Day 78.

Monday means always quite of bit of things to do around the house, because we take things easy during the weekends. So laundry and dishes, groceries, bills....a bit of everything. And a good moment of reading, too, on the sofa next to a sleeping cat, under a blanket, because it's freezing cold (well it's not really freezing, but a little on the chilly side).
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Maanantaisin on yleensä kaikenlaista pientä kotihommaa, koska viikonloppuna laiskotellaan :) Pyykkiä, tiskiä, laskujen maksamista, kaupassakäyntiä.... mutta onneksi oli myös aikaa lukea nukkuvan kissan vieressä, peiton alla, koska on muka kylmä. Ainakin on pimeää!

Day 77.

Scary....

Stairs at the end of our building that take you....nowhere?

Cold mornings call for a hot breakfast and enough sugar to sweeten the lingonberries.

Not much going on here on a Sunday. DD had practise and I spent an hour sorting out stuff for a raffle. Had bad coffee and chatted with other skaters' parents. Made cabbage stew, which I don't eat but the rest of the family loves. Good for them. Found a skate shaped cookie cutter online! And lots of other baking stuff as well, had to stop looking....

Days 75 & 76.

Yesterday I had coffee with a friend, wandered around the grocery store looking for new ideas (did not get any, so bought salmon), saw DD off to a party and waited for her to arrive at 8:15 pm in the complete utter darkness, watched TV with DH and had a glass of wine.


Today, DD's party mood continues with a friend's bday party, now she's doing extra practise to burn off yesterday's calories and to get ready for the forthcoming competitions. I need to hoover around the house and hope DH relocates at least one of the now four bicycles downstairs.

Day 74.

I'm fascinated with the idea of living a minimalist life -- anyone who has been to our house, feel free to laugh now. I said fascinated with the idea, not living :) I've been decluttering during the past year, but with the amounts of stuff we have, it is really not showing. Plus we are not organised at all. But if you want to have a good reading, go to this site, or google up some of the others that deal with the topic.

And to make sure we don't run out of things, I'm making this bed spread for DD.

Day 73.

The better part of the day was spent writing a report which is due tomorrow. I thought I was on a sabbatical?! Naw, this one is for fun, so it was ok! Also drank endless cups of tea and thought about making cookies. Did not, however. Tomorrow is the horrible get up at 5:30 am day of the week, so better get everything ready.

Day 72.

Aksu saw something...

a little squirrel. Right on our backyard.

Whoever thought about putting rice porridge on top of bread deserves a medal!

A great day; a bit of house work, a bit of writing, a movie in the afternoon (a really weird experience to go to the movies during the day!), and finally a cookery class where I learnt to make sauce bearnaise! More days like this, please!!

Day 71.

Busy Monday; hairdresser's appointment first thing in the morning, then off to visit a gorgeous little baby boy and his lovely mom. Cannot get over the fact how small babies are, and cannot remember DD ever being that small, although there are photos that prove she was not born a 10-year-old Ms Drama Princess. In the afternoon, the usual laundry, dinner, help DD study for the two tests she has this week...All in all, a good start for a busy week. Oh, and there was sunshine, too!!

Day 70.

Last night we watched a really really good Swedish movie, Svinalängorna (Sovinto in Finnish) about a mother and a daughter, abuse and alcoholism in a Finnish family in Sweden in the 1970s. Good stuff, cried a lot towards the end.

Today, less drama: laundry, reading the Sunday paper that I got from a next door neighbour, eating a little candy and drinking endless cups of tea. And I made a really nice salmon soup! No photos today.

Day 69.

Opening of the cheese fondue season. Delicious. The little cat discovered the joy of watching telly....bad choice of programme though, with a horse show...

Day 68.

A great start at a Friday; house hoovered by 8:15 am, coffee had with a friend by 10 am, laundry done by 11 am. After that a downhill; barely made it to town by 5 pm to take DD for a massage. Got a runny nose and a sore throat, must be all the sea air in Helsinki and Pori.

Days 64 to 67.

one cat looking out the window

checking out my breakfast

one rather large cat enjoying life

Took DD to visit her auntie on the West coast. She happily spent her days carrying cats around and took a yoga class. We also ate amazing cakes. Tomorrow it's back to reality, as the house has not managed to turn into a self-cleaning one, plenty of cat hair has accumulated over the past few days.

Käytiin likan kanssa tätilässä. Semmoista sanaa tuskin on. Likka kanteli kissoha ja kävi joogassa. Syötiin kakkuja. Huomenna pitänee imuroida, koska kissakarvapallot eivät ole juosseet itse roskiin. Voi voi. Mutta mukavaa oli lomailla. Vaikka on se Pori kaukana!

Away from the computer.

Taking a short trip with DD. Back to report during the week if computer access becomes available. If not, back online later.

Days 62 and 63.

Yesterday we drove to Helsinki, went to Ikea, had dinner at Iguana and took the 3T to the Old Ice Hall to see  Hurts. Gotta love a good show with tons of drama!

Illuminated.

Today, we made our way back, while DD went to her first competition this season. She reported that she fell once, because there was a hole or similar in the ice but otherwise she sounded happy. No results available yet.

Day 61.

Five (5) loads of laundry, two toilets cleaned, clean sheets to beds, packed own stuff for a short trip to Helsinki, packed DD's stuff for competition on Sunday (still to pack her skates etc because she has practise in the morning), shopped for snacks for her to take along, had coffee with a friend and cooked lovely salmon sauce for dinner, with mashed potatoes. Not a bad Friday!

I'm leaving for Helsinki in the morning, so day 62 may go unreported, I'm not sure I want to blog on my mobile...

Day 60.

Day of delivering Tupperware and making angry phone calls to the builders, who managed to use a pressure washer and get all the dirt inside our shower room via the window.

Planning a small trip next week!

Day 59.

Had a brilliant evening with a bunch of colleagues and fellow Marttas. Lots of laughs, good cake, coffee gone a little wrong.... forgot to take pictures!! Oh well.... on the homefront, DD went to a friend's bday party at the bowling place and drank two cups of soda -- with sugar. No major drama took place after the  post-sugar rush state.
 

Day 58.

Treasures. Rain. Preps for a workshop we're doing tomorrow. Must bake first thing in the morning, tough life.

Day 57.

I love libraries, big and small,  old and new. I love them especially just when they open up or when they are about to close their doors for the day, because that's when you see the most interesting people: the ones who want to be there as early as possible or rush in at the very last minute. Did I mention that I love watching people?

I also love books, not just libraries. And I love my cup of coffee. When you combine the two, you get the best moment of my day, an hour or so of reading. Possibly with cats sleeping next to me. Today, the builders are still interrupting my hour of quiet, but this is hopefully the last week.

Downstairs, the washing machine doing its business. Mt Laundry is getting conquered. Some dust bunnies are waiting to be chased down, but I think I will pick up my book for a little while longer.

Day 56.

Took out the Singer again. Watched cats sleep.Walked through the fish market area, without ever seeing any fresh fish whatsoever. Oh, and watched an excellent movie: Precious.

Day 55.

Early morning at the ice hall -- in full competition gear! Luckily DD's hair was very co-operative at 6 am.
Sunny, chilly day, two little naps, coffee with a friend, nice dinner with family. DD crashed at 8:30 pm claiming it was too early. Yeah right.

Day 54.

Christmas season has started! The first toy catalogue came in the mail yesterday and 

DD, who reads them all and marks what she "could" have, was delighted.

Having cake for lunch.... 

Recovering from yesterday.  Washing DD's tights and preparing everything for her dress rehearsal tomorrow; the show must go on, and even if Sleeping Beauty is over, competition season begins!

If you want to catch a glimpse of yesterday's ice show, click here. 

Day 53.

Sleeping Beauty. All day long. More tomorrow. // Prinsessa Ruusunen. Koko päivän. Huomenna lisää.

Day 52.

Baked a cake. Sold tickets to the ice show. Sent DH off to the ice hall to help with setting up the scenery. Trying to get DD to bed at a decent hour, like right now. Need sleep myself. Tempted to wear a tiara tomorrow, just to make the little kids laugh.

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Leivoin kakun. Myin lippuja. Pistin isännän talkoisiin pystyttämään lavasteita. Koitan suostutella pennun nukkumaan, niinkun just nyt. Pakko kohta pötkähtää itsekin. Jos pistäisi huomenna päähänsä tiaran, niin ois ainakin lapsilla kivaa.

Day 51.

DD continues to love pink. Aksu has found a new spot for his naps. // Likka jaksaa tykätä pinkistä. Aksu otti tuolin omaan käyttöön.

Tomorrow will be full of last minute preparations and check lists. And baking. Oh dear...

Day 50.

I organised the storage room at the ice hall and crocheted a flower. // Järjestin jäähallin varaston ja virkkasin kukan.

Well I also went shoppping for  juice boxes and chocolate bars, did three loads of laundry, vacuumed in the kitchen and living room, had coffee with a friend and finished reading a book. The book, btw, was not really to my liking, but if I start a book I usually finish it, too.  // No joo ja lisäksi shoppasin pillimehuja ja suklaapatukoita, pesin kolme koneellista pyykkiä, imuroin, join kahvia ystävän kanssa ja sain vihdoin yhden kirjan luettua, se ei ollut kovin hyvä, mutta keskenkään ei voi jättää.

Day 49.

A good breakfast was needed for a busy day and a nice coffee break on the balcony, too. Next week will be mad with the final preps for the big ice show on Thursday.
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Aamiainen pitää tiellä ja iltakahvi hyvällä tuulella. Tulossa hullu viikko jääsatuun valmistautuessa.

Day 48.

I baked bread. DH made a shelf. Very productive of us. / Mie leivoin leivän. Isäntä teki hyllyn. Hyvinniin tuotteliasta.