Hyvää Isänpäivää - Happy Father's Day!

Today is the Father's Day in Finland and I love this!

Sleep fairly late, chill in bed waiting for a fabulastic breakfast to be prepared, kids - who are not that small any more - come to get me up for the breakfast and then chilling at the table. I've enjoyed some great food, drinks, discussions, reading, music and it still continues. Heck, I took the laptop here and I'm writing this by the table :o)

I don't know the reason, but in Belgium they celebrate the Father's Day in spring. When living there, it was great since we naturally celebrated the day both when the Belge did, and also when the Finns did. For some other reason the Mother's Day was the same in Finland and Belgium...

Here is an example of the great language of Finnish, compliments by a Facebook group thisisfinland, also online at www.thisisfinland.fi.

Hyvää Isänpäivää meille kaikille!!!

From Movember to November

May I introduce...

Movember Göran

Movember Horst

Movember Adolf

November Mika

If you want to support the movement but don't have anyone to direct it for, here is an option:
http://fi.movember.com/mospace/5171681

Movember

Movember - a good cause and some fun with facial hair - or genital hair if you choose so...

Years ago I've done my part of facial hair and am not sure if I'll join the moustache project. If you are interested, the Finland pages - at least one option for the cause - can be found at http://fi.movember.com/, also in English...

Poronkäristys - Sautéed reindeer - Renskav - Finnbiff

I ate Rudolph! You know, the red nose reindeer. Extremely delicious :o)

Noooo, of course it was not Rudolph, it was his cousin...

Sautéed reindeer, or poronkäristys as we Finns call it, is quite easy to make. What requires most work is peeling the potatoes for the mashed potato. And what makes it even more difficult, is that the potatoes used for it are small and curvy almond potatos from Lapland, puikulaperuna.

Peeling 2 kilos of them is the hardest part, but you are allowed to do it while you are consuming the beer listed in the recipe...

I prepared to feed 4-6 people with 1kg of reindeer and 2 kilos of puikulaperuna for the mashed potato. Also 2 cans of dark beer is needed for the reindeer plus 3 beers per hour for the cook.
...this is something I failed to do as I started the cooking before noon, wanting to keep my mind and body clear for babysitting.

Actually she is not a baby as she is a BIG girl, way over 1 year old and in less than 2 months she will again meet the Santa Claus, Joulupukki. The real one from Korvatunturi at Lappland - not any commercial nonsense story from North Pole...

Back to the reindeer - here are few tips for cooking you might value;

• When making the mashed potato, save some of the boiling water to moist it. It holds quite a lot of the taste. Be brave with the butter & salt, and don't forget to add some sugar. If you wanna go wild, try adding some goat cheese and honey.
• For reindeer, don't save with the quality of the meat! Again, be brave with salt & pepper. And please, no lager beer or other watery one, use good dark beer!
• Use juniper berries, katajamarja. At least in Finland you can get them in any market at least by Santa Maria spice company. From the Santa Maria -link you have access also for other Finnish specialties at www.suomikauppa.fi...

Bon appétit - Hyvää ruokahalua!

 

What a day!

After some renovation & paintwork until fairly late last night, some wine was well deserved. Today has been a great day after a good long sleep (that is waste of time anyway...);
...After a quick small bite a quick workout at the gym.
...Cycle back home (in rain) for a breakfast & shower, to go out for the household community yard work, "talkoot", which is traditionally followed by BBQ snacks & drinks outside. Since it was raining, this was done covered by the rain at the car shelter. Niiiiiice!
...Sauna!
...Siesta!
...Chill out & light up ~30 candles, in- & outdoors.
...Prepare the best pizza in town.
...and now...
EL CLASICO!!!
Barcelona - Real Madrid, Barca leading 1-0 with a goal by Neymar at his el Clasico debut.

And writing this is the half time show :o)
To give you a taster of the home team, check out the ad by the home team sponsor.

To finish off, here is something closer to my preference...

Hala Madrid!!!

What to do in Tallinn?

A LOT!

If you have never been in Tallinn, Estonia or your experience is based on the Old Town trips, here is a page you should visit: http://www.tourism.tallinn.ee/eng/fpage

There is so much to see, do and enjoy in and around the city. Price level is fair when you go outside the touristic Old Town and you get to experience more the real, genuine and authentic Estonia. In many ways you can still see and feel the impact of the Soviet Union time at some places.

I also recommend to make a trip to one of the nearby cities like Pärnu, Rakvere with it's spa, Tartu etc, as everything is close. Shopping is good, many sports and activity options, great restaurants and comparing to Finland, you get more for the money you spend.

It's a small country with many places to go and a lot to do...

For some pictures and what I have written earlier about Tallinn, click here.

Wet-wet-wet & Ice hockey

Yesterday morning I grabbed myself up and pushed me out for a walk - despite of rain. I gotta say it was again great, fresh cold air, not much traffic, road workers hiding somewhere indoors from the rain, schools on fall holiday - and colors were still great so wet-wet-wet weather didn't bother me...

 

Today we get to enjoy sunshine and it is again Blues home game day! Let's see if the Blues can continue yesterday's positive playing and slowly start picking up their position from the bottom of the table. It's also possible that I'll find myself from the Blues arena today. Special game with a pink theme to support the battle against breast cancer - hence even higher likelyness to go to the game.

 

What is surprising, my daughter is the biggest booster to go to the game as she is a BIG fan! She just told me that Teemu Selänne of the Anaheim Ducks scored a goal in the NHL game against Phoenix Coyotes, and another at shoot out. Not bad from a guy who is 43 years old...

 

For tickets to the Blues game, click here.

 

Have a great weekend!

Why, baby why...?

Below you will find a link to a page with pictures that have one common theme in my mind: WHY?
http://vivas.fi/mita-ihmetta-ja-miksi-31-aivan-taysin-kasittamatonta-kuvaa/

Here is a taster...

Regards from Winterland, I just told you it is fall time. Well, it's Finland and things can change fast. This is a fresh pic by www.iltasanomat.fi showing the cool status from about 300 km from Helsinki.

Winter - right around the corner...!

The Fall - It's Here!

I'm not the only one who has noticed the time of the year - and enjoyed taking photos. Great pics on Facebook, on media and blogs, like Tsupukka's http://tsupukka.blogspot.fi/

If you have never tried, you should go out and find yourself a tree with yellow leafs ...or leaves or how ever you write it, I chose leafs from Toronto Maple Leafs... with branches coming down. Take a stick, go below the tree and it the branches enjoying the rain.

Put on rubber boots - and buy ones if you don't have them - and go out and kick the leafs. Let's hope you won't hit dog shit.

And if your kids take the effort to rake the leaves, let them make a big pile and then break it - or jump into it.

Enjoy the fall!!!

Tarkkana mitä kirjoitat

Mikäli sinulle maksetaan kirjoittamisesta, oletus on, että olet ammattilainen. Näin ollen loppuun asti miettimättömiä lehtiotsikoita ei pitäisi syntyä - vaan kyllä niitä kuitenkin syntyy...! Alla maukkaita esimerkkejä, ei kuitenkaan tältä vuodelta...

Sorry folks, these are just something one can not translate into English. These are foolish press titles where the message leaves some space for imagination.

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Nainen kestää heikosti peräänajoa.
Otsikko Aamulehdessä 29.1.

Jollei haudasta oteta yhteyttä, hautaa hoidetaan 25 vuotta veloituksetta.
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Väkivalta parisuhteessa on asia, jonka eteen kannattaa tehdä töitä.
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Mies löi liikuntarajoitteista miestä pankkiautomaatilla.
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Rattijuoppo kaahasi sataa poliisia karkuun.
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Olutrekka ojaan Iissä. Alkoholilla ei ollut osuutta turmassa.
Helsingin Sanomat 4.5.

Linja-autossa oli yli 50 ihmistä. Mukana oli myös kolme opettajaa.
Helsingin Sanomat 14.4.

Valintatalo avaa kirkon kylässä ensi torstaina. Uusittu myymälä poikkeaa
ratkaisevasti entisestä.
Otsikko Luoteis-Uusimaassa 11.6.

Eliel Saarisen tien tunneli on kaikkiaan yli puoli kilometriä pitkä.
Umpitunnelissa kuljetaan 350 metrin matka.
Helsingin Sanomat 12.10.

Oravan löytyminen ei vielä tarkoita sitä, että niitä pesisi lähistöllä.
Se tarkoittaa vain, että kuollut yksilö on liikuskellut alueella.
Savon Sanomat 2.7.

Hakijaryntäys Espoon hautausmaille.
Otsikko Espoon seurakuntasanomat Essessä 11.3

Ne, jotka ovat päivittäin jutelleet vainajan kanssa selviävät tablettilääkityksellä.
Savon Sanomat 7.1.

Malmin hautausmaan liikenne yksisuuntainen.
Ilmoitus Helsingin Sanomissa 24.12.

Vuodepotilaan syöminen voi olla hankalaa.
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Etelä-Karjalan ensimmäinen krematorio tuotantokäyttöön.
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Mika Lahti kaatoi keilat naisia paremmin.
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Työkaverinsa rintoja kähminyt sai jättikorvauksen.
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Kauppiaan sydän on lihatiskillä.
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Huonokuuloisten maailmankongressissa huippupuhujia.
Kuulonhuoltoliiton tiedotteen otsikko 13.5.

Eurot näytettiin etukäteen vain sokeille.
Otsikko Aamulehdessä 31.12.

Oppilaiden tasapuolinen kohtelu epäkohta peruskoulussa ja lukiossa.
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Äkillinen tulva vaikeutti autojen kulkua Vammalan kävelykadulla.
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Kokenut metsästäjä ei huomannut vaimoaan ampuessaan tiheässä taimikossa riekkoa.
Ilta-Sanomat 24.9.

Lahdessa kuollut ampui poliiseja.
Otsikko Pohjalaisessa 4.8.

Liian pienissä liiveissä rinnat pursuavat kupin reunan yli ja liukuvat ylöspäin
selässä.
Iltalehti Online 18.9.

Miina Kenttä omaa luokkaansa tyttöjen seipäässä.
Otsikko Helsingin Sanomissa 18.8.

Myydään. 2 langatonta lankapuhelinta.
Ilmoitus Helsingin Sanomissa 8.9.

Hän on joutunut mielisairaalaan, koska tappoi 12-vuotiaan äitinsä ja tämän rakastajan.
Kansan Uutiset 27.3.

Ikaalisten Ampujat panostaa nuoriin.
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Sairaankuljettajan arkeen kuuluu väkivallalla uhkaaminen eri muodoissaan.
Pohjolan Sanomat 19.11.

Kymmenen hevosen emäntä myös ravaa itse, ja onpa voittanut Suomen mestaruudenkin.
Itä-Häme 8.3.

Alkosta halutaan piristystä Pöytyän liike-elämään.
Otsikko Auranmaan Viikkolehdessä 3.9.

Miehet ovat tavallisen näköisiä nuoria miehiä. Havainnoista voi ilmoittaa lähimmälle
poliisille.
Helsingin Sanomat vankikarkureista 26.7.