I've been testing a gluteen free diet for two weeks now, due to constant stomach pain. So far I've been pleased with the results. It's been tricky to get food to taste as good without using e.g. wheat flour. Old recipes need some modifying. 

Gluteen Free Blueberry Pie

You'll need:

- 2 eggs

- 1,5 dl sugar

- 0,5 dl brown sugar

- 4 dl gluteen free flour

- 2 teaspoons of baking powder

- 4 dl blueberries

- 125 g butter

- 2 dl milk

- some cardamom

Melt the butter in a microwave oven, let it cool. Mix the eggs with the sugars using a cake mixer. Add the milk, butter and cardamom, make sure the dough is well mixed.

Combine the flour and the baking powder in a separate bowl and then mix in with the dough. Add the blueberries carefully. 

Pour the dough into a buttered cake mold. Bake it in 175 C for 45-55 minutes.  

This turned out delicious! Enjoy with vanilla ice-cream!

The Finnish Independence Day is on December 6th. Finland has now been independent for 95 years.  The absolutely best part of the day was a warm phone call to an amazing old man, my boyfriend's grandfather, a veteran. It's humbling how some 90-year-olds haven't lost their joy of life and the childlike twinkle in their eyes. This year the yearly, traditional Independence Day Ball and the epic war movie The Unknown Soldier that portraits the happenings of World War II in Finland were aired at the same time on national television. For many, especially old people, the both of them are a big part of the celebration of our Independence Day. When asked what he thought about this arrangement, the veteran replied laughing: "It's okay, after all I had a front row seat in the middle of the battlefield so I've experienced the war ". He also told  that he's been going to local schools to tell in his own words what it was like to be a soldier in war: "When kids ask me: did you shoot some Russians, I say no, we only shot enemies". 

What a valuable gift it is for kids to hear someone tell "behind the scenes" -material from the war. It will surely pass on to future generations. I admire people who find an inner strength to carry on and enjoy life after going through trauma. Not all veterans are able to talk about the war and painful memories. Understandably. Let's take care of our veterans, the few that are still alive, like they took care of our country and fought for our independency, they truly deserve it.

Thank you for an independent country!

This year we had a furry guest come over for a few days. I thought it would ease the urge to get another dog. Not a chance. 

It's time for another great giveaway for you readers, this time from Essie. This shade of red nail polish is called A List. What a nice Christmas color! 

To take part send an email to: t1ppytoes.info@gmail.com or leave a comment below with your name. The winner will be announced on Sunday, December 16th.

Remember to follow my blog through Bloglovin! Thank you!

Good luck!

All photos by The Ropes Maine

A friend of mine bought a few of these gorgeous bracelets from a pop up store on Tehtaankatu in Helsinki. They are handmade in Maine and a big hit in the US. Designer Shana Aldrich Ready was inspired by her hometown, the beach and the ocean.

Join The Ropes Maine Facebook page to see all the latest designs! 

Photos by The Ropes Maine

Photo by tinacious.me

  

Last week was amazing! It included a few ten kilometer long walks in the snow with my dog Koda. He's such a trooper and regardless of his small size he doesn't seem to get tired at all. Also, I'm addicted to Sportstracker, I really am! Try it if you haven't already, the free version works just fine! It motivates to push harder to achieve better results. To me it's almost like having personal trainer Chris Powell in my pocket.

We now have snow here! Everything is covered in white and looks pretty and inviting! 

Without proper winter gear it would be almost impossible to enjoy the outdoors. I've been extremely thankful for my winter boots, especially. I bought them a few years back, on sale and they've been worth every euro and more! I wish they'd still manufacture them! They're like warm, light, comfortable winter sneakers turned into boots - so functional! 

 

I love my neighborhood: its atmosphere and warm people. On Friday after my dance class I felt really good both physically and mentally. I went to the grocery store and ended up carrying four plastic bags full of groceries back home. I was sweating! Nobody held the door for me, people just rushed by pushing and shoving. It was crowded in the tram, it had been snowing all day and traffic was insane. The trams were packed. Some of my groceries got squashed by people standing next to me. I really didn't feel like letting all this ruin my day. 

I got home, got out and grabbed a shovel. It was rather small but hey, so am I. Besides, at this point it didn't even matter. As I mentioned, it had been snowing all day. Cars on my street, on any street, were covered in snow. First I thought I'd dig someone's car up, but I couldn't make up my mind on which one. If I'd choose one, I'd have to dig them all up, in all sense of fairness. There was an empty parking space, well not completely empty, just covered in snow. Imagine driving home from work after a terrible, long day thinking how on Earth will you find an empty parking space. Instead of having to shovel your way into the square, you could have a grin on your face for the rest of the evening feeling lucky. It took me forty minutes and gave me a warm feeling and a great workout! I was so excited I would've wanted to do some more shoveling today but to my disappointment, due to the drop in temperature, the snow was too hard and icy. All this excitement and I don't even own a car.

The past few weeks have been interesting regarding my dance classes: burn marks and bruises have appeared all over my body not to mention the muscle tension. I've been collecting bruises from each class like it was their loyalty program. I'm so focused I don't even notice them until after class. In both coreographies, hiphop and contemporary dance, there's some kneeling, I don't just fall flat on my face although it might seem like it based on the photo. 

The great thing about my contemporary class is that there's two weeks until the Christmas show and I'm feeling confident! It's a very satisfying feeling. Two more weeks time to practice and at this point it's starting to feel comfortable, my own. What a great job from Katja Putkonen! She's extremely talented and inspiring as a dancer, but most importantly, as a teacher. I feel priveleged as a student. She chose this song called Butterfly, by Rajaton for our coreography:

Here's how Wikipedia explains the term "upcycling" : 

"Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value."

This old top got transformed into a ball of thread. We all own a few old t-shirts or tops that may have a stain or two, some holes or just generally appear worn out, this is a great way to give them a new life!

If the directions seem confusing don't hesitate to ask for more details! Start by cutting the top part of the top / t-shirt off, cut the front and back of the shirt at the same time, so there's two layers of fabric. I also cut the hem off because it doesn't look that neat as thread. Continue cutting 3 cm wide strips laterally, don't cut all the way to the other seam, but leave a few centimeters uncut so that the strips are attached to each other. 

Here's the tricky part: lay the stripped piece flat on the table, the other seam facing up. It helps if you draw dotted lines with a marker diagonally from one strip to the other. Once you've cut all the strips diagonally from the part that attached them you should have one long piece of 3 cm wide thread, all you have to do now is stretch it really well and gather it into a ball. 

I will reveal how I used this thread a little later. Let's just say it's something big and heavy!

Englanninkielinen termi "upcycling" ei ole tainnut vielä saada suomenkielistä vastinetta, mutta se tarkoittaa, että jokin esine saa uuden käyttötarkoituksen. Käyttökelvottomat tai tarpeettomaksi käyneet esineet tai materiaalit saavat uuden elämän, jossain toisessa muodossa. 

Tässä postauksessa muutetaan t-paita / toppi trikoolangaksi. Kirpputoreja kiertäneenä, sekä myyjän, että ostajan näkökulmasta, voin kertoa, etteivät kulahtaneet t-paidat kuulu kuumimman kauppatavaran joukkoon. Tässä siis kätevä tapa pistää reikäiset, kellastuneet ja paremmat päivänsä nähneet paidat uusiokäyttöön! Työvaiheet on ehkä helpompi ymmärtää kuvien avulla, mutta jos jokin vielä jää askarruttamaan, kysy toki lisää!

Asettele paita siististi, jotta saat tasaisen lopputuloksen. Leikkaa paidan yläosa irti, kainalosta kainaloon, jos paidassa on sivusaumat, saumasta saumaan. Paidat, joissa ei ole sivusaumoja, toimivat tässä paremmin, niistä tulee siistimmän näköistä lankaa. Leikkaa yhtäaikaa paidan etu- ja takakappale, kangasta on siis kaksi kerrosta. Leikkaa myös paidan helma taitoksen kohdalta irti, sillä siitä ei saa siistinnäköistä lankaa. Leikkaa ( taas kangasta kaksinkerroin) n. 3 cm leveitä vaakasuoria hapsuja, paidan toisessa reunassa jätä muutama senttimetri leikkaamatta, jotta hapsut muodostavat yhtenäisen kappaleen.

Kun olet hapsuttanut vaatekappaleen koko leveydeltä, tulee hieman haastavampi työvaihe. Käännä hapsujen liitoskohta itseesipäin työtasolle. Leikkaamista helpottaa, jos piirtää avuksi katkoviivoja. Kuvasta on toivottavasti enemmän apua, mutta yritän selittää parhaani mukaan. Leikkaa hapsut niiden liitoskohdasta, eli paidan sivusauman kohdalta, josta hapsut ovat kiinni toisissaan, diagonaalisti toisiinsa nähden. Leikattuasi kaikki hapsut, lopputuloksena ne muodostavat yhtenäisen nauhan. Venytä pieni pätkä aina kerrallaan, jotta saat kuvan mukaista lankaa ja lopuksi kieritä kerälle. 

Paljastan hieman myöhemmin mitä tästä langasta syntyi, mutta vinkkinä voin kertoa, että se on jotain isoa ja painavaa!