First flowers in my garden

I want to share this with you. I took this photo yesterday in my garden in Helsinki, Finland.

It's a spring crocus. We are having a very warm early spring in Finland right now. They said on tv yesterday that here in southern Finland the spring is 3 weeks ahead of its normal time.

Eli kuvassa on krookus pihallamme Helsingissä, näitä aikaisin tulleen kevään merkkejä.

The blind masseuse and other stories

I went today to a masseuse who was blind. Very nice experience. It lasted for 45 minutes. I truly needed some massage for my strained muscles in my back.

I kept wondering if massage is easier to do when you are blind, if you can sense better with your hands. I didn't dare to ask, how would she know. We talked about that being a masseuse or masseur is a very traditional profession for a blind person, but nowadays things have changed a lot. With right kind of equipment a blind person can for example work with the computer for the IT-industry.

Last week we were on holiday in Athens. The weather was lovely, very spring-like, there were already some flowers blooming and the sun was warming the air. We also visited the island of Egina (=Aegina) which is known for its pistachio nuts.

Athens had a lot of history and culture to offer. We visited for example the archeological museum, Acropolis, Agora and Kerameikos graveyard.

I liked strolling in the narrow roads of Plaka, which is a town part near Acropolis. In the evenings we often ate supper in the area of Psyrri (Psiri), which is known from its restaurants and bars.

Here are some hints for eating in the Athens:

Lunch: I would recommend a restaurant called Byzantino in Plaka. It is situated near the small park on Kydatheneon street. We ate dolmades and moussaka.

Dinner: Taverna Tou Psiri in Psiri (Psyrri). Decoration is nice and so is the price level. You can choose what you want to eat from the kitchen. Also it seems to be popular among the local people, which to me is always a good sign. Address: Eschilou 12.

Ten other Riikkas and their blogs

I went to see if I can find other Riikkas in the internet - and I did.
Here is a list containing 10 other Riikka blogs:

1. Af-riikka
2. Dream hunter
3. Riikkasbags
4. La la love you
5. Project Hapsi
6. Pyöräilyhitit
7. Riikan neulesivut
8. Minä suojelen sinua kaikelta
9. Sometimes I miss you so much
10. Riikan -

The blogs are in random order, so this is not a top list. I am just truly amazed how brilliant women the Riikkas of the world are. It must be the name :-)

I urge you to go to check them, all are different from each other and there's all kinds of things to be learned.

Going to Greece

I have a winter holiday right now. (yes, you can be envious if you want to!)

We are travelling to Athens on Monday. I have always wanted to see Acropolis. I am also looking forward to eat in some nice restaurants. I really love Greek food.

Here's a recipe:

Feta salad

Some green salad
4 tomatos
1 red onion
1/2 cucumber
some feta cheese
12 black olives

sauce: olive oil, vinegar, some salt and pepper

Last Thursday we went to see my brother singing in a choir. The concert of Akateeminen Laulu was with quite modern type of music. Also a lot of Kalevala, as it was Kalevala day (28th Feb) here in Finland. Kalevala is our national epos. My parents were also here, as my brother has his 30th birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday to him!

Deathly accidents and icy roads

I was coming with my mother last Sunday (18th Feb) in Ilmajoki, Finland this road, which is called 67. We drove very carefully because we noticed that the road was extremely slippery and icy. It was clear that it was not salted at all.



Monday we all in Finland heard sad news from this road. Two young women had been killed in car accident with a truck between Ilmajoki and Kurikka. The road was icy, as it was on Sunday.

So, be careful out there! The road might not be salted.

Genealogy in Seinäjoki

I am waiting the working day to end.
Then I'm heading for a train that will transfer me from
Helsinki to Seinäjoki.

Tomorrow I'm attending a family research or genealogy event in Seinäjoki.
This is my dearest hobby and I'm hoping to meet a lot of friends and strangers.
Relatives as well.... I'm also going to follow some interesting speeches about old maps
and farmers as court members in 18th century Finland.

I wonder if I'm going to catch the moment of blue in the train. It's so pretty, the Finnish countryside with the snow, when the twilight comes.

Fun in the dog park

We went with our dog Jekku ( Finnish Lapphund ) to a dog park here in Eastern Helsinki today. It was a pretty day, but a bit cold. A lot of people were cross country skiing around Vartiokylä bay.

I made a video of Jekku in the dog park. Just press play!



As you can see, our Jekku won his racism against mopsi type (=pug type) of dogs...

See a larger video in YouTube.

Olimme Jekku-koiran kanssa Puotilan koirapuistossa käymässä. Vaikka sää oli kirpeä, niin hiihtäjiä piisasi. Paljon ihmisiä perheineen oli myös Vartiokylänlahden jäällä. Mietimme, että kestääkö jää jo tarpeeksi hyvin. Valkamissa näytti hyvinkin ohuelta. Jekku tapasi koirapuistossa Sallin ja voitti rasisminsa lyttynaamaisia koiria kohtaan. Lisää voit katsoa videosta yllä. Paina vain play tai katso video isompana YouTubesta.

As you can see, I have added a text in Finnish to this post. I shall be doing that also in the future, because clearly at least some of the readers want me to write in Finnish as well. More discussion about this in my earlier post.

Kirjoitan nyt siis tässä blogissa aina muutaman rivin myös suomeksi, koska jotkut lukijat siihen houkuttelivat. Enemmän keskustelua asiasta aiemmassa postauksessani.

Hairdressing

I went today to hairdresser. I felt so dark and gloomy and asked the hairdresser to bring some light at least to my hair. And she did. Soft light copper.

I have been waking up at 5.30 AM. It's the new shift I'm doing. You can quess if I like it or not...
I should be in bed by now - otherwise I won't get enough sleep.

It has been terribly cold in Helsinki today. Freezing. This is really the day you would need long woollen underpants if you happened to own a pair. I try to avoid going out.

See Helsingin Sanomat story about the weather in Finland

This is a test.

Sunday in Helsinki

I went today to Cafe Ekberg. A very traditional Helsinki Cafe situated in Bulevardi ("Boulevard"). Established 1852. (Pretty old, isn't it?).

I met two of my friends. Sari and Eve. Sari has her birthday today, so congratulations once again! We ate some Runebergin torttu - a small cake which got it's name after the famous Finnish poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg.


Runeberg has his birthday 5th February and we celebrate it every year in Finland. (so as you can see we ate our cakes one day ahead...).

Read more about Runeberg in Wikipedia.
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Later I made an abstract of an article in Estonian women's magazine called Anne for my language course tomorrow. We had a warm day again here in Helsinki, but we still have some snow. I have to wake up really early tomorrow. My working day starts next week at 7 and that's a killer.

Language problem

I have been wondering. This blog is in English, but should I write in Finnish as well?

(Haluaisitteko hyvät blogini lukijat, että kirjoittaisin tätä englannin lisäksi myös suomeksi? Jos niin, niin miten?)

If yes, then how should I do that?

Few lines in English and few in Finnish? Or every other post in Finnish and every other in English? Same text translated or different text?

Or not at all? Just in English. Or maybe something in German? Estonian? Swedish?
To be or not to be....

It's just that I have a Finnish blog called Sukututkimus www.sukututkimus.blogspot.com. But this blog is strictly about genealogy (searching your ancestors and that stuff).

This weekend we were visiting my parents-in-law at their vacation home in Hollola. The weather was bright and sunny. The dog enjoyed, except the moment when the cat (called Nasu) decided to hit him with his pawn.