Weekend in Black & White

The Church of Mietoinen from the 17th century

Photos in color here.

Weekend in Black & White

Mietoisten kirkko

Myös mieheni on evakkosukua. Evakkoja oli yli 400.000, noin 11 % koko väestöstä. Heidän asuttamisensa oli valtava projekti. Mieheni äidin suku ohjattiin sodan jälkeen Kuolemajärveltä Mietoisiin Turun lähelle. Siellä elää edelleen runsaslukuinen mieheni äidinpuoleisten sukulaisten joukko. Viime lauantaina kävimme Impin hautajaisissa. Hän eli pitkän elämän, 95-vuotiaaksi saakka. 

My husband belongs also to a Carelian family whose homes were left to Russia after the war. There were over 400.000 Carelians who had to leave their homes, approximately 11 % of the population. For all these people had to be found a new place to live, a huge project. My husband's mother's family moved from Kuolemajärvi to Mietoinen, near Turku. There still is a large number of my husband's maternal relatives. Last Saturday we attended to Impi's funeral. She lived a long life, up to 95 years of age.

Mietoisten kirkko on kaunis harmaakivikirkko 1600-luvulta. Sisustusta uudistettiin vuonna 1911 arkkitehti Ilmari Launiksen suunnitelmien mukaan. Sisustusta on tosin muutettu jälleen vuonna 1968 jolloin kirkon väritys tummeni: penkit, virsitaulut ja katto maalattiin tummiksi. Alttariseinä ja sen lasimaalaukset on säästetty Launiksen suunnittelemassa asussa.

The Church of Mietoinen is a beautiful gray-stone church from the 17th century. The current modernized jugend interior dates back to 1911 and is designed by architect Ilmari Launis. The interior was renovated again in 1968, when the church's coloring was darkened. The altar wall and its stained-glass windows have been saved in the design designed by Launis.

Mietoisten kirkon vanhinta esineistöä ovat keskiaikanen koivupuinen krusifiksi noin 1500-luvulta ja hiekkakivinen 1200-luvulta tehty kasteallas. Kirkon valkoinen, lahjoituksena saatu könninkello on 1800-luvun puolivälistä. 

The oldest artefacts of the church are a medieval wooden crucifix from around the 16th century and a sandstone baptistery basin from the 13th century. The church's white grandfather clock is from the middle of the 19th century. 

Karjalaan jääneiden muistomerkki. To the memory of those who were left to Carelia.

Mosaic Monday

Wednesday around the World

Kirkko ympäristöineen huokui ikiaikaista rauhaa. 

Toivottavasti se välittyi sinullekin kuvieni kautta.

The church and its surroundings were peaceful and beautiful. 

I hope my photos could transmit this peace to you too.

Sjundby Manor

Sjundby manor castle completed in the 1560s 

at rapids of Siuntio River, is one of the finest stone buildings in Finland

Sjundby Manor is situated in Siuntio / Sjundby. It is a bilingual community, therefore the community has name in both official languages. We had my granddaughter Helmi's high school graduation party a week ago very near. I knew that Helene Schjerfbek had spent many childhood summers at Sjundby Manor and also painted it. The Manor has long history, a bit more of it:

The grey granite manor in Sjundby has kept watch over the gently rolling landscape with its rapid on the river between Tjusträsk and Vikträsk for almost 450 years. But Sjundby Manor is mentioned for the first time already in 1417, at that point as a manor farm. It was the admiral and field colonel Jakob Henriksson Hästesko who built the manor which later was passed to the Tott family for four generations.

Kohta jo lähes 450 vuotta on Sjundbyn harmaakivinen linna vartioinut kumpuilevaa maastoa koskineen Tjusträskin ja Vikträskin välisellä joen osuudella. Sjundby mainitaan ensimmäisen kerran jo vuonna 1417, jolloin se oli säteritila. Amiraali ja kenttäeversti Jakob Henriksson Hästesko rakennutti linnan, joka myöhemmin siirtyi Tott-suvun omistukseen neljän sukupolven ajaksi. 

From 1698 onwards Sjundby has been the family estate within the Adlercreutz family, from the 20th century onwards in the matriarchal line. One of the most renowned persons to visit the manor in the 20th century was the artist Helene Schjerfbeck who was inspired by the manor and its surroundings in many of her works.

Helene Schjerfbeck: Sjundby manor 1901

When The Soviet Union took over the Porkkala area in 1944, the manor was situated on the wrong side of the border and was badly damaged during the years to come. The manor with its twometre-thick walls and deep vault cellars has undergone pious restoration after Finland got the area back in 1956. There are still texts in Russian on the gable wall of the old dairy which remind of the era of the Soviet Naval base. The manor is still today a private home and tourist groups are accepted to a limited extent, I could see the manor only outside.

The rapid was very vivid, on the other side of the bridge the view was still & idyllic.

Right beside The Manor there were huge old oaks.

Mosaic Monday

I wish you enjoyed a peek into our history.

EasyTerra - How convenient!

Barcelona ja Sevilla ovat Espanjan kaupungeista suosikkejani,
mutta oma matkabudjettini on nyt pyöreä nolla, koska rahat kuluivat hammaslääkäriin,
uusiin silmälaseihin, uuteen pesukoneeseen ja pölynimuriin ja ties mihin muuhun...
Minä jatkan säästämistä ja unelmoimista!

Mutta teille onnellisille jotka pääsette matkaan, esittelen
tämän kätevän autovuokraamojen hintavertailua helpottavan sivuston:

EasyTerra Autovuokraamo 

'on riippumaton yritys, jonka järjestelmä vertailee tunnettujen autovuokraamojen hintoja. Järjestelmämme ansiosta voit varmasti löytää itsellesi edullisen vuokra-auton noin 125 eri maasta. EasyTerra tekee yhteistyötä esimerkiksi Hertzin, Europcarin, Avisin, Budgetin ja Alamon kanssa, mutta myös pienempien yritysten kanssa.'

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Barcelona and Seville are my favourite Spanish cities.
But my travel budget is zero because the money was spent on dentist, new eye glasses,
vacuum cleaner, washing machine and heaven knows on what else.
I shall keep on saving and dreaming!

But to you more lucky ones I want to present this handy site
that helps compare car rental prices:

EasyTerra Car Rental 

'is an independent company dedicated to online car rental price comparison. On our website you can compare the rates of several suppliers in about 125 countries which saves a lot of time.
EasyTerra cooperates with major suppliers such as Hertz, Europcar, Avis, Budget and Alamo.
On a local level we also included a few very competitive smaller companies in our price comparison.'

Giralda, Seville

Kurkkaa sivustolle EasyTerra 

ja etsi sinun lomallesi paras hinta!

Look at the site Easy Terra and find the best price for your holiday!

Blogiyhteistyö - Blog cooperation.

Kaikki kuvat julkaistu eri CC-lisensseillä.
Photos licensed by Creative Commons or public domain.

Joy & Fun linkup 27

Breaking the rules is fun, isn't it!
So Flower Wednesday invites you again to JOY & FUN!

Feel free to share whatever brings you joy & fun these dark winter days!
No need to be florals.

A few words about the Finnish expression PIKKUJOULU. Literally it means Little Christmas... meaning pre-Christmas parties / fiestas / celebrations that are celebrated everywhere - with friends and family at homes and with coworkers at restaurants - drinking a lot, I mean a lot!!!! We have a saying Joulu juhlista jaloin, pikkujouluista kontaten. There is a play of words, being hard to translate, but the meaning is:

Christmas is the noblest of all fiestas.

🍷🍷🍷 Pre-Christmas fiestas make you return home on all fours! 🍷🍷🍷
A tiny explanation:
jalo = noble, jaloin = most noble
jalka = feet, jaloin = with feet
I have asked for help with translation- when I get it, I'll add it here :))

One popular drink at pre-Christmas time is GLÖGI - GLÖGG
- a bit like German Glühwein with or without alcohol.

GLÖGI is a hot drink known all around Scandinavia. Today it's mostly associated to this dark time preceding Christmas - Joulu. The spices - cinnamon, ginger - used in it sound rather exotic since the present form originates from the homes of Swedish-speaking upper class that the rest of Finland of course started to copycat as soon as they could afford it. 

Glögi is often confused with mulled wines, especially German Glühwein, but glögi is made of black currant or other juice. It is served hot with raisins and almonds.

Tule mukaan - Come along!

Previous linkup 26

Linkup 1 & the rules.

❤︎ Happy pre-Christmas time ❤︎

An InLinkz Link-up

The Swan of Tuonela

Cygnus cygnus - Laulujoutsen - Whooper Swan

Ensi viikolla Suomi täyttää 99 vuotta!

Finland celebrates the 99th Independence Day - on December the 6th!

Tiesitkö, että laulujoutsen Cygnus cygnus on Suomen kansallislintu? Kalevalassa puhutaan Tuonen joutsenesta ja toki tunnemme Sibeliuksen sävellyksen Tuonelan joutsen. Toinen joutsenemme on kyhmyjoutsen Cygnus olor. Lajit erottaa toisistaan nokasta: laulujoutsenen nokka on keltainen ilman kyhmyä.

Did you know that Cygnus cygnus - the whooper swan is Finland's national bird? It is mentioned in Kalevala, our national epic. We have in Finland also Cygnus olor - the  mute swan. The name 'mute' derives from it being less vocal than other swan species.

The Swan of Tuonela - Tuonelan joutsen

is an 1895 tone poem by Jean Sibelius. It is part of the Lemminkäinen suite (Four Legends from the Kalevala), Op. 22, based on the Kalevala epic of Finnish mythology.

Cygnus olor - Kyhmyjoutsen - Mute Swan

The Finlandia Hymn - Finlandia

refers to a serene hymn-like section of the patriotic symphony poem of Finlandia composed by Jean Sibelius. With words written in 1941 by V.A. Koskenniemi the Finlandia Hymn is one of the most important national songs of Finland - though Maamme is the de facto our national anthem.

Oi Suomi, katso, Sinun päiväs koittaa,

yön uhka karkoitettu on jo pois,

ja aamun kiuru kirkkaudessa soittaa

kuin itse taivahan kansi sois.

Yön vallat aamun valkeus jo voittaa, 

sun päiväs koittaa, oi synnyinmaa. 

Oi nouse, Suomi, nosta korkealle 

pääs seppelöimä suurten muistojen, 

oi nouse, Suomi, näytit maailmalle 

sä että karkoitit orjuuden 

ja ettet taipunut sä sorron alle, 

on aamus alkanut, synnyinmaa.

Finland, behold, thy daylight now is dawning,

the threat of night has now been driven away.

The skylark calls across the light of morning,

the blue of heaven lets it have its way,

and now the day the powers of night is scorning:

thy daylight dawns, O Finland of ours!

Finland, arise, and raise towards the highest 

thy head now crowned with mighty memory. 

Finland, arise, for to the world thou criest 

that thou hast thrown off thy slavery, 

beneath oppression's yoke thou never liest. 

Thy morning's come, O Finland of ours!

Translation by Keith Bosley

Cygnus olor / Kyhmyjoutsen 

The swan photos are not mine. Thanks to my two Facebook friends 
for letting me use their swan photos!

Flowers in blue and white - our patriotic colors

Mosaic Monday

Enjoy the music of Sibelius!