Yes, I know I spend most of my time posting pictures of lakes...This is the view from Joensuu's marina, tucked away at the other end of town, past the horse racing track. It's still only five minutes away from work by car, so we went for a walk there after work on Thursday. M is reading Swallows and Amazons with Orb at the moment, so there were lots of technical details to be pointed out, like rowlocks, cleats and the like. Most of the boats had been taken out of the water, and thoroughly wrapped in tarpaulins against the winter. But a few were still merrily floating in the harbour, and there were a couple of hardy souls kite surfing on the lake, despite the chilly weather.
Today's been cold and rainy, so we went inside the Joensuu Areena to a massive craft fair. Handicrafts are big in Finland - everyone seems to be either crocheting a rug, knitting a pair of socks or creating something out of wickerwork. The Areena was filled with stalls selling wool, others selling hats, and many more with candles and silverwork (pendants made from cutlery are very popular). There was a fabulous set of exhibition cases with Barbie dolls from the 1960s onwards (and a lone Sindy), some beautiful dolls houses, and a random antiques corner selling the usual overpriced nonsense. Oh, and a fashion show, which was very...Scandinavian, with lots of felted hats. We had a lovely time - M made a spider with wire and beads with the nice ladies from Joensuu's arts and crafts centre, Taitokortteli, and Orb and I ate our own bodyweight in buns. I may also have had to be restrained from buying most of the wool and craft projects on offer from Taitokortelli - they have the most amazing stuff.
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