Helena-Reet: Ivanka’s 14th birthday, Love Day, Ardo’s birthday and LOTS OF GARDENING TALK and PHOTOS!
NordenBladet – Good morning! Make sure to find some time now, since this blog is going to be a long one! Celebrations in our home again! Namely, my younger daughter is 14 years old today. Estella and Ivanka have their birthdays exactly two years and one week apart. Estella Elisheva was 16 years old on May 16th, and Ivanka Shoshana is 14 years old today on May 23rd. We have always celebrated their birthdays together, on the last weekend of May or the weekend before. This year we celebrate on May 29th.
We woke Ivanka with gifts, flowers and birthday song and I festively lay the table before she went to school – as always, a homemade cookie cake was not missing from the table. It gets more and more difficult to make presents to the children because they already have everything. Actually the thing is that on ordinary days they get more new things than on birthdays because we buy the things whenever there is a need for that and not when there is the „duty” to do so.
Usually, every year, Ivanka Shoshana has let me know what she wants for her birthday (mostly soft toys) but this year she didn’t know what to wish. Thus we had to figure it out on our own. One day I played music from my phone to the spekers and asked her to choose the music what to listen to. She searched from YouTube and found Liis Lemsalu. Then I got the idea that one gift could be Liis Lemsalu’s concert. I gave a hint to Margus. Margus then immediately ordered a Liis Lemsalu fan T-shirt and took concert tickets for the end of May. Besides, Ivanka went to play table tennis with her Dad, also went to the museum and got the game Wonders of the World. We gave her a sports watch, necklace and an hour of massage.
(Blog continues after the photo gallery and in between)
I now move backward towards the beginning with the news.
Yesterday was again the 22nd or Helena-Reet’s and Allan’s day or Love Day or Lasagne and/or whipped cream cake day ❤ ❤ ❤ . We woke up early – birds were singing and the sun was shining and hands were itching to start with gardening works. For breakfast I made fresh sea cabbage salad and along with it freshly pressed orange juice, and for dinner we had of course the lasagne that I had made.
The recipe for sea cabbage salad has been created by myself and those of you who like fish/seafood, then grab a pencil and write it down because it is really the BEST! Yum!
You will need:
1 pack (500g) Kapten Grant’s natural sea cabbage salad
1 pack (380g) Alma 5% classic cottage cheese
2 cans (2 x 185g) chopped tuna fish in brine or in tomato sauce
4 tomatoes (chop into cubes)
80-100g peeled pumpkin seeds
For garnish a strawberry and a primrose!
PS! You may like this idea or not but the food always tastes better when it has been beautifully served. Table cloth, flowers in a vase, self made clay dishes, a beautiful paper or cloth napkin, well served food. I always place the food on the plate beautifully and add garnish. Spring is a great time for that, since in the garden there are already several herbs (oregano, thyme, chives, etc) and flowers are also suitable for garnish (currently there are primrose, dandelion and pansy, soon there will be fireweed, lilacs, cornflower, lavender and marigold, etc)
Let’s continue on the topic of birthdays and celebrations! On Friday, 20 May we celebrated in O’Learys in Tallinn Ăślemiste Center Allan’s brother’s Ardo’s 45th birthday! We played bowling and Shuffleboard.
Now about the garden and gardening! FINALLY the weather is warm and it’s possible to work in the garden! Life in the countryside is sooo cool!
This year spring came late. April still had night frosts, snow and sun all interchangeably, mainly we could cut the branches, build the stack for firewood, and rake. Now in May I have already been able to work in the garden. Last year Allan made me two wooden flowerbeds which were taken into use this year. I sowed salad, dill and onion and planted chives, oregano, thyme and peppermint that had already been pre-grown. Afterwards I gazed happily at the beautiful result for an hour! It is such a good feeling to look at things you have done with your own hands. That feeling when you are sweaty from head to toe, muddy but satisfied. After gardening works I walk several circles in the garden and simply look at what has been done, a hundred times, I smile to myself, enjoy it and feel endlessly happy. There’s no other way in the nature and in the garden. The nature liberates you and makes you happy!
Besides herbs I also planted flowers to the flowerbeds and pots – white and lilac chamomile, „Cardonna” sage, Arends rockfoil (white and light pink), lavender, daffodils and marigolds. I also replanted some lilies. Unfortunately, most of the lilies that I planted last year, went out. Now I am wiser when choosing flowers. It’s good to ask before buying, which flowers will endure the Northern winter and which will not, and for the sake of saving money it is wise to plant to the flowerbeds the permanent plants, not seasonal plants.
Allan had pregrown the flower seeds and made me a flowerbed! I hope something will come out of it finally. He was smiling widely and glowing with happiness when he made the flowerbed. It’s going to be a Toots-flowerbed, including different things like marigolds (Calendula officinalis L.), dahliae (Dahlia pinnata Cav.), tobacco flower (Nicotiana alata Link and Otto), sage (Salvia splendens Sellow ex Schult.), dragon flower (Antirrhinum majus L.), and zinnia (Zinnia elegans dahlienflora)…
There has been more planting. From Palivere we brought lilies-of-the-valley and planted them home under the fir trees. Besides, we bought from Juhan’s plant business and Hortes gardening center young bushes – beautiful yellow forsythia (Forsythia Minigold) and pink-blossomed Spiraea japonica „Magnum Rose”. Every year we add something to the garden. Me and Allan we are both great fans of gardening and this is one thing that bonds us together – we love being in the garden and in the nature, it is fun to plan together, design together and care for the garden together. Like A.H. Tammsaare said – work hard and labor, then comes love 🙂
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT GARDENING EVENT… on May 13th we planted in the garden two mother-and-father trees – two oak trees „Fastigiata”. Now we have in the garden personal trees for Estella, Ivanka, and my mother and my father!
It seems I must post blogs more often, since it is difficult to reflect on everything all at once… still several things are left out 🙂 But that’s all for this time… I’ll now go outside to mow the lawn!
Do read also my previous blog posts (all posts are available in four languages – Estonian, Finnish, Swedish and English!)
Recent blog posts:
Helena-Reet: Two years with Allan! + Estella’s admission to MUBA, performing with Georg Ots Symphony Orchestra and 16th birthday!
Helena-Reet: Summary of March and April
Helena-Reet: My magical 22.02.2022 + BEAR MARKET AT STOCK EXCHANGE, NEW PAINTING, NEW RECIPE!
Helena-Reet: Airobot IPO, Stockfanatt, cyber attack, comedy show Jokker, Eesti laul 2022, NEW PAINTING and a lot more interesting!
Helena-Reet: Waking up with excitement, living to the fullest, NEW PAINTING AGAIN and an overview of tonight’s non-alco beer testing
Helena-Reet: SHOULD I get a “winter home” in Spain, about cultural events, and about the new Mouse painting + GALLERIES!
Helena-Reet: Shocking documentaries, my wonderful life + OUR TODAY’S NEW YEAR’S EVE!
Helena-Reet: Christmas + BIG GALLERY added
Helena-Reet: Today’s blog – Wonderful life in the countryside, operetta “The Merry Widow” in Estonian National Opera, Paintball, 2 birthdays and ginger bread season!
Helena-Reet: In Tartu V SPA and in Vorbuse, the Comedy Estonia “Autumn Tour” and plenty of other exciting things!
Helena-Reet: COMPLETE overview of my week and AHH, MEN, HOW GOOD IT IS THAT YOU EXIST!
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