in the mood to procrastinate

three days have gone by of my free week. i'm supposed to memorize and know by heart, a hundred and twenty five trees and bushes for a test that's coming up a couple of weeks from now. but so far all i have done is watch episodes of "magandang buhay", search for interesting recipes online, play with Amanda, walk with Fasu and just a while ago, i prepared a blueberry cheesecake for dessert. 

i know that i have a lot of catching up to do but somehow my excuses are stronger than my motivation. 

i have to change my mindset soon. it's a must!

Arboretum winter trip

i have been looking forward for this trip to the Arboretum since our teacher informed us about it. so today, i put on my warmest clothes to stand the snow and cold for a 2-hour tour. we made our way through the Picea's, Larixes, Abies', Juniperus', Pinus, Thuja's and so on. this place is so wonderful in the winter and i'm sure it's equally beautiful in the spring and summer when the rhododendron's will be in bloom.

 metsän kirkko

 

 into the woods - Larixes and Pinus'

 kesähortensia

 kuusi (but what kuusi? ...gosh, i forgot already!)

the hedge-mowing day

after a 5-day break, we started our week back to school with hedge-mowing. we practiced how to start the mowers, the fuel that are used in them and the battery packs, before our teacher made us do the work. the machines were quite intimidating at first, and never have i ever thought that i could actually handle them. 

 here's Anu, modelling one of the hedge mowers that we used.

 teaming-up to trim this hedge

 Jouni took his task seriously. A+ student!

i really enjoyed the mowing day! i'm so happy that i learned something new ^_^

weeds

it has been three weeks already since i started with the gardening school. this week is our "etäviikko", which supposedly means that we have to study on our own. 

a week from now, we will have our first test. our knowledge about weeds will soon be measured. what a scary thing!

of course, our teacher gave us a list and pictures of some (82 of them) weeds that we really have to know. i never cared about weeds before (or does anyone truly care about them?). but now that i have come to recognize a few of them, i feel so glad whenever i see them when i walk to the grocers or just walking around with Fasu. 

it's not so easy to recognize them, though. some of them look all the same! then i remember our teacher saying that, to know the weeds better, you have to feel them, feel their leaves, smell them, or even taste them (uhhh, that i refuse to do). but yes, it helps! i like feeling the furry leaves, soft leaves...but not "nokkonen" or nettle because it burns. i think, that's the first weed that i've known because of that painful mark that it gave to me. 

in our little garden (that we haven't fixed yet), all kinds of weeds have found their home there. i downloaded the pictures that our teacher sent to us, and for some hours a day, i would go out and scroll the pictures on my phone to check if i found the right weed. sometimes, i look like "pokemongoer" because when i see some weeds while walking, then i have to stop and scroll on my phone. 

ugh! how i wish i can remember all their names. that's all i wish for now....

from the harbor and back

it was a gloomy day to go skiing and my mood was as gray as the sky when we left Niemi to Selkä Saari. i still couldn't find my balance and fell a lot. plus catching up with Fasu and Jukka was a real effort. but when we got the island and i looked back, i felt so glad that i didn't quit.

 a view of Lahti harbor from the island

 

arrived at Selkä Saari with a hungry tummy.

Jukka's starting the fire so we can grill

our makkara. 

 with the love of my life

 pretty Fasu is ready to go back to the harbor

 ready to ski...

and fall

 after our skiing trip, the captain drove

to the nearby hill, a.k.a. Mukkula Kartano,

so i can slide down the hill. it was so much fun! 

the best part was when we slid down the hill together.

 Jukka surprised for me. 

a sliding board!

i just love my captain!

sun and snow

 

fasu and i had a perfect day running around 

the ruotsalainen jarvi. 

Ski Games 2016

although the ski jump competition was cancelled on saturday evening, i still enjoyed being at salpausselkä, cheering with the crowd from all over the world and being a good follower to whatever the dj asked the people to do. it was a lovely evening,  filled with warm kakao and mint vodka, great company and fantastic fireworks!

 kiitos paljon, kivasta kokemuksesta, Leena and Dani

 something big is coming next year...abangan!

 the outdoor bar, where we consumed our warm kakao and vodka!

aaahhhh! amazing!

i'm looking forward to next year's games. i hope the wind won't show up then ^_^

maaraw na naman!

it's nice to walk to school when it's so light and bright outside. seeing the sunrise gives me the energy that i need for a long day at school ;)

  after school, i passed by the park and my eyes feasted on such wonderful sights!

 

 when i got home, i looked out the window and saw this. 

mmmm...something's cooking in the sky...

 

 

ystävänpäivä

had time to play with my energetic friend, Fasu. she's just as crazy as i am, when it comes to snow.








   

 just asking her, if she wants to build a snowman

awwww...aren't they sweet?

valentine apples in prisma 

  

sushi and sangria with my wonderful latina and latino friends. me no hablar espanol, but entender un poco.

 sushi in the making...

with Juliana and Maria

buen provecho!

  

after my sushi date, i went home to check on my babies then ate jammie and matti picked me up for a rather unusual v-day date.

got this stamp before getting in the moottoripyörämuseo. i love it!!! made me think to have this kind of tattoo.

so this is where the burlesque show happened.

in Riku's bar. 

it was entertaining...it was a surprise that

the women are more appreciative than men, though.

through it all, the best part of this day,

was going home

to my loves, Amanda and Fasu, and

cuddling with them...

we're just missing our daddy who's in Barcelona now.

bold star part 2

this building used to be a cotton factory in tampere, but now it is one of the heavenly places to go in the winter time.  jukka's parents happen to be members of the club and get to spend a week in here. and we were lucky to be invited to join them.

we got a ride from leena and dani. the almost 2-hour drive to (especially from) tampere was so entertaining. although i slept for some minutes of it (what can i do? i just love to sleep when traveling!) it was snowing when we came to tampere and it felt so nice to be swept away by the wind and snow when getting out of the car.

 

 Mummo was so happy that the family was almost complete this year. the apartment was full of laughter and chit-chats. and of course, it was more fun when we all went to the sauna and pool. i even tried the "avanto" five times. there's nothing more refreshing than dipping into a 4- degree pool of water.
 

 
after indulging into too much coffee, minna's homemade laskiaispulla (oh, so delicious!), candies and chips and chats, we took off for a 2-hour drive back home.

i had so much fun this day, something that i will always have in my memory. even if i get alzheimer's someday, i wish that today's memories won't vanish.

...and to wrap the day, i made a snow angel. it had been snowing in lahti while we were gone and i figured it was just the perfect time to make a snow angel.