A sunken boat was discovered in the
The champagne perhaps predates the French revolution and to many people’s surprise, it is still potable. According to the Finnish wine-expert that has tried it, “the champagne has not at all deteriorated, but has kept well as a red wine safely stored in a wine cellar”, and that “the aromas were impressive”. The bottles or some of the bottles maybe, are now being analyzed in
Nothing for us commoners that is, we couldn’t afford it.
Friday, was a Friday the 13th, I was trying to blog but had computer trouble all day, and as a matter of fact almost the whole weekend went to getting it working again. I really don’t know what was a miss, but that is life from time to time, so here I am now, pretending this is last Friday, and blogging about the things that I was on about. The Sauna world championship was held for the 12th time in Heinola during the first weekend of August. The competition ended in tragic, both finalists crashed in the sauna and were rushed into
The city of Heinola announced on its’ website that this will be the end of the Sauna World Championships, but just days after the statement a known Finnish merchant announced his intentions to arrange it next year. From the beginning the police did not suspect any foul play, but now they are investigating the case closer.
I like it steaming hot, the sauna I mean, but I stay only for short periods of time, go out for a while, cool down having a cool drink followed by a dip in the lake, or a roll in the snow during the winter, when given the occasion. Even with hot temps, my time spent in the sauna is never long but still, for me it is a place to relax so I think it is a stupid thing to compete about. I know people who spend hours and hours in the sauna, but then the temperature must be quite modest, for one to endure. Actually, I have noticed that spending time in the sauna on a hot summer day makes you think the hot weather is cooler than it really is when you come out. Sounds strange, but it really works!
Anyway, the kindergarten next door opened after the summer vacations, the kids outdoors blocked the noise so I did not even notice the first sign of fall, the swallows disappearing all of a sudden. The swallows moved despite the fact that we still had hot weather here in southern
The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius was born on the 8th December in 1865, and from the year 2011 this will be a national flagging day to commemorate his birth.
Statistics have for long been one of may favourite subjects, you can tell anything by just twisting the same facts around using different words and saying them in another order, giving them another meaning.
When visiting my physiotherapist I always go by local bus, which sometimes just is boring as the scenery always is the same but at other times hilariously amusing, like yesterday when two apparently quite recently retired men were talking about things in the seats behind. They were commenting on things the bus passed by, actually in very loud voices as on of them had had some refreshments on the way and the most amusing part was, when they got to one of their favourite pastimes, fishing.
Well, I seem to be going on about fishing quite a lot, even though I am not a keen fisher. I enjoy my odd fishing trips on and off occasionally, but these men were really enthusiastic about it, telling each other how what fish was best cooked and as it happens I got a few valuable tips and hints on how to prepare fish. So, if not as an environmentally good gesture, going by bus I mean, it can sometimes be very entertaining, if not even educational listen to what people are talking about.
Anyway, I was quite disappointed at this year’s two varieties of the Beaujolais Nouveau when tasting them yesterday. They were quite similar to the ones last year, not very easy to differ from each other and not quite up to my taste.
Nice warm, sunny spring weather brings the outdoors person out in me and eventually even I tend to go for a long walk in the sun. The nature is waking up after the winter sleep and snow is melting away fast and all that once was covered unfortunately comes out in the sun too usually smelling bad.
One thing that has been bugging me badly here in
People walk their dogs in mornings and evenings but there is one problem with this idyllic picture, which is almost as bad as was
The dog droppings are almost as big a problem here in Finland, well the dogs normally don’t do it on the pavement, but in all parks you are supposed to pick it up afterwards and there are special containers in which to dispose of the sh*t but in wintertime this tends to be forgotten, or not cared about and as they say; “what is hidden in the snow you can not see”, but forgetting about the part that “it comes out in snow melt the spring”.
Springs smell badly, like a massive lost and found, big heap of of dogsh*t. And that’s exactly what it is and t is all over the place, in ditches on road edges, along pathways and parking lots in residential areas and in parks as well. Fortunately in not too long a time it disintegrates into fertilizer and make the flowers and grass grow. Maybe this is the thought behind the action, if there is any, but the smell of wet lawn combined with dog droppings is just so awful!
The strangest thing happened today I was actually ten minutes too early for the Alko shop to open but at least I did know to get to the right one!
The same one will be kept open today and the rest of this week for that matter which might be good to know if any unexpected overnight guest surprises us, even if I doubt that.
Anyway, Alko did not open until
There were no happy faces and nobody was smiling or laughing, this was serious matter!
Someone said in honest between his firmly clenched teeth that if he got into the shop he would no go out without having purchased all he could carry and on his credit card. Severe looks and growling sounds were thrown at the passers by as they disturbed the queue that had formed waiting for the shop to open. I was about the tenth to get into the store and was second in line to get out as the Beaujolais Nouveau I was there to get was right in front of me when entering. It took me about 30 seconds to get in and out of there and get in line for the check out.
One strange Finnish custom is to not keep the receipt, and I have been wondering about that as you can never prove that you bought anything, as even the wine or liquor bottles might be deficit.
Anyway, the cashier was quite happy with punching in the two very first bottles of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau. After that it was time for mum to go and buy some new books for the offspring to use in high-school and get home early enough in order to get everything in order for the often not until nocturnally ending tasting of the wine. Fortunately this is the one day in the year the offspring has learned there is no use to talking sense to dear old mum. She is probably too far into tasting the wine with her friends, and you'd better be quiet and safe out of sight or otherwise you'll be asked unwanted questions if not by her then her friends.
One thing, I miss the popping of the corks like on the bottles of last year.
I know, I know, the screw tops are much better to keep the wine in perfect order, but still the popping of the cork was an enjoyable thing to do. Kind of made it more festive.
According to current Finnish law children between15 and 18 years can acquire guns for target shooting or hunting, if granted by their guardian.
A gun permit is required in order to legally be able to purchase a handgun and the arms license is applied for at the local police. The police examine the suitability of the person and the applicants must also have to prove a legal sanction for acquiring the firearm like target shooting as a hobby or hunting. Adolescents in
According to the Ministry of the Interior's records there are currently 1,620,000 licensed firearms in
“only at the most illegal firearms in tens of thousands in numbers” according to the Ministry of the Interior.
So far
The government on Friday announced that it is ready to accept the proposed EU directive and that the Parliament is to vote in the matter in the nearest coming weeks in order to sanction the directive.
The day was again spent on an expedition out in the woods picking mushrooms, this time baskets full of Suppilovahvero, Cantharellus tubiformis, a kind of tube formed chanterelle that is brown on top and yellow underneath like the ordinary chanterelle.
The catch was big even though the season for them mushrooms is not quite yet with the recent warmer than usual weather, so I expect to be going out again later on when the weather has cooled down a bit, just before the winter hits with snow is normally the best time as night frosts do no harm to this species.
We also found surprisingly many ordinary Chanterelles, Cantharellus cibarius, which is quite unusual for this time of the year, but that must be due to the lack of night frost. As the day’s catch was fairly big dear spouse of mine had the good idea of going for a second walk into the woods looking for a third species of Chanterelles, the black tube form chanterelle, Cratellus cornucopoides, but fortunately he found none as he would once again have overdone it. We already, that means me, had loads of mushrooms to clean, some for drying which is where the sauna comes in handy, and the rest to cook with a portion to be indigested right away at dinner time and the rest to be stored in the freezer for future culinary experiences. Just after having put the rest of the tube formed Chanterelles away I read a recipe for mushroom pie I feel an obligation to try so I am looking forward to the next trip to the woods.
Surprisingly many elk flies were still around, but as I now know they do no harm to humans, they are easier to deal with than on our last mushroom expedition when I had not yet googled it.
It is strange how the offspring whom used to be so fond of food in their childhood and now with having grown up and heard the opinions and theories of their friends’ opinions on certain foods, their taste has deteriorated. Some foods that used to be considered as happily savoured are now turned down. Like blue mould cheese, Stilton, Roquefort and Gorgonzola for instance used to be a favourite and now it is over the line detested.
At some point I had to keep in mind a list of fish, that were concerned as “white fish” and there for edible, the same went with mushrooms, some were digestible and others were disgusting, and still very much remains so they are the food optionals, the ones we could do without according to the offspring that is. One thing though that has strangely enough not changed over the years is that broccoli is edible and that is rare, most children hate their veggies and especially broccoli. At one point the offspring even planned to build a house inside a huge broccoli to live in when older, and a second one made out of a huge tomato. Must have been some odd advertisement seen at the time.
Anyway, our palate change over the time and I am not anymore fond of the same things as I earlier used to be, learning new foods is an exciting part of life, at least of mine that is. And here in
Yesterday about 2500 minks were let loose from a fur farm here in Finland. I do not agree with Homo Sapiens keeping animals just to skin them for their precious fur but using the hide of other animals we eat the meat of I think is acceptable, then you make use of it all instead of keeping these fur farms with caged in foxes, minks or what ever, fair would be to have to go out and hunt the animals you want for your fur coat.
Something for us ladies to think about maybe, first taking shooting lessons and going on hunting trips in order of acquiring our precious and sought after fur coats? At least it would be fairer to the animals as you just might miss your shot. And besides, then it would not just be money talking, you would have to do something yourself in order to get your fur coat also keeping in mind how the actual killing itself would affect each hunter. At least you would have to make an honest decision about being a murderer and not blaming it on somebody else and not taking the responsibility of it.
Letting the minks loose in the nature is bad for the environment with most of the minks never captured and as minks are notorious of killing everything and anything just for the sake of killing, considering the killing a fun pastime and do not do it out of hunger like other carnivores, the minks kill just for kicks the surrounding wildlife suffers for long time afterwards. The same effect some human hunters also just do it for the fun of shooting, not to eat what they have killed out on the loose in the woods. But are there ever as many as 2500 hunters out in the same woods at the same time killing everything they come across?
Luckily the minks were set free now and not in the spring with the birds nesting and other animals having given birth to their little babies in the spring time.
Anyway, getting a discount or having a sale has an extraordinary effect on people and so also here in Finland. Especially old people and retirees apparently have to time to drive from one supermarket to another in order to get the cheapest price available on their groceries, but has anyone of them even though about how much it costs in petrol driving for kms more than you would need, or the effect of the carbon oxide on the environment?
Anyway, today I experience chaos in the shopper’s heaven, in a supermarket. Norwegian salmon was on offer for a real bargain price but the salmon did not arrive in time for opening in the morning and still at midday when we went into this particular supermarket I am there still was no salmon. When we were there it was to arrive in twenty minutes, well we left without buying any as we weren’t there for the fish in the first place, but seeing all these people coming from a distance to get the cheap salmon and to their disappointment finding out there was n one, and the crowds that was built in front of the fishmongers, well you can imagine when people are promised something to eat and they do not get it. Many apparently decided to stay on and wait for the salmon’s arrival as the supermarket got more and more crowded while we still were in there.
Food that was promised and none given resulting in riots, does that sound familiar at all?
Well, that is how the French revolution began in 1789, no bread for the people. I doubt it would spark up a revolution here in Finland as people of today are way too well behaved. People just queue their time and then resign without complaining, even if disappointed when not getting any salmon for the right price. I personally prefer the wild Baltic Sea salmon with its’ paler meat from the cultivated Norwegian salmon that has been fed colorants to achieve it’s orange colour.
Yesterday was spent on an ex tempore mushroom picking trip into the woods. The picking was quite fun as there were so many different species for gathering and the challenge was to keep them separate as they need to be prepared in differing ways. Some to be cooked in salted water, some to be fried separately according t species and some to be dried in the sauna. As we do have a sauna I use it for drying mushrooms and some herbs as it is a space readily available and mostly empty unless when heated up for having a bath and it was not Saturday yesterday which is the traditional day for having a sauna.
Our trip was great fun and I got some smashing photos of the mushrooms collected, some berries and other stuff growing in the wilderness and the collectors picking mushrooms as well. The day was spent in splendid sunshine with none of promised rain showers in sight although it has cooled down a bit from previous days.
There was one thing that really did annoy me in the woods, I mean spiders there are anywhere so them I just have to cope with but this nuisance is fairly new here in
I thought they did bite humans as well sucking our blood and was weary about having them crawling around on my person. The elk fly land on elks or in this case humans and, loose their wings and begin to crawl around to find a place to suck blood and lay their eggs. They are quite flexible even though they have a hard shell like most insects, and they are almost impossible to squish to death, they just keep on crawling on you over and over again after you think that you surely by now have killed them.
After yesterday having googled the elk fly I found out that they hardly ever bite humans and are in no way harmless to us unless you happened to be allergic to them and they accidentally bite you. I really do no understand why people buy special hats to avoid the elk fly bites as they do not bite and why there would need to be an elk fly repellent. What’s the point of having a repellent if it does no harm to you?
As it happens, the elk fly is a master of hiding and still hours after quitting the woods we still found some crawling around in our clothes and hair back at home even though we thoroughly went through all our clothes when leaving. It still gives me the creeps just thinking about an elk fly crawling around on me!
I am quite with the Internet; having the information needed, freely available ready at hand when needed; now there are just annoying mosquitoes, elk flies, spiders and ticks to mind when out in the woods just annoying but nothing dangerous. Well one occasional and nowadays quite rare poisonous viper. You hardly ever come across anyway as they tend to avoid us humans, we just accidentally step onto their territory or on top of them in the worst case.
Anyway, I am quite pleased with yesterday’s catch of mushroom now we are stocked up with most mushrooms we are able to eat in one year. Maybe we should do one more trip as you never know if there next year will be any mushrooms, as some years have been exceptionally dry summers, like last year.
Well the annual bear hunting season sure got off with a bang and it was covered in the media in a bigger way than normal here in Finland as one of the hunters was attacked by the bear he had just shot and ending up in a wrestling competition with the bear. Luckily the hunter he survived without any severe injuries and the bear finally died of its’ wounds. Quite strikingly the place where it all happened is called Kontiolahti, which would be translated into about “
The warm weather continues even though the night now are beginning to be chillier and there is more moisture in the air as it is turning towards autumn, now I am just waiting for the leaves to turn into all these beautiful orange, red and yellows to get some beautiful photos again. My favourite season definitively is autumn, not only because of the colours or the freshness and crispiness in the air I love so much but mostly because we all get back into our normal routines again after the summer vacations. The normal daily rut continues as always before and I can change from this cold salad food into making more soup which I just love, and I can not eat hot food ion warm weather, so hot soup requires cold weather, or at least some rain.
Anyway, I am quite proud that a few of my photos have been published on the net in other people’s stories. I guess my writing still has some way to go before I can call myself a writer but I am working at that all the time.
A 26-year-old nurse was to begin with last week arrested for two suspect deaths two at an institute for mentally disabled in Ylöjärvi, Finland.
The nurse denies any guilt and the investigations have now expanded to seven suspect deaths and two attempted murders. The National Bureau of Investigation has expanded their investigations into a series of suspect poisonings in the area around the city of Tampere. As all the deaths at the nurse's previous workplaces are looked into. They are also investigating if any insulin is gone missing from the premises where she has worked as an eight-month-old child was found with unnatural high levels of pharmaceutical insulin levels.
So far no reasons for exhuming the bodies of the investigated deaths have been found.
Wow, now it seems that there is on serious serial killer and a woman for that matter here in Finland, quite unusual according to the statistics, the serial killer being a woman I mean and quite young for that matter.
Anyway, the hunting season for ducks and bear was opened today and today is expected to be the busiest hunting day and you need a licence to kill. I wonder how many accidents happen on the first day you are allowed to hunt, sitting around excited waiting for the first legal bird to shoot to fly by you. Or the first legal bear to pass by you missing to see that it is your neighbour out picking mushrooms or berries? Even better if is the annoying neighbour you want to get rid of instead of the ducks.
According to a test performed worldwide by the Readers Digest Magazine the Finns are more honest than the average. The level of honesty was tested by leaving 30 mobile phones well seen spots in public places in the biggest city of the country and the Finns made it to the 8th place in honesty with Slovenia being the most honest country as almost all the mobile phones was returned in the city of Ljubljana in the limited time set for the test. The least honest turned out to be
Today the sun is shining from a clear blue sky and the weather is supposed to be quite warm without any rain in sight which has not been the case in many other European countries. The crayfish season just began and I have been wanting to have a crayfish party for a couple of years now but as nobody else is keen on these red little crustaceans in our family I never get to have my party. I have even suggested other food for the rest of the family to eat but my suggestions have not so far been received with any enthusiasm at all.
I am much for traditions and try to keep them up, the ones from my own childhood home but I am always looking for new ones, additions to our family traditions and well, and this Midsummer I was lucky to get a new one.
There is so called black bread coming from Finlands' Swedish speaking coastal areas, a very dark, musty bread made with rye and molasses and now I have found a new variety that stands for months without any preservatives in it, that is if there is anything left of it to stand.
Normally gravilohi as it is called here in
That is my favourite this Midsummer, unfortunately we are running out of the bread soon!
Have you ever participated in a lottery?
What are the odds that you would win? When these lotteries in different stores to advertise a new product, you fill in your data and drop it in a box or participate by e-mail but who wins?
Just got one on the post with the monthly points form one food chain and there you can win to use an RV for two weeks time with petrol and a gift voucher to the food chain in question arranging the lottery all together to a value of 5.000 Euros.
Or the other one from the sister company of the above mentioned one, they have a lottery between all the receipts that you have registered to your membership card, and one lucky winner gets to win a car.
The average family in
Ryan air has been flying from Finland for a couple of years now and Ryan air is by far Europe’s biggest low-cost airline. They just recently announced their best results ever despite fuel costs increasing by 50%. The result is said to be a result of the airline increasing their higher ticket prices and having introduced lower baggage limits with the result in bigger income in excessive baggage fees together with increased handling fees. Well guess this is another way to stretch your money, to fly with low cost airlines. The only thing with Ryan air though is that you have to fly to Stansted in the
The funniest thing just happened the other day; I got a MMS that nobody had sent!
It was sent unintentionally by my friend carelessly shoving her mobile phone into her handbag and she had no idea of having done so. Well she did find the proof afterwards yes, but having received it I rang her up and we went for a coffee.
So right now I feel like having won first prize on the lottery!
Less than half of Finns would like to see wines sold in grocery stores, according to a recent survey.
46 % of the people asked in the survey are in favour of wine being sold in supermarkets with men being more liberal and wanting an easier access than women. There was also a difference in education, so not only that according to surveys you have a better chance to make use of your education if you are from an academic background, you also want easier access to stress down with alcohol, make ir easier accessible in the supermarkets.
Parents in
I would like to see the survey that says whose kids are supplied with the alcohol?
I would bet on it being “the better half” of the population, the educated classes that are more liberal with things anyway. Well getting the painkillers for your hang-over the day after you still have to pay prices about 11 % higher than the average in the EU and they are available at the pharmacists and not yet in the supermarkets, which has been discussed as well.
There was also a difference in education, so not only that according to surveys you have a better chance to make use of your education if you are from an academic background, you also want easier access to stress down with alcohol, easier accessible in supermarkets.
Parents in
I would like to see the survey that says whose kids are supplied with the alcohol? I would bet on it being “the better half” of the population, the educated classes that are more liberal with things anyway.
Well getting the painkillers for your hang-over the day after you still have to pay prices about 11 % higher than the average in the EU and they are available at the pharmacists and not yet in the supermarkets, which has been discussed as well.
The Finnish Supreme court asked the Finnish customs authorities to adjust the taxes they impose on imported used cars The taxes have so far been valued too high according the ruling form the Supreme court and new guidelines will be needed. This will be good for anyone purchasing their car from abroad from now on, as cars are quite expensive here in
The weekend was busy at the Senate’s square in
I did get some flowers in the end yesterday but we all the missed eating out at a restaurant as off-spring did not arrive at home at time agreed but 2 ½ hours later instead.
Well that is life for the moment in a nut shell. People talk about how difficult babies are as, well wait until they are adolescents and want to keep their own mind no matter what the consequences may be. And having a couple of teenagers at the same time really is a strain as you have to keep up with whom has done what and when. I mean, it is not fair to accuse the wrong one of what the other is to be blamed about. So disobedience and disagreements are the daily routine for the moment. The parents who have survived and stayed sane after their adolescents grew up to be proper people say they are quite nice now, especially the ones who have had children.
Being a grandparent must be grand, just lending the baby for some time and when it begins screaming handing it over to the parent at hand. Well, I have to survive teenage hell first. So I have something to look forward to, one day, eventually and it might be just what is needed to keep me sane and going.
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