belated ta-dah

Ohayo  from Sapporo, or just good morning!

I'm so amazed we're here and you can read more about my adventures on our travel blog: www.springinsapporo.blogspot.com

Since I'm writing a second blog, I doubt there is much time or subject matter for this little crafty, cooking, gardening, "lifestyle" blog. 

What I'm getting at: a small 3 month hiatus. 

Before that though, let me share what I was up to those last hectic 2 weeks before we left!

Spring had sprung!

Family dinners of bacon topped pork tenderloin roasted on carrots and onions. Yum!

Dessert was creme brulee. Yummer!

 

Enjoying my orchid before we left.

Chasing this muffin down who has learned to stand on her own so quickly!

 

That hair!

 

 We miss this guy a whole lot.

And this naughty kitty.

Oh wait, what's she on?

I finished my blanket before we left!

 

TA-DAH!

 

80 squares, 8x10 rows, a thick border.

I didn't measure it but it's spread out on our queen size bed if that gives you an idea.

 

The border is just hdc around.

 

I tried fitting it in the frame (too lazy to switch lenses) by putting it on the floor and standing on the couch. Muffin didn't get it. But at least you can see how big it is in comparison to her!

 

the back.

 

I'm super in love and it turned out better than I could have hoped for.

I can't wait to use it next fall and winter snuggled on the couch. :)

And now I can start my white border sunshine starburst here!

I hope you'll check out our other blog linked above.

Have a great spring!

Valentine's recap and handicrafts and so on

Happy belated Valentine's Day! ;)

Ok, so I really did mean to post something for then, but understandably, time gets away from me. I had a great Valentine's Day though, spent with my two most favoritest people eating good food! We made homemade chicken pizza from scratch (including the crust!), topped with lots of fresh veggies. We ate the pizza with arugula (rocket) on top. I've seen it on pinterest like that before and the idea stuck. It was definitely delicious that way! 

Dessert was heavenly fudgy thick peanut butter swirl brownies. Yeah. Yum! (just not very photogenic...)

Obviously Valentine's Day = flowers. 

I bought myself pink and purple tulips this year, since we were at the store a  few days before and I couldn't decide which color I wanted more. Hubby's answer: get both. Ooooooh twist my arm why don't ya! ;) 

  (blue inside the purple ones!)

My sister bought Elisabeth a beeeeeeeeeautiful (and surprisingly a little fragrant) pink rose. Ah. ♥

I've been crocheting and knitting quite a bit when I get a chance... It is my stress/anxiety medication. 

I have made more owls. (check out my last post).

 Not pictured is the blue on blue one I made for my sister.

I've been knitting more of this simple garter stitch scarf. I love the stripe. I love variegated yarn. I love blue. So um, yeah. There's a love thing going on with this, even if I do find it a little repetitive. 

I have all my blues and greens used up for my starburst blanket. I got to 80 squares! My mom and her friend came over last Monday, and she actually crocheted I think the last 4-5 squares while I knit! I have them assembled in piles to be crocheted on... but suddenly I'm stalling! I don't know why. I guess because crocheting them together and sewing in the ends is so dreadful? :D 

I have a major yarn swooning thing going on with these here.

I bought them for my next big blankie. I am so in love with the starburst pattern, that I'm doing a brighter version with a "classic" white border. The white is actually more of a cream but you get it, right. 

Anywho, I am sooooooo in love with these jewel tones. Ah, perfect! ♥

This will be the bright sunny sister to my shadowy blue and green blanket. :)

 We had a sushi night on Sunday with the family... It was super fun and was our late Valentine's celebration and kind of sorta a celebration because we bought the tickets and it's 100% sure we will be living in Japan from the end of March-late June!! 

:) 

(my roll was a little heavy on the rice...)

But yep, Japan. Us three. Three months. 

Spring! 

I'm so thrilled, happy, excited, scared, nervous, happy, excited, well I think you're getting the idea.

A lot for us to arrange but when adventure comes knocking, we aren't the type to tell it to go away. I think there is probably a meme with Bilbo out there that describes this situation right now. ;)

We will be on the North island, Hokkaido and living in Sapporo. I am kind of torn as to whether or not I should 

a)blog about the life there

b) blog about our life there on this blog

c) start a travel blog?

I'm kind of leaning towards option C because I kind of like my personal little blog and I think of this as my (private) journal where I log in all my makes and eats and flower pictures for me to look back on. :D 

And I think I'd like to share my travels more openly (=linking on facebook) and possibly do it in both Finnish and English so that everyone could read it? 

If you have an opinion, leave and comment or send me a message! 

Well, it's dinner time for a muffin I know. I'm surprised I managed to get around doing this to the end, seeing as she woke up half way through! 

I'll leave you on a cutie pie note:

Benjamin the British Blue. ♥ 

I super mega love this kitten and might just steal him when my friend's not looking ;)

Thanks for reading.

Until next time, cheerio!

2014...already??

So here we are in 2014, I can't believe it!

I had such an eventful 2013 that it went by so quickly, too quickly! I spent the first half of the year with huuuuge anticipation for June and it seemed like time was craaaaaawling... then BAM! January 1st, 2014!

Obviously, as anyone who has ever had a baby knows, time FLIES when you have a little one... We were no exception to this phenomenon. I'm hoping that I will learn to keep up with it or at least get used to it... I'm still just blown away some days that I have a daughter and she's already ...months old. Can't imagine when it becomes ...years old!! 

So yes, I am hoping for a lot of things in 2014, but mainly just the chance to enjoy it fully. As in, time not whizzing by me!

I have lots of photos backlogged for the blog... Nothing new there these days so I'm just going to once again skip them and share some more recent ones. :)

Our beautiful tree.

Playing with f-stops, tripods, and Christmas lights...

 

My gorgeous bowl of white hyacinths that started blooming perfectly just before Christmas.

And bokeh!

 

Getting back into lightroom and editing photos into B&W.

Just love the mood.

 

My lavender/blue hyacinths that bloomed right before New Year's.

 

Enjoying what my camera can do in literally no light.

 

And I had so much fun with the fireworks display on New Year's Eve!!

 

 

(These are my favorite because it's like gold glitter in the sky!.....it has my name all over it! Lol!)

So that's pretty much it!

Thanks 2013 for an amazing year!

On my table.

This time of year is the best. I looooooove having flowers ♥

I can't believe that these roses from my shower last weekend are still going strong! 

Crazy beautiful tulips look crazy beautiful even past their prime. 

You can see we have leaves on the tree out the window!! :)

And these are the changes we made to the living room...

I hope we don't run into problems with the tank being on the shelf, but I sure do like the way it looks!

And we changed the stool out for a little antique table, but this is what went in place of the shelf...

I can't wait to sit there and rock my sweet baby! :)

37 weeks as of tomorrow. Getting so close to the end!

:) 

I've done some small crocheting but I haven't taken pictures... maybe I'll get around to that today since it's looking like it might rain today. (Good -- my garden needs it!!)

Since last time...

Since last time...

I've taken more photos of the little daffs. :)

They're just so outrageously in bloom. And since the weather has been cold but not completely freezing, they've lasted really long outside. 

They're still blooming!!

Speaking of the weather, we've finally had some rain. 

I love the sunshine, but rain is far more efficient in melting snow, therefore I haven't complained once about it! :)

Look at the progress from our courtyard!! 

After making an executive decision much to the hubby's disapproval, I bought curtain fabric from Ikea and we now have new curtains in the dining nook.

I'm quite happy with the way they turned out, but I think hubby needs more time to get used to them. Since he wasn't fond of them to begin with. ;)

I love the effect of the stripes, it makes the (tall) room look so very tall.

 

I really need to do something about that hideous light fixture that came with the apartment though. 

I call it a mosquito light because it even flickers when you turn it on. Ick.

Ah, decorating is expensive...

See what was on the table above? 

I couldn't resist as they were on sale this past week at a department store here. 

I had my mom help me pick out a promising one. 

Hopefully it brings me as much pleasure and inspiration as the white one (which is still blooming next to the TV). :)

Nature is so amazing, such detail!

Speaking of nature, my little plantation is coming along nicely.

Almost every single seed planted has sprouted. 

I'm just worried that with spring being a few weeks late, I may have started these too early (even though according to the packages etc, I was a little behind schedule already).

It looks crazy messy, but it's controlled chaos. I promise. :)

Should we talk crochet?

I was the lucky recipient of this gorgeous crocheted rug from my mom's talented friend.

It's a beautiful mustardy yellow and I think it's far too pretty to be on the floor. 

I kind of want to hang it on the wall, but I think I need to figure out HOW and WHERE first. :)

It's like a sun! And a flower!

What's not to love? 

I've been working hard on the blue sunbursts for the couch, but it doesn't stop me from fantasizing about new projects. 

Yes, I have one baby blanket still in the works for this little girl but I am her crocheting mama, and one blanket is NOT enough!!

I am so in love with this Viking Baby Ull yarn and it was on sale at the yarn shop... So I bought the purple, blue and yellow... and the other two are from my stash.

Well,  the pink between the purple and blue is Silja yarn, but it goes so nicely with the rest. 

I have no pattern in mind yet... but I'm thinking maybe plain granny squares?

Then again, a flower motif square would be cute too.

Too many choices!!

 

 

 I have more than just WIP's though. 

I have a completed flower wreath! 

It's already on the front door, welcoming us home. :)

The yarn I used was (I think) Silja and Viking Baby Ull.

The pattern was from the wonderful Attic 24 and linked here. 

The actual wreath is just cardboard that I traced circles (using a round plastic bowl and lid) on and cut out. 

Then I wrapped blue yarn around it (talk about tedious work!) and then I glued the flowers on using fabric glue.

All in all, it's a simple project and I was more than happy with the result!

I can't decide which flower I like most. :)

As for the blue sunbursts... I have a total of (almost) 21. I have been thinking about just how big I want this blanket to be and I am toying with the idea of making it 9x10 squares... but then again, I think, maybe I should just make it until I run out of yarn and see where that gets me?

I really should take a break from these squares and finish my rainbow baby blanket... I think that should be what I will tackle today on this glorious day OFF.

By the way, I have 13 days left before maternity leave starts... 8 morning shifts, 2 evening shifts... I cannot wait!!

 But then again, at the same time, I am secretly freaking out that I'm so close to having a daughter that I am totally responsible for the well-being of.

And yet, I can't wait. :)  

Completely unrelated, I've been trying to get a good vertical portrait of Kissa since we want to hang pictures of the three of them... But she is sometimes the WORST to get a good picture of!!

Like this one is super cute and all, but it would have been THE picture if she didn't stick her tongue out! :D 

And when you try to repeat the magic she looks everywhere but the camera... so then you call her name and she looks pissed off. 

And heaven forbid you blow at her to get her to look at the camera, you get a look like this one:

Kitty is not happy. 

:D

Well, thanks for stopping by!

Hopefully I'll be back before too long with more photos to share! :)