Day 318.

Watched Criminal Minds, finished season 7. In an attempt to be a perfect housewife, pulled out stuff from the freezer and presented DH a dinner of salmon and potatoe cassarole and rhubarb pie. Started a new batch of cider.

Day 317.

Watched Criminal Minds, took the cat out, chatted with a little Russian girl who was looking for DD, pushed the hoover around, and crafted. Hurrah! When DH gets home, we will start bottling home made cider!

Day 316.

Coffee with a friend in the morning and off to do some serious shopping. I've been wearing the same pair of jeans pretty much every day for the past year and as much as I love them and as much as I have spent time patching them up, they will not make it to work in August. There are two shops I trust here and the first one sold me two pairs of trousers, a top and a blouse -- all in the always in season black!

In the meanwhile, the German agent has been doing some shopping, too. She called me at noon asking for permission to get a pair of shoes. With heels. Permission granted. Then in the evening she called to say good night and reported her shopping: two t-shirts, a pair of canvas shoes (no heels), two little soft toys. She sounded exhausted :)

Day 315.

The house is very quiet. DD is in Germany and DH at work, the cats are fast asleep. Watched 127 Hours, had coffee at Jokiasema and read a little. Tomorrow should go shoe shopping....not liking that idea at all.

Days 311-314.

There has been rain and sunshine, lots of laundry, ironing, cooking sausages over open fire, making pizza, watching football, reading books watching bad movies etc. going on over the past few days. About half an hour ago, we waved DD bye for now, as she took off for her German adventure. I have never seen so many tank tops in one suitcase!

Day 310.

DD and I went to town  to get some socks and toothpaste for her, as she is taking off for her German expedition on Sunday. She also practised dragging a suitcase along. In the afternoon, I took a lovely nap and DD spent time with a friend. Baby potatoes for dinner -- summer food at its best. Oh and it rained.

Day 309.

It rained again and again. Went to the hairdresser's,  DD had practise, I took a nap, we baked, DH watched some football and the cats slept. Had some great news from Germany.

Day 308.

Rain, rain and more rain. Some thunder and finally in the evening at 8 pm -- sunshine. DD was so bored during the day she opened her own drink bar :)

Day 307.

Rain and more rain. A small bicycle ride in town, coffee at Jokiasema and finally, after a superlong break due to lack of inspiration -- crafty things! And water melon! Happy!

Day 306.

Waiting for a thunder storm. Headachy day. DD went to the movies and DH went to grill some sausages with friends. I'm doing a bit of this and that, and waiting for a proper thunder storm to clear my head. Pls!

Days 302-305.

Too busy to sit down and blog?! The past few days have included cleaning the house, doing laundry, baking a fun retro cake, having lovely ladies over for a tupperware party, going to town with DD, taking her to practise at 7 am and for breakfast at Jokiasema at 9 am, collecting plants for her herbarium, football on telly, Criminal Minds online, taking the cat out for walks and naps, napping on the sofa with the cat....Also the reality that DD will be taking off to Germany after Midsummer and that I will not see her for almost two weeks is getting to me. As much as we argue and shout, we also have tons of fun.

Day 301.

Sunshine, kid outside all day, football on telly, me online. Nothing much going on but some things cooking up like DD's travel to Germany.

Day 300.

A rainy Sunday. DD went back to the fair and brought back 1075 grams of candy. And pens and samples of various products. The last day of the fair is always good fun as the people working on the stands are getting just a little tired and want to get rid of their stuff :)

Day 299.

Today -- the New Valamo Monastery. Amazinly pretty, peaceful, friendly, interesting place -- even for a non-believer like me. We had a guided tour, had lovely lunch, walked about, talked with a novice monk, and bought candy for DD.

DD had her choir performace at Karjalan Messut today. According to DD, they sang ok, the teacher was happy, and they got good feedback from a panel. Afterwards, they got lunch and a free ticket, so DD hoarded as much freebies as possible. See below, the hoard minus a handful or so of candy :)

Day 298.

A lovely sunny morning! Had coffee with one friend at 8 am and another one at 9:15 am. Got rhubarb which turned into a lovely pie. Did tons of laundry. Cleaned after Aksu the Cat who had a little accident (crap stuck in fur). Laughed with DD. Talked with MIL on the phone. Watched telly. Loved today!

Day 297.

Went to the Science Park for coffee and chatting, and it felt good to leave when the others returned to business. Did bits and pieces at home and almost missed the figure skating club's annual meeting. A lot of excitement for the coming season as Joensuun Kataja will host the Finnish Championships in figureskating and ice dancing! DD had choir and went to town afterwards -- and purchased something that caused a bit of a disagreement at home (a tube top of all things).

Day 296.

Well if nothing much happened yesterday, today was action packed! Cleaned the balcony first thing in the morning -- and had a lovely cup of coffee there afterwards. In the evening, a staff dinner with sooo many old and new friends and colleagues, I lost count! Also, since I mainly have seen 1 person at a time, seeing a sea of people was a little overwhelming!

Day 295.

A somewhat meaningless day. DD got back to her regular self, went for a choir practise and for a run. I must have done something, but seem to recall only going to the lab to have some blood drawn. Hoping that the silly iron supplements are working.

Day 294.

photo from jns.fi webcam

So DD ran a high fever throughout the night and spent some quality time with the red bucket next to her. She is feeling a lot better now, a little weak, mainly because she is afraid to eat. She did have a craving for a tuna sandwich and ate two of them. No nasty comebacks yet. It's raining.

We are tired and bored. Not the best of days and definately not the best way to start DD's summer holidays. Can only get better! I did mean to clean the windows today, I really did. But instead I've read a book, taken a nap, had coffee and done three loads of laundry. So not a complete waste of day.

Days 292-293.

School's out for summer! DD brought home an excellent report card and a friend, who stayed overnight. As it turned out, DD, who normally spends 5-8 hours of her Saturdays outdoors, has a limited supply of candy to consume and must eat two regular meals, could not quite handle a day of pizza, candy and different forms of electronic entertainment. She has a hangover. She was supposed to go to practise at 2 pm, but just managed to throw up, which did make her feel better, but doomed her to stay home. Her friend, on the other hand, is fine. Which is great. I could not handle two sick little girls. It seems to be another rainy day, so I will make some tea and enjoy my regular round of blogs. Happy Sunday!

Day 291.

June!! Blimey! Took DD shopping and for lunch (Viatnamese at the market square) before school. They went in at 3 pm, got fed, said bye to the sixth graders and marched off to the traditional opening of the summer season. There is something to be said for 6000 kids singing!