Today has been a baking day since the rainy, wet weather did not entice me to go outside. Our road and driveway had turned into a literal skating rink and the kids did go boot-skating and came in very wet. Yesterday when I went on a little stroll for fresh air I had to be […]
Recent Posts
Steam Pudding and make-believe snow
Today it was snowing the kind of snow you see in store displays. They were large, fluffy clumps of flakes that slowly floated down. Occassionally the sun would peak through the clouds and everything glistened. I was shoveling snow as the kids played. And so when the sun came out I ran inside to get […]
My kitchen is filled with anticipation
December and snow has arrived. That means that there is a sense of waiting and electricity in the air. The little people are waiting for the right moment to bake gingerbread, to sew their teachers’ little gifts, hang up the stockings, make pinwheel prune tarts, and open their advent calendars each morning. This past Sunday […]
Happy Thanksgiving!
If there was one thing that I could transport from America to Finland, and I could not choose to have my family imported, Thanksgiving might be that one thing. It is one of my favorite holidays. I like the message that it contains; being thankful for the people and things in life and not just […]
Glistening Crystals
We don’t have snow here in southern Finland yet but the weather has turned and since the ground was still quite wet after our misty season of gray days and rains, the crisp freezing temperatures changed the landscape. Everything acquired a coating of crystals that glisten and dance in the sunlight. The night had been […]
Blackout
This past Sunday was windy; so windy in fact, that when I went on a run/walk in the mid-morning I at times felt as if the wind almost prevented me from taking steps in the direction I wanted to and when I changed direction I nearly had a free ride. There was small branches littering […]
Finding Funnel Chanterelles from bear forest
I have always been a city girl in my heart. It was not until I was an adult that I was introduced to a real forest, a place far from civilization, not just the little patch of woods in a parkway just down the road. For one year during the early years of our marriage […]
My kitchen in November is dark and candlelit
When I wake up on November mornings, the house is quiet and dark as we are now into the darkest part of the year. There is no snow to reflect the light and so it is even darker than the shortest days of mid-winter. I often light candles and we eat breakfast in the soft […]
All Saints’ Day
Traditionally Halloween is not celebrated in Finland but in the past years it has been making an entrance. Costumes can be found in various stores and instead of Trick or Treating, some choose to host Halloween parties with their friends. Yesterday was All Saints’ day. We stopped at the cemetary before visiting friends. The photos […]
Purple
As the season turns from one of brights yellows, reds and oranges the colors fade towards shades of grays, browns, and purples. Even my yellow mums turned purple as the cold nights arrived. The autumn here was a beautiful one, with quite little rain making for vibrant colors. Sometimes the fall rains arrive very early […]
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