This is what I call Everyday Poesie.
~*♥*~
Posted in EverydayPoesie, Home, tagged Copenhagen Philharmonics Peer Gynt metro, Flashmob, Flashmob Copenhagen on May 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Home, Inspiration, tagged Classic Finnish songs, Olavi Virta, Olavi Virta Hopeinen kuu, Road Trip Africa on May 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »
…strange yet true association I have with this song I stumbled upon:
When I was 6, and we lived in Zambia, we toured quite a bit of Eastern Africa. By car, with no air conditioning.
I sure got to understand, at grassroot level, what a very large continent Africa is.
Bumpy dirt track roads, neverending distances, relentless heat and 14-hour daily trips with no stops meant that some amusement had to be created for the 3- and 6-year old girls in the car. Luckily (as we didn’t have a cassette player in the car) my dad was a great singer. Karhunpoika sairastaa, Mikki Hiiri merihädässä, Rosvo-Roope, Pieni tytön tylleröinen, Ihme ja Kumma… With his spirited renditions of his own childhood classics he somehow managed to keep us entertained for hours on end.
I still know the full production of Georg Malmstén by heart.
This chorus, that my dad sang to me sooooo often as a lullaby, has followed me all my life. Strangely, especially at times of sorrow, I return to it and find some comfort. Sorry dear foreign readers, I wouldn’t dream of translating these lyrics as I could never capture the childhood innocence implied with mere words.
“Maailmassa monta
On ihmeellistä asiaa,
Se hämmästyttää, kummastuttaa
Pientä kulkijaa”
The song embedded, Hopeinen kuu / Silver Moon by Olavi Virta was my father’s own all-time favorite. We used to have horrible taste with my sister, as we’d loudly protest in favor of children’s rallies whenever he belted out this tango…
Now that I heard it again, after decades, it brought an incredible storm of nostalgia to my heart.
Ei tulla koskaan, voi tällaista iltaa…
Oih.
~*♥*~
Posted in BohemianCharm&VintageChic, Home, tagged aphorism, happiness, Minna Hepburn, Viktor Egelund on May 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »
“Return to things that are meaningful, and bathe inside of them.
Do the things that somehow make you come alive.”
–Viktor Egelund–
I guess we all have a list of things to do in this life.
What’s on yours?
I have so many things, most of them simple and easy, yet here they are, on the to-be-done -list. Still.
Such as.
Being present. In the moment. For my children. For my mother.
Climb a mountaintop. Visit Tibet.
Enjoy a sunset in peace and silence.
Fulfill a secret dream, too fragile, too personal, too precious to tell a soul.
To love. Deeply. Unconditionally. Profoundly.
To wake up to sunrise, full of tomorrow.
How hard can all that be?
Uh… Peculiarly very much so.
~*♥*~
Posted in EverydayPoesie, Home on May 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Gardening is a little hobby that I share with my oldest son. Since we don’t have a yard, we’ve put our hearts & fingers into creating a wild flower / herbal garden on the terrace.
Very therapeutic & sweet.
This is what we’ve come up with this year:
These roses still live indoors but soon they’ll also move to the balcony, with an old flower post from Madrid:
My son is into herbs and all things you can eat, while my dream is creating an unruly garden full of roses and wildflowers.
Our ideal would be a Tuscany style vineyard, a rich orchard with branches creating a leafy roof over the terrace…Krhm. With some obvious limitations due to weather rather than imagination or ambition, we do our best…
Voilà, my son’s kingdom:
Another little hobby we share with the kids is baking. Also therepeutic, and lovely.
This is our version of carrot and walnut cake – never fails:
In fact, doing just about any everyday thing with my two boys is so much more fun as they get excited and inspired by each little task…
Thanks to them, even I’ve found a long-lost childlike joy in so many things I’d forgotten were fun…♥.
My son likes to grow basil and other accidental herbs in the kitchen, while the bathroom is the land of orchids.
It’s a lovely touch, as my father had a habit of buying me orchids. Those flowers always make me think about him. But in a beautiful rather than teary manner.
The most beautiful orchids I’ve ever seen were brought to me by my dad, after I’d given birth to my baby sons.
So dear friends, you can imagine how it feels like destiny, the universe or something, is sending me a little kiss when my boys now grow orchids for me ♥.
~*♥*~
Posted in EverydayPoesie, Home, tagged spring photos on May 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Beautifully captured by Albert Mäkelä.
Allu has promised to give me a few lessons in photography this summer in France (he’s amongst the lovely hurdle of friends who’ll drop by to visit us in the South of France as the kids & I’ll spend the whole summer there), so soon you shall be pampered by photos as exquisite as this…on a regular basis.
Allu is a multitasking talent who could be a professional photographer, actor, musician – or lawyer. While he’s bending strongly towards law and order, I’d be one happy camper if I could reach his level in just one of these things…
Let’s see how far I go :).
~*♥*~
Posted in Champagne, Home, tagged 1st May party, vappujuhla on May 2, 2012| 6 Comments »
This year, vappu came with friends, laughter, some old jazz, some wonderful conversation, many hugs and kisses, yummy food brought by everyone, something bubbly – also brought by everyone – balloons (that made an escape from the rooftop window to discover the world a little), and some soap bubbles. All enjoyed on our sunny terrace.
Very, very sweet.
Thank you, dear friends, for making it so.
~*♥*~
Posted in EverydayPoesie, Home, tagged Love on April 29, 2012| 4 Comments »
Last night I couldn’t sleep. In that clouded state of neither awake nor asleep, I decided to come up with a comprehensive definition of love.
I don’t recommend this kind of lonely midnight hour activity to anyone.
Anyways, these are the images/moments I came up with…
My father, so proud, taking care of his first-born grandchild, Ael:
A dear friend, having finally found his true soulmate:
Hopes and dreams of a bride…
It’s there, between my mother and my oldest son (here still a baby):
It’s in the quality time, however fleeting, between a mother and her child:
In friendship:
It’s in Annica and Bernardo.
And it’s there, in the moment of the last goodbye.
Love is.
~*♥*~
Posted in EverydayPoesie, Home, tagged aphorism, Paolo Coelho, wisdoms on April 27, 2012| 2 Comments »
“Life is too short to be wasted in finding answers. Enjoy the questions.” –Paolo Coelho
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Posted in EverydayPoesie, Home, tagged aphorism, Love, Paolo Coelho on April 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »
“Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it a meaning.”
-Aleph / Paolo Coelho
~*♥*~
Posted in Champagne, Home, tagged Estonian fashion, Estonian fashion desighers, fashion shows in Tallinn, Tiina Talumees on April 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Today I was invited to another fashion show to Tallinn, by the lovely and magnificently talented Tiina Talumees. Uh, although Tallinn is close, this time it is sadly too far…
Luckily I met Tiina at her atelier last week and got a peek of her new collection, so full of color, so vibrant with life. It truly is a Rhapsody in Bloom.
Here’s a little special something that I’ve found and loved, from Tiina’s earlier collections… In fact, I wore Tiina’s silver and lace dress at the Kristina Viirpalu show last week and it was simply perfect for the the roaring 20’s theme.
It’s a small world, after all…♥.
~*♥*~