Midsummer Weekend

Spent Midsummer in Kelujärvi with the family. Amazed at the fast growth of the wild flowers in the field. I tried walking through the wild flower field to get closer to some birds, but found it tough to do. They reached up to my calf and some were even came higher than my knees. It was wonderful to see the different colours of flowers and different types of leaves and stalks and branches in a huge field. Have you ever tried touching the flowers and the stalks and leaves, tracing them with your fingertips in order to feel their textures? I've just recently tried doing so and I find it fascinating. It's a whole different thing compared to just admiring them by sight. The Lord is such a magnificent artist to be able to create all of them in their separate glories...my goodness what beauty!

It became even more beautiful with the lack of traffic sounds. The orchestra of the singing birds could be heard from far away without any distraction. It was such bliss to be able to sit down on the porch stairs and tilt my head backwards to watch the clouds rolling above in the sky. And when it got rainy outside, I could still enjoy watching the lovely butterflies in the field from the huge living room window. There were so many tiny fluttering wings out there that you could just not miss them! Amazing! 

It rained during the night last night and when I peeked outside before I went to bed, I was awestruck with the sight of those translucent natural pearls sitting on top of the leaves and flower petals. It made me want to sing this song. Praise the Lord for the wonders of His creation!
 

A Quickie Before Work

I'm just gonna post random pics that I haven't posted before ha ha...My mind's elsewhere this week and I bet you know where it is...OUR HOLIDAY PLANS!!! Yep, can't wait already to just go and board the plane. The other day I booked a massage for us in Bangkok. We'll see how it goes. I'm gonna report about it later on ha ha...

OK, here goes...

Flowers in front of MIL's apartment:



The ice-cream I had when the company treated us to dinner. VERY yummy!!! :-D


The pepper pork steak I had. It cost 19.50 Euros - no way I'd ever want to pay for it by myself, though it was good. :-D


Another lovely cloud formation - the photo was taken already last month in Kelujärvi.


Last photo was taken after the company dinner. Photo taken at around 11 pm. Yep, it's getting dark now during the night. Midnight Sun is over he he...


OK, now I need to get ready to work!!! Have a blessed day, people! :-D

3BT: Random Days

1. My täpläsievikki (Nemophila maculata) has finally produced flowers! YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!




2. Ice-cream on hot summer days/nights...

3. Hubby getting me the movies I'd told him I wanted. :-D THANK YOU, Bunny!!!

4. Got a tablecloth as a present from my MIL's elder sister. It matches the colour of our carpet in the kitchen!



5. Though my parents are sick, they found out about it before it got worse. And my brother and wife are there to help them ASAP if they need any help.

6. Finding a warm toilet carpet on a bargain, so I bought one for our downstairs toilet 'coz in winter the floor is SO SO SO cold.

7. Our lawn mower has arrived and R2 says that it's his job to cut the grass HA HA HA HA...And after cutting off the grass, lots of mosquitoes have run away ('coz they've lost their hiding places). YEEEEEESSS!!!!

8. Having a part-time job instead of a full-time job, so even though I sometimes get evening shifts, on other days I can still spend plenty of quality time with R2 (who has an 8-to-4 job).

3BT: Random Days

1. Fresh peaches on a hot summer day. When I lived in Indo, I had never eaten fresh peaches - just canned ones (and I LOVE those canned ones too!) But still no canned peaches can beat fresh ones! Yum yum...

2. Feeling surprised when I saw the rose bush in (almost) full bloom today...look at these lovely pics!





3. Watching droplets of rain water on the flowers' petals:




4. Finding discounted DVDs in a supermarket and now that I have some spare time, I can watch them in peace.

5. It's nice to have a part-time job instead of a full-time job 'coz then I have time to tend to my garden, to watch the above DVDs, and do many other things.

6. Hubby's initiative (can't tell you what he did, though) LOL...

7. Finding a new type of flower blooming in the garden. If anyone can tell me the name of the flower, I'd appreciate it!!! The diameter of the flower is about 3.5 cm.


8. Exercising some parts of my muscles that I didn't know existed with my Wii CD. Felt GREAT after I finished my exercise. Can't wait to do more exercise tomorrow (to help me sleep earlier 'coz gotta do a morning shift on Thursday). :-D :-D :-D

9. Both my parents are OK and enjoying life and my brother and his family are OK too.

10. Thankful that summer here isn't THAT hot - we can survive well without air-con or even a fan. All we need to do is open some windows during the day.

11. Mosquito net for the windows! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

12. Thankful that the first floor of our house is rather cold, so it's comfy to sit inside the house even on such a scorching day outside (it's even cooler than outside on such hot days).

3BT: Random Days

1. Yesterday was a hot day at around 25'C, so I had time to read the rest of the novel until the end (it was the "light" English novel I bought in Crete - which turned out not to be too light 'coz it involves women who've been abused by a certain man).

2. Feeling that time was moving SLOWLY while sitting on the swing outside and reading the novel. It's an amazing feeling!!! It was FANTASTIC that I didn't have to work yesterday. Such a BRILLIANT day to be outside in the garden! :-D



3. The sexiness of hubby while he was seriously concentrating on building a new computer table for me (he ordered a new one and they came in pieces and he had to follow the instructions to build it). My, I have GREAT taste in men! LOL!!! ;-D

4. The rain today, so I didn't have to water the plants.

5. Yesterday I planted some seeds of kang kong and chye sim sent by Blur Ting. THANKS A LOT, Ting! I hope they thrive in my care, too, just like in yours!!!

6. Meeting an ex-Finnish course classmate at work and had a small talk with her. ;-D


7. The massage oil plan went VERY well. It was FUN (and it gives such a nice smell!) and we want to use it again HO HO HO HO HO...

8. Not experiencing any back pain or weird pain after lifting heavy stuff to the shelves at work.

9. The good feeling I got after exercising with my Wii yesterday. Yeah, babbyyyy!!!

10. Stool!!! Having one stool at work (and at home) is VERY beneficial for a short person like me. :-D

11. White butterflies in our garden.

12. Nice-smelling flowers at one end of the garden - they've started to bloom!!!

3BT: Random Days

1. Hubby for having changed many cables in the house and having rearranged many things neatly and added new light switches to make my life easier. LOVE to have a thoughtful hubby.

2. First day at work went TOO fast that it was blurry - I had no time to think nor be too anxious 'coz I spent half of my working hours there to be in the cashier. Made mistakes and made the line of people wait a couple of times when I had to call my senior to get help, but at least most of the customers were patient enough to bear with me, the newbie. A few were curious enough to find out where I came from and they were really nice to me: one of them even said, "Hey, it's nice to see a new cashier! 'Coz we live nearby, we're going to meet often as this is the closest store to our place". :-D

My MIL also dropped by as promise to find out how I was doing and I met another familiar face who always smiles at me whenever we meet. They brightened up my day! :-D

3. The fast-paced working environment meant that time flew and before I knew it, I had finished my shift HA HA HA HA...

4. Seeing lots more yellow wild flowers blooming in our own yard (they hadn't popped out before)...simply GORGEOUS!!!

5. The "exercise trick" on Sunday worked 'coz I could fall asleep earlier at night to make sure I had enough rest before starting my work shift at 7 am on Monday.

6. They've added another work shift this week, so I'm gonna work every day for a few hours (at first I didn't have any shift on Wed). This is good, esp. 'coz R2's leaving to Helsinki today to do some kind of computer training and he'll only be back on Sat afternoon. That means I will have plenty of things to do while he's away - plus the more hours I get, the more money I can get HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...

7. Eating this zesty, minty rice at my friend's place. Rich of flavour!


8. Making my own Wedang Ronde and they taste SO good!!!!


9. Being surrounded by dandelions in the HUGE field in my in-laws' place. On the second half of the video, you can see the strawberry field (covered with net) and the dandelions were still asleep 'coz it was rather cloudy. I took the video from the second floor in my in-laws' place 'coz that was where we spent the night.



10. Almost killed a pot of flowers given by an aunt when I moved them to a bigger pot and added fertilizer. However, noticed that they got dried and and the flowers started to die one by one, so I changed the soil again and this time I didn't add any fertilizer and now they start blooming again bit by bit. So they just didn't like fertilizer!!! ;-D

Today's Activity

Sleepyhead me had a HARD time waking up, even though hubby had been banging the walls downstairs 'coz he's been doing a major renovation work for the cables and stuff (so he had to turn off the electricity for a while), I still managed to fall back to sleep ha ha ha ha...so when I finally woke up, the sun was shining so beautifully. I knew it wouldn't last the whole day, so I took out some of my small (plant) babies to bask in the glory that would help 'em grow. Then after having a late breakfast and watering some plants, I took some pics and read a novel on the swing. Marvelous!!!

After that I decided to wash the car - the first time I've EVER washed a car in my entire life HA HA HA HA HA HA...then I went to the supermarket to buy some stuff by bike and when I got back it was already half cloudy and it got even cloudier and cloudier as time went by. So it was a SUPERB decision to enjoy the sun while it lasted ha ha ha ha...(Side note: Actually right now when I'm typing, the sun has decided to come out again ha ha...)

Here are some pics that I took:

The reason why I was sitting on the bottom part of the swing was that I wanted to enjoy the sun on my back he he he...And then the birds came to sing me some songs, as well...mmmm...


I REALLY love the shape of this flower...


Look what greeted me on the swing while I was reading there and enjoying the sun? ;-D


Saw a dozen of this type of flowers blooming near the side of our yard...lovely tiny purple flowers! :-D


Rising uppp...I ADORE these yellow ones for some reason...


This last pic was taken a few weeks ago at my MIL's place - I put it here just to show you the shape of the above yellow flowers he he he...


OK, now gonna relax some moreeeeee...I'll blog-hop later...

Comparisons: Garden Pics

Just wanna share some garden pictures. R2's having a week off so we're gonna spend much time together. Feels GREAT to be home together for a week. Too bad then he has to go on a training in Helsinki the week when I'm starting my part-time job - but hey, at least I'll have things to do and plenty to learn while he's away. It'll be boring if I'm home ALONE all the time that week he he he...

OK...here goes...

Three weeks ago:


Today:


Ten days ago (there was only ONE TINY bud inside the whole pot):



Today:


Three weeks ago (this plant was left here by the ex-home owners, so I just watered it and got rid of the dead leaves):


Today:


Zooming in on the pink flowers:


Saw this bug flying around, so had to take a pic of it he he...It's rather big, about 3-4 cm long and wide.


And look what we picked up this morning!!! A package from Toko Indonesia!!! YIIIHHAAAA!!! Today I had warm rice, salted fish, and sambel terasi (shrimp paste chili sauce). It was HEAVENLY to enjoy a taste of my home country food he he he...

Garden Photos

Today finally the sun shone for a long while (it's about 17'C under the sun though the wind is still cold), so I took out the seeds that I had planted along with some flowers I had got as gifts - I had put them inside for the past few days 'coz it had been cold and I just didn't want them to die. One of the seeds I had planted was chives. Just yesterday I noticed a few leaves sprouting and I hope they grow well he he...

While it was sunny outside, I decided to take a few photos:

1st pic: 'Coz it had been COLD during the nights - nearing 0'C (and actually for the past two weeks prior to today), some leaves had probably thought autumn was coming, so they are already yellowish in colour.


2nd pic: When some friends came over the other day, one of them brought me some flowers called "Tähtisilmä" in Finnish. Dunno what it's called in English, though.


3rd pic: The ex home-owners left this plant in our yard. I just picked out all the dead leaves and watered it and now there are some blooms already. Anyone knows what they're called?


4th pic: A pic of me in front of the ex-home owners' child's playhouse he he he...It's gonna be taken away soon, but I just want you to know the size of it (I'm 145 cm and I can stand up straight inside it freely).


5th pic: Posing on the swing set HA HA HA HA HA...

3BT: Random Days

1. Canned lychees.

2. Strawberry kiisseli (it's some sort of soupy pudding) that MIL made.

3. Flowers blooming on a tree right behind the swing set in our yard and taking pics of the beautiful flowers:

4. Meeting friends and sitting on the above swing set with one of them while waiting for the rest to come (we had a nice time while swaying on the swing).

5. MIL taught me how to sew with her sewing machine (just a simple stitch work) 'coz I'd bought some fabric to make curtains.

6. After MIL taught me how to do it, I did the rest by myself and now I have two sets of CHEAP new curtains for the living room and bedroom.

7. Rain means that I don't have to water the plants in my garden.

8. Having spent a long time cleaning the front part of the house. It felt GREAT having so much time to be able to clean up the house properly bit by bit.

9. Listening to old songs in youtube (and singing along with them) that brought me back to the past...mmm...I LOVE searching for and finding old songs in youtube.

10. Having a loving, funny, caring, gentle, patient husband who hugs me a lot every day and who tells me he loves me at least once a day.

11. Finding out why I had been having trouble calling my parents with Skype and having a hubby who could fix the problem.

12. Talking to my Mom via Skype for over an hour with pretty good voice quality and she could hear me well again.

Planting Potatoes

Yesterday right after R2 got back home from work, we went to my in-laws and the cabin, of course he he he he...When we arrived there, my MIL needed our help to plant potatoes and two new plants. It was hard work for R2 to prepare the ground for the two new plants, 'coz the ground was filled with many rocks, so he had to dig them out. You'll see what I mean when you see the pics later he he...

First pic: the patch of land where we planted potatoes (the brown area, the covered area is for strawberry plants). It was the first time I'd ever done such a thing. R2 dug the ground, I "threw" one potato at a time, then he covered it up with some soil. MIL spread some plant food all over (not poo).


These two pics are the two new plants I mentioned. Some of the big rocks had been taken out a week ago, but some of them had to be dug out by R2.


See? So many small and medium-sized rocks he he he...One part I didn't like too much was when MIL spread some chicken poo he he he...it smelled so bad he he he he he he...but it was a fun day out in the sun, though it wasn't too hot he he...


Then summer signs are starting to show he he he he...




While R2 was fixing the car outside to prepare for our long journey, I spotted a family of hares from afar (there were 4 of them). As usual it was TOO hard to get near them as they were so alert and they'd run away if I reached a certain distance from them. I tried waiting and waiting for any one of them to come near me. I even sat on the ground and sat still, but to no avail he he he he...



However, LUCKILY while playing cards, I spotted one of them right outside the living room window and I took a few pics right away HO HO HO HO HO...SO HAPPY!!!!





We went to the cabin to spend a night there and R2 put too much firewood in the fireplace. We went to bed already at around 10.30 pm and at around midnight we woke up 'coz it felt as if we were inside a sauna ha ha ha ha ha....WAY too hot!!! We opened the door to let some cool air in (it was SO windy on Friday and Saturday in Kelujärvi - though the temp. reached 23'C yesterday, due to the harsh, cold wind, it felt as though it were only around 10'C). Anyway, it's just fun to spend time together without having to think of work he he he he...

Can't wait for our Rhodes holidayyyyyyyyyyy!!!! WHOOPPEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! :-D OK, time to blog-hop now he he...