3BT: Random Days

1. Having a BBQ party at a coworker's place. It was so much fun. I laughed until my cheeks got sore LOL!!! And it was the perfect timing for the BBQ because the weather was good (the weather went downhill the next day until now). 

2. My homemade pork satay (on the left side of the photo below) was a hit at the BBQ party. :-D Photo courtesy of my coworker HL:

3. I had a couple of guests coming today and we had fun, too. I cooked some rice, chicken panini and popped in some spring rolls and chicken nuggets in the oven and prepared some salad. It was enough for everybody (there's only a little leftover).

4. Surviving tough shifts at work this week. My body felt very sore after coming back home because of the pace and everything (summer busy weeks have started and a coworker has been sick for a while, so we're all swamped).

5. Playing hide the doll and hide-and-seek with my friend's daughter. :-D I managed to accidentally spook her once by hiding in a dark toilet ha ha...

6. The cheap huggable pillow I bought from our trip to Haparanda. It's been very useful to hug during the nights. In Finland the product will cost more than that (I was too used to sleeping with a bolster in Indo).


glitter-graphics.com
7. A coworker told me a funny story. Upon seeing me from the back at work, her 4-year-old asked her, "Mommy, mommy, is there a child working here?" ROFL ROFL ROFL...Yes, I was thought of as a child because I'm short ha ha ha ha ha ha...very funny! :-D :-D :-D

8. These words from the movie "Frozen" (yeah, we just saw it last night because we waited until the 3D disc came out): "Some people are just worth melting for." I thought it was such a brilliant line because it also showed how Olaf started to melt! :-D

9. Cheap new panties bought from Haparanda. Very comfy! :-D And hubby loves the tiny blings on them ha ha ha...

10. Coming home to hubby's homemade pizza. Yum! And I didn't even have to do a thing! :-D 

Gorgeous Weekend with Family

Last weekend was gorgeous weather. It was around 25-26'C during the day, though on Sunday there was strong wind, but it was still HOT HOT HOT. Had BBQ party at BIL's place on Saturday and we all laughed so much while the brothers and one of their cousins reminisced of the "naughty" things they did in the past - some of which MIL had had no idea about LOL!!! 

Then on Sunday we went to the woods and had fun again. I'm amazed at the amount of blueberries growing in the woods as well as the amount of blackcurrants and redcurrants growing in MIL's garden in Kelujärvi. Here are some redcurrant pics I took in Kelujärvi. 

This is the forest area, the same place where we went miniskiing some years ago. The difference between winter and summer scene is just amazing, don't you think? (click on the link to compare)

Took this pic as I was lying on the grass (well, I used a big piece of paper as a cover 'coz the grass was a bit damp) and listening to the songs in my mobile phone while watching the clouds roll by (enjoying the cool breeze in the shade). :-D Pure bliss!!!

Can you see the "face" in this pic below? 

Midsummer Eve BBQ

Yesterday wasn't actually a particularly warm day and it even showered a little near midday. We had planned a BBQ in our yard with the family. MIL came at around 4.30 pm and then R2 started to prepare the chairs and grill outside. She brought flowers for me (bless her!) and we talked for a while. Temperature was around 13-14'C at that time and it was cloudy. It got a little sunny after 5 pm, but it wasn't warm at all. The temperature only rose 1 degree at the most and it dropped to 9'C after 2.30 am.

BIL and SIL came over at around 6.30 pm, long after R2, MIL, and I had finished eating ha ha ha ha...I prepared pork satay, salad, chips, two types of ice-cream, chips, and candies and I told them to bring whatever else they wanted to bring. MIL brought some sausages. BIL and SIL brought some sausages and hamburgers. MIL got inside already at around 5.30 pm 'coz she said it got too cold for her (she's feeling a little bit under the weather - runny nose and sore throat, you see).

She's going to have another knee cap operation next week, so if you're the praying type, please pray for her as well so that everything goes well, including recovery.

Before I share some pics, here are some links to some other Midsummer posts that I've written in the past:

First Midsummer in Finland
Midsummer Night's Dream

Now here are some random pics:

The pic before the last was BIL. He said to R2, "Come on and quickly take a pic of me. It's getting hard to breathe here, you know?" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...we had fun playing cards together. Went to bed at around 4 am ha ha ha ha ha...

BBQ Time!

Finally today the sun was shining for a few hours, so we went out to try our bigger grill. Last year I bought a small baby grill, but it was tough to use to feed many people. It was good enough for the two of us, but when my Indo friends came over last summer and we had a BBQ party, it took a long time to cook the food ha ha ha ha ha...

While enjoying the food and the sun, I noticed a squirrel high up on a tree nearby. It was rather small, so at first I didn't even notice it, so I ran inside to grab my camera and managed to take a few pictures. However, soon enough it realized that I was taking pics, so it ran away. :-( I miss the brave squirrels in my in-laws' barn when they still lived in Kelujärvi 'coz they dared to be near us without running away he he...Oh well...

Here are some more old squirrel pics/videos taken in Kelujärvi: 

The Squirrel + The Reindeer

Video Clips: Squirrel and Reindeer

Squirrel Video Clips

First pic: the salad, waiting for the sausage to be done he he...

Second pic: The squirrel before it started noticing me and then ran away. Boooohoooo!!!!!

Anyway, it got cloudy after 3 pm but now it seems that it's getting sunny again. :-D I hope this week will be better than last week's rainy and cloudy weather, 'coz I have a busy week full of activities!!! :-D Have a blessed weekend, people!

Chit-Chat about Houses and Gardens

Lots of houses in Finland are furnished with rugs. How about yours? Do you like having rugs in your house? Maybe you like Oriental rugs or Persian rugs? If you do like them, I've found a page with links on how you can take care of them. Here it is: Maintaining Rugs.

Speaking of houses in general, a friend of mine is in the last state of redecorating her house. She needs to buy plenty of house paints and she's gonna get some friends' help, as well. She also has a small garden where she plants flower bulbs and flower seeds in spring. I've seen her garden pictures in summer and it looks WONDERFUL. It reminds me of my mother-in-law's garden and my own mother's garden. It's one of the best feelings in the world when you walk out of your front door and be greeted with the fragrance of the blooming bright-coloured flowers, don't you think so?

I'm looking forward to next summer when I can enjoy all the blooming flowers in my mother-in-law's garden again and pick berries in the woods. Plus maybe this summer we'll get to use the grills outside. It's been years since I last went to a barbecue party. How about you? Do you have a garden and do you barbecue a lot in your garden?

Perfect Day

Have no time today to do anything much. My darling crazy (that's a compliment as we're both crazy) husband decided to throw a surprise at me late last night. I knew we were going to enjoy barbecue at my in-laws today, but I thought it'd be done later, right after he went home from work. When we almost fell asleep (literally), he turned and said to me with an evil grin, "I should tell you something. I don't have to work tomorrow." I was STUNNED! I asked him if it meant that we were going to my in-laws in the morning. He said yes. Oh dear goodness! He said his initial intention was to surprise me in the morning, by lying down beside me when I woke up (usually he wakes up earlier than me to go to work while sleepyhead me still enjoys the dreamland). Then I stared at him in disbelief and said, "I don't know whether to poke your eyes or hug you." He laughed. Naturally I did the latter, not the former. LOL!!!

So, Dwight and Max, I'll get back to you on my promises after I get back home, OK?

And Max's tagged me back for the award, even though I'm not sure it's legal????? I was under the impression that people who had been tagged couldn't be tagged back, but inspired by Vic's post entitled Learning to Accept Praise (and Other Good Things in Life), I THANK Max for tagging me back with his kind words:

"I like the sweet and tender fashion in which she posts events of her life, her opinion about things, her deepest feelings! There's something sincere about her that makes us belive that the world is not so fake after all! You've been tagged before, however you win another award for the category "Best Leading Kindness"!"

I TRULY appreciate your words, Max. Another one of the best compliments I've ever received. :-))))

I think since yesterday it's been a perfect day for me. I want to salute the person who initiated the award, simply because it's basically sharing joys with others and thus enabling me to double my joys. MANY thanks to that person (will someone tell me who that person is and I'll link him/her here? I have no time today to search) and also again to Michelle for having tagged me (enabling me to share the award). My cup absolutely runneth over now. :-))))

Anyway, today's a SUNNY day. YAAAAYYYYYY!!! What more can a girl expect? Hmmm...Can I cheat now and just pick one blog to give an award to, now that I've been tagged back? Somebody tell me, pretty, please? He he he he...LOL!!! 'Coz I want to give the award to Michelle (Crow's Feet) as she's been inspirational, informative, and soul-beautiful in her posts (borrowing her own term "soul-beautiful" in her post In The Image of God).

OK, time to pack as we're gonna spend a night at my in-laws. Here I come, countryside, birds, flowers, sky, sunshine, lake, foooooddddd!!! Enjoy your weekend, everybody!!!

P.S. Almost forgot...just wanna share this silly fun clip to make you smile as it made me giggle yesterday. Go here: Winners.

P.P.S. OK, now I've decided to share just one Thinking Blogger Award to Crow's Feet. She doesn't need to find 5 other blogs as she's already done it in Kombai. I just want her to know that I appreciate her and she was the one who made me feel mushy-mushy first he he he...

CONGRATULATIONS on having made a difference in my life, Michelle!!! Here's your Award: