Lempikirja

I like all of these books, but one of them is going to be a special favorite this spring.

Juju is a book about upcycling old fabrics into children's clothing. I love everything about it - the layout, the illustrations, the patterns, everything! I first came across it at our little local library. I borrowed and re-borrowed it, again and again. I must have had it for six months.

When I simply couldn't borrow it any more, I decided I couldn't live without it, and went and got my own copy.

I have a daughter who is very opinionated about clothes and whose style tends to be quite different from mine. She won't have Äiti make her this lovely kimono, for example. But I have another daughter who will, for the time being, wear anything I make.

Just waiting to find the perfect combination of fabrics! Stay tuned! (And by the way, we all enjoy visiting that little library.)

Out and about in Portland!

Thank goodness for my urban friends who get me out of my soggy country house and into the city.  The ceiling in the bottom of the diptych was at the downtown restaurant pictured below.  A couple weeks later, I noticed a similar ceiling at a brew pub in the Hollywood neighborhood.  And had a delicious vanilla porter.

On snow and trees...

Trees we have, but snow is a rare sight here, at least in the valley.  This will be my only snow post for the year!  The first picture was taken right in our neighborhood, where the trees give in to the moss for the greater part of the year.  The last picture is from our last snow - I had to dig back to my early December pictures!  Our cousin Maple was visiting at the time, and of course we had our ONE snow/ice storm of the year.  Multnomah Falls is one of the more popular sights in Oregon, and to see it this icy is a rare treat.  Of course, the freeway was shut down in both directions just past the falls!!!

Kuusi

The original plan was to share a picture or two each Friday, but I'm going to ignore that plan today. (I warned you, Amy...) My excuse is that 'kuusi' is not only the Finnish word for spruce, the heroine of the first picture, but also means the number six. Consider it my tribute to the ridiculously snowy winter we have just had! The snow is now going, these velvet images are from the backyard in the beginning of March.

Around the fireplace

I couldn't have put it better, Lara!  I am really looking forward to our crazy little project!

Tervetuloa

Welcome our new reader, and welcome spring evenings! From now on Amy and I will be posting on Fridays on themes inspired by our everyday lives. This blog was an impulsive idea introduced by Amy one morning, and it took about a minute for me to believe in it. We will be getting to know each other better as we go along - without traveling across the ten time zones between us.

These pictures are from an evening walk with my first-born about a week ago.