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.