90

There's a tradition in Finland that took me a while to get used to...(simply because I would forget each year!):

The birthday boy or girl brings cake to the workplace/school to allow others to help celebrate their birthday...Especially multiple-of-ten birthdays, like this one.  My classmate turned 20 today! (egads...half my age!! )  Happy Birthday, H!

(tjog(20)/twenty)

89

Some toys are fun for Mamma, too :D

(leksak/toy)

88

We had a "stay indoors" day today...which in theory is a good idea, but the kids get cabin fever and start climbing the walls.  This, of course, means that they need 'structured' activity...and a good one to fall back on when Mamma doesn't have much energy, is the bubble bath!

(fot/foot)

87

My head is pounding with a headache that's been hanging on for over a week...only difference today is that I've run out of pain meds...

The above info has no importance to today's post, other than to explain the randomness and lack of story to it (and lack of bright, jarring colours:D)

(kvällspromenad/evening stroll)

86

I've managed to use up many of the colour themes so far in this challenge..."luckily" I still had this one left:

(grön/green)

This is what happens when Mamma has a little nap during the day and the kids are left to play freely! LOL

(luckily, they were washable markers and extremely easy to get off!!!)

85

This is how I found the twig...the shadow it cast really caught my eye.

(båge/bow)

84

One of the trades at our school is Gardening...as in caretaker of commercial greenhouses etc. Among maaaany things they get to learn is flower arranging, and sometimes we get treated to some gorgeous arrangements on our cafeteria tables...

This is something not all students (eg. the teenage boys studying to become modern day lumberjacks/tree cutters) seem to appreciate...

I found this twig of eucalyptus outside in the snow, after having been pulled out from one of the cafeteria table decorations by someone who obviously didn't appreciate it's beauty.

(löv/leaves)

83

Moffa needed to take the train down to Helsinki to catch his flight back to Canada.  I drove him to the train station, and took Munchkin along for the ride since it would be exciting for her to see a train up close...and I took the camera along for some great shots of trains and crowds.

Why then, may I ask, could I not find a single train or passenger at the train station?

(borta/gone)

82

Ok...yeah, I know...another winter/skating shot.  But I thought her expression was just hilarious!

(arg/angry)

81

 Some socks and sweaters having a rest...

 (ull/wool)

80

This is "Moffa"...my dad.  If your first impression is "oooohhhh...he looks a little crazy", you'd be right ...but, crazy in a good way, of course (well, ok...most of the time ;D)!  Today, he decided to teach the kids the fine art of snowball war...

(galen/crazy)

79

The kids got binoculars with their H*ppy Me*l...they were a huge hit, but greatly interfered with Munchkin's wearing of sunglasses, which she insisted on today.  She wanted to wear glasses like Boy, Mamma, and Moffa today when we were out and about :D

(glosögd/cross-eyed or boggle-eyed)

78

Must be some valuable windows!

(galler/grating or bars)

77

Still working on those kitchen chairs...

(maskinellt/machine produced)

76

I imagine this would make a kitchen chair or two... ;D

(trä/wood)

75

Not sure what, exactly, it is I like about this shot...but I love looking at it!

(båt/boat)

74

After having received such a pretty flower, I felt inspired to share one too...

Isn't it amazing how a bit of colour and light can affect one's mood so powerfully?

(färgglatt/colourful)

73

Forgive the dustiness of the phones...if they were mine, I would've cleaned them off before taking a picture. :D  However, it felt wrong to start dusting them, since I was visiting people I didn't know so well...I didn't want to seem like I was insulting their housekeeping habits!

(telefon/telephone)

72

I'm so in love with these almost forgotten and abandoned hay barns that are scattered all over Swedish Finland's country side.

(ödslig/desolate)

71

Been feeling pretty uninspired, so I searched the archives for something pretty :)

(börjar på D/starts with D)

70

We got more of this stuff today...sigh.  On the positive side, though...it IS melting...slowly but surely :D

(is/ice)

69

I'm so unbelievably thankful that I didn't have to be a woman of the 1950's...

(förbannad/pissed off)

68

I met a 6-toed cat (yes...it looks like 5, but don't forget to count the "big toe")

(sex/six)

67

The memorial service I went to this weekend was for a wonderful man, who died too early in life...of cancer.  His name was Nikolai.

(gul/yellow)

66

Sometimes even a bit of graffiti can be interesting to look at!

(blå/blue)

65

No story behind this one...just a plain silhuette...

(silhuett/silhuette)

64

Munchkin felt sad because our poor snowman had lost his carrot nose...

  ...so she decided to give him a hug...I think maybe it made him feel a little happier.

 (är kärleken besvarad?/is the love mutual?)

63

Seriously.  Enough already!

 

(vinter/winter)

62

I have no idea what it says on here...hope it's nothing naughty!

(fönster/window)

61

After yesterday's completely boring and uninspiring snow shot, I figured I could at least post a pretty pic of snow :D

(fem/five)

60

Yep...ok...this is undoubtedly the most boring photo I've submitted so far.  But, this is gonna have to be my monthly location since I haven't found a better one ;D.  This was taken today, the last day of February.

But, no fear...I promise it will (at some point) become a better photo! LOL

(februari/February)