EpicPoetryFIN

In 2024 I encourage you to read specific genres of literature. July 2024 theme is epic poetry.  For the challenge I decided to pick up epic poetry from Finland. Instead of choosing Kalevala of which J.R.R. Tokkien was inspired I decided to go deeper. That's why I chose Jouni Marjanen's book Suomen kansan jumalrunoja = Finnish national epic poetry. I think it is available only in Finnish. It is a collection of epic poetry presented by several respected poetry singers and written down by scientists. These epic poems are the original ones of which Elias Lönnrot complied Kalevala, which is available also in English. This is not my personal cultural epic poetry but it includes some descriptions of my nation; Sámi people. It is very interesting and also it includes many themes of which you can find out about how people used to live by then.

HarvestSeason

The growing season in Lapland, Finland is short. Officially it is 100-140 days because it is classified to  end in autumn when the mean daily temperature drops below 5°C. It starts from the moment when the grass begins to grow and you can sow the seeds. Growing season includes the long weeks you need to wait does it begin to grow or not. I always think if I can make it in 3-3½ months I could try it out. 

The growing season is challenging for many plants because we have the MidnightSun which all the plants (or flowers) can't stand. Many can adapt the cooler climate but most not the MindightSun because it means they get no darkness or rest hours during the day. And when the darkness begins to fall it happens fast and starts to cover the world like a blanket. 

Here where I live the harvest season begins with the berries in July. First we start to get the strawberries in the garden, then cloud berries in the wild swamps. The blue berries (my favorite) follow. Because we follow the traditional lifestyle the season is very busy to collect all the berries for the winter. During the winter time -what comes to the greens- we buy mainly potatoes, onions and bananas at the shop. 

We have also traditional common hop crowing in the garden. It's very beautiful and actually the only proper creeper plant that grows here successful year after year and reaches even 4 meters height over the growing season. 

When I was doing this a child asked if I was making weed, meaning d***s. My reply was: "Sort of." 😂 Every year I grow also nettle in my garden. It is, especially its seeds are, superfood. I take only the seeds for the nutrition. I mix max 5 ml as a daily portion into my gluten free bread to get enough FE (iron) and other vitamins to my challenging diet. Like I do with the fireweed. Both nettle and fireweed are nutritious greens for a diet but also good plants for natural dyes. 

I've picked up also tansy blossoms (Tanacetum vulgare). Tansy is an excellent plant for natural dyes to get yellow color. 

This summer I collect natural dyes also for my students for the coming season classes. That´s why I dry them for the further use. Did you know that fresh full blooming tansy scents like chamomile? You can use it also for sachets.

Rags&Rugs

I have been weaving more rag rugs.

I've woven many meters already.

There are already the rag rugs for out veranda and library.

After finishing this one for our living room, I must take them off because no more fits over the cloth roller. Then you will be able to see the proper pictures of each.

LazyLace

This pic shows well what I have been doing at home when being on summer leave: laying lazy on my hammock sleeping or reading, having some low intense yoga and craft making.

I started to learn bobbing lace 10 months ago. I've made a green bobbin lace as my main project last winter. Now I finished another practice project. I will make something beautiful of it. 

I used 100 % linen for it. It was loose end thread I found twine around old bobbins at work. I would love to make a small bag of it but we'll see...

BlanketNo10 (revontulet)

I have crocheted one more BlanketNo10. I was inspired by the May 2024 Aurora Borealis that were seen all over the Europe and California in 10.-11.5.2024. I started this blanket right after that. I was especially happy for the people who had never before had a change to see this magical phenomenon!  

It is much lighter than the actual BlanketNo10 but follows the same idea just like BlanketNo10 (brown) and BlanketNo10 (berry porridge). Because this one is not as thick, you can use this one also as a shawl during the cold wintry weathers if you need to go out. For this one I used the same yarn than I used for OfficeLadyPoncho. It is House Kuvio yarn (85% acrylic, 10% wool, 5% mohair) (100g = 542m). The yarn has the variegated shades so it makes stripes. It all appears differently depending on it which way you go: back and fort or just around all the time like I did with BlanketNo10 to form out one huge GrannySquare.

It is very easy way to crochet a colorful square blanket just from one ball of yarn. The colors just form out without trouble or thinking and they all be set in unique and individual way. Just like The Northern Lights which never are the same. From here you can read about The Northern Lights in my culture and why we call them "revontulet" = fires of fox.

I am sure you want to see her so just add an extra photo. Dear beloved Nuka is having a holiday season. No hunting, no physical exercising. Just sniffing around the village. This is a heat weave we can't stand (+23 C). But we don't complain because it feels like a Mediterranean holidays at 90's.

On the pic above you can see Nuka's throat and neck area. It looks like a bit weird because of the dog attack she survived in 2019. She was bite very badly straight into her throat and it needed two men to get the attacker off by opening its jaws by a human force. Nuka is 9 yrs now. Yesterday a worker man who needed to step in our property asked are my dogs nice dogs. Both dogs were howling and barking like mad. I replied: "Don't they always are?" I had put the dogs on the terrace deck behind the gate and was in the garden with the worker.  He looked at me and seemed not to believe a word. I have 2 m high fence around the garden because of the dogs. But that is mainly to keep the stupid people out. My dogs can behave but all the humans can't. 

It's been 5 years now from the dog attack Nuka faced. Her rehabilitation was succeed. The only difference in her spirit is that she doesn't question. And we can't blame on her about that. It means that she is not an aggressive dog. She never starts a rampage, simply never. But when she has a reason, she is ready to fight for our lives 'til the end. She fears nothing, not even bears. You simply can't frighten her. But because of her experience she knows where it leads to so immediately when she gets a reason (open aggressive signal) she is ready to defend. Even on that moment she is under the control of  humans. That proves she does it on purpose and it is not just a primitive reaction.

What Pii has learnt from her is that dear Pii doesn't accept any kind of bad behavior from anyone. She comments immediately by her malamute howling if someone is acting against the rules, like walking on the wrong side of the street! 😂 Also that proves Nuka's behavior is planned and expedient instead of primitive. It follows certain pattern and Pii has not learn to be aggressive, she has learnt to be natural Alaskan malamute who is naturally a bit obsessed on rules.😍

MoominworldHappyBudgetPlan

We recently visited Moominworld in Naantali. It is ½ h drive from Turku, Finland. We've been in Naantali before but never visited Moominworld. That's because it is so far away and when our own children were small it was totally out of our budget.

In Finland Moominworld arises a critic of its high prices and the fact that buying the creepy expensive tickets is not enough. They say it is just a shop-shop-shop place with high prices. And all with the fact that small children are frightened, even feeling horror in there. I do agree about the prices. We took our 2 yrs old granddaughter there and paid 111€ for the tickets of 2 adults and  one 2 yrs old toddler. It was the discounted online family ticket! Only children under 2 yrs get the free entrance. You need also 15€ for the parking! That means the total entrance cost is 126€ all together for 3 persons!!! With the discounts!

Right when we stepped in through the gates and walked into the Moominworld we faced a market street. It was shop-shop-shop for food, face painting, games you need to pay to be able to try on etc. All masked to look like a play world in the way that the children don't realize it costs but the adults get huge stress about it. BUT on the other hand, if you know this for beforehand, you can talk about it at home with your children and tell them they can't get that there. It is easy to make true not to shop-shop-shop because it all is only right on the begin. In Finland nothing is big so when you get through it you can return only when leaving because there are several toilets also deeper in the world. And if you have children that understand you are not shopping there you can pass it slower and take a look at the beautiful buildings.

We visited only the post office book shop when leaving. If you send a post card there you get a special Moominworld franking on it. That is something you can send also home and is a budget and sustainable option for a souvenir. And a nice surprise for the children when it arrives!

How to avoid the fear and horror of smaller children in the Moominwold? No matter how much they love Moomin stories they can feel fear and horror in there. You need to prepare smaller or more shy child for the visit. To avoid the fear we explained to our granddaughter for several times there are no real Moomin characters in the world. They are just humans dressed up into the characters like we all can dress up in different clothes. They are like a puppet which has a human hand inside but in Moominworld the whole human is inside the costume. And we told her that's why the characters are so big; there are adults inside dressed up. Also, she was allowed to see videos about the Moomin world on which she could see the characters and children so she saw the actual size how small the children were compared to the characters. We did these both several times to make sure she remembers it and gets the point but also gets used to the idea. 

Preparing the child helped. No fear. She was shy but I must give all the credit and thank you for the workers dressed up into the characters. They read very well the children's expressions and body language. They didn't cause any single panic. If some was caused it was the stupid parents who forced their kids too close the characters. In those cases the characters stepped away.

With more shy children go there as early as possible to avoid crowds. Wait and seek silent moments. The characters move around the world; so do people. When you stop moving or go to another direction you get excellent changes to seek the Moominworld in peace an quiet. 

We all found our soul cabinet! Even if you don't have children or don't like Moomins but are nearby I recommend you to go anyway because there's a lot of excellent and good quality carpenter and decoration craft. At the end I think it all was worth of the money. The prices are acceptable when you realize it locates on an expensive land area on a small island in a beautiful most famous archipelago region of Finland. The only big minus was the fact that there was not any single picnic site (table and benches) to eat your own lunch in there. That's important especially with the special diets. There do are few single benches you can see at the city parks. You can find the benches also at the experience routes which are like small hiking paths. You can sit on one to enjoy your own lunch in the nature. Remember not to leave any trash into the nature!!!

TheTallShipsRaces2024

Last weekend we visited The Tall Ships Races 2024 in Turku. It was great because we recently have return back to our wet roots...

...with a fundamental difference because instead of using a motor boat we have a small sailing boat now. 

The Tall Ships Races is a great event and opportunity to see so many big sailing boats at the same time. They all are fixed and polished just for the Race. Also, it is a great place to see fashion & style. The most remarkable thing is that the ones that want to dress in the sailor & posh style on the pier are not the sailors. They are just the travelers who wish to be invited on board. The crew knows how to sail and looks like it. 

At The Tall Ships Races you can spot out also museum ships and remarkable creatures. This is Suomen Joutsen (The Swan of Finland). 

The museum ships are open only at the certain hours and dates so be sure -if you want to visit- that they are open. Even you'd see the crew on board it does't mean its open for public. Have a great summer spotting sail boats!

Visavuori

Emil Wikstöm is a famous Finnish sculptor. His name may not sound familiar to you but if you ever visited Helsinki you have seen his work and most of you have photographed his art.

For example he has made Lyhdynkantajat at Helsinki railway station. You should see them at night time too because then the lanterns have the lights on.

He has made also Karhu at The National Museum of Finland. If you've been there I am sure you have a pic about the bear too.

Visavuori is Emil Wikström's home and ateljé museum in Tarttila, Finland. Tarttila locates in Valkeakoski. Valkeakosi locates 35 km south from Tampere, Finland. Wikström chose this place for his wilderness home ateljé because of 3 reasons: easy connections to the roads and railway, it had to be in a wilderness and it must have  a sunny downhill to south. It was built in 1894 so today it is even more accessible by roads. You can get there also by a coach boat.

Because it locates on the hill all the places are not accessible by a wheelchair. Still there are many places to enjoy on a beautiful day if you can't walk so well. There's also a small cafe. The buildings provide many great details also outside. Wikström was inspired by many travels and cultures when he designed and built his home ateljé.

The estate is a very interesting and inspiring place. You can find -of course- his sculpture art there. But you can also find carpenter, stonemason and textile art there, not to mention gardening and wildlife. 

If you can walk stairs it is a place you can investigate even the observatory. It is a proper attraction also with the children who like to explore the world and buildings but are old enough to understand what means "do not touch".

Visavuori is a proper estate but Wikström was not rich always. When he studied in Paris he shared a tiny room with a friend. When one painted the other must lay on the bed! This reconstruction shows how small their room actually was in Paris !

In Visavuori there is a lot for all. If you are interested only about the home decoration, that is just fine. You will get inspired also in that case.

Nature values were important to Wikström. That is easy to understand when realizing how he lived in Paris. At some point the artists started to long into to the wild open nature after spending some amusing and inspiring time in crowded Paris.

In the winter room they have a fire place for heating up the place to keep the plants alive and make also people feel warmer. The green values are preserved in Visavuori still today.

Visavuori has stunning views which the modern world has not spoiled. It is easy to understand why he fell in love the place and chose it for his place to be.

It is not a registered eco or sustainable tourist attraction & museum. They neither have a program for it. I gave them a feedback about it and told that it would be quite easy for them to access this level of demands to take a green transfer step and become nature conversation estate. That is because they have respected Wikström's will and  just maintained it how it was built and meant to be.

RelaxingWhileWorking

I have been cutting more rags for rugs. When cutting or tearing the rags it loses microfibers. It might be quite dusty craft activity. That's why I like to do it over summer season outside. I mainly buy (have always bought) textiles and clothes made of natural fibers so it is natural microfibers that mainly come out. That's why I am not afraid of doing it outside and losing micro plastic into the nature.

I am on a summer leave and the weather has been excellent for washing rugs. I've already washed mine but have been taking my mom to wash hers. I could help her but washing the rugs is a good exercise for 70+ person and it is also a matter of pride. 

She used to cycle 10 km with her rugs and wash them and then cycle back with the wet rugs only to do it again on the next warm day. Now she accepts someone to take her by a car. I guess she is getting old, but not too old because I really don't dare to touch her rug washing project if not asked because otherwise it is an insult and old-shaming. 

(She has never had a driving licence and lived most of her life in a place where is not at all or no proper public transport. That is an achievement in the modern time arctic climate!)

On the pic above you can see me wearing my favorite summer pants. They are over 4 years old and I wear them quite a lot. I have even one tiny hole in the right knee. For the FashionNOW I am going to fix them when I get the right idea for that.

Washing rugs by the natural water is old tradition of which people are proud of. For better action for the planet something has changed in the tradition. The old traditional washing places are still in use but modernized. That means they have taken down the old piers and built the washing tables with several washing stations. Each station gets running water pumped up from the natural water (in this case from the river Kemijoki). Instead of leading it all back to the nature they have built drains and lead the water into municipal drain network. From there all the waste water faces cleaning process before ending back to the nature. 

Washing rugs is also a social activity where people gather to wash the rugs but to chat at the same time. It is a good place to meet local residents. So, meanwhile my mom has been doing proper physical activity for her health she has also taken care of her mental well being by seeing village people near and far. And I have enjoyed about the view while acting for the better future and FashionNOW and being creative. That makes good also to my own well being!

NewLife

For the 1st time in my life I visited Estonia and Tallinn in summer 2009. That was before I started this blog. In Tallinn I did only some shopping and one was to visit local Body Shop. From there I bought this fabric bag. Cotton fabric shopping bags are sustainable choice only if you use them A LOT. I have used this bag for 15 years and washed it several times. Now it found its way to store something I am up to...

In Forest Sámi culture the sustainable life style has always been one of the key points. In the modern times there was a period people were ashamed of it because of poor-shaming. Still it is something many Forest Sámi people hide from "outsiders". Because of poor-shaming. But here in my blog we all already know it is FashionNOW and there is nothing to be ashamed of. That's why I -again- show you what I have been collected. I have been collected old clothes. After the last use I have washed them and sorted out for the storage.

I have cut over 10 yrs old T-shirts and turtle neck polo shirts in pieces. You can do it yourself with the help of Rag -tutorial in my blog. In Forest Sámi (and many other) culture people recycled and upcycled everything possible. Old clothes were used as blankets and many other different ways. 

I have already woven one over 2 m long rag rug made of old linen. Dear Pii lives behind the loom and participates on weaving as the inspector general.

She thinks it is sleepy and boring and in her opinion I weave far too slow. I wonder how and earth she can sleep in that noise of banging. Anyway, we both are on a holiday and creativity actions and naps make so good on both of us mental health and recovery.

I have already started new rag rug where I use his old shirts. These rag rugs are going to be our veranda's new rugs for the coming winter. 

With the old pieces of clothes I use so called LP-yarn. It is made of 80% of recycled cotton and 20% of other fibers. It is made of yarns that form out loops. I use it to create warmth, softness and thickness for the rag rugs. It makes the rugs also to be a bit lighter and they don't get so heavy when getting wet when washing them by yourself.