An apple a day

Every autumn a thing occurs in my home that I am not at all pleased about. No matter how I clean or what else I do, every autumn at about this time of year we always have to cohabit with these flies from Hell. Ordinary people might call these tiny little flies “fruit-flies” or “banana-flies” but I just hate them and call them “flies from Hell”!

Even if there is no fruit anywhere in the house and all fruit is safely kept away in the fridge at this time of the year and we still get the flies. Little tincy-wincy orangy-brown ones, lots of them and all over the place!
When my daughter was a pre-school she did not like to eat fruit. Fruit is good for you so I made her have some anyway. So she hid the fruit in between the extensions of the dining-room table. That year was the worst invasion ever of flies from Hell!

I cleaned out everywhere the flies could originate from, removed anything they could digest on, no unwashed glasses with orange-juice were left in the sink, no sugar out, nothing. And still the flies were there, they just thrived and multiplied themselves. I was just going completely bonkers with this puzzle of hell-flies!

Until one day when I was polishing the dining-room table and saw where all the flies were coming from. They came out from down beneath the extension-boards! And there were lots mushy old pieces of peaches too. God, it was awful! There were millions and millions of the flies! Well, the table was carefully washed with disinfected, the house thoroughly sprayed with pesticide and you might guess that my daughter was told off pretty well about hiding the fruit…My daughter nowadays enjoys her fruit.
She eats an apple a day to keep the flies from Hell away!

Carelia finally joined together with Finland again!

Ever since the World War II when the Finns lost a huge part of their lands called Carelia to the Russians, or Russia then being the Soviet Union, there has been discussions about getting it back and joined with Finland. There are many associations that run the problematic issue of getting the lost part of Carelia and the biggest town Wyborg back. Now there finally is a solution to the problem!

Finally, after all these years the Russians are returning some of the parts of Carelia to Finland.

You see, no matter where you are you in the southern parts of Finland, and especially near the eastern border, you get to breathe some smog, as the air is filled with the smoke from the wild forest fires burning in the east on the other side of the Russian border. That is in Carelia.

So, finally the Finns are getting some of their lands back, even though if it is only to be inhaled in very small, tiny particles flying in the air.

Sibelius is champagne

Sibelius is the most famous Finnish composer. Did you know that? And now it is also Champagne.

It is actually French made champagne but the brand name is Sibelius. It is a trademark owned by the heirs of the Sibelius family here in Finland.

I do enjoy classical music but have always found the music of the composer hard to listen to in its’ pomposity. Maybe I am too old-fashioned in my taste and his compositions are too modern for me. Or maybe my mind is too simple to understand true art? But Sibelius’ music together with some strawberries and champagne, well, it might enhance the experience. That I might even enjoy!

Smog in Finland!

The forest fires are really growing into a major health issue here in Finland.

The nearest forest fires are on the other side of the Russian border (there might be other I am not aware of) and the smoke still drifts hundreds of kilometres inland! The weather being hot you would like to leave the windows ajar but can’t because of the smell of a smoke! And you can’t see anything because of the smog. Imagine smog here in Finland in the middle of Helsinki or on a lake in the middle of nowhere! Looks like rain on the horizon but smells like fire.

Being out in the woods and having a little fire, well, that is nice and cosy and even smells nice. But having the smoke around you at all times is not fun anymore. Guess we all live in a smoke-sauna for the time being.

At least they promised a possibility of rain this week and I really hope that goes for the eastern border too!

Hottest summer ever?

The weather has been extremely hot lately here in Finland. Every day on the they say the summer has been drier than ever adding the time up for three decades, 37 years, 40 years and now soon a drier summer than ever since they have kept records of it. Some areas even have restrictions on usage of water and forest fires have been a pestilence this year with smoke drifting around in the air. So this year’s bar season has been a huge success! Everybody has been sitting sipping on a nice cool drink on some outdoor terrace as often as possible…

Finally there now is promise of some rain after this coming weekend.
So maybe this is the end of the summer season?

We must do lunch one day!

Isn’t that the most convenient and nice little phrase to say just being polite and without meaning it.
“We must do lunch”, or “Call me next week”!

But just saying that without meaning it can cause you problems here in Finland. People here take your word for more seriously than just politeness. Saying a courteous non-committal “we must do lunch” the Finns really respect that you have made a promise to have lunch and they expect you to have the lunch with them!

So keep in mind what you say and how you say it, and also be in time for your lunches.