Hello lovely peeps,
A Very good morning to you all. Here is my postcard for today:
It comes to me from Finland and it features Jean Sibelius' house, from the film "Jean Sibelius at Home" 1927 and the book of the same name (2010, 2015).
Wikipedia writes: Jean Sibelius, orig. Johan Julius Christian Sibelius, (born Dec. 8, 1865, Hämeenlinna, Fin.—died Sept. 20, 1957, Järvenpää), Finnish composer. He played violin and composed as a child, and later he studied composition with Karl Goldmark (1830–1915). After initially concentrating on chamber music, he rapidly developed into an orchestral composer. He became involved with the movement for national independence from Russia, and his nationalism resulted in works based on Finnish folklore, such as Kullervo (1892), the Karelia suite (1893), Legends from the Kalevala (1893), and Finlandia (1900). His major achievements were his seven symphonies (1899–1924), the Violin Concerto in D Minor (1903), and Tapiola (1926). His works, marked by a sweeping but melancholy Romanticism, achieved international popularity. He wrote nothing in his last 30 years.
The house is called Ainola, which means Aino's place. Aino being Sibelius' wife:
Aino Sibelius in 1922
Again from Wikipedia: From the time of their engagement, Aino and Sibelius had talked about getting a house of their own in the country, and had looked for a house near Lake Tuusula as early as 1898. When Sibelius's wealthy bachelor uncle died in July 1903, they bought about 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) of land in Järvenpää near Lake Tuusula, using Sibelius's share of his uncle's estate to pay the architect. Lars Sonck was chosen to design their house, which they called Ainola. The Sibelius family moved there in the autumn of 1904, having borrowed a substantial amount of money to buy the land and build the house.
The house has been a museum since 1974.
The stamps are pretty:
I like the odd-shaped 5 cents stamp.
Today we are celebrating T-Day by having a T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. We need a drink for that. Well, I'm bringing coffee. I make a cup of coffee as soon as I wake up. it needs to be a quickie so I use Nescafé ('Gold' is the only instant coffee I like):
But as soon as I come home from Pilates or the gym or whatever I was doing that morning, I will make proper coffee.
I have two types of coffee:
I like the Colombia but it is not always easy to find as I live in a small rural village. I store my coffee in the fridge. Yes, weird, I know, but it is an old Italian habit that I haven't shaken.
I make my coffee in a French press:
This is a small one for one person.
Then I heat milk up in the 'frother':
It comes out all frothy and fluffy like in a bar.
Enough about coffee. It's been cold here:
But at least the sun is shining:
Ronnie the cat is doing well. He still vomits occasionally, which annoys me no-end as he always does it at night, in the bed. (He sleeps on top of the bed at the bottom) He wakes me up in the middle of the night making gagging noises and then I have to throw him off the bed as quickly as I can or he'll vomit all over my duck-down duvet. (I've already had to have it dry cleaned once and that is expensive).
Apart from that he is an absolute darling:
That's all for now.
Happy T-Day all,
Hugs,
Lisca
12 comments:
If I ever get to Finland I want to visit that house. I would like to visit there since my grandfather and his family came from that country. I also love that blouse Aino is wearing. And you have quite the coffee routine. I don't drink coffee but I do like coffee flavoring in milk, ice cream or my protein shakes. I hope it warms up for you. And happy T day and week ahead Lisca. hugs-Erika
I sadly cannot drink coffee anymore, only if lots of milk is added. Other my stomach flips.
-2C here, cannot wait for Spring! Have a great T-Day, hugs (after all Tom let us know today is hugging day! Not only national, in my eyes)
Our thermometers this morning are also at around 0° — but our scale is F not C. On your thermometer that would be -18° C.
You must really love that cat!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Happy T Day Lisca. I have a vomity cat too :) but it seems to be a hairball issue, assuming there is nothing else wrong with your cat, it might also be hairballs. Get him some Hairball Paste, it's like a malty flavoured sticky paste that they all seem to like and it will help with the hairballs. (Mine are on anti-hairball food for years and they still get hairballs so that works well lol). About your bed, she knows now to jump off the bed before she starts, but just in case, maybe put a nice blanket at the bottom of the bed for him to sleep on and that might save your duvet. Love that house, and how fabulous is her blouse!
That house is so cute. I'd love to travel to Scandinavia..any part of it really. We definitely had you beat with low temps. It was -21F which is about -29.5C. brrr
Ronnie is darling. The vomiting gets annoying though. Marvin has trouble with hairballs so I understand!!
What a charming postcard. A lovely house and beautiful Aino. I LOVE those stamps. And you are right. It's my hands that shake so badly and one is in a sling, so it's hard to do much. I messed up the other night trying to click on a No Thanks and instead ordered a subscription I would never use. Took forever (two days) to get them to cancel it.
I keep all my coffee in the freezer. I am a coffee snob, Lisca. I get only beans and grind each pot as I make it. I use instant in art only. I am not a friend of the French press because it is so difficult to clean. It appears you don't mind cleaning yours, though.
Poor Ronnie and his habit. If it's hairballs, combing him every day will help.
Thanks for sharing your postcard and coffee with us for T this Tuesday dear. BTW, my temps are more like Halle's. It's bitterly cold here. Even the schools are closed because it's too cold for the kids to be outside.
Sibelius had a beautiful house and a beautiful wife. That's a fitting building for a museum.
I need coffee in the morning as well, but I don't really like instant coffee except a special Italian brand that I use to make Tiramisu. I usually have ground shade-grown espresso, and once a year my friends bring me three or more bags of whole bean peabody coffee from Hawai'i.
I hope it will warm up at your place - it's cold here as well with freeze warnings, but it certainly is not half as bad as in many other parts. And the sun is shining, too.
Happy T day!
I love coffee in my French Press had not seen a frother before-that looks fun We have been very very cold here too a bit warmer tomorrow stay safe and warm
Happy T-day, Lisca. What a cool post card, house and story. I forgot how much I learn visiting you. How fun for us to see your morning ritual. Fast caffeine hit and then a proper coffee later. Interesting how difficult it is to get items as you live in a small village. We live far out too and we don't have many good coffee choices either unless we use Amazon or other on-line retailers. Have a good week. Hugz
Thanks for this lovely and informative post. You certainly appreciate coffee and now I have to have a cup! Aloha from Honolulu friend
It seems to be cold all over. Thankfully, there are warm beverages. Cat yak. Sorry if I laugh. If Quill is unhappy or upset about something, he will go and yak on the bed. My quilts and blankets are machine washable because it sometimes happens a lot. Maybe you could put a sheet doubled over and folded at the foot of the bed. At least it he yaks and you're not quick enough or around to shoo him, the sheet can be washed and would protect the quilt. Happy T Day
Interesting post card and history today. I wonder if my granddaughter has heard of him. She is a violinist and composer. Thank you for the offer of coffee, but I will stick to my hot tea. Happy belated t day.
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