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.