28 helmikuuta 2017

Floral Bliss #10


It is still early for the Japanese Hanami, but somehow
I got an irresistible desire to look at my White Hanami from last year.
My Hanami is of course fake and very modest:
with one cherry tree, one big apple tree and a few plums you can't expect too much.

But last May they bloomed like never before!
All were so full of blossoms, I was impressed of their beauty.

My one and only apple tree - very old



Cherry - Kirsikka

Prunus sylvatica - Pin Cherry  - Pilvikirsikka

Plum - Luumu

Lilacs were blooming at the same time



Olet sydämellisesti tervetullut mukaan!

Please, come and join - share your Floral Bliss with me and the others!
Simply Anything Living or related to Botanics 
not only flowers but also
* Wild plants & landscapes * Cut flowers, bouquets, dried flowers
* Manipulated photos, mosaics, floral art

Previous Floral Bliss
First Floral Bliss


Joy to your week! - Iloa viikkoonne!


24 helmikuuta 2017

Green weekend



My German blog friend Mascha has this new meme - Color go hope. It's all about the color green. At the moment outside there is no green except conifers. Therefore I searched through my archives some random greenish photos.







Kukkailottelun sietämätön vaikeus


Kissani Sissi syö sisällä kaiken elävän, ei voi mitään.
Halusin kuitenkin ostaa pientä keltaista kevätiloa kotiin, erityisesti mielessä oli kevätesikko.
No, ne olivat kaupassa ohikukkineita, joten päädyin tulilatvaan...

The unbearable difficulty of enjoying flowers!
My cat Sissi eats absolutely everything living green inside the house.
Yet I wanted to buy some spring joy, a yellow primula but they were over bloomed...
I had to content with this kalanchoe...


Esillä on edelleen kookas kynttilälyhty, jouluvaloineen - voi apua!
Sinnepä siis sijoitin tämän kukkasen,
jotta se olisi Sissin pikku hampailta turvassa.

I put the pot in a large lantern that still lies on the living room table...
With Christmas lights - omg!



Siellä tuo peto vaanii! :) Now no way to munch!


In 1,5 years I haven't photographed as little as in February.
Only 4 sessions: color purple, seasoning, Runeberg pastries and this kalanchoe.
I do hope that March inspires me more!


Wishing you a good start to March!

Five on Friday

It's time to sum up 5 things for Amy's Five on Friday!
I noticed that the hostess is changing in March.
So I wish to thank you Amy for having hosted this lovely meme ❤︎
It's a lot of work, so I understand it is time to let others take care.

As to my post, I'm short.


1 Reading
I have read a lot, mostly newly released Finnish books.
But this book of short stories from the 1980s was a true find - I recommend:



2 Literature evening
Recently I attended the 2nd Kirja vieköön! literature evening of this year.


The guest writers on the stage were interesting, including Koko Hubara,
a multiethnic brown girl, writer, journalist and blogger at her 
blog Ruskeat tytöt / Brown Girls.

Me and some other book bloggers


3 Photographing challenges
I participate weekly in some challenges. Here my photos for
Makrotex Challenge 'Seasoning' & Color Collage 'Strong Colors'.

Papaver orientale, Meconopsis cambrica, Alcea rosea 'Nigra'


4 ATP Rio de Janeiro
It is great that I can watch the tournament live on my couch.
Top ten players are not in Rio, but I'm a fan of some,
for e.g. the Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopoulos.


5 Winter vs Summer
We got a lot, I mean a lot of new snow. I'm waiting for spring, no snow  - no more!
A few days ago I posted a hilarious poem from the famous Finnish poet
Ilpo Tiihonen - Oh heiferiness and humaness.
It might be worthwhile to look at the link, the poem is really great fun!


Wishing you a great weekend!

20 helmikuuta 2017

Mausteita - Seasoning


The Makrotex Challenge this week is SEASONING.
I photographed some, I use quite a lot...
First here is tumeric, it gives so beautiful color to rice or pasta.


I noticed later on that my heap was not so elegant looking :)



Then I have these Ikea jars for different spices. I think the red is Garam masala
I have an Indian cookbook and it is fun to try the recipes.


Makrotex Challenge

Bon Appétit & tasteful cooking!

19 helmikuuta 2017

Color Collage



Orange red - Papaver orientale / Idänunikko
Yellow - Meconopsis cambrica / Keltavaleunikko
Near to black - Alcea rosea 'Nigra' / Salkoruusu




Oh heiferiness and humanness


I just read a fantastic book called Danger of Verses. It consists of Finnish poems chosen by seven writers. Each writer has written a short essay of the poem chosen by him or her. The book was hilarious indeed. Then I found online the English version of this rural parody by the poet Ilpo Tiihonen. He is one of our most appreciated contemporary poets, born in 1950. In Finnish this poem was so cheerful and excellent that I thought his rural parodic scenes might be a joy for you too. Of course I and others who are not native English speakers miss its nuances but I know some can enjoy :)


A SUMMER EVENING’S SLIGHT CONCEPTUALNESS

Ah summer evening, and its eveningness,
its prodigious wonders and their bridgefulness
when the nightunited seamlessness
steals into one’s heart with restfulness

O heiferiness and humanness,
ah shivering shimmeringness,
innocents’ innocuousness
and vastness with its stresslessness –
five or six chicks of a dabchick,
and deep water, lapfulness.


Our blue sky’s mirrored changefulness!
the spruces’ tall topliness, their tips’ sacredness
the yellow-billed black singer’s flutiness.
Nested cosiness, mutual tootiness!

And oh the idler’s idling idleness
and the shuttling rower’s glidingness
on his holiday trip to goal-lessness
the fisherman’s undemanding uncatchingness
the innocent non-offendingness
of the leadhead’s letting-go-ingness.


Summer, great echoing summer’s heatstrokiness,
the haiku-puffs of the sauna’s smokiness, lip-lap
unsteady jettiness, lip-lap, rocking-about-edness
the naked skin’s nothing-about-it-edness
aerial echoing of seagulness
and goodies grilling for forkedness.

Ah gulfiness, lakiness, streaminess
ah featherlight set-free-again-ness
and seismic earth’s ecstatic staticness
and summer calm’s so easy boatliness.


Ah cows’ exuberant udderliness,
humanness, quiescentness,
ah Finnish horses’ trusty horsiness,
and foxcubs’ frisky foxiness,
hazelhens’ henness, snakes’ snakiness,
ah far-off-ness of quaky autumn, and its headachiness!



Oh microscopic wormy mouldiness
dandelions’ sunny harvest of goldiness
the headland’s swaying hayfulness
witchgrass’s whimsical playfulness
and sheep-sorrel’s sweet salt-tastiness!
Oh the saliva-licking of all unchasteness
hot musk-orchid’s scented headiness
passion flowers’ glad gift of unsteadiness
and the minty gluiness of sticky lipfulness


yes, and at the edge of happiness, thistliness.
But detail by detail the cosmic interdependenceness
and ref by ref its green inter-referenceness
sing the appendixness of human songfulness
Oh all the heiferiness, humanness, hoveringness
wafting cloud-loftiness, lofty melodiousness –
our heavenly household’s wallhung wise-sayingness –
oh summer cradling us, its total cradlingness.


Translated by Herbert Lomas (assisted by Soila Lehtonen) 

A summer evening’s slight conceptualness
III song: Summer symfony, dedicated to the author Joel Lehtonen (1881–1934)
From Eros (WSOY, 2002)
The Finnish lyrics can be found here.

Mosaic Monday

Natur-Donnerstag
I know, the poem is in English and it translates very poorly into German with Google.
But I wish you can enjoy the photos - and maybe learn some English...

I wish you enjoyed!