45 kg

Lappala arrived into our life in the way She is and has been all these years. She has also plenty of old traditional rag rugs. Last time I brought home for about 45 kg of rag rugs. You know I discovered the self service laundry opening this summer in Kemi. I didn't even try to wash Lappala's rugs by my own hands. I was happy to be able to use the self service laundry.

Now the washed rag rugs are at home. I was so pleased 24 Pesula has also the drying cabinets. At this time of the year when the autumn colors are arriving, drying rugs at home is almost impossible. We have spread the rag rugs around to let them breathe. Breathe? Yep. They should breathe before I roll them up and back into the bags. They were warm when getting out from the drying cabinet. You need to be 110 % sure the textiles are dry until you storage them. Otherwise they start to stink and may even mildew.

But, this is not all. I still have at least another 45 kg of rag rugs in Lappala waiting for to get into the self service laundry! 90 kg of rag rugs is quite many rag rugs. Why Lappala needs so many? You will see that later.💙

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. 💙

TraditionalForestSámiMen'sCostume

Here is what I've been up to lately. I have made a traditional style Forest Sámi Men's costume. This design bases strictly on the oldest historical facts about the traditional woolen fabric costume Forest Sámi men used over the times in central Lapland area in Finland. This is a costume for daily-life-use. This is my personal thank you gift for our fabulous Niko Rytilahti who leads our volunteer linguistic team with great success without any funding. Despite of his busy life and duties, he has found time to help me with my upcoming Forest Sámi costume history book.

I sew this costume with Anne to create more authentic expression. Also, we used the authentic material. The grey woolen fabric is recycled military blanket. Why we used a military blanket? Well, Niko had it and he wanted to use it. It was in excellent condition so there was no reason not to. Military blankets were  manufactured in the mills that don't exist anymore, and from where also Forest Sámi people bought thick wool fabrics for their national costumes especially for men. It they didn't weave it at home.💚

The costume is very thick and warm. When Niko starts to wear it, it begins to adjust on his body form. Wool is great and alive material!

ForestSámiSummerExpo2026

This year ForestSámiSummerExpo was in Sodankylä, Finland. That was actually today. We had a long day because this year we made a day-trip there.

It was a long but happy and empowering day at the expo that gathers together ForestSámi people and the politicians and activists who do a hard work to make the difference what comes to the legislation and funding. On this picture you can see 2 of them: Sara Seppänen and Kari Kyrö. 

ForestSámi face discrimination in Finland. You can read more about the problems here. We still have no funding, neither any kind of plan from the authorities to support our culture in any way. Still, we have gain many breakthrough just on our own. It doesn't mean we don't need support. We do need very hard. People do all this volunteer work on their free time meanwhile other Sámi groups in Finland are financially supported.

Our culture has always been there. We just have not been showing it because of the discrimination. We can't be silent anymore. Today we show it more open. Like this special men's brooch of my friend. He made it himself. You can find on the brooch the symbol of the sun. You can spot also other dots on the brooch which are not connected to the sun figure. Actually this brooch -without the sun- is his reindeer ear mark. By that he fastens his ForestSámi costume. And by his permission I can show it to you today.💙

The Reading Challenge 2026 - Part 3

This year in July I've read 1 novel and 2 two nonfiction books. They are all mine. The nonfiction books I've received as a gift.

Victoria Hislop's The Island has been on my "want to read" list for a long time. It was published in 2005. I read my own copy in Finnish. Despite it tells quite a hard story about Hansen's disease (leprosy) and the history of Spinalonga, Crete, it is a very beautiful book. This is for you who want to read a warm spirited Mediterranean story without murders but with hope and history.

Simo Örmä & Kaj Sandberg (Institutum Romanum Finlandiae) 's publication Villa Lante (in Finnish, mine).   This small publication introduces Roman villa Villa Lante where Young Lady spent some time during her studies. It was published in 2007 but is still valid and makes you want to travel to Rome and see the villa by your own eyes.

Giorgio Bonsanti's Caravaggio The Great Master of Art  (In English, mine). This book was published in 2014. It tells interesting history and facts about Caravaggio's life and work. The book has perfect quality printed pictures about his master pieces. It's bee a long time since I read this kind of art book. It was a pleasure and a great way to get familiar with Caravaggio.

Ylläsjärvi

At early June 2026 it has arrived the time start to slow down and land on holiday season mode. I work very hard and have found it best to start to slow down the control panel before the holiday. You can't always do it at work but playing "slow down" button on your free time does really great for your mental health and recovering & restorative holiday experience.

That's why I was happy to respond positive to the invitation to arrive to Talvenki cottage in Ylläsjärvi, Kolari.

It is a local family owned cottage where we had a family party to organize. That's why I spent there 3 days with my sister from Thursday to Saturday. We had fun and we visited also Särestöniemi.

Right next to Talvenki cottage is Kesänki cottage. They both are owned by a local family. These cottages and many other, also owned by local private persons, can be rent at Nettimökki. I have never used Nettimökki but it is Finnish option to find accommodation instead of worldwide know big operators for tourism industry. 

In Talvenki cottage I started to turn myself on slow mode for the holiday season by self-acupuncture, meditation, yin yoga, reading...

...cryptic crosswords (which I love but have far too little time to do).

Sometimes it is very difficult to slow down. It is easier there where is the silence and emptiness. Before the slow down mode can arrive, it needs you to put aside your smart phone and just be.

In Talvenki cottage is 2 bedrooms.

I had one just for Me & MySelf. I slept so well and a lot in there.

To be honest, I fell asleep several times on the sofa too while having my yin yoga sessions. But if you fall asleep it is what you need!

In Talvenki is modern electric sauna. Electric sauna means that it heats up by electric sauna heater which has the stones over it.

Instead of the electric sauna we used Talvenki's barrel sauna. Believe or not but this was my 1st time ever in a barrel sauna!!!

The barrel sauna in Talvenki has wood burning sauna stove. In my culture boys/men heat up the wood burning sauna stove. Girls and women can do it too if boys/men are not around. We had someone to heat it up for us. It is not something that's banned from female sex. It is rather something how males show care and respect for females. You warm up sauna for someone you care and want to provide hospitality and safety.

It is something like that when we had someone to roast sausages for us on the open fire in the rain with millions of mosquito. I really appreciated that. Instead of diamond rings I prefer this kind of action. 💙

We could have washed ourselves in the traditional way in the barrel sauna but decided to use modern facilities instead to make it faster and let other people to enjoy about the sauna too. You can read here more about how to behave in sauna if visiting Finland.

But hey, what for we arrived to Ylläsjärvi. What we did when we didn't have our "me-time" with my sister?

What we did when we didn't visit the local attractions? What was the family party we arrived to organize and participate? 

What for we had been working as a team also with people we did't know before in the past weeks in May 2026?

It was a baby shower!!!! I am 51 yrs old and it was my 1st ever baby shower. I've seen it on movies but never been in one until now! It is not our traditional cultural thing but of course I was in.

It all was gluten free because of the pregnant mom. It was a great idea to have it all gluten free so no one needs to worry and the pregnant mom could have it all like all the guests. Here is my GlutenFreeZone to find out more about serving gluten free. 

It was a small party and everyone participated. Everyone brought something and we put it all together. This beautiful and delicious gluten free cake was made by a talented young woman I had met never before.

I brought the candies because I knew what kind of they need to be. The ingredient lists can be very complicated even to coeliacs themselves. I helped to build up this watermelon baby carriage. I had never seen one, not to mention make one. But an artisan is always an artisan. We can create many things! 💪 At least then when we are given the instructions.

During the evening we re-decorated the watermelon baby carriage with rest of the fruits. It all was really fun, sweet and tasty.💛