Ruokava Food and Craft Fair

Today was a grey day. Both in terms of the weather and also in terms of my mood. With Christmas almost round the corner, I woke up missing my Mum, missing my Dad and wishing, as I once heard it beautifully described, that I was the most important person in someone else's life. It didn't feel  as though it was going to be a particularly happy day.

Still, as unpredictable as the last two years have been, you never know what is round the corner either, and that is a thought I like to hang on to.

I chatted with a good friend, Jarkko, today for the first time in a few months and was over the moon to hear that he has met the love of his life in the last few weeks. We both agreed that in all aspects of life, good things are definitely worth waiting for, even though it doesn't always feel like it when you're doing the waiting.

Then at lunch time I went over to the Food and Craft fair here in Somero which is held twice a year and attracts people from all over the region.

I remember the first time I came to the fair three years ago when I had just moved to Somero.  I enjoyed the event then too, but didn't know anyone from the town then, so it was a very different experience. Today there were familiar faces wherever I looked, and it reminded me why I settled here in the first place. Because Somero has always just felt like home. And now it is.  

Soila, from our English Club, showed me the wooden products her husband makes in his spare time and several other friends talked me into buying raffle tickets for charity.

Locals producers were selling all kinds of food products including honey, pastries, herbs and spices and Christmas delicacies. There were also a variety of handicrafts stalls selling things such as jewellery, rugs, decorations, baskets and candles.  

The fair summed up Somero fairly well actually. Pretty, busy, friendly, full of variety and very definitely proud to be Finnish. Which in my book makes it a good place to live, even on the grey days.

Make it a Sparkly November

My guess is that if you asked a million Finns which was their least favourite month of the year, the vast majority of them would come back with one answer. November.

I remember once many years ago when I still lived in England and decided to visit Finland with a friend in November. The response I got was the same everywhere we went. "WHY on earth did you come in November? The summer/winter/spring is so much nicer...."

Finns are generally very proud of their heritage and of their country. But in November it is as though they hope that no-one will see Finland or even remember that it exists. November in Finland is like a nasty little secret that they hope will never be revealed to the rest of the world.

This is almost all due to the weather. The summer is quite definitely only a memory. The beautiful colours of autumn have all been raked up and the trees are now bare. It's not winter yet so there is still no skiing or snowmen or stunning winter scenery. Instead the days are short (and still getting shorter) there is too little light, too much slush and almost everything looks grey. And Christmas is not quite close enough to make up for anything yet.

However, as the month draws to a close, the Finns gradually start to get their fighting spirit back. One by one they start decorating the outside of their houses with lights and candles appear in all the windows. Christmas trees are put up later over here than in the UK (except in our house, where our tree will be up next weekend...) but sparkly lights appear all over the place which brighten up the otherwise dull evenings. Before you know it, the countdown to Christmas has begun, and by January at the latest the snow is here properly, the days start getting longer and everyone has cheered up again.

This evening Niko and I took our dog Nisha for a walk. Niko had his new flashing boots on (he is so proud of them he wouldn't go to sleep this evening without having them next to his bed) and I was instructed to watch each time they flashed. I did.  Lots of the neighbours had put lights in the trees and in their gardens and it was all starting to look very pretty. It's about freezing at the moment with only a tiny bit of snow left on the ground from the downfall last week. As we walked, there was a light smattering of rain and the smell of burning wood from people lighting log fires and warming up the sauna.

It was one of the nicest walks I have had in a long time. It also reminded me that there are so many things we can't control in life that there is really little point in letting them get us down. The months, the seasons and the weather all fall into that category. We have no choice as to what they do or when. What we can do however, is to enjoy the good bits, look forward to what's ahead and to make what we have look as pretty as we can. It's funny how just a few sparkly lights can transform an entire neighbourhooda and make everyone feel happier. I thought maybe I should try and hold on to this same attitude next time it feels like a bad day. Enjoy the good bits, look forward to better times ahead, and light up the neighbourhood with a smile, despite everything. Happy November everyone!

 

Somero Apple Crumble

There's a house here in Somero called Svensson which I think is a really fabulous place. It was originally left to the church after the owner died. But instead of keeping it for church purposes alone, it was made available to the whole community for a whole number of different things.

There are several groups which meet there every week but perhaps the most important function these days is the lunch buffet which is available every day from Monday to Saturday. Anyone is welcome to eat there. A full lunch (as much as you can eat) only costs five euros and children under seven are free. 

Supermarkets donate their leftover food, which means that very little is wasted and the whole project (with the exception of one member of staff) is run by volunteers. It's an example of a community making really sensible decisions and then getting together to help each other so that everyone benefits. 

For lots of people who live on their own,  (especially the elderly) it's a place to go to meet other people, have a chat and a hot meal and feel less alone than they would do otherwise. I love it and I wish there was one in every town everywhere. 

Anyway, I took the little ones there yesterday for lunch and they all immediately fell in love with the cinnamon spiced apple crumble that was on offer for dessert. I grabbed the recipe from Tiina, who had baked it,  and today Minttu and Niko made their first ever Somero style apple crumble for themselves.

So thank you Tiina for sharing the Svensson recipe and for all the work that the Svensson people do for Somero. We know we are lucky to have you :)

Toast and Marmalade

After six months of silence, I met my good friend Manu this evening and promised that before I went to bed this evening there would be a new blog post. I've kept my promise :) I must also say a big hello to Amanda Hockey in Cardiff whose mail a few weeks ago motivated me to start writing again. Thank you Amanda for getting in touch ... I hope we meet in person one day soon :)

It seems like only yesterday that it was the beginning of January and I was writing a post saying that I anticipated 2014 being a good year. Now it's only a month until we are celebrating another new year and starting all over again.

After horrible weather throughout June we ended up with a hot and glorious summer here in Somero - but that's all behind us now. Last Friday we had a day of snow and the town has been covered in white ever since.  Most Finns are delighted, as the thing Finnish people hate the most is "loska" which refers to that damp slushy grey time of year where everything is wet and dark. Our family tends to be a little less delighted about the snow arriving. Yes, it looks pretty enough, but it also signals the start of a winter that usually ends in about April, by which time we are about ready to emigrate to anywhere in the world where there is no snow.  Ever.

This summer I didn't get much chance to think about the weather though. My mother, (who contracted Alzheimer's last year) sadly deteriorated over the summer months and eventually left us at the end of September. I know many people have cared for a loved one with Alzheimer's - you will know what a cruel disease it is, both to the suffered and those left having to watch it.

Although many tears have been cried over the past few weeks and months, I am grateful that I had the chance to be with my Mum at the end, and that her funeral was full of people who loved her and will not forget her for a long time.

As for the rest of us, the children are all back at nursery and school and all seem to have settled in well. I have started teaching Spanish here in Somero on Mondays and have a lovely class full of bright and motivated students. I am also the proud owner of a new book of Finnish grammar. of course none of us know how long we have left to live...but I like to think that I will crack this language once and for all before I die. Although with the rules in Finnish, there is no guarantee.

That's it for now really. Somero is still the only place that feels like home to me. At the same time, having lost both my parents in a short space of time I often feel myself clinging nostalgically to memories of life in England and wishing that I could recreate a little bit of the UK right here in Somero. This evening I have done that by eating toast and marmalade. I am not a tea drinker and I am all out of cherry bakewells at the moment, so I am remembering my English roots this evening by eating toast and marmalade. And tonight that's just fine.  Wishing you all a good night's sleep.