Old Treasures & Memories

We have landed in December and the time of Advent.

I wish you a happy Advent time ❤︎ Remember to relax also in all your busyness!

A while ago Angie asked whether any of us have any old treasures.

I have donated most of my inherited bigger pieces of furniture to my eldest son
for he has a large house in the countryside. But I’ll present a few small items:

First there is this old church (?) bell. The year 1810 is distinctly readable
but I don’t have any idea what the other text says. I think it is of Russian origin
and it is inherited from my parents. Where they got it from, no clue. 

At the moment it is hanging on an arch doorway to my kitchen - needs a bow maybe...

This high & heavy cabinet / cupboard with a mirror was inherited from my godfather Eino.
He was born in Sortavala, a Finnish town that belongs today to Russia.
The fittings are not original. When I got the cabinet it had a very dark stain

but me and my father removed it. The cabinet is made of solid timber, is very heavy indeed
and hosts some books & miscellaneous stuff now.

Bad photo from a book of mine. The Onnela garden was facing south to the river Vuoksi

My godfather’s family owned a beautiful country mansion in Imatra where I grew up. 

Onnelan hovi - Eden Mansion was a summer residence of the Russian aristocracy 

at the time Finland belonged to Russia as Grand Duchy of Finland. 

Eino was a keen gardener who cultivated apples, raspberries, black currants and
strawberries for sale. He paid very well, so I often went berry picking as a small girl.
Sad to say this gorgeous building does not exist any more. In the 60s and 70s we had
a demolishing boom of old precious buildings.
All the lush park and huge maples and ancient spruces only live in my memories.

I have built this roombox in a broken old wall clock.

Years ago I was very keen on roomboxes and dollhouses but have donated most of them.

I think the style of the clock is Neo-Renessaince; they were made in German in abundance

in the late 1800 and early 1900. My husband inherited the broken clock from his parents 

and I love to keep this as a beautiful memory from my in-laws.
Small 1:12 pieces were hard to photograph in a cloudy day, so sorry.
Those muffins I remember having ’baked’ myself, the mold being a button.
The cakes probably swapped from my miniature friends.

☆☆☆

Next Thursday the 6th of December Finland celebrates its 101th Day of Independence

and I have my birthday later on. So, some celebrations to come -  in blue & white!

This kind of memories this time - wishing you a great first week of December!

- riitta

EDIT:
I’ll add here for Angie a roombox that was made as a birthday present for my husband. 
He is a book lover too and of course he had to have his own divari.
That is a Finnish slang word meaning a second hand bookshop. 
I used a picture frame in size of 30 x 20 cm and built the box from a cardboard detergent package. 
The box was covered with self-adhesive plastic foil, wood imitation.
Not very neat work.... The box ’stands' by itself on a bookshelf.
...
Photographing was challenging because of the shiny glass that shows all
the dust and reflections. Hope you’ll get the idea!

// MOSAIC MONDAY #5