Lappala

Previously, in early July, I told you about the cottage life in Finland and the traditions connected to it. From that you know that we didn't have our own cottage. Until now! 💙 For about 3 long years we've been seriously seeking the match made in heaven for our cottage to be. This summer we found Her. 

Her location is very special, rural and secret. You get there by the only ferry of Lapland, Finland. There are other ferries but they are in South Finland. Her ferry is small but runs non stop from 6 am to 10 pm with only 4 breaks of 20 minutes. It's free and only few car fit in on board at the same time.

The ferry across one point of the lake Kemijarvi nearby Suomu. Suomu is a hidden and secret gem in Lapland, Finland. Suomu is a quiet place and far away from mass tourism. Suomu locates by the Arctic Circle like Rovaniemi but is so much more authentic meanwhile Rovaniemi has turn out tourism industry center like Barcelona or any other European city.

We chose our very own cottage to be in Suomu. Exactly today we became Hers. We've been there twice before. 1st to see Her and find out if She feels the right one. And for the 2nd time with the inspector to see if everything is ok with Her. 

From Her windows we can see the lake Kemijärvi. Through Her windows many people have watched before us.

See, actually She is not a cottage at all. She neither is any kind of young lady anymore built after the wars. She was officially born in 1.1.1907. But it was the heart of the winter by then. Nothing was built in January by then. So, according to the old traditions and way of life, She probably was finished in summer 1906 or 1905 or 1904. It just took some time to travel through the wilderness to the authorities to get it all stamped officially. 

But that's not all of Her. She was born much earlier. She burned somewhere at the end of 1800 and was only re-built after the fire. And that's not all. She was originally built -long long time ago- on the place where Sámi people had their summer season home, when they arrived to fish by the lake Kemijärvi. That's from where She got her name by the authorities written on the official books. Her original and very old name is Lappala = the place where Sámi people live. 

We belong to Her now. And I will share our life with Her with you in the future in this blog. Isn't it all very exciting!

FurBlanket No1

Do you remember how I made TrapperHat No1 for Him? Now I took the fox fur coat and made something from its hem. It is my own design.

I took off the lining and wool filling but left everything else there to support the structure.

Then I cut off the hem just under the armpits.

After that I selected the wool fabric shade for the new lining.

Then I cut the new wool lining into its shape and pinned it. You actually should not use pins for the leather or fur because they make permanent holes to the material. In this case I used the pins because the holes can't be seen through the fur and I pinned it in the way that no visible marks left on the leather parts. After pinning I sew it and closed the pockets from the front side.

It is wild fox. You can see it from the facts that the fur is not even and thick all over. You can also notice the shades vary quite a lot. Those are great examples to separate the wild fox from industrially grown fox fur. 

The deep red wool lining matches well with the wild & red fox fur.

It is ready for the winter and snuggle up! 

It is FashionNow.

DeerBag

Few years ago I received an old tapestry wall decoration. I was not quite sure what to do with it. Someone had received it with an old apartment they bought. It had no special meaning to any alive person. It ended up to me with the idea that it's a piece of craft, do something with it. 

I have been thing to what meaningful object I will turn it out. Ta-dah! I designed it and it turn out a handbag. 

I have made handbags before by using old canvas projects. One for my mom and another for one who is not here with me anymore.

In this deer-project also the lining and strap are recycled. The tag "Hand Made" and the magnetic clip to close the bag are new.

I made a small pocket inside. This is unique, and for sure a very special handbag. No other similar on the Planet Earth. Only this one. This is FashionNOW.

TampereCathedral

Another thing I have always wanted to see is Tampere Cathedral.

In July 2026 I finally had the change to walk through its gates.

It was hard to choose which gate so I tested them all.

When stepping into the cathedral I was happy to find the miniature of the cathedral.

You know I am a bit church freak. In Finland many things were destroyed during the wars. That's why the churches and cathedrals are excellent, and mostly the only places -like the local museums- to see the art and artisan work of Finland. They include a lot of national and local art and craft treasures. Churches receive funding, local museums don't.

Tampere Cathedral is famous because of its paintings but it has a lot of excellent wood and stone carving art also.

Also its windows are decorated. Not all and not full, which is understandable because of the dark winter seasons. In this way more light gets through the windows.

The art is everywhere in Tampere Cathedral, even its several staircases.

I have always wanted to see Tampere Cathedral mainly because Hugo Simberg's famous paintings.

The iconic The Wounded Angel is placed there, painted in the wall.

There's more art I ever expected to see. When you just sit there with eyes wide open and look around you begin to spot actually a lot of angel theme. There are many angel wings. To me it seems like The Wounded Angel is the point of Simberg's art of the cathedral despite it is not at the altar.

Also, he painted a lot of children there. He used local children to model. He painted normal working class children at the time when child labor was common. 

He never explained his work with The Wounded Angel. Lately, it is often decoded to describe his personal suffer when he was at a hospital or having a long term head ache because of syphilis he suffered. That's why he painted demons and angels, they say. In his work, I personally have always seen the statement of children's abuse and children's rights, because he painted children in the time when child labor was very common also in Finland's industry, and when adults started to wake up to see it is not right. Art is great, because we all can decode it up to our own thinking and understanding.

It is quite interesting he paint also a magpie. A bird you actually don't see in churches, cathedrals, fine art for kings and queens... You see eagles and other birds considered to be nobel. Magpie is very rarely described in church art like normal working class children. Usually the only child painted in a church art is baby-Jesus. Hugo Simberg painted ordinary children instead of baby-Jesus. Perhaps he understood something very deep.

If you visit Tampere cathedral you can spot The Wounded Angel at the up-right corned when stepping in. But there are so much else to see too.

It is interesting that there grows Rowan Trees which is considered a pagan tree. There are many interesting things. I spent there an hour and that was enough if you want to investigate it all with time. There are toilets too, so you don't need to hurry anywhere else.

I like church yards too. At Tampere Cathedral the church yard is small but enough for a break. I had my gluten free lunch pack with me: bread, peanuts and ice tea. I enjoyed a small break after visiting the cathedral.

Tammerkoski

It seems that this year I have been telling you what you can see under the snow in Finland. It is mainly because we work hard over the winter season and the warm snow-free season is something very special to us. In July I had an over night train trip to Turku and back. This is one stop on my journey. This is something I have always wanted to see. It is something I have only heard to been talking about. It is not in Turku.

It is the rapids Tammerkoski in Tampere. I was very lucky to happen to be in there exactly on the moment when they need to let it run free through the mills because of the rains and floods. Usually it is not let run free and wild like this because of the hydroelectric power plant. And usually you can't get this close to see it. In Tampere they had built a temporary pedestrian bridge over the rapids. So, if you travel there, don't expect to see it like this.

The rapids Tammerkoski was born over 7 500 years ago between two lakes. It runs 2 km from lake Näsijärvi to lake Pyhäjärvi, that locates 18 meters lower. Originally Tammerkoski had 4 separated rapids with backwaters after each. In 1916-1937 they built 4 hydroelectric power plants in Tammerkoski. In this video you can sense what kind of it might have be when running free and wild. 💙