Effin' cold out there and in here!

I love living in Finland. I love all the little things that make this country so unique. You know, being grumpy nine months of the year, not looking strange people in the eye, avoiding neighbours and so on. I like that. But I fucking hate the cold weather!!! The only thing good is the fact that it kills pests and other stuff so we don't need to use that much chemicals on farming. But that's it. Everything else - just go away, please!! I don't even like burning candles!

I hate winter clothes, I hate their stuffiness, bulkiness, I don't even like the fluffyness that much, nor the earth toned colors.

I hate the dry winter air. It makes my skin super dry and when it's dry it gets scratched so easily. For six months I look like I've been fighting with a cat every day. I also feel super bad for my daughter, whose skin is even worse than mine. Hers gets so dry it hurts to even look at it. Poor thing. Also the annoying dry air will make everything so freaking static! And when you are into dolls with plastic hair...static is not something you want! The flyaway hair makes me crazy!!

I don't like the lack of Finnish products on the veggie isle at the grocery store. Other than root veggies, everything seems to be imported. It's quite a challenge to eat locally when all you have is carrots, beets, potatoes and cabbage.

Walking the dogs becomes a challenge. First you need to get dressed warm enough to be able to go outside. And that takes time. During that time the dogs are whining and crying non-stop by the door, and that's something that drives me crazy, too! Once you get outside you need to be really careful not to slip on the icy ground, which is nearly impossible, with two big dogs. You're also supposed to keep your fingers and toes wiggling at all times, so they wouldn't freeze. And with the clumsy mittens you always end up getting dog poop on you, goddammit!

Riding my bike is no longer fun. My bike freezes and my hubby doesn't know how to fix it (note from hubby: does know how to fix it, but because Raisa treats her bike like a wheelbarrow and leaves it in the rain all year, the cables freeze, so whatever). So I have to take it inside five hours prior using it and make it sure I won't be using it outside too long, or it'll freeze again and I have to walk it home! Happened so many times last year, I rode it to school and walked it back. Grrr! Also dressing up for a long bike ride is not easy! First 20 minutes you are going to be freezing, but after that you wish you wore nothing but a t-shirt and shorts. And hat, thick gloves and warm winter boots.

But the worst part is inside our house. It's cold. Starting from yesterday we'll be cold until at the end of April. The house is so old and leaky no matter how much we heat it the heat escapes almost as fast. Okay, it's not that bad, but bad anyways.

And you can't even take nice pictures of the dolls outside, because it's too cold! You just run out there, click, click and then have to rush back in with frozen fingers.

This pic is still funny, the story behind it is :) Polly just moved to F-land from sunny Australia and is very pissed.

So, today is the second freezing cold day. How many are left? Brrrrrrr! I don't want to think about it!

Stay warm! I know five people who are keeping at least their dollies warm with Pinkkis sleepsacks ;) First sack sale on Etsy last night! Feels so great! So, what are you waiting for,  go ahead! Make my day, buy a tote for your dolly from my shop! :D I guess I should go make more, sincere there is just one in the shop at the moment.

xoxo,
Raisa

Dolls, dolls, dolls

Hey you!

I'd like to share some of my dolly news with you! Little by little I'm getting the dream dolls I've always (or at least for the last six months) wanted, and some that I didn't even know I wanted but once I saw them knew they were meant for me. I told you about the Tiina custom I managed to get, right? My Holy Grail girl. There was one on Ebay this week and it sold for over 1,300 euros!!! I'm not going to say what I think about that...but if you have that kind of money to spend on a doll then why not. I didn't pay anywhere near that much for my doll.

I don't know if I can ever have a doll family I of which I can say "This is it, no more for me," but honestly as soon as one special little dolly arrives from Canada, I think I might just settle down and enjoy the ones I already have. So, there's still one more...Okay, there's still Goldie which I've been looking for for a long time now (lost her twice already). So there's still room for one dark haired drinker (there's this amazing photographer on Flickr who takes the funniest pictures of Goldie, and he always makes her a drinker). But at the moment I'm not even actively looking for her. I need to get my financial stuff organized and under control first. So, maybe next year...

I have been re-doing the dollhouse once again. I was never really satisfied with the penthouse bedroom, the room that two dolls (sisters, Alex and Nana, MUG and OKM) shared. It was somehow way too busy for the eye, too crowded. Too something. So something had to be done. And while I was working on that I also redid the rooftop balcony, which came out great!! The bedroom's nice, too. I also rearranged the house's occupants, like who lives where. Feel free to laugh but it was really hard to decide to let Bambi, my first doll, move into the "Glass Palace" and let the new girl from Canada take over her apartment. Also Bunny had to move. :( So Alex could move and the "little girls" Nana and Phoenix (Tiina custom) could share a room.

All this has to be very interesting to you...sorry. It's just that that's all the happy things that's going on in my life. Okay, not true. But there has just been so much stress over the studies and I've been sick and it's sucks to be sick if you're unemployed. But I'm better now and the school stress is over for now, have been having some huge tests and I'm so close to being done with it all, but there's still stuff to do and I still don't have a clue about what I'd like to do.

A few nights ago we were watching a movie and in it a man got one of those cool-looking silver trailers and traveled around the States, and I asked my hubby if that's something we could do after the kids move on their own. To sell the house and just travel. I'd like that :) Hahah! Who wouldn't? What if we could both work for a year or two and then do it again, just over and over again. Work and then quit and go see the world. I dunno, maybe we'd get bored with that too. I just don't like this stability of everything. I want something *more*, some action. And yet I don't want things to change.

Now you see me!

I've been sewing again. This time I have something really interesting I'm working on! A Protective Blythe Tote!! We had a small Blythe meet with few of my dolly friends and sold one of my creations to each participants. :D Yay! And they all really liked the idea. Now I'm working on more and I should be posting them on Etsy today or tomorrow! Wohoo!!

Oh! Did you hear that? That was the sound of my sewing machine calling for me. Gotta go!

Enjoy the autumn weather!!

Now you don't!

xoxo,
Raisa

Me, my dolls and Julia from at our meet

Just wanted to share this with you -- Pinkkis products packed and ready to be shipped :) Cute, eh?

Noriko, AZ

What you looking at? (Phoenix)

Glass Palace