31 tammikuuta 2018

January in Collage


In January I photographed mainly tulips & snow - of which
we have had plenty of. The days have been pretty grey...
Let's hope the sun reappears now that February is starting.

The life has run its smooth course. The most striking happening was maybe
There he / she was again yesterday, but too far for me to photograph.
I'll publish anyway this bad photo taken through a dirty window as an evidence :)


- this is as green as it can get here in January!

Wishing you a good start to February!

30 tammikuuta 2018

Floral Bliss #57



Today I'll share some energising oranges & yellows & reds
- vitamins for body and soul!











THE LINK IS OPEN 
FROM TUESDAY 4 PM TILL THE NEXT MONDAY 4 PM
Helsinki time
Please join & share your photos with us!



Wishing you all an energetic winter week! - Kaunista ja energistä talvista viikkoa!

28 tammikuuta 2018

Talven värit - Winter Colors



I was not happy with the first one, so here is another :)




We have today presidential election in Finland.
Probably the present president Sauli Niinistö gets elected. We'll see.

Mit den Worten des anderen

As you know I am a manic reader and have told you before that I listened (by a mistake) a program of Goethe Institute at the Helsinki book fair. The aim of the institute is to promote the German language in Finland. There were Kathrin Schmidt and Ulrike Draesner reading their texts. Later on I read in Finnish Du stirbst nicht  by Schmidt. I did not like too much of the novel, although it is based on tough personal experience. From my library I found this poetry anthology With Words of the Other - Mit den Worten des anderen:

The German poets: Ulrike Draesner (b. 1962), Elke Erb (b. 1938), Kathrin Schmidt (b.1958) and Jan Wagner (b. 1971) 
The Finnish poets: Olli Heikkonen (b. 1965), Jukka Koskelainen (b. 1961), Timo Lappalainen (b. 1959) and Merja Virolainen (b.1962) 
Published in cooperation with The Goethe Institute



I make it short: the poems were very different from each other, so pretty hard reading. My German allows me to read fluently but to write is impossible. Of the German poets I liked best the youngest one, Jan Wagner. The most interesting thing was to see the poems in both languages and to compare the translations! Really fascinating. I'm no writer and no expert in German but I could not help trying to translate one poem of Wagner:

DAS LEXIKON DES ABERGLAUBENS
du mußt das rotschwänzchen vom dach verjagen.
stattdessen sitzt du mit dem kalten blick
des  fensters im rücken und hältst dich fest an jenem
dünnen haselnußzweig.

der himmel, ganz mit schwarzem tuch verhangen.
dahinter rollt man die fässer mit schwerem wein.
das langgezogene stöhnen der bäume, als schwanke
ein schafott in ihnen.

und du mit dem rücken zum fenster... vor der scheibe
klappt der blitz die weiße klinge aus
mit flinker hand. das rotschwänzchen, du hättest
es verjagen sollen.
- Jan Wagner

DICTIONARY OF SUPERSTITION
you have to shoo the redstart away from the roof.
instead you sit there, the cold gaze of the window 
behind your back and stick to that thin hazel twig.

the sky is totally draped with a black cloth.
behind it rolling barrels of painful wine.
groaning trees, as if a scaffold swinging on their branches.

and you there with back against the window... 
in front of the frame a quick snap of a pocketknife's 
white blade. the redstart, you ought to have 
shooed it off.
- translated by riitta k

TAIKAUSKON SANAKIRJA
sinun täytyy hätistää leppälintu katolta.
sen sijaan istut siinä takanasi ikkunan kylmä katse
ja pidät kiinni tuosta ohuesta pähkinäpuun oksasta.

musta kangas on ripustettu koko taivaan ylle.
sen takana vieritetään tynnyreissä raskasta viiniä.
puut ovat voihkineet kauan, kuin oksillaan keinuisi mestauslava.

ja sinä selkä ikkunaan päin... ruudun edessä
välähtää nopeasti esiin taskuveitsen 
valkea terä. leppälintu, sinun olisi pitänyt
häätää se.
- riitta k

It was really interesting to see how the modern German poets did not stick to the German grammar but started substantives with lower case letters, instead of capitals.

At the Helsinki book fair I attended also a programmme called Translation Slam. There were these brilliant translators Kersti Juva and Juhani Lindholm. They translated the same text, hosted by a third translator and poet, Kasper Salonen.
These three were  all so accurate in their translations and did express the original text in a different way. I just admired - Good discussion followed!

I don't expect you to find or read this anthology, but maybe my post interests my German blog friends. There exist all kind of cooperation between the countries of the world!

27 tammikuuta 2018

Observing the Nature



This post is a modified revisit to November 9th 2016.

From my kitchen window I can see a pergola where my husband feeds the birds.
A couple of days ago there he was,  sitting on the pergola - a northern goshawk!
This  time he had no catch and was a bit smaller than last time.


Last time (October 2016) I got really frightened for the goshawk bumped straight
to my kitchen window grabbed with  a wood pigeon - dead of course. 
Looking from the window I saw the hawk sitting a bit stunned because of the impact.
After a few minutes it flew away with its catch.


I live a half an hour from the centre of Helsinki, so this is no wilderness.
But beside my house there is a small woods, very dense with old spruces etc.
I think the hawk lives there and keeps an eye on the small birds.

My garden is absolutely lifeless, like after a nuclear catastrophe. 
All hundreds of sparrows, great tits and black birds are hiding. No bird at sight.
It feels quite awkward & odd. I wonder how many days it takes until they return?

I don't know if this is any Gartenglück, but I'll link
to Loretta's and Wolfgang's nice meme.


The photos are not mine, but my friend's - Thank you Harri!
Wishing you all a nice weekend.


26 tammikuuta 2018

Summer memories


Outside it is white & covered with snow.
So some pink & green memories of summer.








Happy weekend!


24 tammikuuta 2018

Is it possible to get buried in the snow?


Happy Wednesday my dear readers! I hope you have more pleasant weather than us 
here in the southern Finland. I'm really serious with my question 
and am afraid that I get buried in the snow!

Voiko lumeen hukkua tai hautautua, epäilen vahvasti että voi!


Yesterday...
Today!
Yesterday there was no snowing and a pale winter sun & blue sky - so delightful.
I had the intention of going today to the river to take some beautiful winter photos
- but no way! It keeps pouring snow like from the hell.
Quite impossible to take any photos today - so I show you some from yesterday.

Tarkoitus oli mennä ihanalle talviselle kuvausretkelle, mutta eipä tullut mitään!





Winter Wonderland - wonderful? - Maybe not!
Aikuisten oikeesti tää lumentulo jo riittäisi!
Image-in-ing

Stay cosy and keep warm! Good humour helps they say!

23 tammikuuta 2018

Floral Bliss #56


Hello my dear friends! Outdoors there is no floral bliss to be seen,
so I had to content with tulips again.
I bought white tulips in accordance with the snowy scenery..
But the tulips did not open beautifully. That is why I had to open
manually some petals and look at the beauty of a single white tulip.
I hope you enjoy the sight too.









Outside the scenery is pure white - and cold! -12 C



THE LINK IS OPEN 
FROM TUESDAY 4 PM TILL THE NEXT MONDAY 4 PM
Helsinki time
Please join & share your photos with us!



Wishing you all a lovely winter week! - Kaunista talvista viikkoa toivottelen!

22 tammikuuta 2018

Maskotti - Mascot


Tämän viikon Makrotex-haasteen aiheena on maskotti.
Minulla ei ole yhtään, niinpä kuvasin kahta Sissin nallukkaa.
Lelujahan ne ovat, mutta ehkä käyvät haasteeseen.
Laitoin ne köllöttelemään ja ihailemaan tulppaaneita!

This week's Makrotex Challenge is mascot. I don't have any,
so I borrowed two teddybears of my cat Sissi. 
There they were lying & admiring my tulips :)






Minä & nallukat huikkaamme sinulle mukavaa viikkoa!
 - Teddybears, Sissi & I wish you a fun week!