Saturday 31 March 2012

April Fools

April Fools, wasn't really:). It was my first "free" weekend since, don't even know? Maybe August 2011?

I was eagerly waiting for them little witches (or "Trulli"es) who appear a week before Easter.

The following pic is from Wikipedia by Annelis (2008), just to point out what I was expecting, ha. The strange Finnish Easter tradition is something I've tried to explain to several of my international friends over the years:)
Basically, kids, usually under 12(-ish), dress up in witch costumes, boys and girls. In bright, colourful dresses, scarves and painted freckles. Luckiest kid is one with a huge vintage copper coffee pot (for candy), he. Although the tradition has changes a little during the recent years and all sorts of (Halloween- type of) costumes have started to appear.

The witches have prepared pussy willow branches decorated with colourful feathers and other beautiful hand made embellishments. The branches are exchanged to candy, preferably chocolate eggs or small change, if the kids are older, while casting a poem of good will and health.

We had purchased these huge chocolate bunnies for two of our favourite kids around the neighbourhood, Venla (whose dog was introduced HERE), and Teemu, who lives in the house behind the fence, and especially loves our other Afghan Hound, Halla. But nope, sob:( Venla is on 5th grade and might find herself bit too old to go "Trulling".:(

We only had two girls that showed up, and they only gave one sad branch, hah.
So we have a huge bowl of all sorts of chocolate goodies unclaimed:(
Although there would be eager takers;)
Halla, Afghan Hound, 2.5 years old.
Grey fur on the background belongs to Björn Fågelsson.

AND last, but not least... NEW! seedlings greeted me this morning, wee!
Pot Marigold (kehäkukka) as pictured,
+ Pride of Barbados and Lupine:) Hurrah
Welcome April!

Friday 30 March 2012

Dirty Hands - Happy Heart

Dirty Hands = Happy Heart:)
I've been soiling my hands in compost pretty much the whole day:) I'm preparing for the spring and summer season, which finally means a total refurb of the garden (I hope!) Here are some of the pretties I've been playing with:)

Liatris Spicata / Dense Blazing Star / Prairie Gay Feather's
(Punatähkä in Finnish)
funny looking tuber
(apologies for the nasty looking dirt soiled fingers)
My first seedlings, wee! I've been watering my seeds every two days and on the sixth day, this sight was greeting me (today), yei!:)

This is Baby's Breath (Kesäharso / Morsiusharso)
which is a beautiful and delicate plant commonly used as a dried flower. When I was a kid, I remember being fascinated by my mum's wedding bouquet that I found dried and stored away:)
Hence the name in Finnish - "bride's veil"
Flax or Linseed Flower(?)
Kuitupellava / Pellavankukka
This is a pathetic excuse of a photograph, but I had to share my total of three successful seedlings so far! (Out of 23) Ha!
This one is called Flowering Cabbage (Osaka Pink) / Flowering Kale
(Lehtikaali)
I also received my order from Premier Seeds Direct (UK) today.:)
Which meant I had to stock up with my miniature "greenhouses"
from 2 to 5, which equals 96 pots to 240.

I might be tad bonkers with my efforts of growing nearly everything from seeds, but honestly I'm just excitedly waiting what sort of seedling comes from which:)
Here's some of my "loot":)

I was bit sceptic about Artichokes (Latva-artisokka), but I read somewhere that they are supposed to be surprisingly easy to grow, so here we are:)
Ah, Rhubarb! (Raparperi)
I had always thought rhubarbs were supposed to be grown from rhizomes (which I've been after for three summers!), but when I saw these seeds I jumped for the opportunity to have a go:) Even the seeds look really nice:) Fingers crossed they'll grow, I so want to have some home made rhubarb pie, YUM! <3
2nd test go for Halloween Pumpkins (Jättikurpitsa)
HERE's my desperate race against autumn on summer no. 1 in Vihti
So, I indeed bought these "covered" seed trays, 48 slots each from S-Rauta, which is a Finnish hardware + gardening chain.

I've previously used the regular uncovered ones, but I thought the covered trays would be so much nicer and tidier with the furry little helpers and would protect the seeds, the very interesting and exciting wet compost and eventually, the yummy seedlings.

I was so wrong, ha. Some of my sowings have already lost their labels and some dirt has mysteriously disappeared. Check out my dented covers now, ha! I see paw prints!;)
Well, the covers weren't so great to start with. They didn't sit nicely or "lock" neatly as I had imagined. They do the trick of recycling some of the humidity and warmth, but that's about it.
Quality Controller, Varpu Varpunen
(she's been good, no paw prints as of yet)
Found some beautiful plant pot covers / tin buckets in turquoise:)
And I found a very excellent looking gardening book about perennials
"Perennat Kotipuutarhassa" (Prisma, 29e)
by Eva Robild and Görgen Persson (Otava, 2012)

The book, which is a originally Swedish (Perenna Rabatter), has a beautiful visual outlook, and for a beginner like me, easy to understand perennial "maps" and all sorts of very handy tips. I just literally got it, so I haven't had a chance to read it as of yet, so I do apologise that I can't really give you proper "in-depth" book review, but so far it looks the best gardening / flower book I've ever laid my hands on:)

I love traditional English gardening books, but the info isn't always suitable for Finnish soil, so I'm excited to find an inspirational book that seems to cover all the, even tiniest, details that have puzzled my mind, and are indeed suitable for my garden.

I especially love how they've shown the progress of a perennial from year one to year five. It might sound silly, but I bet there's lots of over excited people out there, like me, who have all these over the top ideas and might get disappointed and discouraged when the first year's perennial is just a muddy pile of compost. I mean , I know that, and I'm supposed to be prepared, but even saying this out loud, I know I will be gutted if I don't see any proper(?) development, heh:)
Do you have any big plans for summer 2012 in gardening- wise?:)
Have a lovely weekend and buckets full of sunshine:)
x x x

Thursday 29 March 2012

Vihdin Kevätsiivous - koko kylä kirppikseksi

Helsingissä 12.5. järjestettävä Siivouspäivä laajenee myös Vihtiin!

Kevätsiivous muuttaa Vihdin Kirkonkylän Kinon aukion (vanhan R-kioskin edessä) kirpputoriksi ja markkinoiksi, jolloin kuka tahansa saa tuoda ylimääräiset tavaransa kadulle annettavaksi tai myytäväksi.

Ei paikkamaksuja! Laitetaan siis tunnelma korkealle, hinnat matalalle,
ja tehdään tästä yhdessä hauska kevätpäivä.
Tervetuloa myymään tai kevätkävelylle kirkonkylälle!
Kirppisaika la 12.5. klo 10-14.
© Wihtori

Facebook- tapahtuma täällä

Sekä Funky Homo sapiens- Boutique auki koko tapahtuman ajan
10- 16:00. Kantotie 16, 03400 Vihti
Tarjolla mm. virvokkeita, lämpimästi tervetuloa:)
x x x

Thursday 22 March 2012

Lykky vol.2

Hihii, here you are!
More wonderful pics of Lykky, the smooth coated Portuguese Podengo Medio,
with his other brand new Funky Homo sapiens Vegan collar,
and a matching hand made tassel, also 100% vegan (suede):)
Made with love in Finland

He is so incredibly cuddly!
Photies © Tia Pesonen, thanks ton! x x x

Thursday 15 March 2012

Lykky

Meet Caramelon Talking To Me,
or Lykky as he is known at home :)
A 1 year old smooth coated Portuguese Podengo Medio
with his brand new custom made Funky Homo sapiens Vegan Hound collar:)

Isn't he the cutest?:)
Photies © Tia Pesonen, thank you ever so much
Once again, I'm in total awe how sweet, ever so wonderful, kind and encouraging people I have been honoured to work with. Tia is a person found one in a million, a true sweetheart, heart literally filled with gold. I've been so lucky to have crossed my path with so many (within that million, he) that it brings a tear to my eye just thinking about how blessed I've been!

Thank you so much Tia and all them loveliest people- you know who you are! Thanks a ton for making my life and work so much more enjoyable. I'm so honoured, so honoured, that I can even express myself properly! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

YOU ROCK MY WORLD!
x x x

Thursday 8 March 2012

Kittens & krafts

We've had a bit of a health scare in the family, so past couple of
weeks have been ever so tiring and stressful:(
I never had a chance to have even a day off on my scheduled holiday week:(

BUT at least the sun is shining, weee!
I closed the Boutique for March as the front yard is a dead slippery zone (web-boutique is open as normal!). Boutique will have it's 1 year Birthday in 8th of April , so hoping to re-open then, if not earlier:)

Anyhoos; a strange post with a variety of pics from here and there from past couple of weeks:

Funky Homo sapiens Funky Bambies in "Shabby Chic"
Varpu Varpunen
Anna-Stiina's fairy from last weekend's Stained Glass 2 weekend course
I started a piece for my dad's birthday, heh. The deadline is 25th of March.
The piece measures approx.40cm x 40cm.

The pattern features some Magnolia leaves and two birds sitting on a branch. I changes the Magnolia colours from pink to blue, to make it more "masculine", ha. The piece is designed for my parent's sauna window for privacy purposes
Björn Fågelsson
Hi5!
Some gorgeous Silver Art Clay leaves from Vihdin Kivikoruharrastajat
Open Doors event. The piece is made by Maila.
Miss Moon aka Myy, 5.5 years old
Born in South Norwood, London
Lives in Männikkö, Vihti, Finland
And a Funky Homo sapiens 100% Vegan Collar featuring a camouflage
deer and some lovely little pom poms:)
Will be available at the web boutique at some point:)
Measuring 31cm x 6cm
Buckets full of Sunshine everyone!
x x x
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