Christmas Feast

For Christmas Eve we created a very traditional dinner with a Finnish ham, turnip and potato casseroles and Russian salad.

The food in fact lasted several evenings because the smallest ham we were able to find after what seemed to the younger generation like an eternity was still over 2kg.

I didn’t mind, I mostly love leftovers as they’re easy to handle and only need warming up. Great choice in menu, my Wiking man!

Shopping Frenzy

As we lazed through Tuesday it was our fate to go grocery shopping on Wednesday, 23rd. The master suggested we add some more Christmas spirit to the house so we combined grocery with Christmas lights and ornaments shopping.

When we checked out at the utilities shop we imagined the clerk wiping away a tear or two because we sure made his Christmas business that day… possibly even that week or the whole month 😀

Our bags and cartons contained a lighted reindeer, penguin, VW beetle, four tiny LED figurines in the shape of a bird, snow flake, Christmas tree and reindeer head, three light strings and a Christmas tree complete with lights and baubles.

After a refreshment and some nourishment we tackled grocery shopping for the coming week. Shopping for a week’s worth of supplies can take a while and thus started to feel quite taxing… especially the teenager nerves got strained severely which the grownups absolutely showed understanding for and thus rushed through the last sections of supply racks. We were especially efficient when choosing the Christmas ham, we later learned… :-p

Shopping Frenzy

As we lazed through Tuesday it was our fate to go grocery shopping on Wednesday, 23rd. The master suggested we add some more Christmas spirit to the house so we combined grocery with Christmas lights and ornaments shopping.

When we checked out at the utilities shop we imagined the clerk wiping away a tear or two because we sure made his Christmas business that day… possibly even that week or the whole month 😀

Our bags and cartons contained a lighted reindeer, penguin, VW beetle, four tiny LED figurines in the shape of a bird, snow flake, Christmas tree and reindeer head, three light strings and a Christmas tree complete with lights and baubles.

After a refreshment and some nourishment we tackled grocery shopping for the coming week. Shopping for a week’s worth of supplies can take a while and thus started to feel quite taxing… especially the teenager nerves got strained severely which the grownups absolutely showed understanding for and thus rushed through the last sections of supply racks. We were especially efficient when choosing the Christmas ham, we later learned… :-p

Lazy Day

After a late arrival – plane landed in Helsinki around 11-ish pm followed by a roughly 2h drive plus some very basic grocery shopping for the first day and a midnight snack stopover – there were still a couple of things to get done at the cabin so bedtime was around 4am in the morning of the 22nd.

Nit surprisingly we felt a tad jet-lagged and lazed the day away. Perfect start of a winter vacation.

Lazy Day

After a late arrival – plane landed in Helsinki around 11-ish pm followed by a roughly 2h drive plus some very basic grocery shopping for the first day and a midnight snack stopover – there were still a couple of things to get done at the cabin so bedtime was around 4am in the morning of the 22nd.

Nit surprisingly we felt a tad jet-lagged and lazed the day away. Perfect start of a winter vacation.

Escape

Monday, December 21st we made it true: We gathered a few things and escaped into the Finnish woods for a little getaway.

Away from the pre-Christmas frenzy, the corona craziness and the general hubbub during the Holiday season.

See ya next year, lovely Switzerland. Hope you’ll do well and welcome us back with lower infection rates. We do our part by self-quarantining in the woods.

Scare

When returning from my run yesterday afternoon I got a really bad scare as my neighbor called me with the news that another neighbor across the street called him with bad news: She had a dead kitty in the garden and she was afraid it might be Elvis, one of the kitties who have chosen me as their guardian. I took the news pretty stoically as I tend to but decided to walk up to Elvis favorite place, the chicken coop to gather my thoughts and brace myself for the possible blow. And who was there, happily chilling away in the sun with the chickens??!? Elvis!!! I was so happy and relieved I just broke down and cried and cuddled both Elvis and JB, his brother who had followed me up to the chickens from home. Then I sent my neighbor a photo and called him and we sniffled some sniffles of relieve together. We’re so happy to have our fosterlings safe and sound.

Still, my heart is aching for the family who actually lost their kitty today – so very sad. May the little tiger race the meadows of eternity with his furry friends.

Everyday life of a Swiss… no longer in Texas.