Another look on embroidery and holiday pictures

My last post had the most comments I have ever had except for my last year's giveaway, and definitely one of my peak visitor numbers. I'm sorry I had only one picture of this surprisingly interesting towel rack cover, but my faithful readers can now enjoy some closeups of this little gem:

I have been working on a new (to me) pattern called Attic windows or Children's room windows. This will be another quilt for the orphanage in Tanzania, a church project I decided to make a Finnish Brown Owls project. The blocks are now pieced and ironed; after some trimming I can sew the top together.

Are you ready to take a last look at Northern Carelia? On the second afternoon the weather turned a little warmer, up to 16 C or 60 F, so we could enjoy our outdoor life from the morning porridge

all day until the evening. Mr. Kotkarankki caught this rainbow trout with the fly you can see on the gill cover. Click the picture to see better, it's a small one (the fly).

Let's look around, this is the rapid's side stream, this year just shallow water.

A gull is waiting for a meal, or maybe digesting a little perch.

The air is very clean there, lichen and beard moss grow almost anywhere, like on a birch,

on the ground,

on a pine.

Lythrum salicaria

Close relationship between aspen and pine

Empetrum nigrum, edible but not to my taste

The pine on the opposite shore is bending towards the water, more and more every year.

Tourist rafters came by on their tour, in wooden boats like in the background or rubber boats for the more adventurous.

Here the tourists take an active role, using their paddles the way the guide tells them.

Sometimes they turn and take another ride in our rapid.

Here they can come up easily in the backward current.

Some are even more adventurous, they swim their way down, wearing neoprene suits, life jackets and helmets.

Count the heads, did they take everybody on board again?

This is "our" new motor boat for crossing the river.

It is made locally. See the pretty decoration up front.

Time for a bath in the sauna again. We will make a night meal while the men bathe after us. This is the view from the sauna steps.

The sounds of the water moving big rocks in the stream take us to sleep in no time.