The year that was (the other side of 2011)

Here is my other year: January: Snorkeling is perhaps the scariest thing I have ever done. Not an experience I wish to repeat. An overwhelming feeling of 'I'm going to drown' destroyed the first few minutes of wonder. February: As soon as the temperature falls to freezing I dry up. My skin looks ancient, my...

Platform 11, Friday 0645

Very quiet and far in the distance there is a circle of lights. Helsinki's amusement park Linnunmäki is closed for winter. That doesn't stop them from decorating all the rides with lights to see us through this dark season. The circle is the Helsinki Wheel (Ferris Wheel). Soon my train is here, and hopefully I...

The year that was (2011 in review)

The new year rapidly approaches. We have fireworks (and safety glasses) ready. We travel west this year to see the new year in with old friends. The menu is planned, the drinks have been organised. Snow would be nice. A little would go a very long way. The forecast is not promising. I may or may not post between today...

My internet presence

or am I spreading myself too thin? Or worse still, repeating myself and boring the pants off everybody?! Is this every bloggers nightmare? Or typical newbie blogger paranoia? Is it possible to have too many pies on the go? I have to ask this, as I've seen some twitter accounts incessantly tweeting the most ridiculous and inane...

Boxing Day update

Coffee with my girlfriend was great! So much to say and so little time. The good things that came out of our catch up was that now we have up-to-date numbers and email addresses. We have that rare friendship that endures time and distance so that it is like we have never been apart. The...

Boxing Day

I had planned to post about our Christmas tree. Then I received the Versatile Blogger nomination. (Big thanks to Jenbeads :)) So I should read up on that and do a posting. Last week I read an article about a day in the life of Finland and thought that might be a good blog topic....

Bah humbug. It’s Christmas

Now, let me explain. It's not as though my childhood Christmases were terrible. On the contrary, we had the best Christmas celebrations. When I was quite small it followed a regular pattern: a tree from either our own property or a neighbours forest; opening the presents that Santa had so thoughtfully deposited under tree. Breakfast, church...

My little luxuries # 1

Everyone deserves a little luxury and Vanity Fair is mine. This arrived in the mail today and now my evening will go something like this: dinner, dishes, washing to the machine, me to bed and reading VF cover to cover. Actually I start at the back cover and work my way through the articles back...

Tuliaiset *

The Engineer has returned bearing gifts (and dirty laundry). English newspapers, foodie magazines and Harrods goodies. My weekend is complete! Enjoy your Sunday 🙂 * Tuliaiset are gifts either when you visit someone (hostess gift) or returning from a trip.

Decisions, Decisions

Mr. 12 heads to upper primary school next autumn. * Yesterday the guide-book for the Helsinki school district came home, along with a second guide-book for grade 6 students. Now we have to work out from the myriad of options, which school?! First some language background. Mr. 12 is bi-lingual. We operate the one parent...