Latest published articles

Posted on ALL our major blogs - my Jacob's Blog, the Oulu CHAFF Blog, the Mumbai Cathedralites Seventh Heaven Blog and the Delhi Stephanians Kooler Talk Blog.

Annikki was Chairperson of The English Club of Oulu almost 2 decades ago. We were also the first Life members of the Club. The Finn-Brits Magazine is the publication of The Federation of Finnish-British Societies under which English Clubs function all around Finland to promote the English Language and the cultures associated with English speakers.

Cover of Autumn 2007 edition.

The magazine decided to do a special feature about Oulu in the Autumn 2007 edition and they asked us for a couple of articles.

The first was an article about the Chamber of Assistance for Finns and Foreigners which was founded by Jacob and a few friends a couple of years ago. The article was authored by the present CHAFF Monitor, Ildikó Hámos-Sohlo, along with Jacob.

The second, a highly controversial one was authored by Annikki and Jacob about the lack of Free Speech in Oulu.

Hope you enjoy them!

Autumn sales

Posted on the Oulu Best Buy Blog and also on Jacob's Blog.

This weekend has lots of great offers as the autumn sale season has started. And this is not just on clothes.

Stockman, the big department store in Oulu, has 30% discount on many items. PRISMA, which has many outlets in Oulu has a 15% discount on many non-food items.

These are some other great offers for this weekend:

K - Supermarket:
Carrots, Beetroot, € 0.99 for 2 kg
Onions € 0.99 for kg
Leaf Salad € 0.69 for a bunch

K - Citymarket:
Clementine, Honey Melon. Green Paprika € 0.99 per kg
Arctic Salad € 0.79 for a bunch
Whole Rainbow Trout Fish € 3.99 per kg (these fish are usually 4 to 6 kg)

Euromareket:
Polish Apples € 0.99 per kg
Tyrnävä Potatoes € 2.99 for 10 kg
First Price Jam € 0.99 for a 900 g, container

Säästö-kouppa in Haukipudas (about 20 km north of Oulu):
16 rolls of Serla Toilet paper and 8 Rolls of Household Paper Rolls € 7.90 (and you also get a free Hand Tissue box of value € 1.00 when you buy this)
Brazilian watermelon € 0.99 per kg

PRISMA:
Bananas € 0.99 per kg

Tokmanni:
Sea salmon € 3.98 per kg (these fish are between 4 and 6 kg)

Dawn of a new winter

We are now half way through October, but yesterday we saw the footsteps of winter fast approaching.





The ponds are freezing over during the night.



The bridge has frost all over it.

A gardener's work in such circumstances is never over. Annikki has slowly but surely been getting ready for winter, moving plants to their ideal locations and putting the summer stuff away while slowly bringing out all the stuff required for winter.

On Tuesday, she was going into a state of panic as temperatures below zero were being forecast. She was worried about our 14 goldfish in the outside pond.

On Wednesday, she made a concerted effort to catch the fish to bring them in to the indoor aquariums. She netted 12 out of the 13, the last one diving deep into the water to avoid capture.

The next morning the pond was frozen over. She had to break the ice, and a relieved goldfish was happy to be netted and taken in to the comfort of the warm water in the aquarium!

A lot more work to be done to ensure we are safe and secure through winter while continuing to enjoy the creations Annikki makes during the course of winter to warm our cockles!

Autumn evening sky

Yesterday evening, Annikki wanted to collect some stones for thegarden from nallikari beach, so in the late evening, after collecting a pizza, we drove down to the sea front.

As she collected the stones, I had a snooze, after taking a few pictures of the autumn evening sky.







The yellow and gold colours are spreading while the leaves fall.The western and northern skies are still bright and beautiful.

Soon, all the leaves will be gone and darkness will descend and envelope us, as we wait for snow on the ground to brighten the scenery!