Creative artist's vision

When Annikki created this:



she had a vision of this:



and the detail is this:



When she created this:



she was seeing this:



What do you think she was thinking when she created this?



As it under the branches, the snow still has to fall on this bird to create the effect Annikki desires.

And I am still awaiting your entries of what she is thinking when she put that wire mesh in the wooden bucket. All entries received are nowhere near what she has in mind and she has told me what it is planned to be!

A new artist phase - Wire Mesh....

Annikki goes through phases as an artist. She has been through her chalk drawing, textile designing, ginger bread houses, edible art, rubbish recreation and many other phases in her 60+ years. Each one is ahead of its time and a few years after she has exhausted her phase it can be seen in art decor magazines.

Winner of the 1998 Ginger Bread House Competition.

Her unique cake calendar adorned many tables across the world for the whole of 2005!


The happiest face of this creative designer -
When she has ME guessing!

This year she wanted to protect the sand pit from cats in the neighbourhood who were using it as a toilet.


Cat intruder protector disguised as a wire mesh wigwam

So she created a wigwam from chicken wire mesh, but her thoughts were not just about the protection as she was already thinking artistically as to how that wire mesh would look as winter snow and frost descended on Oulu.

A few weeks later she was hunting in Oulu hardware shops for all sorts of wire mesh as she had entered a wire mesh designing phase


Cone covers for plants

Her first attempt was to create some cone covers for new plantings.



Then she created a bird which she hung on the tree in front of the garden,


Wigwam now gets clouds

Then she decided her wigwam needed some clouds hovering over it.


What is this going to turn out to be?

Many more creations have found their way into the garden. But now she has got me foxed as she has put a bundle in a wooden drum in the front of the garden and she has me guessing what this is going to turn out to be.

I will have a prize for anyone who correctly forecasts her intentions! (Honest, I have no idea what it is going to turn out to be!)

It's great fun to be married to someone who has retained her little girl character and enjoys playing with things!

Sand castles at Kampitie

Over the years, Annikki has created a beautiful sea side scenario at Kampitie that the kids feel that they are actually at a beach. The sand has been carted over the years from the sea shore bvy Annikki and me with a lot of help from Samuel.

This summer they enjoyed many many hours of playing in the sand pit area.

Some cats in the neighbourhood thought the main sand pit area was ideal for their personal purposes.

To protect the area, Annikki created a kota (a Laplanders wigwam) out of chicken mesh. She covered the outside with a colourful cloth which made it look like a wigwam.

The two older kids, Samuel and Asha, had a better use for that wigwam.

As Daniel was jumping all over their lovely sand castles, they enticed him to play in the wigwam, while they had free reign over the rest of the sandy beach area.

Cats out, Daniel in!

A day before Daniel and Samuel left for England, Asha and Samuel created an entire sand castle area, each their own. It took hours to build and i watched them work so diligently building their own areas, trading land to extend their own kingdoms.

It is now over two weeks since Samuel and Daniel left, We have had a very stormy early autumn with plenty of rain. However, the sand castle village created by the two grandchildren has weathered the worst of this storm.



Now, as the autumn leaves are coming down, it is time to rake down the village.

I went out this sunny morning to record the state of things. I was surprised to see how strong the constructions, which are still standing, the kids had created are!

Annikki was especially insistent that this scene should be captured for posterity.