Tuesday, December 06, 2011

December - Day 6


The sun rose at 1034am and set at 1345pm. The length of the day was 3 hours and 11 minutes. No sun today, more snow, temperature below zero. 

 the small road leading to my house
Finland is celebrating today her 94 years of Independence. While many traditions change over the years and new, younger generations pick their own, many, many Finns still celebrate in a quiet manner. Our Independence Days takes place in the darkest time of the year and that of course is a hindrance for all kinds of lively outdoor festivities.

Many Finns turn the TV on in the afternoon to watch the movie "Tuntematon sotilas" ("The Unknown Soldier", there are two versions, today we saw the older version) and veterans (the few that are still here) are highly respected.

the main road towards north

Candles are lit on windowsills at 6 pm, the sight is very pretty. Then finally at 7 in the evening the ones that have not been invited to the important receptions, gather again around TV to watch the President host a big reception and celebration. It is the happening of the year, for weeks people guess who has been invited to the party, every year there is some change in the guest list, and ladies compete who has the most beautiful dress of the year, in recent years also some men guests have started to appear in interesting clothing.

This was the last time for Tarja Halonen, our president, to host the party. We will have new elections next year and she leaves her post. She has ruled for 12 years, I think she has served her country more than well. 

more snow! now daily
Finland is a small country, only about 5,3 million people populate this land that stretches over 1160 km/700 miles from north to south and over 540km/336 miles from east to west. I love this small country, this is where the home is and what can you say, home sweet home.

Wool till tomorrow,
Lene

13 comments:

  1. Hyvää itsenäisyyspäiväniltaa sinulle. Katselin myös elokuvan ja vastaanoton.

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  2. Anonymous23:33

    Beautiful, Lene. Your love for country and place shines through. Beautiful snow pictures, too, though it looks like your furry friends are saying 'why is she ALWAYS taking pictures!? We need to RUN!'

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  3. Anonymous23:35

    Hi from British Columbia. Thank you so much for sharing your day. My husband and I look forward to reading your post especially the sunrise and sunset times. We very much enjoy reading your blog. It is the first thing we do when we turn on our computer. Happy Independence Day.
    Lacy

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  4. Lene you have me hooked, love the reading and pictures and posts...thank you. Teresa

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  5. I have just been revisiting your series featuring your beautiful Advent calendar, and wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed those posts...and still enjoy them now. I was amazed to find, when I was looking for those posts, that it was four years ago! I have been reading your blog for a long time, though I rarely comment, anymore.

    Thank you for these beautiful glimpses into your life.

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  6. Lene I so much enjoy your frequent posts now. I am from the southwest part of the United States.I have never been anywhere that has the vast difference in daylight and night. I am intrigued how you adjust yourself to sleep and stay awake during those times of dark. Do you go shopping and appointments, ect. as usual? I love your pics and posts and especially your knitting and embroidery and of course your drawing.Please keep them coming.
    From the other side of thhe world thanks!

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  7. Anonymous05:27

    Happy Independence Day!
    I love hearing about your sunrise/sunset times and seeing pictures of your dogs. I always look forward to Dec 21/22 when the days start to get longer :-) Although the snow makes evenings bright!

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  8. Oh, I love these snow pictures.

    Happy Independence day! One of these days I'll visit Finland as well. :)

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  9. Gretchen16:37

    Happy Independence Day. I am enjoying this series of winter in Finland. I have never lived in such a dramatic climate, and find it very interesting.

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  10. Happy Independence Day, a little late! I am so delighted you are posting this series. I don't have an advent calendar this year but this is just as good. I have long had a fascination with your part of the world and it is wonderful to learn more about what it is really like. I love your beautiful pointed firs. But, like some of your other readers who live in somewhat northern areas (I live in Vermont) your description of the hours of sunlight makes me grateful for what I have. And seeing your snow makes me remember what's good about snow...which is good, because we have some coming tonight!

    Here is a question for you. Of course you wear lots of woolen hats and gloves :) but what kinds of things do you wear to keep yourself warm outside? What kind of boots, coat, long underwear, etc.? The cold makes it hard for me to enjoy winter as much as I should, so I am always on the lookout for recommendations. And it seems like you probably have some good ones!

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  11. Your snow pictures are lovely and I so enjoy reading about life in Finland. Thank you for sharing it with us.

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  12. deni19:37

    Happy Independence Day!
    For a second there, I thought you were on my path -- Your walk is almost identical to my dog walks here in upper michigan usa :)

    Enjoy your posts, pics & progress reports.

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  13. Anonymous22:05

    Happy Independence Day! I visited Finland (just Helsinki) around this time of year two years ago. It was so beautiful to be out in the dark at the Christmas market. In fact, today by chance I am wearing the lovely woolen scarf I bought there. My daughter and I still remember the delicious salmon and potatoes we bought from a stand there. Someday we will visit again

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