HOME(S)

Or, why we have two.


Sometimes it may seem confusing posting pictures and stories of two kitchens and two different bedroms, from two homes. Where do I-we- really live?

Well, we live both in the apartment uptown in the city, and out on the farm. For me the city home has been my main home, for my husband the farm.


It is not uncommon over here to have a "summer house" or country/weekend cabin, either owned or rented for the summer, often shared within the family trough generation(sisters, parents, uncles aunts and cousins and so on), and often rather plain and simple without running water. Like my family's place in the archipelago, bought in the 1930's, which does not even have electricity, or the small cabin from my grandmother's side. But the farm house is not like that.



Even though we tend to stay out on the farm during the weekends and holidays and practically the whole summer, it's not what one would call a leisure or vacataion house or a weekend home. My husband grew up on the farm and was living there when we met. He now runs the farm with his brother, who live in another house on the premises. So there is a lot of work involved, and Eddi often goes out to the farm after work to work some more, even when we stay in the city.

The farm is about (a little less than) an hour away from town, so it's possible to live there and work in the city.

But why do we then have the flat in town? It of course results in a double set of bills. And it can be a bit annoying dragging  kids and cats andthings between two places. And as I sometimes tend to joke, hard to keep plants alive in two homes.

Well, there area lot of things to it,  but in short it has been the most -and only- practical solution. Eddi's two older boys, now in school and high school,  live with us every second week and their mother lived in the city so they went to school there. Our flat is close to their school, my studio and Eddi's work. And while I was working from 5:30 in the morning or until night in the harbour the shorter the way to work the better.


We rent the flat from my grandmother and after I sold my old small flat downtown we renovated it before we moved in. It's in the same part of town where I grew up in (so we both have ended up in our childhood homes, sort of).


We have been renovating and renewing the farmhouse too, as you know. And as it tends to be with big old houses it is something of a never-ending process, and there is still a lot to do. Like open up the roof and take out some more windows so we can get a few rooms more and more use of the upstairs. And open the floor down to the ground in another room downstairs before it can be renewed...

As we have been renovating the house on the farm we have also been staying there more.  One day we will move there out permanently, as keeping two places and going back and forth is not the most economic solution.  But if that is sooner or later is yet to see, now it's one week at a time.

And well, one week at at time is actually literal, as from the start of this year, with a very short notice - as everything tends to be so from that behalf- the boys moved with their mother (for every second week still) to a small town west of the farm, and now go to school in the countryside. So from now on, for now, we will basically live every second week out on the farm and every second in the city.

Bedside in the city. (this is my most pinned and shared image btw. Sadly not the most credited one...)

THE SUITCASE

One day a long time and some homes ago I found an old suitcase in the trash. One person's trash is another one's treasure indeed -  I would never throw away such a fine suitcase with so many memories on it, but for some it had probably been taking up closet space for too long a time. 

The suitcase was covered in old travel stickers. You don't see that anymore!

I've kept it in our livingroom; it has had magazines and chords in it but for the moment it has no other function than to look nice. Dag ripped some of the stickers off when he was smaller, but many are still left.

I wonder who it was that once traveled to these places and took this suitcase along?

BLACK CATS EVERYWHERE

My youngest sister gave me a set of Polkka Jam pastel cat prints for my birthday (she has a history of giving me cat-tings) that I now put up in the kitchen. I've always liked Polkka Jam's prints and I had always thought of putting something on that wall so these came in handy.


The theme of the prints also serves as a nod to our other kitchen, the one in the farm house, with the rugs and wood stove and so on.

And to the cats of course. But that does not even need to be mentioned.

CHRISTMAS AND ALL THAT

I know it has not really begun yet * although it is just around the corner, and we had the first little hint of snow now, so I did a little cheating and hung up the first Christmas lights at home already! November is so dark anyway, but I did wait with the stars and advent lights so far though. Plus, I have different led-and fairy lights at home all year round so in some ways I sort of have a Christmas all the time (much to the joy of my husband).
*) other than in all the stores, everywhere,  right after Halloween as usual and apparently, as I heard, at Ikea already in October...


Then, because I had some extra banans hanging around (they sometimes tend to do that, become extras that just stay there and turn way too dark all of a sudden) I baked a chocolate-banana cake. Vegan.  It was good. Had it wit the first glögg (mulled wine/glühwein. Altough -yes really- this was the wine free version. More like spiced warm juice  really) of the year to go along. And as I was in the pre-Christmas mood I put some gingerbread spices in the cake too. Muy bueno. We can have a closer look on the how-to some other time.

I have said it before, I really am a Christmas person. The Holidays could last for at least a month and a half for all that I care. Well it usually does, as we seldom manage to get the Christmas tree out before the end of January. Ehrm. But mostly I am a "Christmas person" on the inside - for the past decade I have always been so busy I never manage to do that whole cal-getting-in-the-mood-and-relax-thing, where I have lights and candles and tingling everywhere and bake and make goodies for weeks and make and sew presents to all of my friends and family (one year I actually did, but that was a long time ago). It's more the thought of it I suppose, the same with the thought of autumn where I always wear knits and scarves and go out on walk in colourful crispy cold woods and come back home and drink cocoa. That which I have done perhaps once the last five years. Perhaps.  As with most other things and times and seasons in life, it comes surprisingly fast and is over before you know it. This year will be no different as I have lots of shows to do and classes to teach ahead of me still, and producing no less than two events within two weeks. But then I will try my best to take it easy and bake and prepare and all that and plan, make and shop gifts; I do love to hand out presents!

Speaking of which. This one here is mainly for my readers in Finland; a little hint if you plan to do some, or even some more of your Christmas shopping online, one that I had almost forgotten about myself but that comes in handy this time of year - do so via Ostohyvitys! Sign up and shop. This of course applies to all your purchases all year round as well, as you get various discounts (money refunded to your bank account) at most major online stores, both Finnish and international ones such as Apple Online store & iTunes, asos, cdon, Finnish Design Shop and The Body Shop to name a few, as well as at various smaller speciality stores, when you shop via the site. That, and discounts on many services and on magazine-subscriptions and at several travel companies etc. The system is very smart and it is easy to use - log in and then navigate to the store you want to make a purchase from and receive the discount in euros to your bonus account (and later to your bank account ). Well, as I do very little shopping nowadays I have forgotten to use the service the times I have actually bought something, so this serves as a good reminder for myself as well!

And ahoy! As a reader of my blog you will now get a 10euro gift card to use at any of the S-group stores (S-ryhmä) when you sign up and make your first purchase at any of the stores and services via the site (within 90 days).
Sign up here for more info and in order to receive the gift card: Ostohyvitys / S-ryhmän lahjakortti

Disclaimer: nothing in this post is in any way sponsored or paid for by Ostohyvitys but I am part of their affiliate network and can thus offer you the chance of to receive the gift card.

THE DRAWER SWITCH

Our bedroom, especially the far back corner of it, had turned into something that seemed beyond ever being able to look good and organised again. We had had something of a big nursing table-drawer for when Dag was a baby in the room, that stored his clothes and such, and that stuff and boxes and clothes kept piling up upon. It was black like the windows but never really looked good in the room even without all the extra toppings. One day I was out in the tiny forest behind our building playing with Dag and looking up towards the windows I thought "look at that one window with all the crap in it!". Then I looked again and noticed it was ours. Oh, damn.
The nursing table left by time and got a drawer for all the extra stuff. I liked it but I am however not sure what I was measuring when I got it as it turned out it was a couple of centimetres too high, hitting just under the window but above the window sill. Things like that annoy me more that it probably should. Also, it broke my rule of trying to keep all the shades of wood in a room in the same hue; this one was lighter than my dressing table and String shelf. But all in all it looked fresh and kept my extras away. So Ta-Da! along with getting the rest of the flat in order the two years of not-really-wanting-to-invite-people-over was about to be over!

Well,  my youngest sister and hubby moved to a new house and when we went to visit she was annoyed that the vintage drawer they had got from an auction site did not fit the room they had intended it for, a room with a mint-green and white diamond checked wallpaper. She offered it to us but I had just got that new one for myself. Turns out she had been looking at that same piece online as well... Their vintage drawer was a bit lower and longer than my piece, while the lighter one I had would suit their room better. So, we ended up switching furniture and they both sit rather perfectly where they are now! Everyone is happy!

The drawer is in the same shade of wood as the rest of wooden items the room, and actually has a little more space, so it turned out a good deal.


The checked chest stores my summer/winter dresses off-season. As one basically only needs to put things in and out of it about twice a year even I manage to do so and keep it neat. And although I am the kind of person who should never store anything in boxes (as once I put something into a box, it most likely stays there. Or, then once taken out, won't find it's way back in) I keep the rest of the extras -hair pieces, hats and rollers etc. -in boxes. And so far I have actually managed to use them properly.  In fact, lately I have even been remembering tools and utensils and such that we have stored in the basement, that formerly used to be just a place where things would go to die. Now who says you can't teach an old dog to sit?

Old cats you don't have to teach anything. They will lie wherever they want anyway.

TIDIED UP AT LAST (PLUS THAT HIDEOUS MONKEY I ONCE GOT)

Our flat in the city has looked like a dump for the past year. It's been messed up by unpacked gig-bags of mine, filled with my paperwork and crumbled over with Dag's toys. As we've mainly been concentrating on fixing up and renovating the farm house, and all free time is spent there,  our apartment has been rather sad and forgotten.

But now I  finally got around cleaning it up -to the extent my sister doubtfully asked Eddi why was it so neat there, what's going on? when she came over- and it feels great. I haven't gotten everything I want organised yet, but I'm getting there. And as my nausea from the lost pregnancy is now over I apparently got an energy boos; I even washed all walls and every door in the house. And we might even get around finishing Dag's room now that I'm on fire!


I got some new plants and moved around the placements of the old ones. I always thought that plants are a great, quick and affordable way to freshen up and make a mini-renewal of the interior.

The Helsinki poster we have framed on the wall is one of my favourites by one of my favourites, Erik Bruun.

 If you know your Helsinki you'll love the simplicity of how landmarks and parts of town are portrayed.

Here's my anti-Bojesen monkey btw (and this is a total btw-mention).
It's horrible and not really supposed to be there, but I once hanged it ironically and then it has stayed. You know,  the classic wood design monkey-toy-thing by Bojesen that costs a lot and has no actual function, that people have on, or hanging from shelves (preferably a string one like this). Well, my sister and I have a thing of sending sad stories or links and such to one another. Sometimes it leads to things, like when I once saw a super sad listing for an old teddybear no one wanted and she ended up buying because she just had to. Another time a friend of mine linked me a weird ebay listing for a "hideous monkey" on my wall joking it was Plytis' evil cousin. My sister then sneakily got me the hideous monkey for my birthday the same year. Yes I did scream out in horror a little when I opened the package, before laughing like crazy.


Hideous, ain't it? I have no idea why it looks like this or why anyone would make it so, and sell it, but well, I know why someone bought it.

I can't leave you with the image of the scary monkey so here is a cuter picture of Dag, happily unaware of said monkey, playing in his play kitchen.

SMALL RED ADDITIONS

Dag's room. The one we've been working on only for about 14 months or so. And with working I mean not setting my foot in there apart from hanging up curtains there once in March, doing some occasional messy sewing and storing all my show-suitcases in. So he's still sleeping in our bedroom and playing all over the living room. In fact the whole flat has looked like shit not been too nice looking the last year. I'm too busy with everything and all the free time we spend at the farm. But as autumn always is my kind of new year I have actually done something about it; I've been organising my paper work and such to get it out of that room end elsewhere and started moving some of Dags things into the old study! Step by step, toddler steps.


We got him some basic wood furniture from ikea and pimped them up with some red. I still had some red spray paint left from when painting the heels on my boots red last winter, and coated the legs on the stool (that will work as a night stand) and the knobs on the chest with it. Quick and very painless!


The cat lamp has also finally found a real home. (And soon someone will even live in there!)

THE PLAY KITCHEN

I got Dag a play kitchen!

I fixed it up in town during summer while the rest were on the farm. I bought hooks and a (shower-) shelf with suction fastening to hang stuff on and make the module more like a kitchen.

Dag loves playing with it. Or in it, whichever way you prefer.

Food tasting.

I have to try it too.

Dag got the vintage tin cups and -plates from his friend Pieter in The Netherlands.
The pots and pans and soft veggies and fruits are from Ikea.

The lettuce also doubles as a football on occasion. (The feet of the chairs made great goals.)

I  guess it will be dinner time soon!