TheChristmasCarol

In December the 17th we had a hard frost. We -I and YoungLady- needed to get ready for a drive through the arctic to Rovaniemi theater. It meant we needed to take enough extra clothes just in case if for a reason or another we end up standing in the woods and unable to continue our journey.

I had booked the tickets for the famous and classic Charles Dickens' The Christmas Carol couple of months ago. 

It indeed was a great show and we enjoyed a lot. We happened to be there with the school kid audience. At one point I laughed aloud a lot. That made the little heads to turn towards me and whisper "that adult laughed" spread among the audience. It caused a bit confusing imperceptible points of the little fingers and nods of the heads towards me. I didn't mind nor care about it. But what happened on the break was that I was given room in the toilet queue and space in the crowds when walking. No kid pushed me or ran against me. They looked at me curious and respectful. THAT made me think what's wrong with us adults??!! Is it so rare the kids to see us laugh happy and funny laughter that it is something remarkable?! I do laugh and have never ever paid attention on it that do the adults laugh or not. After paying attention on this for several weeks now I can say adults usually don't laugh! 

Just for your own sake, try to laugh more on 2025! It makes good to your mental health. Even it would be a fake laughter! Love you!

ImpossibleMoomin

The 1st but hope not the last jigsaw puzzle of 2025 was this Clementoni's Moomin Impossible jigsaw puzzle. YoungLady received it from MrW as a Christmas gift. 

Making jigsaw puzzles can be also a very social actin. That's why we all, even Him, participated on this Moomin adventure. Remember we visited The Moomin World in July 2024.

Nuutinpäivä

Today is "nuutinpäivä". It is the original and traditional time of the year to enclose the Yuletide feast. Well, to start to enclose it. After "nuutinpäivä", when all the  food and drink was collected by Nuuttipukki, it all was taken to one place to arrange the last feast for the whole village. To eat and drink it all away... to get people back to work at the farms in agriculture. Traditionally in my Sámi culture there was not much to do outside at the time when the world is at is darkest and coldest, so the Yuletide continued even longer and slowly slide from the MidWinterFeast to WinterMarkets at Feabruary.

I have been up to Yuletide for over a month now. At work we had a lot of fun arranging ThePorridgeParty for our teachers. We have 4 floors and not the elevator. The kitchens locates on the floors -1 and 3. That means a lot of exercise when cooking the porridge and decorating the building. 

Notice my craft glasses. They are big enough to see clear to the past, present and future! I bought them a year ago and simply love them!

I have been at the work for a week now, but my heart desires one more week for the Yuletide until it is the 17th of January. What happens then? You will hear all about it then!

The Christmast tree is at its best when the children have decorated it and are allowed to play by it and the decorations. In my Forest Sámi culture Christmas tree has a special meaning my grandpa and grandma transferred to us. Grandpa always brought the tree for us children. Usually the tree and sweets were the only gifts we received from him. But that was what we expected the most. Sometimes he took few of us to get the tree with him, depending on it from where he was going to get it. If it was somewhere near and we could go by foot, all the kids were following him. I was usually the last one in the line, because I was the smallest and the others had to walk first to make the path in the snow form bigger and better for me not to get drown into it. That also meant I was the last one when going back. In that way it was in my responsibility to pick up if anything had dropped down into the snow. 

In those moments we learnt that in every tree lives "haltia". It means a person like a spirit or gnome. Literally "haltia" translates also to "the occupier". And that is what the sprites are. They possess the tree. It is their home. You need to ask if you can cut a tree down. It includes a lot of walking in the woods to see which one you can cut down. And when you are going to cut it, you need to knock or kick the tree to warn about the sprite to make sure the one collects its items and moves away before you take down its home. 

So, to us the Christmas tree was -and still is- a gift from the woods, given permission to it by the sprites. And brought into the house for the children to play and enjoy. To bring in the spirit of the forest.

This Yuletide has included the traditional gingerbread cottage making with the kids and the parents-in-law. 

It has included Yule-spirit visits to the love ones and some extra charity too. We do charity all around the year, but traditionally we make something extra when landing to the Yuletide. Also that is the Sámi tradition I have learnt. We need to look after everyone. If we all take one whom we can take care of we all have much easier MidWinterSeason. Traditionally this time of the year has been hard and challenging in the arctic climate. In my ForestSámi culture you never leave the weak ones, or the ones in the need of help, alone.

This Yuletide has included a lot of wonderful moments and shared wealth. The wealth is not only or always the money. It can be something immaterial. What ever it is, it is up to physical and mental well being.

This Yuletide included also a visit to the hospital where I needed Xrays after falling down with the dog sled in a speed on hard and icy route. No fractures and after two weeks it seems to be quite fine again. But oh boy it was a hit!

One of the best gifts you can give to your dogs is to train them so well that they are safe to run free there where it is allowed. They say you can't let the sled dogs run free. That is true. But if you train them extremely well, it is possible. Extremely well means they need to come back every time when you ask and they never run far. Pii is a sled dog (Alaskan malamute) but also a hunting dog. In hunting she needs to be set free. Both Nuka and Pii hunt with humans, not alone. They know it is easier to hunt together with humans, so they don't try to do it alone. If the human doesn't follow they return and leave the game.

Notice: In Finland you are allowed to set your dog free only in hunting in your hunting region in hunting action. Not in any other case. If you set your dog free in the villages and cities the dog needs to be "immediately chained" when the situation demands or someone asks. Dogs running free do more damage in the nature than wolves ever in this country.

Hope you all had a wonderful Yuletide and a great start of 2025!!!!

TheHouseAtRiverton

The Reading Challenge 2025 has started! The very 1st item I've read on 2025 is Kate Morton's The House at Riverton (in Finnish, mine). This is my 2nd story from her and so far I've liked both books. I read The Distant Hours on 2024. The scene at Riverton is similar but not the same and the story is different. The book has 613 pages and the plot might be a bit confusing to follow because at some points you are at first a bit like "hey, who is talking and which year, date and place it is". It do work well because the main character is an old lady who falls back into her memories and sometimes the presence and past get mixed. I like the book because it is fascinating and interesting. Despite it includes deaths and affairs it is "old school" book so all the dirty parts have been deleted before publishing the book. It neither is a crime fiction. If you like country side scenes, old manor houses, biographies and happy ends, this is a good book for you.

The Reading Challenge 2025

The Reading Challenge 2025 had several options to which it turns out. At the end I decided to tell what all I read on 2025. Every now and then people ask me if I have read this or that OR what on earth I do read. 😂😁 That's why this year 2025, instead of challenging you my dear reader, I decide to challenge me & myself. 

I challenge myself to show you what all I read on 2025. I am not sure will this be possible. The biggest problem is to remember to write it all down for you and find the time to blog about it! I need to find a new routine for that because it is just easier not to. But that is actually why we never complete certain things in our life (better well being actions, finishing things etc.) because we just never "not to". But I will try out because many people ask this because for a reason or another they find it interesting even tough I see nothing interesting in it what I read. Ha ha ha. Meaning that I can't understand why it fascinates people. So, I will try to tell you what all I read on 2025.