CoolMayDay

 

I have celebrated May Day before. It is not a surprise it can be cool up here in the north. This year, 1st time ever, I was over 700 km south from home to face this May Day weather. That was a surprise!

We spent the holidays with the kids and their families. We had lazy and relaxing moments. Last year our MayDay looked like this. 

Kirke looks like dead but believe me, she is not. She spends hours like this and if you lift her away she runs back. It must be relaxing. Just think how it stretches your back when hanging like that!

On our holidays in Turku we always walk a lot because of the dogs. We usually spot church yards (which are my favorite top ten) because Turku is almost 800 years old town and that's a lot in Finland.

The weather was not arctic all the time. We faced also beautiful -almost summer like- moments there. I love how they have built the play grounds there! They are park-like.

What amazes me most in Turku is that at least by Aurajoki river the wildlife is around. The birds nest in the parks and play grounds, rabbits dig their tunnels and I have never seen a fox that close anywhere else than in the city. The animals have lost half of their natural fear against the human in the city environment. That makes at least the Aurajoki riverside an excellent place to spot birds and other animals.

It would be wonderful to recon the bird nests by their figure, how they are built up. That is something I can't tell about the nature.

In Turku I found the heaven on earth for coeliac's gluten free life. I usually go another super market but this time I was introduced K-Citymarket Kupittaa by YoungLady. That means I had a guided tour around. I found many gluten free food products of which I have only dreamed about! The Citymarket is huge (from my perspective) so if you ever go there with a special diet, just make sure you have enough time! There are specialties from the big world but also something that is typical to Finland region kitchen.

Also, it was wonderful to come back home to find this "soljo" delivered to my GreenOldHouse. It is a traditional Sámi brooch about which symbolism and meaning you can read here. This is from goldsmith Tomi Mansikka's Aamunkoi collection. It is not sold anywhere yet. This is the 1st piece. Once I asked him could he make this design also as "soljo". And he did, and here is the result. Tomi works for Taigakoru which is my favorite jewellery trade mark in Finland. I am sure he will make some more if you like. :) 

SpringIndeed

When you look outside you see the spring. This year it is more snowy that in past years. The climate change means more rain and the rain means it falls down as snow around here.

You can see and hear the signs of the spring everywhere. We still keep our eyes on birds and feeding. There are days it is better still provide the feeding. They are already working hard in my garden but we still help them to survive over the snowy season.

Some days there is snow free areas and some days not. This path leads to our bird feeding station. For the next week they have forecast rain. This week it arrived as snow. If it arrives as water it  makes the snow melt faster.

The waters are still frozen: sea, bays, rivers, lakes... Only the stream and rapid places are open now. But it is enough for the swans, ducks and geese to eat and stay, not to fly back to south.

The quality of this zoomed smart phone pic is not so good but hope you can spot out a bit of blood and two pike heads. An otter has caught some spring time pikes for lunch.

Also, some warm shores of the bay seem to be exposed for the sun-sun-sun! Today the daylight time is 16 hours 36 minutes and keeps on increasing until MidSummer.

The spring means also school end season at work. 

It means also visits. Kirke and Kusmi have turn out such a good voyagers that even a taxi driver got worried and asked if they are still alive because they were so quiet and well behaving. Usually they travel in a bus instead of a taxi. They can use even a portable litter box so it is just fine to make a 12 hour long journey with them. 

The cats and dogs get along very well. The dogs, especially Nuka who is already 9 years, loves to watch them like a TV. There's always something going on! 😄

This spring means also a voyage for me. At work we were accepted in Erasmus+ accreditation so it has become a time to renew my ID-card. I am leaving the town... not quite yet but soon. Flights are already booked.

Copy&Paste

In August we had to let go our old dear cat Kukka. After that YoungLady had two kittens. They are siblings. Their breed is the most common one in Finland and that's "maatiaiskissa". That means mix bred country cat or house cat, which ever you want to call it. Mr.W called them as "copy & paste" when seeing the first proper pic of them. 

They do have real names too. She is Kusmi. When ever she visits, she needs to check out my loom. Every kid love the looms and playing and climbing on them!

She is Kirke. Usually the wilder one. They both are chipped and will be sterilized when old and heavy enough. They need to gain 2 kg and 6 months before that.