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Monday, March 28, 2016

It's almost April...

..and that means it's time to get the allotment planned for this season!
This is how it looked this weekend, the snow is almost gone and I walked around planning where the eight new raised beds will go.
Yes, eight!

But as I can't yet plant anything, I decided to try out making some seed tape. I figured it might make life a bit easier planting carrots and lettuce.
What you need is strips of newspaper. I read that you shouldn't have colored ink on it, and found out just how much color a newspaper has! But I managed... no color ink on the obituary pages.. my sense of humor was tickled :)

The goop, as we will here forth call this, is regular wheat flour mixed with some water.

Read from your seed package the recommended growing distance of your produce and drop small amounts of the goop at those intervals.

Drop 2-3 seeds per goop drop.
Sometimes more go on there, it's OK, just go with the flow.

I wrote the seed type on the end of the strips, just so I'd know what I will be planting.

Once completely dry, the next day, roll up and store someplace dry and sheltered from the sun.

This growing season I'll be part of a blog circle of all sorts of garden goodness.
*happy dance*
So do get yourself a nice cup of tea (or coffee.. or wine, who am I to say..), sit back and clickclick through.
You can start by heading out to Audrey's garden.

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

February

I started February knitting. I haven't been a big fan of multicolored knitting, but I am always trying to challenge myself (and I love knitting socks).. The idea came as I came across this Winter Socks pattern. All the yarn is left overs I already had.

Aaaahhh.. tulip season.

Also stripey sock season :)

We were treated to an amazing sunset at the park. Us adults were watching the ever changing hues of pink and orange in awe.

I knitted both socks at the same time. Taught myself a new way of knitting the heel. And I noticed I had made mistakes... You'd think I could read a chart by now after all the cross-stitching I've done..  Oh well, these are for me, I don't care :D

I finished my December Daily. Yay!

Washi tape towers at work.

Tulips. And sun!

A second stunning sunset within a week.

I did some birthday shopping at a beautiful store with major color therapy.

 This is my knitting at work.
Looks difficult, it's in fact so very easy. Feels like I am cheating. 
I found a pattern to make ugly variegated yarn look good.

 I finally gave in to Niina's requests of a waffle iron.
I honestly should have given in a long time ago. 
Yum...

The only life on my allotment at the moment... eagerly waiting for spring...

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Tampere views by night and day

I spent a weekend in Tampere (about 160km away) as I took my dollhouse to the Finnish Dollhouse Association's 25th anniversary exhibition. You can read more about that on my dollhouse blog :)

I have family in Tampere and have been there plenty of times.
And I have, nearly always been there just to visit family. Or to go to the amusement park.
As I took a look at the downtown area, it dawned on me that I had never been downtown. Never looked around. Never truly visited the city.

It took all of Friday to set up the dollhouse, and all I had energy for was a visit to a café with my god daughter and dinner with my friends. This was a little get-away weekend for myself with friends. I was very lucky with the view from my hotel room.
I spent some time with my nose glued to the window.

On Saturday I took time in the afternoon go walk around town. The weather wasn't what you could call lovely, but it didn't matter. I walked up one street and down another with absolutely no plans. I found ice sculptures and pretty houses.

This is an old industrial city and the Tammerkoski rapids go through the downtown area.

And yes, that is a lock bridge up there.

There is a very strong feel of the city's textile industry roots everywhere. I love all that red brick.


I happened to walk by The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas and I went in to take a break from the sleet.

I was the only person in the textile industry wing. I found it all fascinating.

Back out to the sleet I wandered about for another hour.

Then it was time to head back to the hotel for dinner with my friends. 
I need to come back in the summer. Hopefully there will be less sleet :D
It's less than a two hour drive away!