After nearly a month of leaving treats for the hare, one day in early February around midnight, by chance I looked through the window and saw something moving in the garden! I was scared at first, but then I realized it was my hare!! It was love at first sight and almost immediately I gave it a name: Sofia.
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Are you among the people who started baking during the pandemic? have you ever baked bread? I haven’t fallen into the sour-bread band wagon, at least not yet. I like to keep it simple and mostly choose recipes with dry yeast. Each month I spent some time finding a new recipe, some months it was a bit of a hassle and tricky not to feel intimidated by complex recipes. But in the end no matter the complexity level and time spent, the best part is to feel the fresh bread smell and discover a new fluffy surprise coming out of the oven. Continue reading Bread challenge: bake one a month! (3rd year)
For the second year in a row I challenged myself to bake a bread each month. The year before I really enjoyed having fresh home-made bread and so it was an obvious path to continue the bread journey. Little did I know what the year 2020 would have in store… and so I did not manage to complete the challenge during all 12 months, but … Continue reading Bread challenge: bake one a month! (2nd year)
While we approach the end of autumn, this post aims to summon light and so it is all about reminiscing summer. Considering that we are in November and days are extremely short in the Northern hemisphere, it is therapeutic to look back at the long gone sunny days and remember that the sun will shine again, even if in a distant future. In Finland, November … Continue reading Chasing sunsets and other summer sights
I know it’s already midsummer, but why not wind down over some spring memories? While living in Finland it always has amazed me to see the small leaf buds emerge and the intense lime green of new leaves transforming the brown canvas of the forest. But somehow in the past, while commuting and running errands in the “old normal”, the spring always flew by and … Continue reading The rite of Spring
May marked the start of my third month of social distancing and to make the days a bit more fun, I set myself the challenge of doing a “new” thing each day. It could be anything as simple as cooking something new or something more difficult as visiting a new place (the difficulty being in how far I could go without using public transport; because … Continue reading Sprucing up the “new normal” with a “new” thing each day
I’ve been doing less walks than during the first months of social distancing, but still manage to go for a walk 3-4 days per week, and in those days I find it uplifting to pay more attention to my surroundings, being in the lookout for new flowers or birds. Over the last 2 months I had several wondrous encounters that warmed my heart: A red … Continue reading Wondrous encounters
Call it lock-down, quarantine or social distancing, I haven’t gone out of my neighborhood since March 13th. Already in February the covid-19 crisis was a constant worry in my mind, but it was in mid March when my life style started to change radically. Over the last month I’ve stayed home most of the time, except for grocery shopping once a week, and a ~1-2 … Continue reading Lock-down motto: keep on walking
Last year I set myself the challenge of baking one bread per month. It was tricky to find the time to do so, and often I ended up baking it on the last day of the month, running out of time… but I’m happy I managed to complete this challenge, it was certainly gratifying to enjoy many breakfasts with home made bread. Some things I … Continue reading Bread challenge: bake one per month!
Last year was the centenary anniversary of Finland. It was a year full of events celebrating independent Finland and also a personal milestone year, because I finally defended my PhD thesis! Time flew by and it’s already 2019, when I found this post un-published! As 2017 was packed of events and I took loads of pictures, I will split this blog post in seasons and … Continue reading Living in Finland highlights: 2017
Bonus Points 