Olive tree/Oliivipuu

I have wanted an olive tree for a while already, ever since our first olive tree decided to quit its contract. Last Saturday we got lucky and found this olive tree from a market in Haarlem, with a bargain price of 15EUR. It has already dropped few leaves, but here's hoping it will survive... They say you should talk to your plants, but I might try a different approach and play Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" few times. You never know ;-)

I will survive
oh, as long as I know how to love
I know I'll stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my love to give
and I'll survive
I will survive, hey, hey!

Olen jo pitkään halunnut oliivipuuta, siitä asti kun edellinen oliivipuumme päätti sanoa sopimuksensa irti. Viime lauantaina meitä onnisti ja löysimme tämän oliivipuun Haarlemin markkinoilta, hinta edulliset 15EUR. Se on jo pudottanut muutaman lehden, mutta toivotaan että se selviää hengissä... Sanotaan että sinun pitäisi puhua kasveillesi, mutta minä voisin yrittää erilaista lähestymistapaa soittamalla Gloria Gaynorin "I Will Survive" biisin muutaman kerran. Eihän sitä koskaan tiedä ;-)

Yesterday we had some rain, but today the sunny and warm weather continues. Thankfully there is little bit of breeze, so it is not too hot. Lets enjoy ourselves :-)

Eilen meillä satoi hieman, mutta tänään aurinkoinen ja lämmin sää jatkuu. Onneksi on myös hieman tuulenvirettä, joten ei ole liian kuuma. Nauttikaamme :-)

Market finds/Markkinalöytöjä

Last Saturday we visited a home and garden market in Dreef, Haarlem. The market is a monthly event, but this was my first time there as I only heard about it few weeks ago. The weather was fabulous, though slightly too hot for my liking, and although the market was not THAT big, I still found loads of nice things :-) Only downside was I was not able to buy everything I saw... but one has to draw a line somewhere. And my partner was already complaining that he felt more like a mule than a man ;-)

One of my favourite finds is this beautiful linen cloth. It is a decent size, 150x150 cm, very thick good quality and was an absolute steal. I might use it as a throw instead of a tablecloth...


Viime lauantaina käväisimme koti- ja puutarhamarkkinoilla Haarlemin Dreefissä. Nämä markkinat ovat kuukausittainen tapahtuma, mutta tämä oli 1. visiittini siellä sillä kuulin markkinoista vasta muutama viikko sitten. Ilma oli upea, tosin hieman liian kuuma minulle, ja vaikka markkinat eivät olleet NIIN suuret, onnistuin silti löytämään kaikenlaista kivaa. Ainut huono puoli oli etten voinut ostaa kaikkea mitä näin, mutta jonnekin se raja on vedettävä. Ja mieskin alkoi jo hieman valittelemaan että muistuttaa enempi muulia kuin miestä ;-)

Tämä kaunis pellavaliina on yksi suosikeistani. Se on ihan reilun kokoinen, 150x150 cm, todella hyvälaatuinen ja oli uskomattoman halpa. Taidan käyttää sitä ennemmin torkkuhuovan tapaan kuin pöytäliinana...


The old tatty coffee pot has been bought a long time ago, but I found the old soda syphon from the Dreef market.

Vanhan kulahtaneen kahvipannun olen ostanut jo aikoja sitten, mutta tuo vanha soodasifon tarttui mukaan Dreefin markkinoilta.


And I do not seem to be able to do posts without some flower/garden pictures. Here is our Clematis, one of the many we have, and a dainty Lawrenson's Pink.

Midsummer/Juhannus

Wishing you all a happy, sunny and magical midsummer!
Toivotan kaikille oikein hyvää, aurinkoista ja taianomaista juhannusta!

Juhannus
Minä avaan syömeni selälleen
ja annan päivän paistaa,
minä tahdon kylpeä joka veen
ja joka marjan maistaa.
Minun mielessäni on juhannus
ja juhla ja mittumaari,
ja jos minä illoin itkenkin,
niin siellä on sateenkaari
Eino Leino

Katja 0 - Cold 1

So I lost the battle and got the cold. I am still feeling pretty rough, but at least my voice is slowly coming back. Yesterday I was only able to whisper, which was especially annoying when I was watching football as I usually tend to be pretty vocal. But hopefully my partner enjoyed the peace and quiet ;-)


So the World Cup is already keeping me entertained and today starts one of my all time favourite sport events, Wimbledon. Summer just would not be a proper summer without it. I have been watching it for decades already, started when Björn Borg was still playing, though I was very young back then. It's become a part of my summer rituals :-) So I suppose the World Cup and Wimbledon are going to keep me busy for a while ;-)

Champagne, strawberries and cream anyone? :-)


Hävisin taisteluni flunssaa vastaan ja täällä sitä nyt kärvistellään. Onneksi ääni on pikkuhiljaa palailemassa. Eilen en pystynyt muuta kuin kuiskaamaan, mikä haittasi kovin jalkapallon katselua, sillä yleensä tuppaan pitämään jonkin verran ääntä sitä katsellessa. Toivottavasti ainakin mieheni nautti rauhasta ja hiljaisuudesta ;-)

The all white artwork was made by my father-in-law
Ja penkkiurheilijan onni jatkuu tänään kun yksi kaikkien aikojen suosikeistani alkaa, eli Wimbledon. Kesä ei olisi kunnon kesä ilman sitä. Olen katsonut sitä jo vuosikymmeniä, aloitin kun Björn Borg vielä pelasi, tosin olin silloin vielä melko nuori. Siitä on tullut osa kesärituaalejani :-) Eli jalkapallon MM-kisat ja Wimbledon pitävät huolen siitä ettei vähään aikaan tule aika pitkäksi ;-)

Saisiko olla samppanjaa, mansikoita ja kermavaahtoa? :-)

White peony buds opening
Our roses are starting to bloom

Sunshine and battles

Such a glorious sunny day again. Has the summer finally arrived to the Netherlands? Here's hoping it will stay like this for a while :-) The downside is I seem to have caught some sort of flu/cold bug, most likely from my partner who was sick last week. I've a sore throat and absolutely no energy, my whole body is aching a bit. Hope I won't get it as bad as he did... I will fight it as vigorously as I can, though right now it feels I'm losing the battle!

Details from our living room
I found this pretty crochet tablecloth from a charity shop in Haarlem. Soon I have to stop dragging home all this stuff as we are rapidly running out of space ;-)

A detail from our guestroom, though no progress has been made with it. We still need to get the electrical work done before we can proceed. My father-in-law, who is a carpenter/architect, already promised to build us a custom made bed, as the space where the bed goes is very specific. I am sure I have mentioned before how great it is to have such a handy father-in-law? :-) The watercolour painting on the background was made by one of my great-uncles, Pepe.

We have a tiny potted herb garden on our patio and right now Chives is in full bloom, and so is the Thyme on the background.

But now... time to watch some football World Cup :-)

Verrassend Goed!

Couple of weeks ago I made a discovery. I found this lovely little shop in Haarlem called Verrassend Goed! (meaning "surprisingly good"). It is located on one of the prettiest and leafiest streets of Haarlem, Korte Houtstraat. I go to Haarlem regularly and I can not believe I had not encountered this shop before. The weather was really sunny and bright so these photos are not the best ones, but hopefully you will get the idea :-)

Korte Houtstraat, Haarlem

You will find Verrassend Goed! almost at the end of the street, half hidden behind trees, shrubs, climbers and flowers. It is absolutely jam-packed with pretty things, including items from Jeanne d´Arc Living. The owner, Marianne, is really friendly and helpful. Consider yourself warned though, going there can seriously damage your bank account balance (I went there twice within one week and did not leave empty handed!) ;-) These photos were snapped in a hurry, but again, you get the idea.

You might also want to check Marianne's blog Verrassend Goed!

Verrassend Goed!, Haarlem

Vihdoinkin

Makuuhuoneemme avohylly on vihdoinkin saanut verhon seurakseen. Johan sitä odotellessa kuluikin parisen vuotta :-) Loppujen lopuksi päädyin hyvin helppoon ja edulliseen ratkaisuun; eli verhovaijeriin ja valmiisiin pitsiverhoihin. Itselläni oli mielessä hieman vähemmän koristeellisempi pitsi, mutta suureksi hämmästyksekseni mieheni tykästyi enemmän tähän romanttisempaan versioon. Joskus näinkin päin ja pitäähän elämässä hieman romantiikkaa olla ;-)

Our bedroom shelving finally got its curtain.

Green hues

This "photo frame" is very simple. I took a small canvas, painted it green (I seem to have a green phase going on) and then covered it with lace. The old photo is of my great auntie on her wedding day in 1943. Needless to say I love old family photos...

The sugar bowl was bought from a charity shop with few cents and I planted a cute mini St. Paulia in it. That was couple of weeks ago and what do you know... it is still alive! Trust me, my track record with St. Paulias is not very good. I always end up killing them...


Women looked so glamorous in those days, even during wartime. Mind you, my great auntie still looks very glamorous. She is such a wonderful lady :-)


Our dainty pale pink Clematis in full bloom.


We have several different kinds of Geraniums in our garden. I really like them as they are low maintenance and bloom gorgeously.