Flowers in December

To my big surprise, my orchids have grown new stems this Autumn and now the first flowers are opening. This one has some buds on another stem too, and my other white orchid is also growing a flower stem. I received them in Summer 2010, and this is the first time they make new flowers after that. Sorry about the dark photo, but I had to turn off the lights because they were reflected from the window and the flower could not be seen.

Independence Day

Today is the Finnish Independence Day. Traditionally we light two candles on every window at six o'clock in the evening for two hours. I remember how exciting it was to be in charge of the candles at our school, our own classroom probably and maybe another. The electric lights were off, just the candles lit the dark December evening, and the school was quiet, with just the candle watches on each floor. They must have used electric candles for ages now, but no accidents ever happened while I was young.

Last night we finally had the first snow. It had been raining a little during the day, but in the afternoon the pavements were suddenly icy as the temperature dropped below freezing point. And then came the snow, amazingly big snowflakes. In an hour it was over, but the snow has remained on the ground. It is like someone turned the lights back on again. The ground is no longer black, sucking all the light from the headlights and street lamps, but white and reflecting the light back. Winter, you are welcome!

Finishing school

A week ago I took this picture of a cygnet spreading his wings. It was the last I saw of our swan family this year. They really stayed as long as they could, practicing their flight and filling up their energy storage for the big migration to warmer conditions. This pond lies next to the School Centre and is thus called the School Pond, so it is a perfect place to learn to swim and take off, fly, and make a smooth landing in water again. You can see how icy cold the water looked on that cloudy day. A few days later it was frozen over, but the ice melted away again because the temperatures keep above the freezing point for most of the time.

Christmas Stalls

Small stalls like this were opened a week ago in the pedestrian area in Järvenpää. Little gifts are for sale, handmade candles, jewelry, ornaments, doll's clothes. Some have home made jams and jellies, mustard, and closer to Christmas there will be traditional Christmas dishes too.

Third day

There is still no snow, just some frost in the night. This is moss in our yard. There is beauty in small details if you look at them closely.

Stash Use Report of November

This is the second picture of my Advent calendar, from last Saturday's Christmas parade. The tonttu elves were from a gymnastics and sports club I think, and they were showing the audience some tonttu warm-up moves while I was warming up with a cinnamon latte. The Piggy is still my favourite!

Another month has ended and I added up my fabric statistics. I have been good, again, and not bought any fabric. The use has been very moderate, too, even when it includes 10 pairs of undies, two pairs of long trousers, several dresses and tops and skirts. With some secret projects, my fabric use adds up to 1.5 m for the whole month of November, because the clothes were all this size only:

I hope to finish several projects during the weekend so I could mail them on Monday. I always seem to start later than others and work better under slight pressure, but I refuse to take any stress because it is not good for me or anyone. I can face it if I don't get something done. So should you. Take it easy!

December 1st

Two years ago I made an Advent calendar on my blog, posting at least a picture for every day until December 24th. This year I'm trying to do it again, with new pictures.

Here is the big Christmas tree in Järvenpää, photo taken yesterday at 4 in the afternoon when it was dark enough for the lights to show. They lit the lights on it last Saturday when the parade reached this square. The sun is working office hours at this time of the year, rising about at nine and setting at half past three in the afternoon.