FireStarters -tutorial

I had the kettle on because I needed more fire starters. I made cotton pad fire starters 5 years ago. I still have few left. I do have made up a fire more often 240 times in five years but I don't always need to use fire starters. Since January 2019 I've been saving more candle ends and now it has came the time to melt them for the new project.

You need an old kettle which you use only for candle project. Notice: you can't use it or any other equipment you use in this for cooking anymore. 

Just mild heat is enough to melt the candle ends. If there will be even tiny mini-bubbles, it's getting dangerous hot. Make sure you have fire blanket next to you.

Trashes in the soup are ok. It is easy to avoid them and later on you can use some stick to get them out.

Before starting cover a tray by baking paper. If you want to make more decorative ones, use paper tissues. In that case take off the uppermost layer of a paper tissue. Place it upside down (print facing down) over the baking paper. Dip the cotton pads in the melt candle wax. Use a tool, not fingers!

When they are cool and set you can cut the pads off. It turns out zero waste if you use the left over paper tissues also as fire starters because for sure there are candle wax drops all around them.

When finished, you can make a small cut on each. You can fold the pad when lighting it on. It starts better when the fire faces the pad inside first.

It is an easy one evening project. I made 200 fire starters this time.

By choosing different kind of paper tissues you can create different kind of outfit.

They are suitable also for gifts too. Useful, low budget and eco friendly gifts. 

Kirsi Kunnas

On 2024 I encourage you to read specific genres of literature. January 2024 theme is poetry. One of my favorite Finnish poets is Kirsi Kunnas. She is familiar to me via her beloved children poetry. But she did wrote adult poems too. I just never read them, until now. Over 400 pages of her adult poetry, also some translation and short intro essay included. I read Kirsi Kunnas' ultimate collection of adult poems Puut kantavat valoa in Finnish. I bought this for myself as a souvenir from Ateneum, Helsinki, which we visited last August.

CamoShirt

I gave him an immaterial gift. See, last autumn he bought some fabric and started a sewing project (yes, he can sew). He has been far to busy to finish the project so I gave him an immaterial gift: I promised to finish his sewing project this spring for him. Here comes the 1st item. It is a camo fleece shirt. It bases on 25 years old model I made for him. It is finally worn out so he needs a new one for hunting.

It is a simply design and easy to make. The ribbon around the collar makes it stand up better. The collar has two layers of fleece.

3xPenCase

I designed and made three cute pen cases. These two smaller ones you can use also for smaller things like cosmetics.

The bigger one I made for my grand child who loves to observe the birds with us. The birds have a special meaning in our Sámi cultural heritage. Different birds may symbol / stand for different things. From small signs you can notice this pen case has a connection to the roots and heritage like with the baby winter overall.

I made the lining for them all.

You can use what ever fabric you like for the lining.

National costume

So, what I've been up to lately? This is one project I've been in the middle of. What is it? It is Perä-Pohjola national costume from Finland. Perä-Pohjola is a region that can be called as Southern Lapland. Literally it means "at the end of north". To us, the north just begins from here. :)

My mother-in-law wove the skirt fabric and started to make the national costume for herself in 1980's. She had done most of the sewing. It was missing the finishing which meant it missed most of all the embroidery. For about five years ago she gave it to me. I didn't finish it until now. 

This is the only national costume I could wear if not using my own Sámi costume. It is the matter of heart. But I didn't make this for me. 

It is now finished. It includes the skirt, vest, shirt, apron and scarf. As always, making a national costume needs a lot of time. I often say there is nothing extremely demanding in the weaving, sewing or embroidery skills, but it needs patience and time just to sit down and do it. Nowadays many can't just sit down and do it for hours after hours. I think making the exact proper and neat holes for the cord needed approx 4-5 hours of my life. There are 10 holes, not to mention other embroidery parts, just think about it.

It is all done and finished and packed up for home delivery for someone very special creature on the planet earth!

BackInPuzzles

I would have claimed that in 2023 I had no time to make any jigsaw puzzle but I was wrong. Indeed I did; two exactly. I just checked it out. No wonder it feels so distant because last one I did in February 2023, almost a year back! Anyway, I'm back in puzzles and this is the 1st one. It is YWOW's wooden puzzle. It is smart cut like the turtle I made in January 2023. Nice little warm up for coming puzzle year 2024. I actually made this to make my nerves to rest from a project about which you will be able to read soon...

NewStripes

Oh what a worn out the striped socks have faced during the years. I could have just darn it but the damages were quite huge at whole soles. The leg parts were still quite ok so I decided to knit new feet parts for them. I just cut off the feet and heel parts and picked up the stitches on needles. 

Then I knit new heels and feet parts. White and grey are the same shade as the original ones. The blue is new but matches well. I used Novita's 7 Veljestä (75 % wool, 25% polyamide) (100g = 200m) yarn. The original pair is made of Novita's Tuomas yarn (100g = 189m) (40% wool, 35% acrylic and 25% polyamide).

By knitting just the new feet for the socks I saved my own time and the nature resources! 

30 000 liters

Last Christmas was fabulous. I have returned to work and noticed that despite of my cultural desire for longer winter break, returning to civilization has been just lovely. Everyone else is already orientated and I do my best to do so too. 

But let's talk a bit about Yule time, at least it what happens when it begins to land on modern humankind. Materialism often takes the victory and there is nothing to be ashamed of in it. Many people save the whole year to be able to buy something special for someone special for Christmas and hardly can afford living through the rest of the year because of low income and high living costs. That's why we should not judge anyone. 

Today I want to switch on the mode for 2024 and tell you more statistics. Let's talk about water. 

In my green old house we consume approx 321 liters of water per day. Straight away it is a bit difficult to say is it a lot or little. In Finland the average consumption of water per day is 120 liters per person when living in an apartment house. The consumption rate has decreased during the years thanks to the campaigns for it. Living in you own property statistics is difficult to find.

According to that apartment house statistics our 321 liters for 2 persons is a lot. The picture is not black and white because we have two big dogs who need to drink (that's not  much) but we also accommodate family members during the year, including laundry self-service. So, roughly to say 321 liters is actually for 3 persons, at least for 2,5. 

But that's not all. We grow our own food. Also, sustainable lifestyle, hunting for the food and preparing our own food need water (washing things etc.). So, in practical our food consumption can be seen in our personal water consumption instead of our grocery shopping bill. Also, big waste of the water is our arctic climate. Hot water pipes cool down pretty fast so we must let it run until we reach the warm water again. That is a fact we can't help out anymore. We do have machines that warm up their own water which means they use only cold water but when we need it from the tap, it must run first.

Actually the question is not do we consume a lot or little. The question is can we keep on reducing the consumption of the water on planet earth? The reply is "not much on personal level" but we try and have plans for it. About that you will hear later on. 

But on global level we can do a lot. One thing is this post you can read. Sharing the information with you, and when you share it with your love ones, help the planet Earth. :)

I am proud to tell I have educated my children well. When they arrived back to north for Yule time they brought some proper clothes that were broken and needed fixing. They could easily have thrown these items away and bought new ones but instead they brought them home. For example by fixing up two pair of jeans and two cotton pullover 30 000 liters of water was saved! Can you image! One pair of jeans need 10 000 liters of water until they have traveled from the cotton fields through the factories to consumer.

In 2024 fixing up your old things & clothes is not a sign of being poor. It is a sing of it that you are educated, environmentally conscious and aware of science and the state of the planet Earth. Also, caring for the nature and doing things to save it makes good to your and other people's mental health. Be fashionable and fix & recycle. If you don't know how to, learn it in 2024! It is simply daily life choices and actions. I made a new label for you "SaveThePlanet". Also, the label "energy saving tips" help you on your journey.  

Starlight

For Christmas 2023 I designed and made this starlight window decoration. I needed three things for it: metallic star frame, star-shaped led-lights and beaded decorative band. Total cost of the complete star was about 6€ because during the years I've bought the materials on sale. I saved at least 20€ to do it myself and using bargains for it.

BluePrincess

I designed and made this blue princess dress. It is fabulous and made of recycled materials. One happy girl received this from Santa Claus on Christmas 2023.

It has buttons behind to make the dressing up easier.

LastChristmas

My old green house has had lived again through one more happy, peaceful and traditional Yule season. I've received these beautiful houses as a gift from special people in past few years. They have led-candles inside so we don't need to worry for the fire when keeping them on my desk.

Well, if you ask me, I would like to keep on living my Yule time according to my Sámi tradition all the way to the moment when the bear turns to the other side when sleeping in its winter nest and hibernate. On that moment the winter's neck is broken which means one half is behind and the other half to go. If you need a date for that, as we need dates in the modern society, that's 19.1. And because modern society keeps on running I need to return back to life from my beloved Yule. That happens on the next bank day after Epiphany (6.1.) which is tomorrow. Oh no!

Landing on Yule season was extra exciting this year because on the begin of December the whole village, actually the whole cape & bay suffered from main drain break. That meant we had no running water for about 9 hours. That was not a problem. The problem arrived when they got it running. We needed to boil our water for 4 days. That was not a problem either. But what was running was sandy. That was a problem. That's why we took snow from the garden - it's sand-free- and boiled it until the sand stop running in the pipes. 

We used iron stove to melt the snow. It is not very energy efficient because then the heat goes to the snow instead of warming up the house so much. Still, it is more efficient to do it on wooden stove that by the electricity. Especially when talking about sustainability.

No matter what, our kitchen is always open, especially over Yule time. There's table for six -no, seven- always free. More seats and tables are available if needed. Instead of traditional "all-inclusive buffet" where all the foods and goods are set on the table and kept there over the holidays for everyone to eat and drink as much as desired, we provide "all-inclusive buffet" with self service. That means it all is place in the fridge & pantry and you help yourself out. Just for the hygiene reasons.

Also this year our Christmas menu meat was self hunt game. This year it was smoked roe deer hind leg. Only once we have bought ham because we had a bad hunting season on one autumn and didn't got enough for the Yule fest menu. It is interesting that traditionally we don't actually hunt. We "ask for" the game. Literally. We use the word "pyytää" (="ask for") instead of "metsästää" (=hunt). We ask for it from the god and the spirits of the forest; from the rulers of the woods. And we thank them for it by some rituals. 

This year my parents-in-law made two gingerbread houses with my kids. The small one is for my grandchild.

The bigger one with the horses is for YoungLady. It is a lovely tradition she always looks forward to do with her grandparents.

My own gluten free gingerbreads wish you all "pyere joulak" (= Merry Christmas) in my Sámi language. They were so tasty and desired that I hardly managed to take a picture of the final ones left in the jar!

Yule time has pass by in winter wonderland with arctic weather. Despite of the frost we outdoor daily. This pic was taken after 45 min walk in -24C. No, it is not cold. But just put me in +24C, then you see me crying and complaining like a baby.  Because it's too hot, far too hot for me! 

The fur around the hood of my new winter jacket (down) is recycled wild fox. You see it looks different than industrially grown. Take a look at FurHood-tutorial and Recycled FurHood to see the difference of wild and farmed fur. They both are fox despite of the different shade. Wild fur is not so homogenous and not so thick. This fox actually was hit by a car for about 25 years ago and the driver brought it to my father-in-law to be used for something. Part of the fox has been in my husbands winter overall hood until now when I moved it to my new down jacket. I bought a new jacket last spring but it turn out unpractical in outdoor use, it's pattern is awful and I feel like being strangled when going for a proper winter outdoor activity in it! I still have it but use it when I am just being a lady-like. :)

Autumn 2023 and winter 2023-2024 has been cold. Not extraordinary cold but constant cold. The snow arrived on 10.10. and didn't melt away even for a day. Past week it has been around -30. Before that around -20C. In a week I've seen two earth cracks. They are like mini earth quakes caused by the frozen and freezing ground. You don't see them so often.

Anyway, in this blog post you have seen even 3 pics of me and that is as rare as the winter earth cracks! Here I am with Nuka and Pii after today's walk in the woods. Notice the pullover under the jacket. I dyed the yarn and my mother-in-law knit the pullover for me as a birthday gift in November. 

I usually don't chat this long nor mention the statistics or explain anything. But now, bringing you with me to 2024 I'd like to tell that this year I will turn to 50 years and I love it! 

I also would like to tell that after I started this blog exactly 13 years ago I've written 1 316 posts for you. We have had 148 124 views in the blog which means for 148 124 times you or someone else have seen the blog. So, even you might feel you are alone, you are not, we are here together and I love you all! 

Also, in 13 years I've never participated any single Blogtober. And I won't. Why? Why not if I keep on blogging and you keep on reading? Simply because October is a very bad month to make such a commitment to post daily. Like is August, September, Novemebr and December. I do have shared two Advent Calendars with you (2011 and 2022) but just two. They all are bad months for such a commitment because our traditional life style demands so much time and attention for growing, gathering and hunting our own food. We are working those months like every modern person does to get money what you need in modern society. But the free time is full of actions the traditional life style demands.

Still, I keep on behaving and being nice and hope you do too because...

..."joulupukki" is coming again this year. Traditionally to us Santa Claus is not St. Nicholas. He is "joulupukki" which literally means "yule buck" and traditionally he is not any kind of nice man -opposite. But I must confess during getting older he has calm down and behaves well instead of wiping and stealing children.

XmasElf

This simple macramé Christmas elf doesn't need any special pattern or design. You see this design a lot on internet and magazines. I did it without any instructions. I used recycled wooden ring -similar with the angel- as the base to do the beard and insert the hat. Inside the hat I used cardboard as a base around which I made the red yarn knots. This is easy, fun and fast to make. Also, it is low cost and you can use your left over yarn -like I did. Just think about it with a grey beard and white hat.... 😃

The 2024 Reading Challenge No 1

The Reading Challenge 2024 is here!

On 2024 I encourage you to read books in different genres. No other rules but the genre. The meaning is to introduce different kind of literature and authors to yourself. But, you can still choose your favorite one if the genre is familiar to you. Notice, you can always drop out the book if you dislike it. It is highly recommended to use second hand books, borrowed books and your local library collection. If possible, read in all the languages you can. Also, don't be afraid of to pick up a book you have already read in the past. The second round at different age may bring you new experiences. 

January 2024 theme is POETRY!

Not a poem, poetry. That means you need to read at least two poems in this month challenge. This is an easy start for busy and exhausted people! It is easy start also for the ones who want to have the new hobby: reading. Love you all!

The Reading Challenge 2023

In 2023 I encouraged you to read books from different places. No other rules but geographical location. You could choose the genre! As usual, at least 12 books, one for each month.  Below you can see the books I chose for each month theme.

1. Africa: The Lioness by Tom Buk-Swienty 
2. Antarctica: Hiihtovaellus etelänavalle by Stein P. Aasheim
3. Arctic region: Inughuit by Tiina Itkonen
4. Asia: Melkein geisha by Minna Eväsoja
5. Australia: The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland
6. Central America: The Double Life of Fidel Castro by Juan Reinaldo Sánchez
7. Europe: This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
8. Middle East: The Country of The Others by Leïla Slimani 
9. North America: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
10. Sea: Seashore Sounds by Sam Taplin
11. South America: Poems written by Gabriela Mistral
12. Space: Taivaanpallo by Olli Jalonen

Past year has been extremely busy and challenging but also brought great news and possibilities despite it put also challenges, sadness and sorrows on my road. Still I was able to keep up my aim to read at least 12 books in a year and this year even more. I've also read ten other books listed below and several piles of craft books which are not mentioned here. That makes 22 books to read. It would not have succeed without audio books. I still don't prefer them because I simply L*O*V*E reading but the audio books are good options if you just can't sit down and read so often a real paper book. 

Bokhandlen på Riverside Drive by Frida Skybäck (in Finnish, library item). The book title is the original Swedish. It is not translated in English. The book is a feelgood book for every book lover. It tells about a Swedish woman who inherits a bookshop by the river Thames in London. I didn't like the love triangle drama which it included in background story but it was not too disturbing. 

The Golden Rule by Amanda Craig (in Finnish, audio book, library item). Definitely not my genre because marriage and divorce with secret love affairs are included. Chose this one because my free library audio book collection is not very wide and this was the only reasonable that was available at the moment. This was my first book written by Amanda Craig. I must admit she includes many obvious and common subjects and sometimes I feel she writes about the issues without personal nor deeper experiment. Still, she includes domestic violence committed also by woman, which is fresh touch but not very deep aspect, but I still must give her credit from that. She writes strongly about Cornwall nature and brings it and old buildings very alive. That must be the issue she is more familiar with. Still, a good read with surprises and attachment, worth of reading and doesn't include adult only material despite of the themes.

Gulliver's Travels part I and II (A Voyage to Lilliput & A Voyage to Brobdingnag) by Jonathan Swift (in Finnish, audio book, library item). Amused myself by listening to this audio book on my drives to work and back. Been read it several times as child and to my own children too. Seen cartoon on tv etc. Interesting and fascinating to remember it was written and published on time when the world was quite unknown and unexplored.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson (in Finnish, audio book, free try out month by Nextory as a customer bonus from Nordic Green Energy from which we have bought our electricity since... when they started to operate in Finland). Self-help book for people who hate self-help books. Actually I have this item in my library. It is His book and I have planned to read it but found it at Nextory and instead decided to listen to it. Mark Manson uses rough language on purpose, so if you can't tolerate it, this is not for you. He may sound wise guy but at the end you understand he knows what he talks about. He has been forced to look at the mirror and because he didn't like what to see he decided to make the change instead of stepping out of the sight and not to look at the mirror again. There are many good lessons and actually many of his teachings origin to Asian and Tibetan practices. He just speaks it out like a man to another. 

Koti Keniassa by Viola Wallenius (in Finnish, audio book, free try out month by Nextory as a customer bonus from Nordic Green Energy from which we have bought our electricity since... when they started to operate in Finland) This book is not translated in English. It tells a young Finnish woman's story who was seeking herself and found much more than herself. She is one of the persons who started HomeStreetHome charity organization in Kenya. The book is titled "Home in Kenya". Even I am aware of these problems and have read Viola's column in my labour union magazine, sometimes the subjects were so devastating that I had to have a break. If you are not aware of problems in Kenya, Africa or elsewhere, this is a good book, if translated in your language some day, but give time to everything, also reading. (HomeStreetHome is reliable and trustworthy charity organization that has cooperation process also with famous Finnish jeweler company KalevalaKoru.)

Viikinkien maailma (The World of Vikings) - Maailman Historia (World History) series by Saga Egmont publisher (in Finnish, audio book, free try out month by Nextory as a customer bonus from Nordic Green Energy from which we have bought our electricity since... when they started to operate in Finland) Interesting and compact history book of latest viking discoveries connected to previous information. Easy to read/listen and follow. 

Pitkään meni ihan hyvin (It was quite fine for a while) by Anna Rimpelä (in Finnish, audio book, free try out month by Nextory as a customer bonus from Nordic Green Energy from which we have bought our electricity since... when they started to operate in Finland) Finnish granny comic book which didn't felt comic after the very begin. Quite soon it turn out heavy and even racist. I have worked for years with grannies and grandpas and only thing I could think was that for God's sake if the situation really is that some other character should question the happenings and get involved. Because of my experience the book feels unreal and unrealistic. Also, the main character's personality felt heavy and nasty. Most of the comic is build in the way of the main character's negative thoughts towards everyone and everything, or selfish thoughts that gives a reason for her actions. If you have met such people or for a reason need to be involved with one, this book is not for you. 

Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner (in Finnish, audio book, library item). Didn't read The Jane Austen Society but will after getting familiar to this. Natalie Jenner is an excellent author. She uses inspiration and imagination instead of sex, bloody body parts and murders. Still, she keeps it all exciting and enchanting and sooner than you notice, you are addicted.

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai (in Finnish, audio book and hard cover version, library item). I  started this novel as an audio book but it had some unsolved technical issues at the end part so I had to borrow the hard cover version to be able to finish this interesting story. I recommend this book to everyone. It is fictive but bases on historical facts. It tells about the Vietnam war from Vietnamese point of the view. For the first time in my life I was able to hear the voice of Vietnamese people about the war. Everyone should read this at leas for the general education. Far too often western people are introduced the Vietnamese war facts from western aspect. 

Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald (in Finnish, library item). I read this book slow during the whole year so I actually renewed my one month borrowing licence for it for several times. I was able to do so because it had no waiting list. This book would have perfectly match also to the Reading Challenge 2023 December theme about the space and is originally written in English. I really like Helen Macdonald's style to write. This book was as good as H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald I read back in 2018 reading challenge. Again she gives the reader themes to think. I think Vesper Flights can give you a slight idea about it what people living in Finland mean when they say they need some space. And when you have it, you are happy. I read Vesper Flights slowly and thinking but I wonder if it brings more into my mind during the time. After reading H is for Hawk I have realized that the birds have always had a huge role in my life and culture. They just are like the air that I breath, I just don't realize it all the time. Still, no birds as pets and now I know why: they must be able to fly free.

***

The Reading Challenge 2024 at Ommel-blog will be published soon!