project 365: week seventeen

 113: I thought I was starting the week well with some ice cream, only remembering I'm supposed to be glutenfree half-way through this tub. This brownie one was the only lactose-free ice cream of this size (i.e. not a huge tub and not a single ice lolly) at my usual supermarket, so I'll have to start going someplace else for all my ice cream needs!

porto: antiga, mui nobre, sempre leal e invicta

 One of the cities in Portugal I'd like to go back to and explore more of is Porto. All the red roofs (I'd call that orange but every Portuguese person I've met insists the roofs are red), the river, old buildings and walls, little alleyways and the atmosphere make for such a charming place. And I also like the city's motto Antiga, Mui Nobre, Sempre Leal e Invicta (Old, Most Noble, Always Loyal and Undefeated) - I like it when places have mottos in general! Porto really is quite cute.

managing (chronic) pain

Tomorrow's my 11-year-anniversary with my chronic headache, so what could be more appropriate than another little post on chronic pain? An alternative title for this post I had is "managing pain and how I fail at it" because like any human bean, I have periods of time when I don't do well with the things I know I should be doing, others when I'm managing much better and sometimes I don't even know what I should be doing to feel okay. And, honestly, I'm currently living through a larger patch of having struggles. So, even though when I began writing this it was with informing and helping others in mind, maybe I'm really trying to help myself along the way, too.

project 365: week sixteen

 106: Starting the week excitingly with a laundry day. My Moomin bag is cute, though!

 107: I'm still knitting the same thing, but almost done with this and thinking about new projects to start.

 108: A tiny view.

 109: I'm trying to go outside more often. As most of my time is spent inside either doing research or avoiding doing research, and I don't have anything regular I need to get out of the house for, often I don't. So I'm trying to make an effort to go outside every day, even if it's just walking around the block. I sound like such an old lady! But I am enjoying seeing all the doggos on my walks.

 110: I had a dentist appointment in the morning which, again, was an irregularity in my monotonous life. Getting up to be in town for 8am isn't something I've had to do for so long and it felt like such an accomplishment to have everything done before noon. It also reminded me of how much I like mornings and that I should start getting up earlier again.

 111: The weather was quite pretty last week. And obviously on a warm and sunny Saturday I decided to spend the day inside cleaning. Haha!

112: A delightfully boring Sunday of ugly cheese (and tomato) on toast and listening to podcasts. I've been listening to Modern Love lately. It's different from my usual true crime based podcasts but I've been enjoying it.

What did you do last week?

helsinki bits

Here's just some more little pictures from when I was in Helsinki with my mum. And I have plans to go back next week as well, so if I get up to anything exciting I might post some more Helsinki things!

maximalism

When in Helsinki, I made a brief visit to the Sinebrychoff Art Museum - a museum I hadn't actually heard of before but ended up thoroughly enjoying. I love discovering new (and pretty) places, and this one was definitely worth experiencing. Although, it may have left me longing for a life I may possibly never be able to live!

project 365: week fifteen

 099: Living that boring life.

second hand flowers and spring

 Since there's virtually no spring flowers yet, I'm wearing tiny flowers of my own - in the form of this jumper. Which I would've really liked anyway, but obviously like more knowing that it was a second hand shop find for a couple of Euros. I love second hand shops. 

two mumin kaffe moments

 If you didn't know it already, I love the Moomins and I have always loved the Moomins. I grew up in the 90s Moomin boom and am very happy to be living in the current Moomin boom now, as it means there's so many exciting Moomin things and products. The latest Moomin thing I've gotten into are the Mumin Kaffes (i.e. Moomin cafés) by visiting two of them in Helsinki last Friday. (Yes, two in one day!)

project 365: week fourteen

 Decided to post this on Sunday instead of Monday since I've not had the energy to get any other posts ready this week. So here's what I've been up to this week (spoiler alert: not much):

 092: Still eating all the chocolate on Easter Monday!

figueira da foz

This time last year I made the first of my many trips to Figueira da Foz. Figueira is only about an hour on the train away from Coimbra (where I lived), so what could be better on a day off than going to the beach! Now looking out thew window to a gloomy, rainy day in Finland, it's a bit bittersweet thinking about Portugal.

project 365: week thirteen

 085: Running errands in the city and it's so exciting to see more stalls appear at the market square. Now they've mostly been Easter/spring flowers, but pretty sure there'll be more within a month or two. I am very much looking forward to buying veg, fruit and berries from local sellers once it's time for all that!