Goin' on a jaunty stroll

After a glorious sleep-in (till 5:30am!) and work that finished before midday, the choices for amusement were either a) eat cookie dough to the point of nausea, or b) go on a walk and bask in the beauty of nature. The second option won by a narrow margin, but only because I'd eaten all of my cookie dough the day previous.

SQUIRREL

I have about twenty, stupidly blurry shots of this bee. This is both the least stupid and the least blurry.

And then! Wild strawberries were discovered, and et, even though optimally they would ripen just a little longer. But fuck that, free strawberries.

TINY STRAWBERRIES

Clearly, my caucus of strawberries is the smaller and less discerningly picked one. HOW COULD YOU TELL.

Look at them, all threaded onto grass like real Finnish children do.

Please note the characteristic fauna of Finland, the ubiquitous Angry Bird.

Then, WWII artillery, as you do.

To round the whole thing off: pheasant! They seem to wander about fairly freely. They remind me of the pheasant couple from The Animals of Farthing Wood, and I'm sort of glad it's been so long since I've seen the series that I can't recall their inevitable and gruesome deaths. BUT ANWAY. Here's a pheasant!

PHEASANT

Rose tea

Midsummer's Eve

This is at 1am, perhaps? And it never got much darker at all.

Summer business

So I have been crazy-busy with new work and Finniss classes and have spent far less time on the internet than previously. On the plus side, though, having an income means no destitution for me! The sun is up for something like 18 hours a day (and it's light for much longer) so it's hard to be anything but carefree, despite having 16 hours some days committed to productive pursuits. Also, it's stone fruit season. (Is there a problem that doesn't solve? Didn't think so. YOU'RE WELCOME.)

Cake!

Clearly, the thing to do after a nine-hour baking day at work is to come home and bake more. Fairly self-evident I am in the right line of work (at least in terms of enthusiasm).

The Rizza

So, for work I have to undertake a gruelling and treacherous journey northwards (it's a 45 minute train trip that, apparently, qualifies as 'long distance' and thus a price that made me feel faint the first time I heard it). Despite (or perhaps, because of) the Cringila-esque flavour of most of its built areas, I actually quite enjoy the place. My favourite spot is a place just behind the train lines right near work. I went walking around the forest near there to take the pictures and spent equal parts of my time rejoicing in the ability to step into scrub without fearing being bitten by anything reptilian, and being terrified that each breeze rustling in the trees signalled imminent badgers (BADGERS).

 

There are an unfortunate number of spiders here. I, for one, am displease.

TINY PINECONES OH MY GOD LOOKIT

These'll done give you allergies like no one's business. Also, they somehow managed to get into all of my shoes.

Stay classy, B-flizzle.