Rocks and pines

Another of our recent excursions to the island of Ruissalo took us through an enchanted little forest…

…to a rocky shore. This is a perfect place to warm up your bones on a sunny afternoon.

When driving home, we spotted a fox running across a field with some kind of prey hanging from its mouth. On an earlier visit, we saw a deer crossing the road. Most appropriate as Ruissalo used to be the hunting island for Turku Castle.

Activity rise

One of my greatest wishes related to the removal is showing promising signs of coming true: I have started to turn into an active outdoor person. Perhaps active is a bit of an overstatement but I do feel more alive and fit now that we are much more on the go.

Recently, we have been checking the recreation areas and nature trails close by. The rather chilly weather has given us an extended spring favouring this kind of activity. These photos were taken already last week in and around the beach park on the Ruissalo island, Turku’s public treasure. I can’t help posting them because the ornate wooden villas were not hidden by foliage yet. The above one is Villa Promenade, the café by the sandy beach in the park.

A few lucky ones have their summer residence or cottage with a swimming hut and boat pier of their own in Ruissalo. When the area was built in the mid-19th century, the town officials were wise enough to devote a stretch of the seafront for a promenade from where we regular mortals can admire the listed wooden villas even today.

Clad trees

There is a two-week Knit ‘n’ tag event going on in our neighbourhood. On both side of the river between the two bridges closest to the Main Library, the trunks of the trees are wrapped in all kinds of knitted, crocheted, appliquéd and quilted creations.

The purpose of the yarn bombing event is not only to bring some delightful urban art to the area but also to promote handicraft in all its versatility. Hooray to such an event! I do hope the wonderful trend of crafting will continue to grow.

Each tree is clad by a different organisation, school, club, private group or person. I am not sure about the history of the event but I heard that a similar one took place here two years ago. This time the theme was strips, flowers and laces. Some of the works are utilising the shape of the trunk rather nicely. Some are making a statement while others are simply decorative.

I loved especially the bright, not-too-mixed ones. They made me want to reserve a tree for myself next time, perhaps next year. My daughter has recently gone bonkers about crocheting and could probably be persuaded to join such a project. Well, maybe next year is too soon but one of these years, definitely.

Three quarters

Hello there! I’ve been silent for quite some time, much longer than I expected. Moving away from the big country house was a true ordeal but we made it and have recovered. I always knew it is very easy for me to forget any kinds of hardships and the stressful removal was no exception. What I didn’t anticipate was how quickly we would feel totally at home in the new surroundings.

The country house was an ideal place to live as long as we drove to the office daily. Each night you felt like you were returning to the peace and quiet of your holiday home. But when we no longer had a job we started to grow increasingly reluctant to spend the three quarters of an hour to get to downtown Helsinki where all the action was. Now, it will take us three quarters of a minute to get from our apartment to the street level and we are in downtown Turku. That’s what I call progress!

And how about the town itself? Turku is the oldest town in Finland founded almost 800 years ago. It is the cradle of our civilisation and the site of many important historical events. Turku Cathedral, tho oldest church in our country believed to be inaugurated in 1300, is the seat of the Archbishop. Turku is a lovely and lively university town by the sea divided by the river Aura, a town big enough to satisfy your cultural appetite in plenty but small enough for you to explore most of the places on foot. We are loving it!

We moved here two months ago and we’ve already attended a concert in the Turku Castle – also dating from the 13th century – and another one in a brewery restaurant that used to be a school building, found a film club showing quality movies, gone to the theatre, visited several exhibitions, not to mention the many free concerts and other events we’ve either known about beforehand or happened to pass by. There are lots of interesting things going on here all the time.

The river flows just two blocks away from where we live. In the summer season, it is like a magnet drawing people to the many terrace and boat restaurants by the riverside or simply to have a seat or to enjoy a picnic on the riverbank. We couldn’t keep ourselves away from there even if we tried although many of our daily promenades take us to the walkways and paths a bit further away from the paved riverfront.

We’ve watched cherry trees blooming, tulips budding and nature slowly turning green. Proper summer with higher temperatures hasn’t reached us yet but we are getting there. We’ll be witnessing each moment from our new base only three quarters of a minute away from many of the things we’ve found ourselves longing for at this stage in life. There is all the time in the world to fine-tune the apartment later.