Näytetään tekstit, joissa on tunniste living. Näytä kaikki tekstit
Näytetään tekstit, joissa on tunniste living. Näytä kaikki tekstit

Lambs


Visited inlaws on countryside, abt. 70 km from Helsinki. They have two lambs; Blueberry and Shadow as pets. These two are hilarious creatures, they have the best lamb's life ever and they never will have to be afraid that they will be eaten...

Balcony renovation


Our house is bult in 1950, the fiftynine year old balconies have now come to the end of their use and it's time to build completely new ones. When we bought the apartment four years ago, we knew the renovation will eventually start in the next years and now it is the time. Actual work will begin on Monday, but today the beautiful old wine that climbed on the wall was taken down.

We still don't have info how long the renovation will take, but having experinced balcony renovation also in the previous house, I assume it takes about two to three months. Our living room windowns will be covered with plastic, old balconies will be taken down and new ones will be built. They will look exactly the same as the the building represents style of the 50's and changes in look are not allowed.

So, on Sunday I have to take down my balcony mini herb and flower garden and add some new lamps in the living room as it will be vey dark for the next months...
Posted by Picasa

Kiva micro loans

I just made my seventh micro loan to a third world enterpreneur trough Kiva. I learned about Kiva trough a Finnish women's glossy magazine and decided to do something good. My 50 $ has spun around several times, helped store keepers, farmers and cattle keepers around the world to build up their own business and pull out of powerty.

Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.

Jennifer Buhangin from Pilippines is the latest enterpreneur I have supported by joining a group of loaneres.


"Jennifer is 49 years old and married to Felipe, a construction worker. They have a nine year old son named Jeffrey and he is already in grade four. They are six in the family living together with her parents and nieces at Barangay Cutog Grande Reina Mercedes, Isabela.

Jennifer manages a general store business in their village for almost two months. Her income from the business is being used as a rolling capital. She wanted to borrow a loan from Kiva lenders amounting to PHP10, 000.00. She is hoping that her business will grow and become productive for the welfare of her family. She believes that through patience, success awaits in the future."

New York street art

Lower East Side and East Village


Obama poster on Lower East Side.


Store front in East village.



Wall in East Village


East Village bird


For the memory of a beloved friend, East Village

New York stores

New York has huge variety of speaciality stores.



Fishs Eddy on Broadway/19th street has their own designs and a good variety of vintage plates, they also have vintage printing cylinders and rubber glove molds that make interesting home decorations and conversation pieces.




A Red Hook garden center had a great commercial truck.





There are several interesting antique stores on Atlantic Avenue, Boerum Hill in Brooklyn.




6th Avenue and side streets from around 30th to 35th are a beader's paradise.




The Upper Rust on 9th street new Thomson Square Park in East Village has interesting mix vintage and new pieces.

New York cocktails

New York has many excellent cocktail bars, where bartenders or mixologists are specialized in designer cocktails. For example, if you like Gin & Tonic, don't order that, but ask your bartender what gin based cocktail he or she recommends instead. You will be pleasatly surprised!

The most notable cocktail lounges we visited were the following.




Elettaria on 8th street at MacDougal is a dining restaurant, but they also have a bar with a skilled mixologist. He had his own unique signature way to shake the drinks. I had The Simple Life; sparkling wine with fresh fruits, my husband had Martinique Sidecar; rum, Curacao and lemon juice. Very tasty!


Flatiron Lounge is an old cocktail lounge on 19th st, between 5th and 6th Avenues. I had Come Fly With Me, husband had One Inch Punch. It was again a joy to see the bartender to mix the cocktails, he was not just throwing the ingredients together, but making the mixing and his moves a form of art.


The Campbell Apartment on Grand Central Terminal (entrance on Wanderbilt Ave.) is an interesting, "from another era" cocktail bar. It was once the office of American financier and railroad tycoon John W. Campbell.


In Tribeca we had white chocolate martini and champagne cocktail at The Bubble Lounge on corner of N Moore and W Broadway. This was another plush cocktail lounge.

My husband was took interes in mixologism and bought Mr Boston's Official Bartender's Guide in New York. It has recipes for almost 1500 cocktails, so we it will take a while to drink from A to Z.

Orchids




Orchids are beautiful and very easy to take care of, at least the phalaenopsis orchids I have. I sometimes forget to water them for weeks and never have used any fertilizers.

My oldest orchid was a home warming gift 10 years ago, it's still going strong, blooming twice a year. In the short winter days, when all other plants seem to hibernate, at least one of my orchids is in full bloom.