"A
little boy... sent me a charming card with a little drawing. I loved
it. I answer all my children's letters — sometimes very hastily — but
this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a
Wild Thing on it. I wrote, "Dear Jim: I loved your card." Then I got a
letter back from his mother and she said, "Jim loved your card so much
he ate it." That to me was one of the highest compliments I've ever
received. He didn't care that it was an original drawing or anything. He
saw it, he loved it, he ate it."
I've posted pictures from Kukkolankoski before, this time my brother was visiting with his girlfriend and we made another trip to the river. Seems like it's always gray and rainy when we are there! But the river's always worth seeing, this time we were even lucky enough to see the fishermen at work in the old-fashioned way they use. We also had the most delicious pancakes at the "restaurant" at the riverside. (They mainly sell fish, but I'm not the biggest fish-eater..)
On Midsummer Eve we went to our neighbours' bonfire, (and had actually helped by providing all the wood and branches lying in our garden). Midsummer's kind of a big deal in Finland, though it's not one of my favourite holidays. There's still a lot of nice wee traditions about it that I love. I hadn't been to a good old bonfire in a few years, so that was nice! And my favourite part of Midsummer is all the old magic linked to it. I always pick seven different flowers and place them under my pillow. In your dream that night, you're supposed to see your future husband. Obviously I don't believe all this, but I love traditions. Especially this one.
I think it was last week (or two weeks ago?) when I threw off my "winter coat" and went swimming. Quite late for me, as previously I've done it in May! Once you start swimming and eating ice cream outside, it really starts to feel like summer. And we also take our summer cutlery out and have lunch out in the garden. And all the nice things! Do you have something that you have to do before it really starts to feel like summer?
I don't know if you all think it's nice to read/listen what music someone's into at the moment, at least I do. Here's a long(ish) list of some of the songs I'm loving right now! My taste in music is pretty wide, and I mean it; from classical Mozart and Chopin to electro and what not. But at times I can listen to a couple of songs for weeks, hope you hear something you like:)
1. Calvin Harris - Feel So Close: I think this is a really simple and sweet one!
2. Coldplay - Princess of China ft. Rihanna: I've heard so many people critisize this, and yeah, the video is a bit odd. Still, it's about the song and it's good!
3. Marina and the Diamonds - Power and Control: Marina's newest vid = love.
4. Paul McCartney - My Valentine: Beautiful. Macca will always be my baby.
5. Calvin Harris ft. Example - We'll Be Coming Back: Not a masterpiece I'll have to admit, but I'm still listening to this on repeat..!
6. Queen - Another one bites the dust: Refound my love for Queen last week. If someone doesn't like The Beatles, I'm pretty quick to think there's something wrong with them. The same goes for Queen!
7. Keane - Sovereign Light Café: Haven't been listening to Keane that long, but so good!
8. Marina and the Diamonds - Lies (Acoustic): This is one of my favourites from Electra Heart, and I love all her acoustic versions of the songs. Love love love.
9. Coldplay - Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall: I haven't heard all the tracks from Mylo Xyloto, but it seems to be great! This one's lovely!
10. Florence + The Machine - Spectrum: Florencing forever. Love this.
Don't think I could get a scruffier outfit together. But I like it all the same. Messy hair, and the top seam of the shirt has ripped off almost completely. The denim shorts have holes all over the place. I've tried to sew them every once in a while but it doesn't take that long until the hole is there again. The fabric is just so old and frail already. Also, the shoes are so worn out 'cause I didn't use many other shoes last summer. (Compared to the shirt&shorts, the shoes' age of 1 year isn't that much though.. I think the shorts may be 40 years old!) In the background you can see the paint peeling off our house, which is quite fitting to all the worn-outness. This'll probably be the last summer for these pieces of clothing, so they'll get as much use as I can give. The shorts are my all-time favourites! :--)
Just a quick post to tell you that I'm back home and to show you what I bought:-) Two bandeaus from Gina Tricot and a bikini top from H&M. Love the itty bitty butterfly details! I'm the weirdest gal when it comes to buying bikinis. I always find bikini tops I like, but never bottoms. I only own one pair of bottoms and only one of the tops goes with it, ha!
Hope you all have a lovely weekend planned (or not planned, being spontaneous is better!) ♥! I've been spending all my nights watching football, so good! It was terrible to miss two nights and four games. Anyone else interested in the Euros? :--)
I was asked for the recipe of this French pear cake so here it is! It's from this French cook book with the most amazing looking foods, mmm. I've made this only a few times but everyone seems to enjoy a piece. I made one for my graduation party as well:-)
You'll need:
150g butter
4dl plain flour
1tbs sugar
1 small egg
And for the filling:
4 pears
squeezed lemon juice
250g almond paste
2 small eggs
golden syrup
1. Mix the butter, flour and sugar together. Add the egg and mix quickly. If necessary, add 1tbs of water to make a dough. Place in the fridge in a plastic bag for at least an hour. (The book says you can keep it in the fridge for several days if you like so, but I'd advice it's best to take it out after the hour. It's easier to work with!)
2. Roll the dough out quite thin and line a pie plate with it. Prick the bottom with a fork.
3. (I've used tinned pears, but fresh ones are always better! The cake tastes just fine with tinned ones, though.) Skin the pears and cut them into half. Cut slits on the pears lengthwise and place them as "a star" on the dough. Squeeze some lemon juice on them, so they won't lose their colour.
4. Beat up the eggs and grease the cake's edges. Then mix the rest of the eggs with the almond paste. (I've used less almond paste than in the recipe, ~200g. Also, I find it easier if you microwave the paste lightly before mixing with the eggs!) Put the mixture around the pears in knobs. Bake in the middle of the oven (175C) for ~40min. Smear some syrup over the pears once you take the cake out of the oven.
Hope you'll try the recipe and fancy this little cake♥!
P.S. I'm away to Turku again this evening, so I'll see you in a couple of days!
So, finally, graduation pictures! A friend of mine was taking pictures which is really lucky as otherwise I don't think we would have that many.. These are a few of my favourites, though it was hard to find pictures without people's faces. (I never want to ask if someone doesn't fancy getting their picture on the internet..) I still need to find a good picture to be my 'thank you' card and get that sorted. After that it'll all be over:-)
I finished my dress just a day or two before the graduation and was rather frustrated by it. I didn't quite feel like it turned out as I wanted to and was ready to go and buy the first dress that came my way. It's a tad too wide for me (which I think doesn't show that much?) and in the end I didn't have the time to adjust it more. However, I'm glad I finished this one, and it doesn't look that bad. Nobody will know what I meant it to look like, so it's all good! And a self-made dress is always better than a bought one, I feel. On another note, isn't mama's national costume lovely? I really like the traditional look of these Finnish dresses and wish I had one too!
