It’s here. All the prettiness.
Day 230: Colour Me Cold
Category: Nature
Day 227: ‘Shrooming
Everyman’s rights are a fantastic concept, recognised throughout the Nordics. They allow anyone to walk, camp or gather berries and mushrooms in forests – no matter who owns the land.
Picking mushrooms is therefore all the rage among us middle-aged Finns.
In all seriosness, I have been interested in mushrooming for a long time. But it is not something you should attempt if you are totally clueless.
Out of the approx 400 species of mushrooms in Finland, only 5-6 can kill you. Another 50 or so just make you sick. However, those are not odds I am willing to gamble on. Especially as only about 30 actually taste good.
So, I took a course. Six hours with a very competent teacher in a sunny forest.
Now I believe I can confidently recognize five edible ones.
Day 221: Change of Season
It’s that time if the year when the autumn just crashes in. Right now, the majority of leaves are still green. The trees are yellow only in spots, reeds are turning brown and streets are painted with fallen leaves.
In a week, the world will be all yellow and brown. With a dash of red.
Day 214: Pocketful of Sunshine
With the possible exception of ecstatic puppies, nothing in the world conveys happiness like a sunflower. Sunflowers are not elegant, exquisite, cute or even particularly beautiful.
But they are happy.
Day 201: Progress
About six months after we moved to our house, a new metro station opened 700m away. Since then – over 4 years – nothing has happened in that area as the city plans have been challenged in different courts.
But we all knew that there was no scenario where a metro station this close to Helsinki would remain surrounded by forest and a few old houses. So they have now started felling the trees and tearing down the old single-family houses.
We all knew, except my girls. They are horrified that someone would destroy nature just to build houses. Why can’t they build houses where there are no trees, bunnies or squirrels?
How right they are.
Day 197: The Bugs of Finland
I have always thought there are really no “cool” bugs in Finland. After a walk with Alanna in the sunny forest, I have to admit: there are. I am just really bad at spotting them.
Day 195: Acorn a Day
Girls’ hobbies consume the beginning of my week – Monday circus school, Tuesday cheerleading and comic club, Wednesday Scouts…
On most days, it is better to wait nearby than drive back and forth. In decent weather, I try to take a walk. And maybe take a picture of an acorn.
Day 189: Spiders
My SLR has become temperamental, working only when it wants to. Therefore I don’t often carry it with me on random walks.
I regretted it bitterly as I stumbled upon a collection of perfect spider webs and the hunter on the prowl.
Then again, if I had been carrying my camera, it’ unlikely I would’ve have seen it. That’s how it seems to go.
Day 186: Return Drive
The drive home from a holiday, especially with forecasted rain, is rarely fun.
But when it is, it is a lot of fun.
A morning walk (with a breakfast that, according to Kiara, is worth moving to Haapsalu for), a submerged limestone quarry, an abandoned prison, and a real submarine – a few worthwhile stops. And Stuart drove faster than the wind, as the rainclouds never quite reached us.
And at the end is home.
For good and bad.
Day 184: Unkempt Charm
Whenever you ask the girls what they liked the best, their standard answer is “everything”. Same today. After some considerable pressure, they concluded their favorite was climbing the lighthouse. And the weirdest playground they had ever visited.
Hiiumaa has great lighthouses. We only visited three – all seven would have felt like overkill. Climbing the Köpu one, with its incredibly steep stairs and windy platform, was, indeed, more adventurous than it sounds.
Stuart’s favourite was the series of abandoned WW2 and Cold War coastal bunkers and military posts in the middle of the forest. The underground bunkers and remaining structures, including a watchtower, were free to explore. One needed a flashlight, good shoes and a real spirit of adventure. They were creepy! And not just for the girls…
And the playground… The random collection of wooden structures, all built by one (sligtly obsessed) man, was quirky and the scale was impressive. Clearly it had been amazing – at some point. However, now they teetered between unkempt-but-charming and unkempt-and-not-safe. The girls had a blast, though, exploring every structure we allowed them into.
My favourite part was all the photos. And the coolest bus stop ever.
