Out saving the planet

Thank you for stopping by! I am busy trying to save the planet just now, but will try to make an extra effort to save the readership too and post something new here in the near future.




In the meanwhile, bike to work (keep up with it Simon!), think green and make one good thing for our environment already today.

"There are no passengers on spaceship Earth, we all all crew."
-Marshall McLuhan, 1964-

Simple pleasures

Morning newspaper, cafe au lait and the view from my balcony.
Holiday continues.

Holiday and piece of news

Friends,

I have returned back to Finland and will start my four week (!) holiday today. I am not planning to travel anywhere as I have been doing nothing BUT travelling (although in business) since November last year. My feet might get restless after a couple of weeks though, but this time I won't travel to far away places but settle for being close to home. Bliss.

I will also try to stay off line as much as possible, but this is easier said than done. I have developed a serious habit of checking what's going on with You almost daily and my curiosity will not take holidays. I am also a real news junkie and I need to know what's happening in the world although nothing much is happening with me. One very bad habit of mine is to check my work email every time I get online, but I guess we all have our faults.

Also, it's now official - I am changing jobs within my company and will start in a new position after my holiday. I will move from my company's media relations team to our environmental team and just could not be happier. Trying to save the planet for a job (well, sort of...) is what I call a meaningful thing to do. And hey, not travelling by air this holiday means I will also do my tiny little bit of not causing any more CO2 emissions than what I already have this year..

With this I wish you a wonderful summer - or early spring if you happen to be on the southern hemisphere. Have fun and take care!

Vacca foeda?

I was very pleased to find a comment from Denise Rich on one of my earlier posts about cows.

Denise is a cow painter and I asked her what made her to start painting cows in the first place. This is what she said:

"The easiest answer to why cows is that they just make me smile, I love their faces, their demeanor, their attitude, the fact that they are not in too much of a hurry for anything. I just can't look into the eyes of a cow and not be intrigued, they are much more intelligent than they are given credit for I believe. I just can't help but smile and even laugh when I am with them."



"Wide Load Ahead"


I can really relate to all of her reasons. That's why I like cows too.

I have heard that that in high tech farms the cows can decide themselves when they want to get milked - so it's not any more necessary to wake up at 5.00 am to have that done. They can have a sleep in too! I also know that some clever people have developed machines through which the cows can walk to have their backs scratched. Sweet life.

The sad fact however is that cows do not get to live a full long life but are slaughtered when they are not productive anymore. This happens in their teens. Given a chance a cow could live up to 25 years.

Whilst I can naturally understand that, it still makes me sad. And I'm ashamed to admit that I'm not a vegetarian. Talking about double standards...

Nevertheless, my dream is one day to own a cow, who could live a long and happy life in a farm with back scratching machine and no alarm clocks. I realise that I will never own a farm myself but I would be willing to pay for the B&B for Mrs Cow if someone would be willing to have a long term lodger like that. I could then drive to the farm with a a friend. "Look at those cows. Do you see the one, with a happy smile on her face? She's mine. "


"Black Angus Cow and Calf"

The lovely pictures here are Denise's paintings. You can view them and more on her site and her blog. Or if you are in sunny San Diego, why not go and visit her gallery.

Tongue in the cheek

Thought some of you might appreciate some cheering up this Monday morning.

This photo I managed to capture over the weekend really makes me smile. Hope it does the same to you.

Have a good week! It's my last in Joburg.

White night - this is as dark as it gets

It's midsummer eve in Finland. The sun rose in Helsinki at 3.56 am this morning and will not set until 10.49 pm. That's almost nineteen hours of daylight!

Midsummer is one of the biggest celebrations in Finland. The cities get deserted as everyone heads to their summer cottage by the lake.

If you have a life list - things to do before you die - you should add the Finnish midsummer to the list of things to experience. The white nights are magical.

Here in Joburg it's mid winter and business as usual...

Pink Doughnuts

The place to buy art in Finland I told you about earlier currently holds this work called Trio by artist Jonna Johansson.



It is currently reserved for someone else, but only until the 22nd of this month. With any luck they won't take it and it will be mine.

I can already imagine this splash of color next to some black and white graphics I have. Fingers crossed!

When I'm King, what'll that make you?

The lions were not sleeping last night - in fact they were all singing and dancing and performing in a most amazing way you can possible imagine. And so were the hyeenas, zebras, antilopes, giraffes, elephants and lots of other fauna.

I am naturally talking about last night's performance of the Lion King in the Montecasino Teatro in Johannesburg.

The show is finally brought to Africa and rightly so, as there would not be a lion king without Africa.

I have always loved the story and the characters in it and the show lived up to all my expectations. The costumes were truly awesome and it was just so entertaining in every way.



I'm a also big fan of the dialogue in the story, and this is one to remember:

Young Simba: Hey, Uncle Scar. Guess what?
Scar: I despise guessing games.
Young Simba: I'm going to be King of Pride Rock.
Scar: Oh Goodee.
Young Simba: My dad just showed me the whole kingdom. And I'm gonna rule it all. Heheh.
Scar: Yes, well forgive me for not leaping for joy. Bad back, you know.
Young Simba: Hey Uncle Scar, when I'm King, what'll that make you?
Scar: A monkey's uncle.
Young Simba: You're so weird.
Scar: You have no idea.

If you are in Johannesburg, don't miss the show!

Going green

Thought I let you know a little secret of mine - I am going green. It's not OFFICIAL yet, but I am sure you as a friend deserve to know already. I will tell you more when I can.

To celebrate the occasion I have posted a few photos I took in Nairobi last week. They go with the theme, you see.

Have you got the moves?

If you are planning to hit the dance floor and party until the early morning hours this weekend, take notice on the moves.

These groovy posters are available form Allposters.com.








Hope you enjoy your weekend what ever you end up doing.

Luxury living

The company I work for held an exclusive launch event earlier this week in the third tallest building in Johannesburg, The Michelangelo Towers Hotel.
We had booked the three top floors - The Observation Suite - up in 160 meters and with gorgeous views all over Johannesburg.

I naturally made my own observations about the decor. It sure was pretty.

A place like this is somewhat over my personal price range for a night in a hotel, but I thought I show you what you get if money isn't the issue. Apparently the latest celebrity to stay there was Jane Seymore.



This table was beautiful, so you get a close up as well.



The early morning sun made the curtains look magical.



Looks like a holiday to me.





















You don't need a cold shower with these views to wake you up!

Rooms and more rooms

Rooms were on view in Sandton Convention Centre last weekend. The exhibition was quite small, bu it did have some interesting decors. My favorite room was the one on these two first photos, put together by a company called White on White. I like the different shades of green colors used, they are very muted but managed to look very fresh. The photos don't quite manage to capture that unfortunately.



These brass framed mirrors looked really nice against the black and white wallpaper.



If you want travel in style, there's nothing like vintage looking travel trunks such as these. Very old fashioned and very chic.



When in Africa, you cannot avoid all things beaded. This is a large bean bag entirely beaded. The patience some people have! But it was truly awesome.

My South African love affair

Gorgeous, don't you think?

Below zero

It is, if not winter, a very late autumn in Johannesburg. It's been freezing this week with temperatures below zero some mornings. Being Finn people say that I should be used to these kind of temperatures. The thing is that in Finland houses are build to take the cold - there is proper insulation and heating is standard thing in every house. I don't think one gets used to cold but in some places you are just better equipped to take it.

I prefer the warmer temperatures but we certainly have had it pretty this week.

On the hot spot

One of my favorite design stores back home, Skanno, has rolled our their summer range, garden furniture and the likes. I particularly like this one, called a Hot Spot. Comes also in natural wicker color. The shape reminds me of the traditional mexican chimnea.

Allowance 20 kg

I'm 5945 miles or 9568 km away from home, travelling with the typical air line limitation of allowed luggage. And what do I do? I buy books. Heavy books. One of them is pictured here.



I know that Amazon would probably deliver the same to my door, but sometimes there is just no reasoning like that. You see, then the books would not remind me of my time in South Africa. I would not have a story to tell.

I admit I also found some wonderful pillow covers I could not resist. They would not sell the pillow covers separately, so I needed to get the actual pillows inside as well. But those I will leave behind. You have to draw the line somewhere, right?

Chocolate Spa looking for home

This oil painting by Bruno Maximus is called Chocolate Spa. This and over 3000 other pieces of art - paintings, graphics, photographs, sculptures - are looking for a loving and caring homes.

The art society of Helsinki in Finland are making it easy for people to get to know and buy art. For a monthly fee, from 10 to 200 euros depending on the price of the piece, you can borrow the one you like. If you don't like the way it looks at your home, you can simply return it when ever you want, but in case you would like to keep it, you just keep on paying the monthly instalments (mind you, interest free) and when it's all paid - voilà, the artwork is yours. Naturally you can pay everything up front too.

They really have something for any one's taste. For graphic lovers, how about this one by Anita Jensen. It's called Nature in the Eye of the Beholder. It's yours for 440 euros or 20 euros a month.



Or how about this one, Thought of Morocco by Kirsi Länsitie for 1500 euros or 50 euros a month. She has used oil, mosaics and pearls in her piece.



For a more sculptural look, maybe this one in concrete tickles your fancy. It's made by Virpi Kanto and it's called Flake.



Within the 3000 pieces you are bound to find something you like. The ones shown here are just a few examples from the vast colletion they have. You can have a closer look at the variety in here.
When I'm back home, I'm definately paying them (yet another) visit. It's nice to go where people know you.

Art Deco comeback

Mind my words - the next new found trend in interior design will be art deco.

This period styles truly deserves a come back too. Art deco furniture go oh so well with the modern contemporary design and add that little bit of something something to almost any decor.

If you would like to live it before everyone else does, check out Decodame for some gorgeous pieces. They are in Florida (where else) but say they ship around the world. Bear in mind that those marble table tops are very, very heavy...

Or maybe you would like to design your own? McNamee studios offer you that option. I adore this side table of theirs.



Or if you, like me, enjoy antique shops and auctions, there are some great finds out there. Imagine getting ready in front of this table. With a view to the Chrysler Building. Or is that too much to ask?

Rooms on view

Rooms are on view in Sandton convention centre in Johannesburg in couple of weeks time. How lucky am I to be here just now?

"Rooms on View offers exclusive insight into the status of South African décor and design. It is South Africa's foremost decorating show and is firmly established as the benchmark by which the South African décor industry is measured, both at home and abroad, and it has joined the ranks of other international décor fairs as a fixture in the diaries of decorators, buyers and tastemakers, the world over."

Now that's what the website says. And the photos from last years show look rather nice. I will be busy that weekend!

My future living room

It's surprising and also kind of sad how many people prepare to live in the future instead of making the most of today. "When this is finished ..." and "After I have done that...". You might be one of those people too?

But what comes to decorating my apartment, it literally needs to be "when I'm back home".

In between Morocco and South Africa, where I arrived just this morning, I had a short break back home in Finland. It was so very nice to be home again, surrounded by things I had chosen instead of living in furnished apartments in which the decorating part obviously had not been very high on the priority list.

Being far away from home is hard with a decorating bug and at least I can be comforted with some great exotic finds. But being not able to DO anything long distance is just killing me.

All I have are the photos which continue to inspire and give fuel for my imagination. And once I'm back... you just watch this space!