Summer decorating (part one)

Hi,
Summer goes by so quickly I do hope we get an indian summer though!
Anyway I finally got round to paint my livingroom white. A job I had been putting off for a few years. But now I am very pleased with it and it invites me to find new things to put on the wall.
Here a picture of my small hall which opens up to the living room.

My sitting corner with pictures of the brilliant balletdancer Sylvie Guillem on the wall. The table belonged once to my mother. I painted it black for a dramatic effect. The bamboo chair was also painted by me and my mom made a cushion for it.
Sorry for the dark picture, but this is the view from my bedroom. I love the smell of lavendel!
This is the dining area. I received the table from a dad's friend, the chairs I got from my dad. At the back a painting my parents gave me when they got divorced.
Some plants at the window and I love the Laura Ashley lamp. If you look carefully my curtains are actually blankets from IKEA.
I painted the kitchenwalls applegreen/ limegreen. In real life the colour looks better. It goes so well with the white kitchen. Basilicum and strawberries still going strong. The mintleaves are very small this year.
I will put some pictures of my bathroom, toilet and the study in a future blog. Oh and a view from my balcony!

Suomi - Finland

Terve,
As they say in Finland. Just back from one of my two native countries. I took the first picture when working on my tan at one of the beaches around Helsinki. I couldn't agree more. Sorry for all you Greece - fans, but for me it is way too hot in the summer, too touristic and too crowded.
The Finnish flag makes me emotional it means so much to me. Nature, trees, lakes, berries, blue skies and the sea.
Here I am enjoying the view on one of the thousand little islands around Helsinki. The sky is thick with smoke from Russian bushfires, you could even smell it, scary! Islandhopping on a little motorboat is just the max!
Nature is everywhere present and this horse reminded me of the fun I had as a teenager horsebackriding...
This little sparrow caught my attention with her little 'tjelp' how cute is that???!!!
Funny shadow of "Mannerheim" against Kiasma, the museum of modern art , the spell of the night!
Helsinki has a very distinctive architecture. I loooove to walk the streets up and down and marvel at the visioners who gave the city its look!
This picture is the summum of all Finland is to me in the summer; silence, nature, solitude, sun, fresh air, and lovely wooden houses.
As I lived my childhood years in Finland I do not see the place with the eyes of a tourist, to me it is ... home! Heippa!

sing singer!

I bought my very own sewing machine in the sales, a SINGER!
Now I am not depending on my mother's machine. I'll be able to sit in front of my singer when ever I feel like it ! The introduction was shortenign a long coat I have from Laura Ashley, veeeeeeery beautiful but a bit unpractical as it was ancle length.
So I put scissors in it and I let my new singer sing and voilà I have a nice practical jacket and two pieces of funky material to work with. Yes, I can!