GROWING THE JUNGLE POT BY POT AND LEAF BY LEAF

Now as the sun has returned to our hemisphere it's time to show the plants some love, re-pot and take care of them after the winter darkness. This year I -finally- got a couple of plant lamps to help my green inhabitants survive the dark months better. I somewhere read a comparison of the amount of light, and it is ridiculously low here in winter (from some 100 000 lux on a summer's day to just 500 during the darkest period), which is of course pretty obvious if you live here, but to see the actual numbers on paper is pretty describing as well.

So now it's time for bigger pots for some, new soil and other care taking.

I have always liked to decorate with plants, especially to make a room nicer when it is still waiting for a touch up or renovation, as is the case with our living room downstairs. We finally got the most important parts renovated, like upstairs ( or: most of it, still some left...), and then the two-year-box-labyrinth-hell that was our former city flat cleaned up just in time for Christmas meaning we actually have a downstairs again, so any paint jobs will now have to wait. In the meantime I keep on growing our little jungle!

 We have a row of big plants working as a screen separating one part of the room from the other.

The cats take their roles as this jungle's mini panthers, chasing shadow pray.

More plants to come still!

LET THERE BE LIGHTS. AND COLOURS!

My friend and artist Aiju Salminen turned her whole building into a light installation yesterday! The big house is in the corner of two of the busiest streets in Helsinki  (I used to live just opposite, when I was still living downtown btw) so it got a lot of attention. The habitants were all in on the thing and put up coloured silk papers in their window to brigthen up the November darkness. The idea is not original, but has not been done in Helsinki before.

Picture from Värivalotalo on Facebook.

PALE BLUE KITCHEN HUES

Today the dishes were matching each other.

THE PERSISTENT ORCHID

I have an orchid in my soon-to-be-former home, that keeps in growing and making new branches and new flowers. As soon as the flowers fall off new ones appear. And I don't know how this little fella does it, considering most orchids just come to wither and die under my tl-and-c, as I've pondered upon before.

Not sure what I've done differently this time, perhaps watered it with a more constant routine, or then it's the fact that I only sleep in the apartment a couple of night per week and it grows better that way because it's just not fond of humans.

Either way, I hope this one will survive the move out to the countryside and can keep making me happy with it's amazing prettiness!

HOME(S)

Everything is so clean and tidy at home now! I've been organising and cleaning (late at night, after work) for several days! 

It hasn't been this little stuff around for years.

But that is of course, because everything is now in bags and boxes in the farm house livingroom. And the place seriously looks like crap.

So after days of cleaning in the countryside I am actually dreaming about getting to organise and clean some more! But that would require the opportunity to some days off, so alas, lets see when the universe grants me a few. That, plus some renovation, and things will eventually be tip-top! (Uh.)

The reason to all of this is of course that you can now buy our lovely city home.

All though I've renovated it myself it has been on rent all along from my grandmother, who has now decided to sell it. It's sad but was of course inevitable at some point. Although I hadn't thought I'd move out to the countryside permanently before my kids were grown up so that will take some time to adapt, even though I've been living out in the peryphery most of the time by now already...

THE LITTLE GARDENER

We planted Dag's cherry tree. He's very eager to take care of it and to go and check if it has grown.
(And, as you can see, still wearing his "ninja uniform"...)

He'll have to wait a few years for cherries though.

DAG'S LITTLE CHERRY TREE

 Dag got a tree for his 4th birthday by Eddi's aunt, who left it next to the door to surprise him. It's his very own cherry tree, as he loved to pick cherries from her trees.  He already has his own litte appletree that he got as a baby, but the lambs kindof munched on it a couple of years ago so it is still tinier than this one.

We haven't decided a spot to plant it in yet, and now I am already growing fond of the little tree looking pretty on our front porch...

Maybe I have to get an olive tree or so in a pot as replacement!