I moved to Ireland 20 years ago today..

Picture from November 2011

Time flies.. Twenty years ago today, I moved from Helsinki to Galway - above, a picture of my then home (the two windows on the right, and the door to the shared balcony, were my living room)..

Then, I moved to Bray in March 1999, and to my current home in Drumree, in April 2014..

Actually, Bray was my longest lasting home as I lived in three different addresses in Helsinki, 10 + 10 + 5 years.. And 15 years in the same Bray address, where I still have some of my stuff =D

Come August, I'll have had Irish blood for twenty years as well, but that's another story..

I thought they should have their own page & blog..

I had planned to finish some more Threefingermen pictures, today, but I made them a Facebook page (feel free to Like it!), and as I already had the URL, I thought I might as well start a blog for them while at it, so they are now on Blogger as well - www.threefingermen.com redirects you there =)

Tomorrow, I'll be busy with something else, and on Tuesday, I need to have my car fixed as it failed NCT, last week.. But I'm hoping to get new pics finished and posted on Wednesday..

I started a blog for the #threefingermen 😃 http://www.threefingermen.com (Redirects to Blogger) #kolmisormiotukset They're on Facebook as well; https://www.facebook.com/Threefingermen

A photo posted by Stella Stenroos (@st_stello) on Jan 22, 2017 at 2:52pm PST

Some framed Threefingermen

Greenlo the Snake, and Redlo

I've framed some Threefingermen - character names are in picture captions..

IKEA Ribba 10 x 15 cm frames (all black, with white passe-partout).

Every picture is unique and hand-painted. Email me if you're interested in buying one =)

Charlotta the Green Cat

Bluelo

Purplo the Dragon 

Redlo, and Charlotta the Green Cat

Coffee corner

When I moved in to my current home, my friend T (who lived here before me) left behind a Dolce Gusto coffee machine, which was supposed to be broken. However, it was only suffering from the extremely hard water, and after some vinegar treatment, it was back in action - I never use the local tap water in the kettle or coffee machines as it would just insta-stain them.. Instead, I bring tap water from Bray as it's perfect =D (Even the cats drink Bray water.. heh..)

For a long time, I was happily enjoying Dolce Gusto coffees, but especially after comparing to the Nespresso stuff (D had a Nespresso machine in Bray), I felt that Dolce Gusto was mainly good for stuff like cappuccino or latte macchiato, whereas the espresso or barista were lacking "oomph"..

Well.. D bought himself a DeLonghi coffee machine, and now uses freshly ground beans only.. Soooo, he didn't need his Nespresso machine (nor the milk frother) anymore, and gave them to me! =D

My coffee corner now takes the largest part of my available kitchen counter space, but what can you do.. I still like to use the Dolce Gusto as well! And I also drink lots of tea, so the kettle is necessary..

Bad timing, and a postponed NCT..

I was on my way to Deansgrange NCT centre, when it started raining.. I switched the windscreen wipers on, and they got stuck again! (I had a similar issue with them, about a month ago, but it was fixed since, and everything had been working fine..)

The timing REALLY sucked as I could have made it there in time, but there was no point to drive dangerously as broken windscreen wipers wouldn't really be great for the NCT..

I parked somewhere in Stillorgan, phoned to re-book the NCT (which means I'll have to pay extra, because I cancelled so last minute..), and then phoned the AA..

AA man was awesome, though! The previous time, I called the AA as well, but the guy just opened it up, and said he couldn't fix it, so I ended up borrowing D's car until I had the time to take mine to the garage.. But this guy was able to actually fix it. OK, it's not a permanent fix, but it'll do for now.

Just thinking, why, oh, WHY couldn't it have happened AFTER the NCT?!? =/

Happy New Year 2017

I was in Bray for the New Year's Eve, and today, just relaxing at home all day =)

Got my best nine Instagram pics thing (above) - the kitties seem popular, which is not surprising.. =)

Met up with a friend, and her son (my lovely godson, above) while in Bray ♥