Thanksgiving

I was going to publish a list of a few things that make me happy, things that I'm thankful for.
Then, a tragedy struck my country on November 21, and it changed and will continue to change so many things for so many families.
Since we're all somehow connected, today I'd like to ask you to please share what you love with someone.

Make a cup of tea for someone, ask your colleague if she'd like a piece of your pastry, tell the cook the soup was great today.

Let love and joy and warmth be like rings on the water. Know and believe that your smile, your kind word will reach someone far beyond what you could imagine.

So here is my list as it was before November 21 happened. I didn't edit out the "frivolous" things. So often it is the little things that give us that boost of energy; energy that lets us carry on with whatever we need to carry on with. Here are a few things on my list.

 

Besides the big things, I am also thankful for this:

• coffee
• the Internet
• flowers
• pretty magazines
• hot, strong Earl Grey tea with milk
• when there is good energy between people
• that we have the ability to be inspired
• those moments when you actually take action towards some improvement. And it doesn't matter that this first step is very imperfect, it doesn't matter that you feel "this is not at all what I though this would be like". You started. You took a step.
• thick, fluffy towels
• a good book
• pictures
• mushrooms, especially chantrelles, especially things like chantrelle tapenades
• pasta
• bookstores
• that we can make each day new

Thank you for stopping by Pieliekamais!

Sēras

Neaptverami.
Izsaku visdziļāko līdzjūtību 21.novembra traģēdijā cietušo tuviniekiem.

Caur asarām arī tāda pateicība un lepnums par visiem tiem, kuri šobrīd ir klāt un palīdz. Ziņās lasīju, ka ir karsta tēja un pīrādziņi, ka ir autobuss, kurā sasildīties. Ziedot.lv var redzēt, kā ik pa sekundei aug atbalsts - tiešām esam kopā, tā liekas.



Something unthinkable happened in my Rīga this past Thursday night. The roof of a multi-storey supermarket building collapsed, causing the death of 54 people (at press time). The people who made it to the hospitals are injured badly.

 

Please think a warm thought, send a prayer to the families whose lives will never be the same again. Please join us in a moment of silence on Monday, November 25.

 

If you'd like to donate, Ziedot.lv is the biggest charity portal in Latvia. Giving through their site was easy. For more information in English, click on through here.

 



Thank you for stopping by Pieliekamais. Keeping the families affected by the tragedy of  21 November in our hearts.

Early Christmas inspiration from Stockholm

Here are a few things I saw on my recent trip to Stockholm. This first photo is of a showroom of Svenskt Tenn. This neat, vast, 2-story showroom/office/store/tea-room was a new Stockholm discovery for me. How about that round table?

Cheeses and saussages.

Hopes and dreams, and goals.

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Awesome

I was in Stockholm a couple of days ago, doing a bit of touristing. I noticed a sign that said "Viking Shop" (or similar), and was going to go in, but the door was locked. Then I noticed a piece of tape stuck to the door that said this:

"out hunting lunch".

I smiled the biggest smile for someone who's truly "living their brand". What an awesome way to communicate a message! An excellent example of "do what you can with what you have", and of how to do it brilliantly.

Thank you for stopping by Pieliekamais!

Thinking about Christmas



I love fall, and I intend to enjoy November to the fullest, but from this point on, I will also be thinking about Christmas.

I know that the weeks leading up to Christmas will be very busy. Maybe for the first time ever I am ready to let go of the idea that I'll have a cozy, perfect Christmas evening in the traditional sense. The way I'd want it to be, with lots of homemade food, rosols (Latvian potato salad that takes a while to make), opening presents, that magical Christmas coziness all bundled up in one super special evening:

There would be siera radziņi (Latvian cheese cookies), made by me, there would be my Red Berry Chocolate Cheesecake (made by me, of course). The floors would be gleaming. Any Christmas cards - displayed tastefully. Somewhere there would be a gigantic Christmas wreath, made by me, of course. There would be no "I don't know what to do with this" items around; all surfaces would be either bare or house elegant seasonal decorations. Mostly, there would be no me rushing around trying to get at least some of these things done, baking the cheesecake until one in the morning. Maybe this year, it's OK to let many of these things go if instead I can have more moments like this -

moments that take your breath away, moments when you feel and see wonder, moments when you feel new.

Don't get me wrong - I love the red and gold, and I love the malls with the beautiful decorations. I know I'll probably end up at least trying to accomplish most of the things on my "Magic Christmas" list. But Christmas Eve is one evening, and not everything needs to happen on that one night.

So I'll be thinking about how to create peace and joy realistically, where I am, as things are.

Thank you for stopping by Pieliekamais!

Very neat

Tractors make me happy. I don't see blue ones often.

 She's a beauty!

Keep on truckin' (tractoring?) and have a lovely day!

Thank you for stopping by Pieliekamais!

"Florista labākie darbi ar neļķēm", 5.daļa

Šodien: par neļķēm - drusciņ, vairāk - par dažām citām super idejām, ko redzēju floristu skolā. Viss neļķu sērijā no paša sākuma - šeit.

Pirms ķeramies pie citām puķēm, aicinu vienmēr apsvērt pušķī ielikt neļķes, ja pašam liekas, ka būs smuki. "Neļķes ar rozēm kopā neliek" varbūt kādreiz bija tāds noteikums, bet droši var likt, būs skaisti! Floristikas skolotāja teica, ka vienīgais tad ir temperatūru atšķirība, jo rozēm vajag siltu ūdeni, bet neļķēm - remdenu, tāpec tad liet remdenu ūdeni visam pušķim.



Today, I would also like to cite another source of my "carnation ispiration" - Kelly, who writes "The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking". Kelly often styles with carnations and it always looks so neat. Here is one example, and here - another.

Šīs burvīgās puķes ir protea, tikai nesen par tādām uzzināju. Man likās, ka tās ir ļoti eksotiskas un dārgas puķes, bet aizvakar puķu lielveikalā redzēju, ka piecu puķu bunte salīdzinoši nemaz tik dārgi nemaksā. Nezinu, cik ilgi tādas skaistules nodzīvotu vāzē, bet man liekas, ka ilgi. Visbiežāk es esmu redzējusi, ka vienu protea ieliek pušķī kopā ar citiem ziediem, tāpēc bija tik skaisti rezēt tik daudzus ziedus kopā spainī.

Man patika šī ideja rudens vainagam. Ar zelta stiepli notīt gar vainagu lapas un zelta diedziņā ietīt pērles, ziedus, lapas, ozolzīles, ko pats grib.

Visbeidzot, man tā patika šie darbi no "jēra auss" (stachys byzantina).

 

Neļķu sērija nu ir galā - paldies, ka sekoji līdzi! No sirds novēlu Tev baudīt to prieku, ko sniedz ziedi.

 

Paldies, ka ieskatījies Pieliekamajā!