Happy New Year!

Yesterday I took a walk in the Esplanade Park after work. It wasn't completely dark yet and these photos turned out pretty good. 

I had planned on going shopping, but there were too many people everywhere.

I got a birthday gift for my hubby, but after that I had had enough.

Later we went out for dinner to a small Italian restaurant.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with excellent food and good wine.

The dessert was awesome and we enjoyed a glass of sambuca with our espressos.

Tomorrow we're driving to Porvoo to celebrate New Year with my parents and our girls.

I WISH YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!

Ronja's scarf is ready!

I finished knitting Ronja's scarf today! She hasn't seen the finished scarf yet. (This photo is a little dark because I took it without flash, hopefully I'll get a better one later.) The girls are in Porvoo with my parents. I can't believe how quiet it is at home! 

This is my absolute favorite ornament: the Porvoo Cathedral. The snowmen are ceramic. Mirja has painted the lilac and white striped flower pot.

  

I love candles! This arrangement includes two porcelain nightlights from Wendy Jung.

This is what she says about them: Hand pierced nightlights inspired by sea forms. Made from off white matt porcelain. They give out a soft magical glow and cast tiny dancing lights when placed near walls. Each nightlight consists of a hand pierced dome which sits over a separate dish which the tea light sits on.

Merry Christmas!

Today we went to visit my parents in Porvoo.

It was a gorgeous sunny cold day. The temperature dropped to -22C today!

The Porvoo Cathedral and the Old Town.

The main entrance to the Cathedral.

The bell tower

 I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

The shortest day

The shortest day of the year and the last school day before the Christmas break. It's tradition for the schools here to go to church. Today I had the opportunity to go with Karamalmens skola to the Espoo Cathedral.

The church has been closed due to renovations and this was the first time I've visited after the reopening. Both my girls have been baptized here.

It was a beautiful service. The priest was great with the kids. The service was adapted for the kids and most of them behaved nicely - even if the priest had to tell some of the boys to be quiet and sit still...

The murals in the older parts of the church were painted in the 1510s. They show biblical scenes as well as daily life. At some point the old murals were covered because they were considered too crude and superstitious. During renovations in the 1930s they were uncovered again.

The altar 

The memorial for those who died in the war for their fatherland.

Lucia celebration

Part of Karamalmens skola 5A & 5B

Ronja (in the middle with light blue shoes)

Lucia or St. Lucy's Day is celebrated on December 13th, she is believed to have been a Sicilian saint, one of the few saints celebrated in Finland.

Lucia is a  tradition mainly among the Swedish speaking population in Finland. The Lucia of Finland is crowned in the Helsinki Cathedral, but almost every town with Swedish speaking population has its own Lucia.

Lucia is also celebrated in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Estonia and some other countries.

The traditional Santa Lucia is sung while entering. Sometimes the Lucia legend is read. After that some Christmas carols are sung. Usually Santa Lucia is sung again while going out.

They were great! They have several performances next week. The main event is the Christmas celebration at their school on Wednesday.