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.
Today, we laid our beloved Merlin to rest.
He passed away back in January, but we wanted to bury him at the summer cottage, the place he loved more than any other in the world.
Merlin came to our family a little over 10 years ago. He was an intelligent and curious little pup who simply could not fanthom that anyone would not love him as much as he loved them. There was nothing he loved more than being included in… everything.
He was especially certain that all hadedas (type of ibis) thoroughly enjoyed the one-sided game of tag he invented. (Except for the one that decided to chase him back).
Merlin was very obedient, calm and caring. Nowhere was it more evident than in the way he cared his two “sisters”, when they arrived. He kept bringing his favourite puppy toy to the babies, although he clearly found it rather strange that they did not play with it for months.
As they grew, he remained endlessly patient, no matter how loud, rough, or devious they became – even when they stole his food. For his entire life, he kept an eye on them. It caused him great concern whenever they disappeared from sight on walks (for example, to kindergarten or school).
The move from South Africa turned his life upside down, but in Finland Merlin discovered his inner husky. Rain or darkness no longer bothered him. And he absolutely loved snow. And forests. Most of all, though, he loved the summer cottage.
Merlin was a very special little dog. Six months after his passing, we still unconciously reach out for him every day. We miss him tremendously!
Alanna suggested that we light a candle to Merlin every year on his birthday. She said he was such a brave dog that his soul was half fire. So through the candle, he will hear us singing Happy Birthday to him.
Rest in peace, Merlin. ❤️
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…
There are many truths about how warm a lake needs to be before it is warm enough for a swim.
Stuart, being South African, thinks 28-30°C sounds about right. Or 25°C with a sauna. For a Finn, that is pure folly.
I am happy with 20°C and 18°C respectfully. But then again, I do not particularly like cold water (for a Finn).
Alanna prefers warmer water too, but anything above 10°C is fine as long as it only comes up to her knees and there is a sandy patch to play in. Swimming requires 18°C or a good reason. And whether something counts as a good enough reason depends entirely on her mood. This spring, she went gor a swim when the sea was barely 13°C.
Kiara doesn’t care. As long as there is no ice on it, it looks good. Above 15 °C, she will happily swim around until she turns blue (and mummi tells her to come out).
In case you were wondering, the lake was close to 20°C.
As the girls have been learning to read over the past year, I have been marvelling at how anyone ever learns to read in English. The spelling makes no sense.
In Finnish, every letter is always pronounced the same way, so once you know the letters, reading is pretty straightforward. To make up for it, Finnish words can be ridiculously long, and tiny changes can completely change the meaning of a word. But still. At least it is consistent.
I was well into my teens before the concept of a spelling bee made any sense to me whatsoever.
Despite being a foodie, even I admit that frying sausages over the fire is part of summer at the summer cottage.
Food tastes better when eaten outside.
The nearest “beach” to us is just a quick hop away. It’s a secluded little strech of sand, and you can’t get there with a car. Consequently, it is often pretty quiet.
With the weather being great, we went for a picnic on a whim. We grabbed whatever we fancied from a store and cycled to the “beach” for a few hours of games, snacks and scenery. The girls even waded to the water, but it was still way too cold for a swim.
Best night of the week.
As a kid, I loved Finnish baseball (pesäpallo). It’s quite different from American baseball – most notably, because you pitch the ball up, not across.
So, when I came across a set of used pesäpallo equipment for kids at some sale or another, I did not hesitate for a second.
The girls’ success rate of actually hitting the ball is still low enough that we can practice in our backyard. I do not expect that to last long.
I would still love to pick the sport back up myself, but unless you are part of a fairly serious team, you can only really play in summer. And in summer, there is so much else to do.
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.
Girls’s night out.
For dinner, Alanna and Kiara chose a sushi – one of their all-time favourites.
After dinner, we headed to a Hevisaurus Musical. I think Hevisaurus is a concept that could really only exist in Finland… Its a band dressed up as dinosaurs, playing heavy metal for kids. And they are pretty good too!
Alanna especially was into every song. She knew the words to half of them and danced passionately to the rest.
As did most of the audience.
I am not sure if I’ve ever seen that many 5-8 year olds headbanging before.
Räyh! is their best song. Or the ballad, ‘Goodnight, Last of the Mammoths’ (Hyvää yötä, viimeinen mammutti). Both are worth a listen.
Blue Moment 