Friday, July 29, 2016

July!



May and June flew by as did almost July, but here I am at the blog and I have truly missed being here. I have talked to you in my head, but I am not sure if you have heard my musings, thus here comes the written edition. For most of May and June I did a lot of work (cleaning) both inside and outside of the house and knitted or crocheted very, very little, if any really. I did finish one pair of socks that were cast on months ago and knitted with twined knitting a pair of fingerless mittens (pictures coming at some point)... crocheted little cowl and tried to keep up with Mother Nature making few flowers.
The girls have been coming and going for most of the summer, it has been lovely visiting with them and again next week the house is going to be full. And me, as much as I love being at home, have been traveling a lot too.
Earlier this spring, we bought a little camper car, I am not sure just what would be the right word for it, but we call our little car “an adventurous playhouse” and she has taken us all over this summer. While winters are long and quiet, summers are short and intense, the whole of Finland is bursting of things to do and has lots of happenings and for a long time we have been talking about visiting these happenings and never having the time nor energy to book the accommodation and tickets in advance. Now that we have the perfect means to get around, we can just stuff the cabinets with food and put clean linens on the bed and go, and it has made life so much simpler.
We went to see Deep Purple and Uriah Heep perform in Oulu… Echoes from the youth. We went to
MidnightFilm Festival in Sodankylä and saw amazing films and met few friends. Very enjoyable! We made a quick dip up north to the cabin and a longer one to the southern Sweden. We visited southern Finland, there was a music festival in Järvenpää. Last summer we went to Pori Jazz but this summer it did not work with our schedule, but hopefully next summer again. The to-do-and-see is longish. In August we are planning to go to Pyhä Unplugged and possibly one other music happening before the country quiets down for the winter.
We were little skeptical about this caravaning and all the time still talk about if this is just a phase that will pass, but so far, so enjoyable. We take turns in driving, I am not very comfortable doing it, it feels like a challenge every time I am behind the wheel, but it is getting easier little by little. Our car is on the small range and I preferred it that way, knowing that I would need to drive too.
Summer so far has been warm and damp; rain showers almost daily. Not continuous rain but hard showers that get everything so, so wet. The grass is very thick and lush, all my roses are blooming, they thoroughly love the weather. Tina, my little old dog, has had lots of health issues this summer and we have visited the vet frequently. She made a remark that Finnish Spitz has many lives, nearly as many as cats do and she seems younger than her age, but she turned already 12 last week. It has been very hot lately as well and her fur coat is thick and the heat wave has been hard on her. Ruusu is doing just fine, she turned 6 and has reached the age when words start to mean lots of different things. It is like she now knows all the gestures and facial movements and is very good interpreting those but is figuring out that words have lots of different meanings. When I talk to her she tilts her head and pushes her ears forward and looks very intensely into my eyes. Of course she knows all the usual stuff, come and go and sit and eat and stay etc. but I am sure she is figuring out wider vocabulary at the moment. Tina’s is wide, but she has had years to add on to that. Väinö is getting to be a big boy; he hunts (he is a very good mouser!) through nights and is building muscles by climbing trees and running around. It does not really make me happy to see the actual hunting, but it is very important task here in the country and therefore I must respect him for that.

Did you know that when civilization reached the point of cultivating the land and having crops, cats became very, very important for humans as crops needed to be stocked and cats kept the critters away and the crops clean. 
Yesterday while I was putting away laundry, I opened the wardrobe that has most of my woollies in there and I took a longing look at my most favorite grey cardigan. It is a store bought one, very light and very big and for the first time in weeks, wool spoke to me. My surroundings feed my inspiration, and if it is warm, my wool stops talking to me. There is total silence. No words, none. But yesterday, the words were quiet, more like a whisper, but we made a connection.

The sun just came out from behind the clouds and it is sunny again, but I feel a light, warm, tender pull - my wool and me will be united again in a few weeks. The desire to knit has not gone away, it is just taking a little rest. There is a time for everything.
In the meantime, I will need to vacuum the adventurous playhouse and do some housekeeping there as she will be on the road again in a couple of weeks.
Wool with you,
Lene

14 comments:

  1. Dear Lene !
    Nice you are there again! Wit love! Anu

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  2. Dear Lene ! Iam glad you are there again!

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  3. I am glad to see you back, it sounds like a wonderful summer!

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  4. So glad to hear from you again. Sounds like your summer has been so fun. We, too, have a small camper - I call it the submarine!

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  5. Dear Lene,
    I am very glad to hear that you are doing well!
    Best,
    Tamara

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  6. Love your fiber flowers! I have been contemplating how to knit a bamboo plant. After knitting mostly cotton during the hot summer months, wool is starting to call to me, too. Enjoy your travels!

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  7. So glad to hear from you and know that you are having an ideal summer.

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  8. I always love your posts! Your flowers are so exquisite, thank you for sharing them. I never get tired of wool, but then, I am from a hot climate and now live in a very cold one...I have started knitting some linen as a change and it seems like a cool wind, very nice to try. Enjoy all your rambles! Summer is so precious...

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  9. sandra03:19

    Gorgeous flowers! We have just been looking back at all your quilts today. They are still as charming as ever. Can't wait to see a picture of the new camper!

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  10. How good to see a new post...I've missed hearing from you. Your summer sounds jam-packed, but with lots of adventures. When's the last time I've heard about Deep Purple or Uriah Heep? Enjoy!

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  11. Welcome back. I've missed your posts and look forward to seeing some photos of the camper!

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  12. Marie10:55

    Happy to read you again!
    I wish you a peaceful bliss along your summer time!

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  13. Lovely to hear from you again. Enjoy your rambles! Flowers are beautiful, as are your pets....

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  14. Hei Lene. Muistelen, että sinulla oli täällä blogissa joskus linkki ohjevideoon langan päiden yhdistämisestä, niin ettei tarvitse päätellä langan päitä? Mistä löytäisin sen nyt, tai millä hakusanoilla kannattaisi etsiä? Jenni Paraisilta :)

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