Finnish What You Start

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and there’s still so much for me to finish! I had agreed with my Mum to make her a flower-based doily and I’m still working on it. Okay.. in fairness I’ve had a bit of distractions. The month of May is a very busy on in my family many birthday’s and celebrations beyond just Mother’s Day. Do you ever get those months that it seems like everything just piles up in that ONE month… like hello… did someone forget to advise there are another 11 months some of this stuff could have fallen into?! With that aside, some of my distractions included an off-side project for Mother’s Day. You see, besides my Mother and of course like any other biased person out there I believe my Mother to be the best-est person out there!! ❤   But my Mum’s friend, and her family have always been in my life and I know them best as a second family. So this year I wanted to do something different. I wanted to sew a simple tablecloth for my Mum and our Family Friend’...

Alright, so I decided I am going to reveal who I am. Feels a bit like I’ve been playing on that reality TV show – the mole, haha, or something equivalent. I decided I will reveal myself because I am now wanting to link my blogging account to some of my other things and well – my name is revealed on those platforms so would be strange if it is hidden here. My name is Lenita Marxsen. I am a proud Mum of a near one-year old, and it’s just our little family of three, thus including my Husband. Of course, if I’m talking about family get togethers, well, that’s a fair dozen plus more people included. Not to mention all the family I have back in Finland ❤ (Of course, I select a photo where my local hairdresser is creating something wonderful with her talented hands into my hair! See creativity everywhere we look!) Now, with that out of the way. I decided this time’s post will include two different crafty projects I had recently been working on and recently ‘invented’ – if that is...

This year Easter was the most beautiful and delightful time. Autumn was well underway with eerie rainy weather and it was our Son's first Easter.  In the past, my family would celebrate Easter with a variety of Finnish warm casseroles served at lunch with a dessert made mostly of rye flour, water, orange rind and molasses. It was called Mammia. It is an acquired taste and often served with cream and sugar, though I prefer it with just milk. I absolutely love this dessert! And is something that get's me pumped up for the family get together haha. Although I have no idea how to make it.  The unfortunate part of our Easter get together's with extended and expanding families is the difficulty to produce these warm casseroles, and so the families have opted to have take-out food instead. Though not this year. At least not for me. I asked my Mum if we could just between the two of us share in making a casserole each and the beautiful meat gravy to share between our fami...

Isn’t it just lovely to live in a community where your presence is loved and cared for? This use to be just what I sampled day in, day out. Until I moved. We moved into a neighbourhood where I guess the different cultures just don’t partner up well. Though on that note, when the time came when Hubby and I were searching for a new place to live my old neighbours asked if I could come back to live near their vicinity! Isn’t that something? To be missed like that! Well although we didn’t get a home near to my old neighbourhood, I still get to see the old neighbours often when we visit at my parents. So that’s just as good! But those neighbours are just so wonderful, and that’s what I’m keen to share about! Quite often the residents in each of the homes on that street help each other out. Sharing their own knowledges, experiences, ‘trade goods’ with one another. That’s what I call reliable team-work! Then this one day, one of the neighbours needed some icing sugar. Such a...

Not even winter yet and I’m keen on trying different soups. I had a bunch of capsicums that needed using and with that bunch I put them towards an omelette and some other foods mostly salads, but it wasn’t until I was finished using them all I thought, I should have made a soup! The next time I visited at the grocery store I was sure to buy another bunch of red capsicums! Here’s the soup recipe I created as I went along; Ingredients: ·        4 red capsicums, chop edges off and roast in 180 ⁰ C oven for between 10-15 minutes (until the skin softens, browns and wrinkles), then dice. ·        1 tbsp butter ·        1 tsp garlic clove, crushed ·        1 brown onion, diced ·        1 tsp paprika ·        Salt, pepper and chilli powder (to taste) ·        ...

Isn’t it wonderful how we live in an age we’re technology can produce such inspiration?  Recently my Husband, who self admits has no creative talent when it comes to pencil in hand, happened to come across (via my Pinterest account) some drawing tutorials. At first when he asked for a pencil, I thought he was going to make markings on some wooden manly tasks in the garage. Then he informed not to pay attention to what he was doing, as he asked for a scrap piece of paper to … draw on . What? You want to draw on paper? I supplied a booklet for him to doodle in. After a few hours he asked me to come look and on different pieces of paper he had drawn small little pictures onto! He began to explain how he managed to draw them, and it was through drawing tutorials whereby the use of a letter from the alphabet could create something much bigger. These are known as “How to draw from letters (or numbers)” So for example the letter ‘a’ produced in his search an alligator. Now the ...

Story time! About the unique shape of a pear I found in the packet I recently purchased. Please enjoy story below picture. Veridian, Esmerelda and Jade Pearheart grew up in the same tree since they were seedlings. Esmerelda always had her heart set on other things. Her sisters tried to advise how a pear can only ever be a pear. She never listened, always speaking in a soft sweet tone, as she drifted off enviously watching the fruits in the banana plantation for their slender appearances. Or the playfully cute strawberries for their fit looking shoulders and slimming down to petite leg-like structure. There were even the cheeky cherries, often found in a pair or small bunch blushing up against each other. Like the grape family who would always travel by the bunch and form these amazing figures. What fun everyone else seemed to share, but not Esmerelda. She was forever going to have a large, rotund bottom with a small waist and nothing enviable in her upper section. It was ...