When the sun is setting, between dusk and darkness, there is a moment when the light turns blue. And the world stops for a heartbeat.
Pan-fried muikku (vendace) is a Finnish delicacy. The girls and I absolutely love it. Stuart thinks it is good, but as with many good things, Finns tend to overdo it.
You can get muikku at many lakeside restaurants during the summer, and I even make it myself from time to time. But the best muikku is made by ukki in the boathouse. The boathouse is as important part of the meal than the muikku itself.
Finns are always surprised when the weather is good at Midsummer. Although, I could be a spoilsport and note that every single one of the five Midsummers since we moved bach has been beautiful.
Then again, I still remember the years of +9°C and rain, so I mostly let people enjoy their weather debates.
Anyway, it is hard to capture the essence of Midsummer in single picture. I cheated and made a collage. Good food, good drinks, the midnight sun, summer…
Despite being a foodie, even I admit that frying sausages over the fire is part of summer at the summer cottage.
The last day of first grade: report cards received, flowers given to teachers. We all even survived singing Suvivirsi (you need to be a Finn to understand that).
Done.
Ten weeks of summer holiday deserve a celebratory pastry.
Every spring, the circus school Alanna and Kiara go to puts together a final performance. The performers vary in age from 3 to 20+, and in skill from total beginners to the performing group, but the energy and enthusiasm are always there.
Unfortunately, the lighting looked great live but was less kind to photography. Any presentable picture required at least a fraction of a second of stillness, and there wasn’t much of that.
Kiara got a cold last night and was running a high temperature, so we cancelled all our Vappu plans. It has been the warmest Vappu in 18 years, so lounging on the terrace wasn’t a bad alternative.
To make it a bit festive, our snacky lunch included all the traditional Vappu essentials: sima (kind of fermented lemon mead), strawberries, munkkis, potato salad and wiener sausages.
I even wore my matriculation hat, as tradition demands. Mine is a bit small, so I rarely wear it for long, even at Vappu. Otherwise it would not be in such pristine shape.
It is the one garment where stains are worn with pride.
I stepped out of the office today and realized I have forgotten the culmination of Vappu (May Day) in Helsinki: Mantan Lakitus.
It is a dramatized placing of a Finnish matriculation hat on Havis Amanda, the statue in Helsinki harbor, by one of the university student unions. So naturally, tens of thousands of people come every year to see it. This year, the weather was fine, so the event gathered 80,000 people to Market Square.
The last time I participated was when I was a student myself. So, as the time was almost right, I decided to go and take some photos.
I gave up before I even saw Havis Amanda in the distance.
Too crowded.
The overalls are the “official” party outfits for university students. Each student union has it’s own color and you are not, for example, allowed to use it after graduation. It may sound stupid, but it is one of the things I miss the most from my student days…
When you are a twin, you share everything: attention, toys, clothes, most experiences – and birthdays.
In Finland, tho, there is an age-old tradition of celebrating name days. A few years ago, we picked up the idea and started small-scale celebrations to make sure Alanna and Kiara both have their own day.
Alanna’s name day was today. Alanna, as a name, is very rare in Finland (fewer than 60 in the whole country), so it doesn’t appear in the name calendar. Alina and Aida were the closest matches I could find.
As a treat, Alanna got a few small presents in the morning and chose a restaurant for the evening: Korean BBQ (smart kid!)
The Day was finally here. Harry Potter birthday!
The house was packed – at first with wands, owls, floating candles, Gryffindor colors and golden snitches. And later the chaos was completed by 127 excited little wizards and witches (or that is what it felt like).
The Herbology lesson (plant your owl pot) was popular, as was the Potions lesson (mix different color juices) and Levitation class (on the trampoline). But nothing was as eargerly anticipated as the opening of the Honeydukes candy shop after the other food was finished.
Our little witches loved the day – but I am happy it is a whole year to the next kids birthday!
Warm milk has been a part of our bedtime routine since… well… since the girls were just born. We transitioned from mother’s milk to cow’s milk and from bottles to sippy cups to normal cups – but the routine stayed. It is a taste of calming down (most nights).
Blue Moment 