2013: Garden post #2

Ok ok, so I know last time I said maybe this time I'd give you the tour of the house... but I was wrong! 

We went to the garden on May day and I just can't not share my garden dreams... ya see, that place is paradise to me!

We were having a partly cloudy, partly sunny day so do forgive the weird changing light in the photos! :)

These are the ever-rising daffodils. I can't remember now if I've mentioned it before, but we ripped up the old daffodil bed and separated the bulbs (it was way overgrown) and planted two new raised beds. 

Hubby constructed this simple little teepee for me. The plan is to place some chicken wire around the base and plant our seedling scarlet runner beans and peas up this. :) 

It should be a fun little hideout for anyone small enough to fit in there!

 

We had an AMAZING raspberry harvest last year, so no surprise that there were plenty of dead stalks this spring. However, we weren't expecting so many new shoots to be lost to the cold... and now we will probably have a terrible raspberry year. :( 

My dad is our main raspberry farmer and here he is tying the lonely branches to the support beams to stop them from getting damaged in the wind etc. 

He has plans to expand our raspberry area and add some new varieties!

Last year, I would have been helping the hubster turn the soil... This year, I'm not in the best shape for that *wink wink*. 

Here he is turning where we had cornflowers and actual corn last year (and peas!). 

This year, this little strip is going to get a couple rows of potatoes to hopefully help improve the soil quality. 

The tulips are rising rather promisingly.

...As well as the rhubarb. 

Since our new plot has so much rhubarb, we are actually getting rid of this little patch of it. 

FRIENDS: if you would like some rhubarb let me know ASAP and we will dig it up and get it to you. 

This little patch is going to become our new compost spot!

I spent time cutting the dead bits off the strawberries and admiring the little leaves and new growth.

Hubby tore up the chives and garlic area to make a new raised bed there. It happened to be some previous farmer's rock collection so as he was digging we collected them into a pile...

I'm thinking of decorating borders of beds with rocks?

While that construction was going on, I took a moment to appreciate the pussy-willow and blue sky combo.

As well as the windy spring day view of the road and (melted!) lake. 

Here is the new raised bed with neatly planted garlic.

...and a corner of chives.

Something else we have been finding this spring is lots of broken glass. 

I was just going to dispose of it properly, but then I caught a glimpse through the dirt of how pretty and antique the glass was...and now I'm thinking of making some kind of mosaic stone to place in the garden with it.

So I brought it home and washed it. Don't worry, I was careful not to cut myself! :)

My job in home care ended on Monday and my awesome and sweet work friends gave me a little present: lemon balm, strawberry mint, and curry! 

I think these will go on our balcony for our little herb garden I'm going to grow out there. :)

They were also awesome and got me a box of heart shaped doughnuts since that has admittedly been my #1 pregnancy craving... and believe you me, they've watched me eat some doughnuts! :D

Speaking of doughnuts, it's Finnish tradition to drink a homemade "soda" called sima on May day and eat some sugar coated doughnuts.
I take tradition seriously! ;)

Since we went through the trouble of making a yeast dough for the doughnuts, we made a batch of cinnamon rolls too.
Yeah, this is how I started my maternity leave:

Well, that's it for me today.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Housewarming

Saturday we had a small housewarming party. It was so nice to see friends and eat some good eats!! :)

I made these delicious mini vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting from the Brown Eyed Baker blog. The recipe was linked there for ya! It was a good one and could be my new go-to vanilla cupcake recipe!

I made about 48 mini cupcakes from the recipe, but I guess it makes about 12 regular cupcakes.

 

I cut some corners and served garlic bread from the frozen section of the grocery store.

Then I chopped up lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, mushrooms, and green onion for the salad. I think it looks nice to add some carrot strips to the top (just use a vegetable peeler for them).

 

The potato salad was perhaps my favorite thing. It consisted of diced boiled potatoes and eggs, diced pickles, green onion, chopped parsley and homemade mayonnaise. I garnished with more chopped green onion and parley and a sprinkling of paprika for color.

We had some pretzels, broccoli florets, cucumber sticks, carrot sticks, sour cream dip and hummus for easy finger foods. 

The hummus recipe was loosely based on the first one I saw on google. But basically you just throw together some chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, salt, pepper, and oil and blend it together till it is a puree. I added a bit of water to make it smoother. Then I made a well in the middle and poured some olive oil from a sun-dried tomato jar we had (since I always see pictures of hummus drizzled with oil) and garnished with chopped parsley and paprika. 

 All in all, the food was great! :)

We had a change to our view...

The graffiti was removed and I must say I kinda miss it, it was so urban.

 

 Thanks to the rain last week, the snow melted at warp speed!

Now if the grass would just get green...

My parents are firm believers of having flowers at parties so they bought us the gorgeous dusty pink lisianthus bouquet on the right. 

One of our friends brought us the gorgeous mixed bouquet as a part of their gift. :) 

I looooooooooove having flowers to admire and take pictures of!!

 

I think I'm gonna end this here on a flowery note. 

I still have some pictures left of the house. I realize, I've never given ya'll a tour! :)

Maybe next time!

Thanks for popping by!!

2013: Garden post #1

I've gone off the deep end!!

We were fortunate enough to have obtained THE BEST garden allotment in the whole area this past week!! My mom was amazing and was doing the official business of renting us a garden plot in our own name (the three we have been gardening have been in my parent's name) that is adjacent to theirs. Last summer we thought of taking the plot that was literally over-run by weeds etc (it's been "abandoned" for years), but as she was talking with the lady in charge of the garden allotments...the long-time gardening granny neighbor passed away last fall, leaving her immaculate and giant plot available. Needless to say, my mom swooped in and it is now claimed as ours! 

May the granny rest in peace knowing it's in caring hands. (Although she probably rolled in her grave, seeing as she was never fond of us...)

Now between the four of us, we have a whole lotta garden to tend to!!

Here's a few pictures I took while we were there today.

A whole lot of messy dead-coming-back-to-life stuff...

The second daffodil bed that I planted last fall from the original and overgrown daffodil bed...

 

This mess is embarrassing. We dropped the ball last fall with my mom having hip surgery and me being busy with finishing my horrendous thesis and then getting pregnant and going through first trimester nausea...

But this is the perennial flower bed. 

Imagine foxgloves, sweet williams, pansies, daisies and the like... 

 

Currants upon currants. Combined with our new plot, we have a total of FIFTEEN currant bushes!!

 

Tulips and the newly done original daffodil/grape hyacinth bed in the background...

 

And rhubarb knubs. 

 

The ground was wet and muddy making it hard to walk through (it was like quicksand!) and some parts were still icy when the men tested it with shovels. 

So no planting right away.

But with the mess we left it in last fall, we are gonna have plenty to do anyway before the ground warms up. 

I have biiiiiiiiiiiiig plans. I see outdoor garden rooms, vines, flowers, veggies, bean teepees and more... 

And I have to re-work all my plans because I wasn't counting on us getting the additional land to work with. 

I'm stoked and so excited!!

So the rest of the day I've been flipping through my many precious gardening magazines and checking out my garden board on pinterest. Oh the ideas!!

So that concludes the first garden post of the 2013 season!! 

What?! 

It's wonderful!

Hope you're having a wonderful Sunday where ever you are! :)

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! :)

Spring!

  Some of my zinnias have risen...

And asters too!

 And I couldn't decide which of the following pictures I liked more. Even though they're pretty darn similar. :)

Had a wonderful weekend spending time with my family and friends. 

Got some spring cleaning done, planting (nasturtium and sweet peas), crocheting, cooking, baking, and all kinds of fun simple stuff like that. 

:)

It was such a nice weekend, I don't even mind the SNOW (?!) that is coming down outside. :) 

It will melt before too long!

Hope you've had a nice weekend!