Lunchtime walk in Joensuu

It was -25, so I didn't stay out for very long, but the sunshine was too good to miss.
I saw the strangest thing - the river 'steaming' in the cold.

And the boat is certainly going nowhere at the moment...

Small girl, large snow mountain...

We had a fantastic day playing out in the snow on Saturday. Orb took his potkukelkka out, I went on skis, and the small brown ninja ran around like a mad thing. We tried some of the cross country trails in Noljakka which were breathtakingly beautiful - the trees are laced with snow, and you could see the flakes of ice dancing in the air.

I'd forgotten how much fun going down hills (albeit very small ones) on skis is. And I discovered just how much work going up the hills on cross country skis is too...

In the evening, we went to watch Jokipojat play at the ice hall, as it was a free match. We were squidged into the standing area, and had to carry M so she could see, but it was fantastic - a really exciting, end-to-end game. After being 3-2 down for much of the match, Jokipojat managed to equalise in the last minute, and then won on penalties. M had never been in such a big crowd before - and I think the enormous roar when they equalised was rather a surprise.

Today's been very cold (it's about -25 now, and is forecast to be -30 when we set off for school tomorrow morning). We walked about 10 minutes from the car park to the cinema this morning, and ended up with tingling noses and quite cold fingers and toes. Puss in Boots was on in 3D, and in the original English version, and was great fun. M and I had never seen a 3D film before and were quite impressed. It was pretty much designed to appeal to a cat-obsessed six-year-old, I think. I'd love to know, though, how on earth they dub Antonio Banderas' Spanish accent into Finnish...?

Sadly nowhere open in town had good buns on offer on a Sunday (normally Houkutus, the library cafe or Taitokortelli would be our first points of call, but they were all shut), so we came home and baked some of our own. The butter buns from the Nordic Bakery Cookbook turned out to be fab, and I may have scoffed at least two. Don't tell the small ninja...

Before and after

My little girl is growing up. Gone is the tiny IKEA chair and table, scene of much painting, colouring, play-dough, baking and eating (she used to eat here breakfast at it in our old kitchen). In its place is a brand new 8 euro desk from the recycled furniture shop...

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day, Lykynlampi.

New Year's Day

Today was amazingly cold and clear, the perfect fresh start for the new year. We've been very busy:

1. Hunting for yeti at Lykynlampi.


2. Sledging and stomping about in the cold at Lykynlampi, including venturing out onto the frozen lake.



3. Eating doughnuts at the Lykynlampi cafe. Very important.



4. Scoffing toad in the hole, with sausages smuggled back from England.

5. Using M's new telescope to see the craters on the moon, Jupiter, and several old rockets circling the Earth.

6. Telling our fortunes for the year ahead, using some tin horseshoes, a ladle and a bucket of water.




Orb had what looked like a crazy cross between Homer Simpson and a Cavalier, mine was either a nest full of birds or a witch, and M had a dragon. But whatever the new year holds, I think it will be an exciting one...