Don't you just love 'em!

My 5 year old son came up to me the other day, clutching a 5 cent piece in each hand. With the most sincere look on his face he said 'Mummy I have far too much money - here you can have this!', handing me one of the 5 cent pieces. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Then today the children were watching a video of Elli when she was about 6 months old. I was in the kitchen getting supper ready when I heard this little exchange - Elli said 'Look there's me and Daddy and Grandma'. Aleksi replied 'Yes and I was in Mummy's tummy'. Elli said back ' Oh no you were still just a star!'
I just love some of the fabulous things the children say, completely natural and innocent - priceless - leaving me with this overwhelming feeling of how lucky I am.

In the crypt

I spent most of yesterday in the crypt of an amazing church in Helsinki - the Mikael Agricola Kirkko. It was the annual bazaar of the Anglican church in Finland. I had a very good day :)
Now I need to get back into felting mode to restock for the 5 day Naisten Messut which starts a week Wednesday! I also have a dragon to finish and a snow men to give eyes and nose to - not enough hours/days. My 'workshop' looks like an explosion in a wool factory - there seem to be clouds of wool escaping from every box and bag and you can guarantee the wool I want will be at the bottom of the pile!
OK time to get back to the needle and foam - robins and trees today!

1 year on...

A year ago, completely out of the blue my, then just 4 year old, son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. There is no family history - it is just 'one of those things' that happen. Well a year later we have all survived!! A few more grey hairs for me, but as I had lots anyway you wouldn't notice. It has been hard at times and I know it will get even harder. But he is well and luckily still in the 'honeymoon' or remission phase. This means his pancreas is still making some insulin, just not enough to cope. How long this will last is anyone's guess but so far so good.
He has adapted so well to the daily regime of blood testing - 7 times a day, insulin injections - 1 morning and 1 evening(plus occasional extras if he is unwell or is going to a party), carbohydrate counting - set amounts at set time, 6 meals a day. His HbA1c today was 6.9 - so his blood sugar levels have been pretty good the last 3 months. The Doctor and Diabetes nurse are happy so on we go. He never complains, he is learning to check his own blood sugar levels and lives life to the full - what 5 year old doesn't! At times it seems so unfair but I guess that's life, it could have been a lot worse and for that I am grateful. We will manage , we will continue to do the best we can to keep him well and we will have good times and bad times. We won't be beaten!

The curse of the smelly washing machine!

Oh boy does it smell - I'm convinced something has crawled in and die. It smells terrible. I presume it is just 6½ of gunk finally making it's presence known. I have done a 90 degree wah with vinegar which loosened up a lot of gunge. Not pleasant to see it floating around the washing machine. Now several rinse cycles later it smell as a little better. I found some washer cleaner at the supermarket so that is now running through. Meanwhile , with no tumble dryer my washing pile is slowly taking over the bathroom again, competing with the drying clean washing. A man is coming Tuesday morning to check out the dryer so fingers crossed he'll get it up and running again. Felting has had to take bit of a back seat at the moment. Aleksi has been home sick (which has sent his blood sugar haywire), the garden needed finally putting to bed before it gets really wintery. That's done so it can snow al it likes now!
We go to the hospital tomorrow for Aleksi's diabetes clinic check up, exactly 1 year since diagnosis. So he has to have a battery of blood tests including the HbA1c and I think they are going to alter his insulin regime. I am pleased to say one year has passed without major incident, no emergencies and no hospital admissions, for which I am very grateful. I know there will be hard times but so far so good. Fingers and toes crossed for tomorrow!
At Aleksi's request I made this as a gift for his diabetes nurse - sugar free candy cane of course!

Good news and Bad news

The Good news is my Camera is mended and back home. For some reason I bought extra insurance for it and now I am so happy I did as the repair would have been expensive without it! The Bad news is the tumbler dryer has broken. Now I know they are not the most environmentally friendly beasts but with 2 small children in the middle of a Finnish winter, believe me, I need one! I am only managing to get through 1 load of washing a day as drying space is limited. My husband is ringing the service people today so fingers crossed we can get it up and running again soon( I hate crispy cardboard clothes!!)
I have just booked a table at the Annual bazaar at the Anglican church in Helsinki (in 10 days time) so I need to get cracking making some more tonttu hats and Christmas decorations. No rest for the wicked they say........

The day after Day 3

Definitely a Sunday morning start yesterday - but gradually everyone woke up and overall another good day! At least I covered my costs of being there which is always a good start! My tonttu hats were my best seller , followed by my needle felting kits! Lots of people wanted just the needles so they will definitely be on my 'to sell' list next time. It is really hard to know what people will like/not like, buy/not buy but it was good experience and I'm now looking ahead to my next sale early December(5 days !!!)
Day off today, well from felting anyway! The washing has taken over the bathroom, the washing up has taken over the kitchen and the kids toys have taken over the whole house :) Coffee and a surf first.........

Day 2

A good day today on many counts. Mr 'footcream' on my right, after a little 'discussion' early on in the day was much more considerate about the space issue and only nearly got poked with a single needle once!! The lady on my left managed to stay awake all day and only needed a couple of prods to alert her to customers! I managed to earn 10 times more than yesterday so am a lot happier. Highlight of the day - an elderly lady, in no uncertain terms, telling mr footcream that she did not want her glasses cleaned as she had done it herself that morning( Mr footcream also sells spectacle lens cleaner!) Just as good was the look of sheer delight on another lady's face as she took home Archie Alien to a new home! Finally a young lad bought Ray the musical note for his guitar teacher - a lady who owns a craft shop spotted Ray and asked if I could make a job lot for her shop. Oh Almost forgot the Russian lady who wants me to give her a couple of private felting tuition lessons - yes , definitely a good day :)

Day 1

An interesting experience on my first day at a large handicraft fair in Helsinki. Lots of people looked, lots of people didn't look(!), lots of compliments, sales total 21 euros, total hours worked 10½, hourly rate 2 euros! However it was fun but exhausting. The space I have is tiny and to my right is a bear of a man selling 'the worlds best foot cream' - in his enthusiastic sales pitch however he kept on bashing into my table causing a cascade of snowmen! He almost got a fully loaded 6 felting needle holder somewhere painful!
On my left is a girl who spent most of the fair asleep, with her customers trying to pay me for her goods and me then spending most of the day nudging her awake to tell her she had customers. What a day....
So back for more tomorrow!

The big day tomorrow

Well tomorrow is it - D Day! My first official attendance as an exhibitor at a large craft fair! Here is the link - http://www.finnexpo.fi/kadentaito/
I am just about organised. I went to the venue this morning to set up my table - no table! A bit of concrete floor space with my number on - 6g22 - and surprise a wall behind my table space! So I have had a rethink and plan to hang some of my pictures as well as my FeltFinland banner on the wall. So an early start tomorrow as I now have to set up the table in the morning. It won't take long thank goodness as it is quite small and my table plan is in my head!
The snowmen and felted folk are packed and I have to admit I am a bit sad to think that they won't all be coming home(hopefully!!!)