Linnea 'Ea' quilts...

... and we had no idea as to what to give as a present! So, if you happen to have: some cardboard A4 white papers invisible paper glue + superglue, poster paint and stickers (or you can découpage some pics!) 30 Moomin lollipops  You can create a GIANT birthday card with the present (the 30 lollipops) glued to the card itself. This is how mine turned out. Took about 1 h to make, as the paper glue had to dry before I could continue with the painting. Needed a larger work space, as desk was full (again) with stuff. The hallway had to do in a pinch. Okay, the cardboard's been covered with white paper, painted with red letters, and gotten some découpage pictures on it. Next, super glue the lollipops on it. I got glue (again!) on my fingers. Micke had to come and bring me the nail polish remover. Front. Back.

This weekend, they're having DBTL in Turku. That's short for "Down By The Laituri", or down by the pier. It's a music happening, and it takes place in the city centre, between the Aura-bridge and the Teatteri-bridge. Since the music played can be heard - at least a little - off the main area, people take their drinks and friends and sit around the Aura river's shores during the event. Because it's cheaper, and because there it's not off limits for under aged persons. What is the result of this? A weekend full of: Men peeing everywhere there's room, even though many public places, like the library, are open until at least 8 pm. People vomiting or passing out, because they're stupid enough not to limit themselves for just a few beers. Litter everywhere, especially glass. Every restaurant around the area is packed with people. Good luck to you if you didn't book a table in advance. Since I hate when people behave like pigs and force other...

Where to start? Randomly (because I usually don't do that)with saying that the prayers for rain and thunder has sort of worked. We'we gotten showers these last days, but they only come at night, and in the morning everything dries up again. *sigh* So it's still hot, only slightly more humid. Then, what I thought I should write about was how online privacy works when less... tactful persons write about themselves (or use social networks like e.g. Facebook) online. But now I find myself less inclined to write anything on that subject, and just write about how I've been this last week and a half. Me and Micke went to visit his family in Ostrobothnia. We stayed a week, which was both good and bad. Good because we had some time to unwind, but bad because after 2 days my back started aching (from sleeping on a bad mattress) and thus making me both cranky and sleep-deprived. Plus, we didn't do important things, mainly just ran away from spending time with Micke'...

It seems everything from TV, newspapers and friends' status updates on Facebook are all agreeing on something: It's mighty hot outside. Summer in Finland suddenly got warmer: up to 30 degrees Celsius here in the south. And even though every sun-lover is celebrating, I would guess most people find the oppresive heat annoying. If only because I've heard of folks sleeping outside on their balconies or verandas, because their homes are 35 degrees and more on the inside. But what can you do, when finnish houses are built to conserve heat inside (think: scandinavian winter!), aided by triple window panes, heat isolation in celings and walls, and of course radiator-lines under the floors. Me, I been praying for rain. And thunder, because I like the action that brings, but mainly rain. Yesterday, I got my wish, because it rained hard for less than 20 min around noon. Then, it took perhaps 30 min for everything to dry up and go back to "oppressive heat" again. *sigh...

"Be careful what you wish for, because you will most certainly get it" I seem to remember that Margaret Atwood (one of my favourite authors by the way) wrote that in the introduction in one of her books. I can't remember which one, and that's awful. my memory is usually better than this. Anyway, her point was that if you every bad thing you wish for, will most certainly happen to you. In the most horrid way possible, usually. So, today I spent 35 euros on clothes. Because a long time ago I wished I was slimmer. And then, last November, me and Micke started eating paleo. And I went from slightly plump and 60 kg, to something else and 56 kg. And now, 70 % of the clothes I own doesn't fit me anymore: they look either too baggy or make me look weird. Nearly anorectically weird. I mean, if you're used to buy clothes of a vertain size, and then suddenly isn't that size anymore... I seriously don't feel like an XS-sized girl (or 34 european size, what I g...

So, one of the reasons I also wanted to visit them for was to be able to take Mom and go browsing for antiques at the Fiskars Antiques Market (see here ). The village of Fiskars is really lovely in the summer, when everything is in full bloom and there's lots of visiting people. Mom and Dad, posing for a pic at one of the ponds with water lilies in Fiskars. Again, why do Dad look so suprised? I took a lot of pictures, mainly because photos are cheaper than buying the stuff itself. These are some of the things I saw: I have this cookbook, but a more current edition than this one (the 1st). 12 euros. Another cookbook, this time in Finnish and with recipes from the chef of Louis XV. 25 euros. Some red kitchen utensils. I loooove red kitchen utensils! Mom bought me one of the timbles for 20 euros. The 3 things above them that look like small pears are actually hollow cloisonné - beads. Mom's friend Birgitta (who we spent Midsummer with! see here ) had an ex-husband by ...

Since Micke's vacation doesn't start before the 10th of July, I took the liberty of visiting my parents back in Kyrkslätt - after me, Mom and Micke had been to Raseborg to see the summer play showing there. Mom and Dad's lovely little garden. Dad's terribly proud of it. Sorry Mom, but I couldn't resist adding this pic! She wen't to sit down, so I could take a pic of us all eating, but she sat on the side of the bench and fell down *poof* Good thing she didn't hurt anything more than her dignity. Me, little Astrid and her mother Ingrid (my cousin), posing for a pic at the Havis Amanda statue in Helsinki. Aaah, Helsinki open air market (Salutorget) Yes, it's my old room. I was going crazy from slight boredom, so I decided to put some decorations on the sun hat I got from Mom.