first orchid of the season, a little “mini-phal” phalaenopsis. this one surprised us as it had struggled this last summer. the blossoms are smal ~ 1.25cm
and this vanda tricolor followed me home from Marathon this week. super deal on a typically spendy orchid. I have been eyeing them for a while. the blossoms are ~ 5cm
On Xmas eve I went to pick up at-home tests the city was giving away. I didn’t end up getting any. During the stagnant hour beyond pickup time, we all waited diligently in line. Eventually people started reporting the deterioration of the situation at the head of the line. Poeple were apparently “swarming in from all sides.” by the time I left there were 10 police cars trying to keep order. I wasn’t desperate so I went home to open stockings. the middle of the line was pretty chill but the line wove down several blocks and in and out of cul-de-sacs.
Random pics from Helsinki. Esplanadi (esplanade) -Kauppatori (market square) - Pohjoisranta (north shore) - Hakaniemen silta (hook cape bridge).
Aww…that’s nice, they don’t want Tram 3 to feel left out 
Wow, things were so different two years before Covid!
“What do those experts know? Let’s go pick up some animal dewormer, and swing by the hardware store on the way back.” 
We went used piano shopping today, & the place was giving away whatever sheet music, songbooks, etc. that people had left inside the piano benches when they traded them in. Some of my findings:
The photo of Henry Mancini on this one caught me eye, but then I looked more closely and thought “Emmanu-- wha?!”
So apparently the theme song was notable outside the context of the film itself, to the extent that Percy Faith recorded it. (Heretofore, “Percy Faith” = “records that my grandparents either gave to my parents, or left in the attic”)
Nat’s first hit!
Hah! I was thinking that in my head but then I thought, oh, I’ll have to explain the whole thing.
Not sure if British comedies are as well known outside of the English-speaking world.
But yeah, I toyed with the idea of posting a photo of a bucket!
I saw an older guy in a modded wheelchair going all over the place today as I read a book on the beach. Got back up to my balcony and voila:
Nice photo of the beach condos of Rebma.
???
ETA - for those less enamored of the ghost-town aspect of the built environment down here
Sorry, too obscure. In Roger Zelazny’s Amber series, Rebma was an undersea city that was a reflection of the one true city.
