (only 40 cents, wooot!).

Yes, I'm so poor and thrifty, that I get excited when thrift stores have sales! Lol!

It says made in Brazil on the bottom. And to think I thought they only made Victoria's secret models there! Tsk, tsk!

Oh dear! I've been so rude!!! I've been going on and on about being alone with just the bear and panther to keep me company, and totally forgot about this guy that moved in today. 

AAAAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA!

I swear I am probably the only person in the whole universe with a handmade giant wooden mushroom AND a handmade giant wooden gnome.

Thanks Papa! I thought my house would never be eclectic or quirky enough!  

I have no clue what happens to this guy or his friend downstairs in our storage closet (yeah, giant gnomes x 2), but I will say as the evening has progressed, I've become more and more fond of him. 

By the end of the week, I just might be calling him Wilson.

Oh my word, I just went there! 

Thanks for popping by my new blog, if you want to see past pictures of my gray granny blanket check out the old one at www.an-asortafairytale.blogspot.com

Have a nice start to your week! Don't be a stranger! :)

Today is the day! Welcome all!!!

*Drum roll*

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

I bring to you (finally)

the launch of 

Anneli's Atelier!!!

Ta-daaaaaaaaaaaah! 

It's been a long time coming... and I'm finally happy with my little nook, my little atelier! 

The bunting flags finally went up this past weekend and I'm just so incredibly pleased with how it pulled the room together! Added bonus that it was an easy and cheap project!

So now I have my desk, chair, storage facility (lol) and mushroom table (under the oil paint box), easel, plenty of canvases and other art supplies... I'm just peachy!

Hubby made this mushroom table with my dad out of a giant 100+ year old tree that had been cut down. I love it but I think it needs to get painted a color! I think red with white dots would be classic, but I can't decide completely since I still like the idea of gray, green, yellow, blue, black... Oh the decisions!

This chair was a steal from my favorite thrift store, only 6 euros and in perfect condition!

I crocheted a granny square cover for the cushion (that is a bit too big but was free and readily available) and I think it's just adorable!

Oh boy, I just love it all!

Thanks for stopping by for my launch! I'll be wrapping it up now over at my first blog "A sorta fairytale" now, so start following over here to stay updated! :)

I just love change and progress!