SUMMER PATHS

Wild strawberries and strawberries from the fields of my parents.

Ferry rides and curvy forest roads. After a summer storm checking if the tall trees survived.

Warm glimmering waters inside those tall trees.

Warm and sweet, pine scents and first blueberries. The scent of lake water. Could stay in the water until evening.

Birch trees. Last night, Patti Smith told in her concert here, a story how birch trees are girls that danced so long that they turned to birch trees. Dancing forests.

Shadows on silver meadows.

Sunset.

Ninety years old sauna. The cosiest one. Watching as shadows grow taller. A few steps behind to pick a few handfuls of strawberries.

Strawberry fields forever.

DAYS OF SUMMER

Misty mornings at the summerhouse. White curtains so thick, sounds from the other side. Cold hands of the mist around everything, tree branches with drops like rain. Slowly the first sun rays arrive to glimmer on the lake waves. The curtains open, the show begins.

Every day more green, here and there. Yellow and blue flowers. Sleeping inside forests, their melodies. 

Night time swimming. Swans dancing and singing.

Darling friends, ice-cream, ladybirds ♥

Small spontaneous expeditions, many talks.

Almost blooming lily-of-the-valleys, the scent is already here. Fragile, the most refined.

Summer.

Have sweet expeditions!

(1st, 4th and 5th photos by photographer and cinematographer J.V.)

SUNDAY SWIMMINGS

In the pool, while swimming, the sun rays were glimmering. Outside snow was sparkling. The sun warmed through windows and the water was turquoise.

Surprise visitors from behind a sea, beautiful music and long breakfasts. Many smiles.

Happy February! Helmikuu, Pearl Month. Helmikuu helistää, February rattles. February is the coldest month in Finland. Pearls appear on tree branches as the sun starts to shine more, it warms and melts the snow to raindrops and the evening cold freezes them again. Ice pearls are hanging on all tree branches.

Have a sweet beginning for the new week!

ASPEN YELLOW

Black landscape to bicycle in the evening to a summerhouse. Rain looked in the light of my bicycle like snow. Long white lines from the sky. In the morning all the tones of yellow in aspen trees. Light playing and colouring them in neon, in earth and transparent tones. A morning swim of a moose calf, passing the dock and vanishing behind the lake tule.

Raking a bit, colouring the landscape back to green from all the yellows. This morning the rain greeted and the ground was yellow again. Nature likes its own order better. I like it too. First small dots of yellow all over, then a thick carpet.

Have a sweet new week!

THESE SUMMER NIGHTS

Warm summer nights to be spent in parks, in harbors, bicycling home before the thunder arrives. Stopping to swim on the way.


More thunder in the air, still sunny. Time enough for one more swim.


Soft shadowed Sunday greetings.

ROWING BEFORE THE RAIN CAME

Before other trip greetings, some lake scented moments from yesterday.


Rowing around small islands. Birds catching fish, bright yellow fields in the distance. Gazing the thunder clouds going around, swimming in rain.


Happy new week!

POSTCARDS FROM THREE SOUTHERN CITIES BY TRAIN, CHAPTER I, THE LAST STOP, THE SEA

Greetings from the South! Sunshine, warmth, new fresh tastes, scents of salty sea and lavender. Pebbles and steep staircases under feet. Dark nights. Warm waves, wind in hair. Tasting the sea from a finger tip to believe that it really is a sea. Clear waters. Turquoise color.


Three Southern cities by train, a small summer holiday. Every trip should have a lighthouse on its way. The last stop of this trip ended by the sea. 


Already feeling unreal.


The sun shines and warms back here at home. Swimming waters getting warmer too. Light in the summer nights.

FROM LAKE TO LAKE

From strawberry bushes to blueberry bushes. To raspberry bushes. Drying leaves for tea. Own onions, herbs. Freezer filled also with mushrooms. Always in between a morning or an evening swim. Small trips by boat or a kayak. A water bird diving under while paddling. This morning a rooster sang the morning melodies from the other side of the lake. Hello August!

P.s. Dear L, was so lovely to meet you & have that warm promenade. Hopefully soon again!

A MIRROR MIDDLE OF A FOREST

22 pm, after a hot day. A crane singing in the woods. A small duck swimming middle of the high grass. The forest pond is like a mirror.

Summer greetings from a night swimmer.

RAIN OF GREEN

Just a small reminder (to myself) that under all those puffy blankets of starry snow, green things do happen. Just a bit later.

Greetings from happy drawing hands,

♡

1. Reykjavík, 2007 (Happily walking home with a bagful of nice comics from the best library.)

2. Þórsmörk, 2004 (The hottest day of that summer, glaciers were melting so quickly and we were a bit worried if we get over a river.)

3. Hveragerði, 2004 (Walked as long as the hot and cold rivers were combining the water perfect to swim. Ate pie laying on the grass.)

BARE FEET TO THE SUMMER POND

Hello dear you,

A summer forest pond appeared on my desk while painting many other things this morning. Maybe this pond lies very near to the spring pond. Surely it is possible to walk bare feet and swim silently there listening the wind in the tree tops and birds on the branches. Surely it is possible to stay there only very few, but surely one can stay there all the day and all the night too: the sun does not set anymore almost at all. Shadows are short and pale. Maybe a small bonfire can be collected to have some company, brittle cracks of burning wood and scent of fire, scent of home.

How are you?

Have a pretty day!

SPRING SEA

This was supposed to be a winter picture, but all in a sudden it feels more like spring and like a sea with its whirls of waves. Sea makes me to think of a wise author and a translator, who travelled with cargo ships over the seas and oceans working the same time. She said how important it is to know how to swim and how important it is to trust that the water carries us when thinking about life. That is good to remember.

Finally I am launching my own company. It is still some time to wait for all the paper work. There will be a small online shop too. I think some twigs are tickling inside my tummy because it is too early and cold for butterflies.

Lovely time: a new beginning, spring, sunset, middle of the week and just before dinner.

Enjoy this moment!