Hob nob ...

Regular readers may remember the incident with my suitcase and the cooker in my apartment. Entirely unrelated to this, my oven gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago, just before I was due to host a Sunday brunch for some friends here. Fortunately, cooking a full English did not require more than the grill and stove so we managed, but the following week, thanks to my landlady and the nice folk at Nordea who manage her affairs, a new oven and stove were installed. The repairer insisted that the previous ones were beyond economic repair and they have been taken away to one of the local museums.

The new items arrived with manuals in all four Nordic languages, but not English. I am now in discussion with their help desk to see what can be done, but the particular models are only made for this market. The hob is easy enough, despite having no knobs or buttons, you just have to touch it in at least three places to turn it on. This should ensure that it is Mark-proof.

However, the cooker seems rather more complex. I have managed to work out how to use the grill but the oven has more combinations than my bicycle lock. I may have to take the book into the office and beg help from a colleague. The real novelty, though, is being able to see through the glass door to the inside. The old oven allegedly had a glass door too, but years of cooking had given it the same level of transparency as the rear screen of my car after weeks of driving through the Helsinki slush.

So now I look forward to cooking a Sunday roast and trying the cooker out in anger. Any takers?

Splitting hares ...

Today was another beautiful sunny day, so I took the chance for a walk with friends around Lauttasaari. It means"ferry island", as until the 1950s, the only way to reach the island was by boat. But then came the bridges and now I drive over the island every morning on my way to work.

About half way round, we spotted this fellow, not quite the mad March Hare, but he was a little odd. As I walked towards him, he ran away, though I managed to catch this photo as I was walking back to my chums and they shouted "he's behind you" (in panto fashion) as the hare was doing his best to chase me! Compared to similar creatures in the UK, he was a lot larger, more the size of a small dog than a large rabbit and it was fun to watch, just for a while. It also reminded me of the book my team gave me last year, The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna, a well respected Finnish novelist. I can now understand why the hero Vatanen was so taken by the eponymous animal.

We also saw some great sights during our three hour amble, here is one of my favourites, combining rocks, snow and frozen sea. For more, see my Ovi Share Finland channel.

The gloves are off ...

It is finally feeling like spring in Helsinki! The temperature today was +4°C, which feels positively mild. Of course, it is around the same temperature as the inside of a fridge, but after the winter we've had here, together with a sunny sky, the grey of this city in winter seemed a little less drab.

I walked to Hakaniemi for a trim at Nadem's, my Tunisian barber, and felt brave enough to leave my gloves in my bag. Not at home, but at least I didn't put them on. And despite a very short haircut, I didn't feel the need for a hat either. The picture shows the view from the bridge en route; yes, you can see footprints. The sea froze during the winter, then snow settled on top of it and the Finns, displaying extraordinary sisu, like to take their constitutional walking on the water. Most Brits are brought up to believe that walking on frozen rivers and lakes is dangerous enough; doing so on the sea sounds even worse.

After picking up some groceries, I then walked into the city centre for some other bits and pieces I didn't know I needed until I saw them, then headed to Café Engel for a coffee and Lingonberry pie. Now I am procrastinating, trying to delay starting my Finnish tax paperwork and then the ironing.

Reversal of fortunes ...

Tonight was the third pub quiz I have attended in Helsinki, organised at Molly Malone's by IESAF, the International English Speaking Association of Finland. On our first outing in February, we came a creditable fourth out of fourteen teams. Last week, my team came last, though at least that meant we won our €10 entry fee back, though that was little compensation. Both of these evenings were the regular "first Wednesday of the month" quiz.

This evening, IESAF organised a special event for St. Patrick's Day, Molly's being an ideal venue. Of course, St. Pat's isn't until tomorrow, but the pub has a party on then, so our team joined a couple of dozen others (or so it felt) for a quiz based on a broad Irish theme. And we won! As well as winning Molly Money for highest or joint highest scores on three rounds, our winner's prizes were four return flights with Aer Lingus to Dublin, plus vouchers to spend at (non-Irish retailer) Ikea. Not bad for a Monday evening.

It seems the prize may cost me a little though, as I shall now need to work out when Stephanie can join me for a long weekend in Dub, sometime between now and the end of June. The year is beginning to look busy!

Two Left feet ...

My new shoes arrived today. I happened to be at home when the Posti man called and delivered them into my hands.

It has been a month since I was measured for them, so I was keen to see how they looked and, more importantly, fitted.

You can see more pictures in my album on Ovi Share, but in short they arrived in the box, plastic wrapped for shipping. Each shoe was in a soft cloth bag with the two wrapped in tissue paper; it was like opening a birthday present I had sent to myself!

They look rather smart and the right shoe is personalised with my name and customer number, ready to order more direct from their website. The left lace is customised with a badge bearing the Left logo, just in case I was not clear which foot it was for!

And so to try them on. They fit well, quite a different feeling than buying ready made shoes which fit where they touch. I have had them on all afternoon in the apartment and am fairly certain I am going to like them. One of my colleagues has warned me that they are an addictive experience!