Hello again friends! Happy New Year!! And welcome to the new look of Vanha Talo Suomi!
Our website was worthy of, and in need of, a fresh new design to coincide with reaching the ten-year milestone of the garden & arboretum creation. The dust is almost settled on the new look. An observant eye may notice the odd bit out of place here or there as I work out the last kinks. Hopefully, those kinks are sorted promptly!!
It’s a most lovely view from the window this morning, as much of yesterday and overnight fresh snow arrived on the scene, nearly doubling the amount which had fallen from early January. A high-pressure weather system has dogged much of Finland and Scandinavia for the better of the last two weeks, plummeting temperatures to new record lows. The bitter cold was only tolerable due to the ample sunshine, which shone brightly every day here in southern Finland. Due to the system hovering for weeks, we received no rain/snow, and the 10-15cm we’d already received was getting pretty compacted and icy.
Finnish media source YLE has a great article filled with images of the cold weather and how people went about their activities and YES…enjoying the nearly -40c temperatures!! Even yours truly was out there enjoying the sunshine! I was officially introduced to a Finnish winter pastime called, potkukelkka /kick sled.
The use of the potkukelkka begins with standing behind the ‘chair’, hands on the grips, feet atop the two runners and then pushing the sled forward – one kick at a time with a studded winter boot, while the other foot stands atop the rail. Simple turning, braking is accomplished via your studded boots. Passengers can accompany you on your outdoor trek by sitting down for the journey. It’s a lot of fun and a great way to enjoy the winter daylight… although twilight treks are also possible. 🙂 Sledding to various parts of the shoreline along the way, where you can amble off your sled to one of several little campfire sites along the shore to cook up a sausage or enjoy sandwiches and a warm beverage. It IS an outing after all!!!
The city of Lohja maintains and clears snow from the frozen lake surface for the enjoyment of ice skating, skiing, and kick-sledding via a several kilometers long loop manicured for use upon a great expanse of the frozen lake surface. This year several local businesses sponsored individual potkukelkka which are parked at the downtown lakeshore edge, free for use by anyone. There are specially sized sleds for the kids, so they are out there as well having a grand ole time!
Each time I go out kick-sledding, there are lots of people, and even more so on the weekends when whole families are free for an outing. Thanks Lohja!! I love this ‘new’ pastime and will enjoy being out there as the season allows. Next: I need to sort myself out with some cross-country skis to truly get as much out of our Finnish winter season activities as can be achieved. 🙂
Photo source: Lohjan Liikuntakeskus/facebook
Thankfully, the polar cold shifted away when the high-pressure system finally dissipated. The grip of that biting cold was replaced with several centimeters of freshly fallen snow. I’m sure the city has already cleared new paths and loops on the lake and everything is running as smoothly as ever. It’s great living in a place that embraces the seasons and makes the most of what it has to offer.
There’s not much happening yet on the gardening side of things here. I have indulged quite heavily on new plant stock to fill every nook and cranny with flowers and plants to ensure a lush and lovely experience as we open the gates for the Finnish National Garden Day event (Avoimet Puutarha) taking place in July. We haven’t been among the participating gardens for several years, so this year is a special occasion as we also celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the garden & arboretum concept coming into reality.
I will be busy in March getting seedlings started and tubers and rhizomes planted to begin their journey for the coming gardening season. I’m pulling out all the stops to make sure my bases are covered, as I expect the frigid temperatures we just endured will have had a detrimental effect upon a few borderline items which just couldn’t cope with the punishing cold weather. The cold temperatures were sustained for nearly two weeks, which is asking a lot for plant specimens that are not bred for such conditions. While I have shied away from catering to tender plants, just for this reason, it’s to be expected there will be some losses, as this is just the case nearly every year. We’ll see how it goes, but either way, I’m prepared and ready!
Cannot do much more than that, although I’ve been dreaming and planning how everything will come together to kick off the gardening season and get everything in tip-top form to welcome guests and visitors during the summer months.
Hiiden-Opisto courses have elided into the final phase of the 2025-2026 season as well. One of the highlights has been the rivitanssit (line dancing) class and another course by the same instructor called lavis (low impact choreography/dance) ….so much fun and great music. I will leave off with one of the songs from the course … enjoy! Knallihattujenkka on Youtube
Until next time! <3
p.s. Thanks Bad Bunny! That was one helluva great nfl super bowl half-time show!!! Maybe the greatest ever!!!
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