Kaikenlaista ... All sorts

Kevääseen kuuluu pienet kasvinalut, jotka työntyvät mullasta ylös.
The spring brings new small plants pushing up from the soil.



Kevääseen kuuluu sininen taivas ja pitkät valoisat illat.
The spring brings blue skies and long light evenings.



Kevääseen kuuluu ensimmäiset puiden siemenriipukkeet.
The spring brings the first seed strands on the trees.



Kevääseen kuuluu perhoset.
The spring brings the butterflies.



Kevääseen kuuluu myös vesisateet.
The spring also brings showers.



Kevääseen kuuluu puiden kukinnot.
The spring brings flowering trees.


Vaahtera / Maple


Kirsikka / Cherry

Kevääseen kuuluu myös ensimmäiset ukkoset.
The spring brings also the first thunder storms.



Ukkonen saattaa myös tuoda mukanaan rajun raekuuron.
Thunder can bring with it also a hefty hail storm.



Kevätkukat saavat kestää kaikenlaista.
Springflowers have to put up with all sorts.



Kevät tuo mukanaan paljon uutta ja ihmeellistä uteliaan koiran elämään.
Spring brings a lot of new and wonderus things to a curious dog's life.



Erilaiset äänetkin kiinnittävät valppaan koiran huomion.
Different sounds attract the attention of an alert dog.



Kevät tuo mukanaan kalamiesten jättämät, ah niin herkulliset, kalanperkuutkin.
Spring brings with it the, oh so delicious, fish heads and guts left by the fishing people.

Sunday Scenery - Icy isolation

To play along in this meme click on the below icon:













As you can see, while for some the first crocuses are already blooming, for others the winter still holds on to its grip. Still, I don't mind as long as there's light and the sun is shining. Neither does my dog Luca in the picture.

The pictures are from a seaside place called Kopparnas in southern Finland about 45 km west of Helsinki. I quite often like to go there.

Kiitos ... tack ... thankyou

Sunday Scenery - Winter scenes

A field and farm buildings in the distance


More fields and granite hills near the small town Siuntio in southern Finland


Lake Hynkalampi in northern Espoo (the town I live in just west of the capital Helsinki)


View of a rock cliff dropping into a shallow sea bay in Kopparnas


View out to sea and some islands in Kopparnas (southern Finland)

To visit wonderful scenery or show the world the beauty spots of your habitat go to the site below and take it from there:

Tarheel Rambler

Sunday Scenery - A new meme again

Through a blog called The Rocky Mountain Retreat held by Michele (a professional and exceptionally skillful nature photographer) I stumbled upon this latest meme. As it is held on a Sunday, which ordinarily is the day of leasure for me, I thought of participating.
Having said that the scenery around where I live cannot in any way or form compete with the grandiour of the Rockies and my photographic skill is still just in its childhood having got a proper camera only resently.
Still that is probably not the core issue of this meme but rather the participating and possibility to visit other beauty spots in the world, whether it be beautiful arcitecture or the joy of the surrounding nature, while sitting at home by the laptop.

Here we have a shot I took yesterday while visiting the Porkkala peninsula in southern Finland with my dogs and a good friend accompanied with her dog. It is taken from the mainland over the sea ice towards some islands. The finnish archipelago is littered with islands of all shapes and sizes and the coastline is ripe with shallow, reed covered bays. Often these islands have granite rock cliffs dropping into the sea and are forest covered in the middle.

In the foreground we have a tuft of heather from which the sun has melted the snow away even if the surrounding temperature still is slightly freezing (-3 centigrades). We are still very much having winter but the sun already starts to warm up the air.

This second shot is from the same place but directed over one of these bays towards another tongue of mainland stretching out into the sea.



This meme is hosted by Tarheel Ramblings

Lumikatsaus ... Snow watch

Helmikuun nimi lienee selvä kun katselee joitakin näistä kuvista. Helmiäisen hohtoa kun lumessa on aurinkoisella ilmalla.

The name of February in finnish translates to pearl month. Why it's called this probably has its roots in how the snow glissens like pearls when the sun comes out.

Äiti kipuamassa lumista rinnettä alas metsässä ... Mum navigating a snowy slope in the woods


Maalaistilan rakennuksia ... A typical finnish farm


Variksen tekemä lumitähti ... A snow star made by a crow


Olisiko supikoiran jäljet ... Possibly the footprints of a raccoon dog


Lumikivaa muksuille ... Fun for the little ones


Herra ja Rouva Lumi ... Mr and Mrs Snow


Kivaa koko perheelle ... Fun for the whole family


Sultingträsk Pirttimäellä ... On a lake in Pirttimaki


Porkkalan kitukasvuinen mänty ... A typically stunted pine at the coast


Metsän siimeksessä ... Forest view


Koiratkin tykkää (ja pysyvät puhtaana) ... The dogs enjoy it too (and stay clean)

Sky Watch Friday N:o 30 - Blessed with sunshine

I have been so busy with my study work lately that I have had no time to participate in any memes. Even today I can only post my entry and have to leave the splashing through other participants entries until tomorrow having just got the last urgent assignment e-mailed to my tutor.

As the header claims we have had some rather nice days even if today was as dull as before.

Here is a series of images taken during different times of day and I have been naughty and pointed the camera towards the sun too. Just could not resist it after such a long and grey period. The camera is still working fine though :)

Dawn


Midday


Early afternoon with long shadows


Slightly later out on the sea ice


Same time and frosted trees plus a new moon


Late afternoon and clouds on the sky


Dusk and clear again. Venus as a tiny prick in the sky is blinking to me as well (and to you).

Please do visit sky watch friday to see some spectacular skies around the world: