Different kind of gardens

The most recent pub and bar craze at my hoods: trampoline in the garden! I can just imagine the construction workers, winos and hip art students holding on to their dvanactku when jumping.

Other nice garden related hobby I've discovered in Prague is beer gardening. Holesovice communal garden bar is buzzed every evening, people wondering pleasantly in the midst of the plots, having beer and maybe but not necessarily watering and weeding. This Saturday there was a ping pong tournament.

The status of my chili is now green (phew), being black was only an initial phase. There's a bonus mint growing in my plot, too. The seed has flown from neighbors or has been in the soil already. I also have 2 such nice succulent-looking weeds on the plot that I don't have the heart to dispose them. Let them grow.

The dream that I pre-ordered

Finally I succeeded! After some succesful and many non-succesful attempts of lucid dreaming, last night I managed to do it!

In the evening I did some thinking or shall I call it meditation, to concentrate on my dreams to come. This was the result: in the middle of the night I thought I was awake, but everything felt different, better. So I said to myself "this feels almost like being awake but it can't be, so I am in my dream".
Then had the best dream in loooooong long time.

I was on the sea, in a boat. There was something bad under the surface, a submarine or giant octopus or Ludovician shark from Steven Hall's Raw Shark Texts. I was trying to get away from it. The bad was not overwhelmingly evil though, more of a nuisance or minor negative thing. All in all, something to avoid.

Not even my full speed was enough to escape the shadow underneath, it kept following my every turn. Then the dolphins came to rescue. I hovered above the sea surface, hopping from one dolphin back to another so that the thing below wasn't able to follow my path.

After the evil was mislead and disappeared, I turned to dolphins and asked them how could I ever thank them enough for saving me. The dolphins just laughed friendly bubbly laugh and told me it was their pleasure. Nothing to mention about and I was very welcome, any time.

Sleepswimming

Have had several dreams about water and swimming lately. One night I couldn't find a good pool to swim in. The first waters were too muddy, the next pool was too crowded and some lady even asked me who do I think I am to swim among them. Third one was too bright, was terrified to swim in such clean deep waters.

Last night I woke up in the dream realizing I was swimming. So I had fallen asleep while swimming, which was very embarrassing. Tried to small talk my way out it, so that no one would notice. At the same time I was proud of myself, I had not been sinking even being asleep. So I could sleepswim.

Smooth Midsummer

Referring to my post on Friday: one can do quite a lot during one weekend if one sets one's mind to do things. Friday evening drink was Frisco, please pay special attention to bubble prophesy on the bottom of the glass. Initials of my future beau or what? A modern midsummer night spell.

Saturday drinks were smoothies, first strawberry-lingonberry and then peach-melissa. So good! So... I'd love to say smooth but that would be waste of words. So appropriate after outdoor yoga on the Karlovo namesti lawn.

Angličtina dreaming

Now I'm officially an expat. Last night I dreamt entirely in english language.

First I had a bodyguard, a huge muscular guy in black suit named Tony or Tommy. Although big, he was gentle and kind. He followed me around, I had no idea why I'd need a bodyguard but it felt stupid to ask him. So I let him follow me.

Then I met an astronaut who wanted to make a photo book about me. I didn't believe him being an astronaut, even though he was dressed in the space suit and even carrying the helmet. I asked him what he really did for living, he stroked my cheek and said "just following the sun, babe".

This city is spoiling me

This weekend is totally overflowed with happenings, decision making is difficult.

Free United Islands festival with Floex. ReSite conference but more importantly, festival with open-air yoga, street music, films, open-air breakfast, workshops... Knihex book market. Dyzajn design market (oh how cute is the way czechs write the word),  another open-air breakfast on the street at Brevnov. New circus at La Fabrika. Opening of a new veggie restaurant at Divoka Sarka.
Just to mention some.

Nordic midsummer may be 1760 km away, but what a great compensation I got here.

Dealing with heat

The temperature is and will be around +30. I'm only thinking about fresh, green and chilly things: mint, lime, cucumber, coriander. Today's cold soup was a mixture of bulgarian and mexican cuisine, consisting of ingredients mentioned plus garlic, yoghurt, salt and ice. Yummy. Somehow it didn't feel like eating thin raita or tzatziki but a dish of it's own. Maybe because cucumber was sliced in cubes, not grated.

Made some (mediocre) iced tea too, tomorrow I'm trying de-caf ice coffee. Also planning to make spiced salts, found a nice sounding recipe for mint-chili-lime -salt. Tomorrow's lunch will be either gazpacho or melon soup. It's possible to add some sparkling wine into melon soup, that would be grand.

Spending the lazy days either at Divoka Sarka lake swimming and sunbathing/staying in shadow of a birch tree, or on the balcony. Another good option is well air-cond't supermarket, spending time carefully comparing and choosing frozen products.

Farm house or board game dream

I was either playing a board game of farming or then having a farm IRL. Any way, I was ordering animals to my fictional/real farm from a website catalogue: 5 goats, 2 cats, no let's make it 4 cats. Dogs, ducks, duck eggs, camels... It was going to be one quirky farm.

Left outside alone dream

There was a party. Everyone was having fun. The house was full of people. I was preparing more food for the celebrants and I noticed that the oven was already full of delicacies: pancakes, pies, herrings (?) Whenever I took something out of the oven, it filled up again. Like magic.

Everyone was inside, then I took a look from the window and saw someone obsolete standing alone in the yard. Kicking pebbles, like angry kids do showing that they couldn't care less about not being invited inside. I felt a pang of pity, sadness and regret, but then someone called me and I kept on partying.

I am pleased with this dream. It reassures me that kaikki on kohta hyvin. Although it doesn't match 100% with my day thinking, yet.

Origami bracelet

After finishing a super easy bracelet of modular origami, I realized the technique was the same that was used decades and centuries ago in agricultural Finland making dishes, decoration or even shoes from birchbark. So nothing new under the sun, obviously.

UFO dream, finally

Not very long and precise one, but still nice.

I was driving a long straight road when I saw a vessel or space ship on the sky. It was hovering just above the road, oval shape and it looked like it's consitency was smoke or vapor instead of solid material. I wasn't scared at all, of course not. Joy and peace came over me: finally I would see and meet someone from somewhere else.

Night swim dream

Was walking along the lakeshore with an exexex-boyfriend from over 20 years ago who passed away suddenly this summer. M asked me to join him for a swim. I would've liked to, but then said no. He dived into the lake, swam fast, I could barely follow his head bobbing on the surface and soon he disappeared into the summer night mist. Goodbye M!

The shock wave of creativity

I've started something. Following loosely Julia Cameron's Artist's way creativity recovering and opening exercises. Don't know if it's Julia or me, but recently (done it for 4 weeks now, started right after a how-would-i-call-it, woeful incident) I've been able to concentrate on something else than myself.

There have been interesting people in the trams, metro or on the streets of course earlier, but only now I'm writing about them. In addition to morning pages, I'm actually doing some writing! Not just personal kinda writing but actual writing. And it feels so good! Today I've written so far 3 morning pages, 1,5 pages of short prose in finnish and 1 page of character descriptions in english. Plus Julia's weekly tasks, like completing sentences 10 items I'd like to own... If I had either faith or money, I'd try...

Last time I tried Cameron's book about 10 years ago, it didn't work for me because the timing was not right. Now the timing is just perfect and I'm just in the right responsive mood. I am ignoring the spiritual parts that don't feel comfortable, though.

Early summer flourishings

Oh I'm so proud of my garden. I got chili, kale, spinach, lettuce, chives, lemon leaf, coriander, parsley, lovage, oregano, basil, mint, melissa (or heart's delight as it is sweetly named in swedish), portulak, lavender, rucola, cress, nasturtium, rosemary. Phew, what a plantage!

Would like to plant more and more but I'm running out of space in my balcony. I need to squeeze my chair there also for sitting in the morning sun, sipping coffee and writing or reading. Or just listening to buzzing bees eyes closed.

Helikopteriuni | Helicopter dream

Joku elämästäni poissaoleva oli taitellut minulle minikokoisia origamihelikoptereita. Kevyitä erivärisiä koptereita satoi päälleni, kuin kirsikankukkia.

Someone obsolete had folded for me lots of miniature origami helicopters. Light choppers in different colors rained on me like cherry blossom.

Hevosuni | Equus dream

Minulla oli kaunis musta kiiltäväkarvainen hevonen. Olin voittanut sen ja nyt kuljetin sitä kotiin junassa. Olin hieman hämmentynyt, mitä hevosella tekisin tai missä sitä pitäisin. Mikähän sen nimikään mahtoi olla. Puhuttelin hevosta kuin ihmistä: "Anteeksi, saisinko kokeilla ratsastamista?"

I had a beatiful black horse with shiny coat. I had won it and now I was taking it home on a train. I was uncertain what to do with a horse, what equipment would it need and how would I address it. I talked to the horse like human: "Excuse me, may I try riding?"

Mitä vain mieleni halajaa -uni | Whatever I might want dream

Unessa asiat ja ihmiset, joita olen joskus halunnut ja toivonut, olivat minun. Lapsuuden pihkaantumiset, nuoruuden vakavammat ihastukset, mitä vain halusin. Tunsin oloni vähän vaivaantuneeksi kaiken tämän valinnanvaran keskellä, pojat ja miehet tarjosivat itseään kilvan: ota minut, ota minut.

Kiitos taas, alitajunta mutta ehkä vähän pienemmälläkin volyymilla tulisi ymmärretyksi se, että asiat on menossa parempaan suuntaan? Vai onko uni tuikitarpeellinen muistutus siitä, että vaatimattomuus/vaivaantuneisuus sukkaa? Aah, en tiedä. Joku lintu laulaa sisäpihalla niin lujaa ja kauniisti että ajatteleminen on hankalaa.

Everything and everyone I've ever wanted was mine in my dream. Childhood and teenage crushes, everything. I felt a bit awkward in the middle of this, men and boys were offering themselves to me: take me, take me!

Thanks again, sub-C, but maybe a little less volyme is needed to tell me that things are going for the better? Or does the dream remind me that being awkward/modest suxx? Dunno, there's a bird singing so loudly and beautifully at inner yard, it makes thinking difficult.

Siitäs saitte, vastoinkäymiset | On your face, hardships

Hah! Parvekekasvit selvisivät kaksi viikkoa t-paitasuikale-kastelujärjestelmällä, minttu oli venähtänyt pituutta kuin teini-ikäinen mutta kaikki taimet elossa. Puutarhani on elossa, reilun viikon rankkasade ei ollut tehnyt suuria tuhoja. Pinaatin on syönyt ötökkä, mutta istutan lisää salaattia ja ehkä mansikan tilalle.
Ja kaiken muun lisäksi... chilissä on hedelmä!!! Ei nyt tarkemmin mietitä miksi se on musta. Ehkä sen kuuluu olla musta.

Bite this, setbacks: every plant I have is alive and blooming! Balcony plants survived 2 weeks with a home-made watering system and heavy rains didn't ruin my garden. Spinach has been eaten by a bug, but I'll plant some strawberries instead.
And on top of everything else... I got a chili!!! It is tiny and black, I admit but maybe it's supposed to be black.

Kerrostalouni | Multistorey house dream

Minulla oli talo. Luulin asuvani yksikerroksisessa talossa mutta oikeasti asutin vain pohjakerrosta. Talo oli korkea ja kapeni ylöspäin kuin pyramidi, ylimmät kerrokset olivat korkealla ja kapeita. En ollut aikaisemmin tiennyt mitään näiden kerrosten olemassaolosta. Kun ne näytettiin minulle, päätin käyttää niitä vaikka ylös olikin hankala kiivetä.

I had a house. I thought it was one-floor house but really I only occupied the ground floor. The house had several floors and was shaped like a pyramid, the floors narrowing one after another. I had never known that there were these higher floors. When Ithey were shown to me, I decided to start using the other floors too even though it was tricky to climb up to reach them.

Hyvää mieltä voi taitella | Foldable pleasures

Taittelin ylioppilaslahjarahoista origamiasun. Onhan se vähän hassu, mutta kuitenkin persoonallisempi kuin setelit kortin välissä. Erityisesti tykkäsin menninkäis-haltija-tossuista. Modulaarikolmiosta olen ihan älyttömän ylpeä, se on varmaan toiseksi haastavin origamini ikinä.

Folded graduation gift money as an outfit. Ok, it is a bit funny looking but more personal than plain bank notes. I especially like the pixie booties. And I'm so proud of the modular origami triangle I managed to finish. It may be my second most challenging origami ever!

Ääriolot ja yöajatukset | Extreme conditions and night thoughts

Palaan hellevaroituksen saaneesta Suomesta tulvahätätilaiseen Prahaan. Ääriolosuhteet sopivat mainiosti mielentilaani.

Olen valvonut öisin, ulkona on niin valoisaa ja lämmintä että nukkuminen on hankalaa ja tuntuu turhalta. Ajattelen öisin paljon selkeämmin, kirkkaammin ja terävämmin kuin päivällä. Paha vain etten aamulla muista siitä muuta kuin tunteen ajatusten skarppiudesta. Olen siis jossain unen ja valveen rajamailla, vaikka yöllä se tuntuu valveillaololta. Aivoni siis toimivat kahdella tavalla,  on päiväajattelu ja yöajattelu eivätkä ne koskaan kohtaa toisiaan. Jotain kuitenkin tapahtuu, yöaivot saavat asioita liikkeelle ja päiväaivojen tehtävä on sitten hoitaa homma kotiin. Päiväaivot ovat yöaivoja alkeellisemmat, joten asiat eivät etene aina halutulla ja suunnitellulla tavalla.

Going back from heatwavy Finland to floody Prague. Extreme weather conditions suit very well my mood.

Summer nights have been so warm and light it's difficult to sleep. It feels pointless to sleep during nights like that. I have been thinking a lot during nights, clearly and sharply. Too bad I can't remember a thing in the morning. So I hover somewhere between being awake and sleeping, even though it feels like being awake. Obviously I got 2 set of brain/thoughts, one for day and other for sleeping. My night brain start processes and leave them to day brain to finish. Unfortunately my day thoughts are not as advanced as nightly intelligence, so the progress is slower than planned.