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...

Cabin Trip Easter 2012

After work on Thursday we went to the cabin. The day started off sunny but then it got cloudy during the afternoon. We arrived at the cabin at around 4 pm and this time we had no trouble walking on thick snow 'coz it had condensed in many parts and became harder (compare it with Cabin Trip Feb 2012). There were tracks of cross-country skis in many places.  

I forgot to note the temperature that day, but it was probably around 3'C under the sun and closer to 0'C after it got cloudy.

Here are some cloud pics...I LOVE taking pics of different cloud formations ha ha... 

This is what the view on the frozen lake when we had just arrived there...

 

Zooming in on the above pic...

Then the dark clouds shifted and here was what it looked like...

Another view of the lovely clouds...

After taking those pics, we tried clearing the path towards the lake before we could get some water for sauna (not drinking water). Then R2 had to get some water, so again he had to do hard work to make a hole in the thick ice. At around 6 pm the sky got so dark again and snowstorm came. It probably lasted for about half an hour or an hour at most, then we enjoyed a very nice view of sunset at around 8 pm (click to view it in a bigger version).

After the sun went down, the sky was filled with stars!!! And a full moon! :-D

At around 5 am I woke up to pee in the outdoor toilet and I saw the HUGEST orange moon ever (I took a short video clip of it but I haven't converted it yet). The orange moon was dangling so low in the sky as it was about to set. I've never seen the moon that low and that huge and that orange before...just amazing!!! I tried taking pics of it but it didn't turn out great (it only looked yellow and it looked small). But anyway, this is a very lame pic of the setting moon...

I'm telling ya that the real deal was more orange than that. I just wish you could all see it for yourself...but anyway...here is why we had to clear up the path before we could get some water. Pic taken when we were on the way back to the car...

Yep, the sun was shining SO brightly on Friday and it was so warm. :-D Here's one other random pic I took when I was there...

OK, now I still have plenty of things to do...wishing you Happy Easter and for those who don't celebrate it...then hope you've all enjoyed a longer weekend! :-D :-D :-D

5th Wedding Anniversary Cabin Trip

The cabin trip was done earlier than this weekend 'coz R2 could take some time off from work due to the accumulated overtime he'd done. So he picked me up after work on Thursday already and we left to the cabin. It was such a foggy day that day. I had hoped for snow, but there was none yet. It did snow very very lightly during the eve, but not enough to cover the ground near the cabin area.

Last year we had an early anniversary cabin trip on the last weekend in October and look at how much snow there was already at that time.


So this time due to the foggy cloudy weather, I didn't even take pictures of the surrounding cabin area except for two pics, which I'll show later.

Anyhow, it was still a very lovely cabin trip no matter what. We had sauna, we had great food, we enjoyed being together...and this time I took an accidental "ghost" photo of myself hi hi hi...take a look! I REALLY love this pic 'coz in my eye, it looks romantic, though some people have stated in FB that it looks scary HA HA HA HA HA HA...


I was playing with the aperture setting on my camera and accidentally "removed" myself too fast from that position, so I appeared that way hi hi...After that, we had fun trying to take other "ghost" pictures ha ha ha...for example, here's one where R2 became a ghost:


I also took one photo where it seemed I was going to strangle R2, but I dare not upload it here in case my blog readers get too shocked. Let it just rest as a fun experimental photo in my HD HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

After that, the next morning I tried lighting up the fire in the fireplace on my own (R2 was still too sleepy to do so). Mind you that when we arrived at the cabin, the outside temperature was -1'C and the temperature inside the cabin was 3'C. We managed to get the temperature up to 20'C during the night, but after we got to bed the temperature went down, so in the morning I had to make fire again so that I could make coffee for us.

Here's a pic of the fireplace and I took a pic when R2 was preparing some burgers for us (while the fire is burning, we can put a kettle on top of the stove to boil some water to make instant coffee 'coz there's no electricity there so we can only make instant coffee):


Before leaving the cabin, I took these two pics below: the car windshield and a view of outside from inside the car (with the frosty windshield). Very bleak, eh? But my mood was at least so romantic and relaxed ha ha...




After the cabin trip, we bought a cake from a supermarket and visited my MIL. And now we're enjoying a LOOOONNNGGG weekend together. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! Wish you all a blessed, fun-filled weekend as well! :-D

3BT: July 1, 2007

1. Cooking together. We're making our own burger steak from mince meat. They're now in the oven. YUM YUM!!! Can't wait to eat 'em.

2. Having an understanding hubby. I'm such a sleepyhead and I've almost always woken up later than him. *grin*

3. Even though it's been cloudy again, the flowers are still waving hello to me joyfully. Purple, red, pink, yellow, white...I feel GOOD, babbbyyyyyy!!! *wink* I ain't gonna let the clouds dampen my mood he he he...I ain't gonna deny my feelings, but I ain't gonna let them conquer or dictate my day. YYYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!! God, THANK YOU for my breath this daaayyyyy...another day to show my smile and joy and love...