Planning plants

I injured my back a couple of months ago, making me more or less immobile for several weeks. Unfortunately this happened at the time when I should've started planting seeds for the summer's plants, so I missed the opportunity to grow my own seedlings.

At least we can enjoy pretty flowers indoors, like this spring cactus.

Thus there's nothing new and exciting on the balcony yet, but I plan to remedy that soon! Sellers at the market already have all sorts of pretty things for sale. I just need to decide on a colour scheme for the year. I'm leaning towards mostly large red flowers this summer, with a few small-flowered white ones for contrast. What do you think?

While I decide, I can enjoy and nurture the little bit of green that's already present on the balcony. The perennials have survived another winter and are waking up. Won't be long before they cover that whole corner!

I do still have fish, by the way

I realized it's been AGES since I posted anything to do with my fishies. This was probably the last post and that's over four years ago! Whoops!

Well, first of all, the big tank is still around! Here's how it looks nowadays:

Many of the fish from the old post are still around, but one major change is that the tank is now also home to a trio of kissing gouramis, two natural green ones and one pink piggy. The green ones arrived not long after the previous post, so they're about 4 years old now, but the pink one is a bit younger with a mere 3 years.

This is Alpha Lips, also known as Känkkäränkkä or Känkkis among friends, showing off his impressive lips. As the name suggests, he (or she?) is the boss of the group and of the whole upper half of the tank. This guy is incredibly curious about his surroundings, as are the other two kissies. When I walk past the tank in the morning, Känkkis is always there in the nearest corner to say good morning. When we have guests over he can barely contain himself from all the exitement. If he were a dog he'd be the kind that jumps all over everyone. People! Yay!

You'll recognize Fishmeat the red-finned shark from the old post, he's about 5 years old now and still as handsome as ever. This is Känkkis' nemesis, and Känkkis is Fishmeat's. They have a kind of truce going on, where Känkkis rules the upper half, while the bottom is Fishmeat's kingdom. Here they're both at the border of their respective domains, hence the reasonably peaceful picture.

Here's Mr Kissington on the right, the other green kissing gourami. Along with Känkkis of course, who is too curious about what's going on to stay out of the photos.

He doesn't get to visit the bottom of the tank much though, Fishmeat makes sure of that! Hence this is the only Känkkis-free photo in this set. These guys, posing so nicely in a row for me, are three of my horseface loaches (I'm sure you can see where they get the name). The big one in the back was in the previous set of photos too, he's the the oldest at more than 7 years and is nearing 15 cm (6 inches) in length. The two little ones I got 4 years ago. Quite a size difference!

So here we have a few old faces and a few new ones. There's a bunch more fish in the tank I can introduce to you, but let's save some for another time!

February so far: Busy times, dull weather... Mostly.

My my, what a trying month so far. Piles upon piles of homework threaten to drown me and the grey slush pouring from the heavens seems to have the same plan in mind.

The only way to get through it is to try harder to find joy in the little things. The other day I was walking home from uni, feeling tired and hungry, feeling like I'd already had enough of the day. Then I looked up and noticed this view.

There's something magical about lights in the mist, isn't there? Something mysterious and fairytale-like?

After seeing this view and pausing to let my thoughts get lost in the mist for a moment, the day didn't seem so bad anymore.

The snow is here!

I was beginning to think it wouldn't happen, but for once I'm glad I was wrong.

Finally, there's snow!

Photo by Mr Morrgan

Just look at all that white stuff on the ground! Hooray!

Photo by Mr Morrgan

It's actually genuinely cold! Cold enough for me to finally need to wear my Totoro mittens!

Photo by Mr Morrgan

Oh happy day!

(I will no doubt be thoroughly sick of the cold in about a week or so, but hey, best enjoy the excitement while it lasts! Complete with excessive use of exclamation marks!)

A Peek at the Balcony

Already past midsummer and I haven't posted any photos of the balcony garden? Tsk. I'm getting old and slow.

This is not because I'd be unhappy with it for some reason; quite the opposite. I think this is my favourite flower box arrangement yet! Marigolds, lobelias and pansies cover the edges, while a couple of miniature sunflowers are growing in the middle (I grew them from seeds myself, so they're a bit slower to bloom than the rest).

Yes, pansies! This is the first time ever they've survived more than a couple of weeks on our hot and windy balcony. I think the secret was perfect timing with the planting (early enough for them to properly take root before the hot days) and a bit of luck with the weather.

The table basket is looking pretty nice this year too! The stonecrop or Sedum on the left is one that survived winter, whereas the one on the right is a new acquaintance. The leaves on the new one are decorative enough on their own, but I'm also curious to see what the flowers are like. Not long now!

An Afternoon in the Woods

Last Sunday the weather was incredible - sunny, warm, barely a cloud in the sky. In other words, the perfect day to spend outdoors! Mr Morrgan and I prepared a picnic, then out we went.

One bus ride later we found ourselves by a sandy beach. After a much needed ice cream (it was HOT) and dipping our toes in the refreshing water, we headed off along one of the nature trails, wandering along the water's edge.

Eventually the trail lead deeper into the woods. Many fine trees were admired along the way and an equally fine picnic was had once we found a suitable spot.

We ended up spending the whole afternoon exploring the nature trails. Not a bad way to spend a day! =)

A last look at winter

I went out for a walk today, as I often do, with Mr Morrgan (which happens less often). The weather was gorgeous; sunny and warm as if summer was already here. Just the other week it was still cold, wet and miserable, so I'm having trouble adjusting to this sudden, complete change. It feels as if I saw scenes like the one below mere weeks ago. But no, this was taken as far back as February. Months ago. Yikes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have summer again. I look forward to summer! It'll be warm and sunny and totally not depressing! Yay!

But yeah, the unusual way in which the weather went from winter to very late spring in a few days was a bit much for me to adjust to. (I can go outside in a t-shirt now? Woooooah. Where the heck did I put my summer clothes again?)

As you can see, I still have some photos taken on my winter walks, which I never got around to posting. I shall post a couple now and maybe one more a bit later. A last farewell to winter, and then I will hopefully be ready to move on to summer. ;)

Snowscapes Part 2 - By the River

In the past week I had the opportunity to take several long walks along the river here in Turku. The weather was fantastic most days, ranging from bright sun in a cloudless blue sky to mysterious misty mornings. The perfect chance to test out the new camera Santa brought me.

Some brave soul actually dared to go out on the ice.

Winter Morning Mist

Oh winter, you certainly know how to sweep me off my feet.

I predict many more snowscape photos as the week progresses.

Snowscapes

This year the winter has been unusually cold and rich in snow for this part of the country. I absolutely love it. This is the kind of winter I grew up with when living further up north as a kid. The kind of winter that makes the dark season seem worth it. But don't take my word for it; take a look at these pics from the past week or so and decide for yourselves.

What do the great outdoors look like in your part of the world right now?

Sunday Snippets - week 43

I'm trying something new this week by taking part in something called Sunday Snippets:
A collection of photos from your week. No need for words. Let the pictures tell your story.

This week we saw Turku change from a golden autumn city to a winter wonderland.

An awesome savoury pie, with delicious stuff like cold-smoked salmon, pesto, sundried tomatoes, feta etc. Perfect on a cold October day.

The tiniest tomatoes ever! Some of the last food harvested from the balcony.

Turku Cathedral

A chilly-looking visitor on the balcony. (Look at the railing below; an impressive amount of first snow this year!)

Go to {tinniegirl}'s blog if you want to see more Sunday Snippets or join in yourself!

The Grand North American Adventure, part 1: Inauspicious Beginnings

As you may have guessed from the sky photos last week, I spent my autumnal break travelling. Yes indeed, Mr Morrgan and I embarked on a grand North American adventure! First we spent a little under a week in the Boston area on the east coast of USA, then headed up north to Ottawa (and Montréal) in Canada.

Hello America!

Our trip did not begin too well. We were scheduled for a total of three flights, Turku -> Stockholm, Stockholm -> Frankfurt and Frankfurt -> Boston. Well. Our first flight ended up being so late that we arrived at Stockholm airport at the time our next flight was leaving. Much frantic running about with a generally helpless and lost appearance ensued, until a lovely lady managed to get us rebooked for a flight to the US, though to New York, and from New York to Boston.

During our trip, we appreciated literature!

Naturally the gate for this flight was at the other end of the airport, so we once again had to run to make it to our new flight (as it turned out, running would become the theme of this trip). We made it on the flight, though! Alas, our luggage did not. Nor did the information that I needed gluten free food.

We appreciated art!

We arrived in New York well on time and entered the huge security check queue on the way to our final flight, looking at the time and saying silly things like "Oh, we have half an hour. We'll make it through this checkpoint easy."

And history!

Haha, haha, haha. 25 minutes later we were nowhere near the end of the queue. After some more frantic helplessness an attendant let us go through the VIP line to get straight to the security check, but it was in vain. By the time we reached the gate, our plane was taking off. How eerily familiar!

Aaaaaand architecture!

Once again our flight was rescheduled. Interestingly, despite this disaster of a flight, we ended up arriving in Boston only an hour or so late. Sadly, our luggage didn't, so the next day was mostly spent hunting for socks and underpants.

Also, a wee bit of the night life!

Oddly enough, not that many photos were taken over the course of almost 2 weeks, but nonetheless I found I have too many for one blog post, or even two. A total of three posts full of photos is needed to fully describe this adventure, so stay tuned for parts 2 (USA) and 3 (Canada)!