tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60621859419123801662023-11-16T17:58:37.714+02:00A Town Called Somerojodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.comBlogger392125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-56905268751600302212015-04-30T22:32:00.003+03:002015-04-30T22:32:49.833+03:00Happy Mayday HolidayApril is that challenging time of year for anyone who wasn't brought up here as a child, when summer is starting to happen all over Europe, but Finland can't quite seem to make it happen. Not yet.
Still, I shouldn't complain. Not too much anyway. After grey skies and almost torrential rain all day yesterday, we were treated to sunshine and blue skies his morning. And this was good news, because jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-79607897144257965082015-02-11T22:04:00.001+02:002015-02-11T22:07:04.675+02:00Koski English ClubJust like most people, as we entered into the new year a few weeks ago, I hoped that this year would turn out to be better than the last.
Well, although we are still only in week seven, I am happy to say that 2015 has started well and has already included several positive surprises.
One of them has its roots in a conversation which happened last year. Koski is a small (but very pretty) jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-29269225768998372132015-02-01T10:46:00.002+02:002015-02-01T10:50:43.203+02:00Where is the sun?I am fairly sure that most people who have moved to Finland from somewhere else have their reservations about the Finnish winter. At least some of the time. I know I do.
Yes, it's true that we have four distinct seasons over here, and that is a good thing. And on the days when there is a snow-covered landscape and the sun is shining, the scenery looks stunning. People ski, skate, sledge, jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-50344613393295070262015-01-14T21:12:00.000+02:002015-01-14T22:03:45.676+02:00It's Easy Being an Adult"Mummy" says Minttu when I pick her up from nursery, "can I sit in the front?"
"Yes OK."
Nisha makes her bed on the roof of the playhouse
"That's not fair!" complains Niko. "She sat in the front this morning."
"Did she?" I ask, not really concerned who sat in the front or when.
"Yes she did, so she shouldn't sit in the front again."
"Do we need to argue about this?" I ask.
"Yes." replies Niko.jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-401015425334934222015-01-01T22:29:00.000+02:002015-01-01T22:33:22.824+02:00Happy New YearIt's been a funny sort of holiday season. After all the shopping, decorating, wrapping, waiting and cooking, the whole family became ill just before Christmas. We spent the next few days taking turns to be sick in bed. My turn, typically, came on Christmas Eve. I managed to be at my worst at exactly the moment the children were discovering what father Christmas had brought them on Christmas jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-64868763598037145392014-12-14T22:49:00.001+02:002014-12-14T23:42:56.218+02:00Somero Christmas CarolsForty-one years ago, a couple of Finnish vicars decided to start something new. Why don't we have a special service at Christmas where we do nothing but play and sing Christmas carols, and at the same time raise money for people in the developing world. We'll try it in a couple of parishes and see if it works, they thought to themselves.
Olli Salomäenpää
Well it worked. And now this jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-31592207971654160622014-12-13T22:01:00.005+02:002014-12-13T22:01:58.270+02:00Somerniemi Christmas MarketAfter two weeks of rain and wind, we woke up in Somero this morning to find that everything was covered in five centimetres of snow. As usual the Finns were prepared, and by the time I drove out of our drive all the roads in the town had been visited and cleared by the snow plough. In England of course, you only need one flake of snow to arrive and everything shuts immediately. Roads, schools, jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-13601367877076575682014-12-06T23:10:00.000+02:002014-12-06T23:10:46.152+02:00Happy Birthday FinlandToday is 97 years since Finland gained its independence. The 6th December is a public holiday over here. Everything is shut, but celebrations are still fairly low key. Most families stay at home to watch the President's Independence Day Party on television and join in the obligatory discussion on who was wearing what.
At 6pm Finns put a candle in the window. I have always loved this tradition. jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-18701195698342684742014-12-04T17:12:00.002+02:002014-12-04T17:12:47.380+02:00Somero's Pre-Schoolers and Their Independence Day PartyTwo days before Finnish Independence Day on Saturday, Somero was full of excitement today as all the six-year-old pre-schoolers (school here starts at age seven) were invited to a special party with the mayor.
I joined Luca this morning with his classmates in the Olkihatut group at nursery school where they were all dressed up for the occasion.
Everyone was very excited to be going to their jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-50190655516190727712014-12-01T21:48:00.004+02:002014-12-01T21:48:39.635+02:00Spanish in SomeroAs December kicked off today and the last month of the year got underway, the advent calendars are being opened and Christmas is not far away.
Somero is dark right now. It's still dark when the children go to nursery and after just a few hours of light it starts getting dark again at not long after three in the afternoon. But the good news is that in just three weeks time we will be over the jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-43167084246667277322014-11-29T17:30:00.000+02:002014-11-29T17:30:59.794+02:00Ruokava Food and Craft FairToday 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 jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-78708971049870281382014-11-27T00:23:00.002+02:002014-11-27T00:23:56.686+02:00Make it a Sparkly NovemberMy 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/jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-90311554645573527432014-11-25T21:54:00.000+02:002014-11-25T23:32:39.088+02:00Somero Apple CrumbleThere'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 jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-50048291536482134572014-11-24T21:49:00.004+02:002014-11-24T21:49:50.000+02:00Toast and MarmaladeAfter 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 jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-45787566381976882082014-05-31T14:02:00.001+03:002014-05-31T14:05:14.124+03:00Class 6A Graduate - Thank You Kari Luoto
The end of primary school for class 6A at Joensuun School, Somero
Today is a big day for school children in Finland. It is the official start of the summer holidays, which is always a good thing. It is also graduation day for many.
Yesterday there were concerts and parties in schools everywhere (Cameron's class did a brilliant performance of the cup song).
Then this morning church jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-20694235668673835212014-05-27T13:58:00.005+03:002014-05-27T13:58:58.824+03:00Look Up!It's been a while since I've posted on here. No particular reason for that except for running around a lot, being in the UK several times and not spending much time near a computer.
Today though I had the strong feeling that I needed to post this picture.
It was taken a few days ago on a a bright sunny afternoon as I sat on the grass in Esplanadi in Helsinki. Sini, one of jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-48431741236585069262014-04-21T21:04:00.000+03:002014-04-21T21:06:48.585+03:00More Dance Camp PhotosWith another Easter Dance camp over, everyone who took part has been left with new dance moves, new memories and new friends. Here are some more photos of our last day at camp. Thank you to everyone who made it such a great Easter weekend. I hope many of you will come back to our Somero dance venues over the summer. Look forward to seeing you again soon :)
jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-55401447309611099632014-04-20T01:09:00.000+03:002014-04-20T01:35:27.161+03:00Magic Moments
Jarkko and Maija at the Somero dance camp
One of the nicest things about life is how wonderfully unpredictable it can be. Let's be honest, most of us have days sometimes when there doesn't seem much point to anything. But if you just remember to hang on in there, all of a sudden the wind changes and you are thrown a piece of good fortune - or your path crosses with someone jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-28954519926595364832014-04-18T19:12:00.004+03:002014-04-18T19:44:56.521+03:00Somero Dance CampEaster in Somero means that the town is full of dancers from all over the country. People come from everywhere to take part in lessons from beginners to advanced level during the day and then go and party in the evenings. Tonight is the opening night of the Esakallio dance venue, and it is likely to be packed.
I have just got home from a bugg lesson with Jones Kainulainen (for those jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-32797977380511812122014-04-09T19:23:00.004+03:002014-04-09T19:23:51.794+03:00Six TodaySix years ago today I was in Colmar hospital, in France, listening to a track called "Mercy" by Duffy. After quite a difficult labour, I had just given birth to Luca. Since then, that song has always reminded me of Luca's arrival into the world. It was a happy day.
Luca and our friend Anne celebrating their birthdays and making a wish
Brothers Cameron and Luca
Six years later, a lot has jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-89768546929236904002014-03-26T03:16:00.002+02:002014-03-26T03:17:59.678+02:00Two Weeks
Taking a break from work and enjoying some salsa
First of all, to those of you who read the blog regularly, sorry it's been so long since the last post. I only realised today that two weeks has already flown by since the last one. Still, at least there has been a nice picture of the Somero sun to look at.
The reason for the gap is that I have spent most of the last fortnight in Englandjodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-3907528817016841852014-03-11T20:57:00.001+02:002014-03-11T20:57:31.956+02:00Look What I Found...It's been one of the strangest winters in Finnish history. Even though there was a bit of snow and temperatures at one point went below minus twenty, any Finnish person will tell you that that's not enough to constitute a winter. We seemed to jump straight from autumn to spring with Christmas and a few cold weeks in between.
The sun in Somero this evening
Normally, by mid March, I am jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-72700817838651756642014-03-08T21:14:00.004+02:002014-03-08T21:14:46.844+02:00The Magic of Dance
Markku and Johaan Saari from Somero
Today in Kaarina I went to watch the Finnish fusku and slow dance championships which turned out to be more fun than I had anticipated. The event was organised by the Sekahaku dance club from the Turku area, and as always there was a very friendly atmosphere.
Although Finns have a reputation of being difficult to get to know and jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-49963876280285273952014-02-21T13:40:00.003+02:002014-02-21T13:45:29.920+02:00Can You Offer a Home to a Dog?
Nisha is happy to share her bed with her new sister Maisie
This is Nisha, (sitting with Maisie the kitten) who arrived with us last Sunday from Romania.
I want to tell you about her, not just because she is the newest member of our family, but also to let you know how she came to be with us, in case you might be thinking of adopting a dog yourself.
Our family has always had dogs. Backjodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6062185941912380166.post-20571840950857328462014-02-20T22:40:00.003+02:002014-02-20T23:27:13.748+02:00Minttu decides to be a boy
Minttu has now decided that she is a boy
Having spent last week with a whole bunch of teenagers on their graduation cruise, this week has been all about the little ones. Niko has decided that his ambition of being a police officer is now yesterday's news and that as of today he wants to be a hairdresser.
Perhaps more radically, Minttu has also had a change of identity this week. jodymerellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02800005211462700068noreply@blogger.com0