#north ostrobothnia

[mothmiso]

Finlande (2) (3) (4) by Samuel Raison

Via Flickr:

(1) Kokkojärvi (2) Kokkoperä (3) Linaigrettes dans la tourbière. / Cotton grass in the bog.     

[unteriors]

Jahtikatu, Raahe, North Ostrobothnia, Finland.

[varpusvaras]

Me looking longingly out of the window at the beautiful snow: Oh my dearest darling....our time together is nearing it's end...but for a moment longer, I shall pretend it is not so....*ignores the +9 degrees on the weather app for Monday*

[flagwars]

Congratulations to Pyhäjoki for winning the Finland City Flag Wars!

It seems that my followers can’t get enough of the goose on Pyhäjoki, North Ostrobothnia’s flag! It defeated Raseborg with 55.6 percent of the vote. If your favorite Finnish city didn’t make it into the competition, they might get a chance with the Finland City Heraldry Wars, a tournament I will eventually hold. I will announce my next tournament soon, but I will be taking a bit of a break from tournaments before then and continue holding bonus polls in the meantime. Let me know if you think Pyhäjoki deserved the win and what flag or heraldry tournaments you would like to see in the future!

[inariedwards]

Museum news from Finland:

Museum of Northern Ostrobothnia donates its Sámi collection to the Sámi Museum Siida

The Sámi Museum Siida is the national museum with the responsibility for preserving the material and cultural heritage of Finland's Sámi people. The Sámi objects in the Museum of Northern Ostrobothnia's collections were mainly acquired between 1900 and the 1960s with the last ones added to the collections in the 1980s.

The first part of the donation, which includes the textile items of the collection, will be transferred to representatives of the Sámi museum in the collection facilities of the Museum of North Ostrobothnia on Tuesday, 16 January 2024.

– As the new collection and exhibition facilities of the Sámi Museum Siida are now completed, this seemed like a good time to donate the objects of Sámi origin back to the Sámi community, says Pasi Kovalainen, Director of Cultural heritage work at the Museum of Northern Ostrobothnia.

– The Sámi objects and their return have a profound meaning for the Sámi community. The donation is a significant addition to the oldest part of the Sámi Museum Siida's collections. We thank the Museum of Northern Ostrobothnia for this important decision, says Taina Pieski, Siida's Museum Director.

The collections of the Museum of North Ostrobothnia that include objects of Sámi origin date back to the early days of the only professionally run museum in Northern Finland. The objects were collected by Samuli Paulaharju (1875–1944), a folklorist and museum curator from Oulu. The collection was destroyed almost completely by two fires in the museum buildings in 1929 and 1940. After both fires, replacement items were collected in Lapland.

The collection of approximately 400 items now donated consists of Sámi textiles and utensils, including a goahti (traditional Sámi hut) and several sledges. The oldest items include a cheese mould from Enontekiö dating back to 1797 and rare crossbow stocks, the oldest of which dates back to 1730.

As a large part of the Sámi cultural heritage is still held by museums outside the Sámi region, the transfer of the collection is important for the Sámi community.

The Sámi material culture is both practical and beautiful in its diversity, and the museum objects contain a wealth of intangible knowledge about their manufacture and use. This knowledge is best preserved in Sápmi by the Sámi themselves. Through the study of artefacts, it is possible to revive the old craft traditions and techniques of the Sámi community, knowledge of materials and the vocabulary related to the production and use of the objects. The revitalisation processes are a form of communal and intergenerational transfer of learning and knowledge, and they contribute to the transmission of Sámi material and immaterial culture to future generations.

The transfer of Sámi collections to the Sámi Museum Siida over the past decade is a concrete demonstration of genuine cooperation between museums and the increased understanding of the importance of cultural heritage for the Sámi community.

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

It’s the Man’s birthday!!! Which means that yeah I’ll talk about him finally

The Man is the titular character of Man Swears Forever, my big work-in-progress story! He has an actual name, but I like calling him the Man and that's what he is called for 90% of the story. His name is very easy to find if you do a little digging because it's not like an active secret.

The Man is the type of person who likes it when things are in a particular order. Certain things must happen at certain places at certain times of the day for a certain duration, people should move about their day minding their own business, no questions asked, no kinks in the machine, no nothing. He has a colourful past but in the modern day he'd much rather forget about it all and focus on the now instead, with a lovely small circle of people close to him and his life's simple joys. He becomes annoyed or angry very quickly if things don't go according to plan, sometimes explosively so. Unfortunately for him, stories don't tend to have everyone having a good time all the time... and there's untouched pine forest in North Ostrobothnia with his name on it.

He's a little bit weird in places but he's cool <33

[homunculus-argument]

Considering that Herald of Darkness is playing in my head on an infinite loop right now, I wanted to bring up something about the character of Ahti the janitor - first appearing in Control (2019) and again in Alan Wake 2 (2023): About the mystery of the weird shit that this man says.

The ones who have asked a native finn about the things Ahti says have probably heard the explanation that they're clumsy literal translations of finnish phrases, proverbs and sayings, that do not quite translate that well into english. Which brings us to the next question: Is he aware that he isn't making any sense whenever the proverb or expression doesn't translate? Or is his own english skill too limited to grasp that his best attempt to say what he means doesn't come through?

I'm going to be bold and say that he's definitely doing it on purpose. That's 100% something that a finnish boomer man who doesn't take himself too seriously would do. If we presume that he is an ordinary mortal human man, I would find it plausible that he started out doing his genuine best to express himself, but after it became apparent that he either cannot make himself understood, or the people around him don't respect him enough to try harder to pick up on him, he figured he might as well have fun with it.

Finns are generally stereotyped as blunt, timid, obedient to a fault and having no sense of humour at all, but if we assume that Ahti is natively from the region of North Ostrobothnia like his voice actor is, it's presumable that he would have the Ostrobothnian wry and dry sense of humour. A man like that would definitely think "well, you're all going to think I'm a weird foreigner who makes no sense anyhow, so weird and incomprehensible it is."

My favourite finnish expression, "ihmisiä pitää hämmentää ettei ne pala pohjaan" is a cooking pun as two of the words have a dual meaning. The less-literal, more abstract interpretation is "you must confuse people sometimes, so that they don't get burnt out in life", but I could picture Ahti saying the more literal meaning: "You must stir people sometimes, so they do not burn stuck on the bottom of the pot."

[discolesbo]

Myth: Maiden of the North gives birth to the Nine Diseases (one version)

There are two versions of the birth of the Nine Diseases in Finnish myth. The woman giving birth is Pohjolan neito, Maiden of the North. The North refers to the Underworld. She becomes pregnant out of wedlock and this turns her into the Harlot Mistress of the North (Portto Pohjolan emäntä). She is known by many, many names like Louhiatar, Louheatar, Loviatar, Lovehetar, Louhi and Louki; these all refer to "lovi", the trance state a shaman would fall into. Obviously then, she is a shamanistic figure, especially since a shaman seeks out answers from the land of the dead which she is the ruler of.

But there are two different versions as to how she becomes pregnant. One and perhaps the more common story states she was impregnated by the wind and then gives birth to the diseases. Another version, however, while not as common, is very old and has been collected from North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu at the very least.

Neitonen veestä nousi [A maiden rose from the waters] Hieno helma hettehestä [A fine skirt from a bog pond] Tuo ei suostu sulhasihin [Who won't agree to get married] Mielly miehihin hyvihin [Nor be fancied by fine men] Tuli sitte mies Turilas [Then came the man Turilas] Joka teki nejen tinehexi [Who made the maiden pregnant] Teki poikaa yhexän [She made nine sons] Kasvatti kahexan lasta [Raised eight children] Yhdestä vatan väestä [All from one stomach] Tytty lapsen kymmenennen [The tenth child was a girl] Sitten nimitteli poikian [Then she named her sons] Kuin kuhin tekemiän [Like anyone would something they created] Mihingä mixikin panovi [Whichever she named what] Minkä manasi maoxi [One of them cursed as Snake] Minkä pani packasexi [One, she set as Frost] Minkä Riexi risäsi [One benamed as Rickets]

(Rien synty. SKVR XII2 6129. Paltamo.)

So in this version, it is Turilas, a sea giant, who... I think I'm correct when I say, he rapes her, and that's how she becomes pregnant with the diseases. This would make sense, for such a horrible event to result in monstrous children, the illnesses and plagues of the world. It is also as a result of this event that she's called a harlot, and is no longer the maiden of the underworld, but the mistress.

Poets of the old knew absolutely 100% how f'ed up the expections put on rape victims are. How unfair it is to be insulted, your life ruined, for something which wasn't your fault. The expectations put on you. The myth does not blame her. She is also not villainous or an enemy, despite being the ruler of the realm of the dead and having brought horrible things into the world. In spells, diseases and pains are driven to go back to where they came from: the underworld in the north. However, the Maiden of the North is also called to help with burn wounds, for her touch is cold as ice. It is also said it was her, with her freezing touch, who was able to free a spark of fire, which had fallen from the sky, from inside a fish.

I rambled about this because she is treated kind of unfairly in common understanding imo.

[mothmiso]

Finlande (2) (3) (4) by Samuel Raison

[shannonpurdyjones]

Every time I think I'm for sure finally done with research for this novel, my brain worms hold a "but wouldn't it be cool if" meeting. Unfortunately, because they are my brainworms, all their ideas center on concepts with little to no obvious primary research sources.

And that's the story of how I end up cold emailing the head researcher at the North Ostrobothnia Museum in Oulu, Finland.

[beardedmrbean]

Finland's housing market divide is worsening, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

The paper suggests many properties will never find a buyer, even if the economy improves.

According to HS, Finland has up to a million homes — both old and newly built ones — in areas losing population and demand. This represents about a third of all housing in the country. Many of these properties are unsellable, even in strong markets, and banks are reluctant to finance their renovations, the paper explained.

The situation is especially problematic since much of Finnish wealth and retirement security is tied up in real estate.

Qualified but unemployed

Hufvudstadsbladet looks at newly qualified midwives struggling to find jobs as Finland sees fewer babies.

"This is the first time that no one graduating has a job lined up," said Pernilla Stenbäck, who has been training new midwives for 15 years at the Arcada University of Applied Sciences.

Several smaller maternity hospitals have recently closed, including ones in Lohja, Porvoo and Raasepori.

Some of the new graduates HBL talked to said they were now looking further afield for work, including Norway. Finnish midwives are also fully qualified to work across the entire EU thanks to harmonised training standards.

"The craft is the same across all of Europe, but especially in the Nordic countries, the status of midwives is similar," Stenbäck told the Swedish-language daily.

Icy roads

Weather service Foreca and the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) both warn of extremely poor driving conditions in most parts of Finland on Monday, reports Ilta-Sanomat.

Widespread snowfall is anticipated across southern and central parts, as well as from Northern Ostrobothnia to southwest Lapland, with accumulations ranging from 10 to 15 centimeters. Later in the day, snow along the southern coast is likely to turn into rain, further hampering driving conditions.

On Monday, daytime temperatures will range from -2 degrees Celsius to 3 degrees in the south and west. In the east, temperatures will be below freezing, ranging from -1C to -11C. In the north, it will be mostly -10C to -16C.

As the week progresses, colder conditions are expected to continue across Finland, with the mercury staying largely below freezing on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, along the southern coast, temperatures may rise slightly, reaching around zero.

[sootyships]

i want to buy this book for my mom also but. 😭

WHY is it so

it didn't even have a sad ending or anything i'm just. so overcome with emotions. it's just so—so—

You have family, they leave you places. And you have to decide how tied you are to them. If you want to continue to be.

I will one day inherit forest in central Finland, where my father's mother was from, and I will inherit the lakeshore house in the municipality my father's father's family has so long lived. The lakeshore house and its lakeshore sauna are new, relatively speaking. My grandparents bought them, to have a house ready for their old days. The farm itself, that went to the oldest brother, and is on its way to his children in turn. And my mom's farm, the one her parents bought from the family who had long lived there, and still live on the surrounding plots around the main plot that now is ours? (Except for the back fields, those my aunt sold.) What my mom has will go to either me, or the middle brother. Middle brother would probably be best, because he has no father, in a practical sense, but that depends on if he is even interested. The rest of us will inherit things from our fathers, either way, so we have less need for the farm. Of course, the lakeshore house has no fields, but I'm not much for agriculture. Maybe a little garden—I tried growing things on my balcony. We added a heirloom strand of rhubarb from up north in the garden at the farm, that I had grown from seed on my balcony. The farm house has a stable, too, if I ever wanted to keep any animals. There's no room for animals at the lakeshore house, but it has a garden. Even if I think I like the one at the farm better. And I lived at the farm most of my childhood. The rest was mostly in Ostrobothnia, and here will my youngest brother have a farm from his father.

I'm definitely the sentimental sort. The houses of my great-grandparents that were sold, the places my mom remembers from her childhood, knowing that they're all gone, torn down or made their own by others, it's to me a shame.

... So the book felt very familiar. Personal. Even if I have no farm that's been in the family for hundreds of years through the famines and wars to inherit.

[nyxraex]

Star Stable Online - OC [Picrew]

Saga L. Ojanperä | 5th Soul Rider | Aideen Reincarnated

Nickname(s):

Shutterbug (by Imane Highcantle)

Horse Lady (by Xin)

Little Flea | Little Dove (by Ydris)

Bug (by Wynna Sunbeam)

Age: 21 DoB: 15th of April, 20XX Constellation: The Rune (Jorvik), Aries (West) PoB: Oulu, North-Ostrobothnia; Finland Resides: Valedale Village, Valedale; Jorvik Height: 197cm | 6'6" Weight: ~95kg | ~209.4 lbs

Family: - Timo Ojanperä ( father ) - Suusan Ahola ( mother ) - Unnamed biological father - 5 younger sisters - 2 unnamed paternal aunts - Jaakko Ojanperä (older paternal first-cousin) - Unnamed maternal uncle ( estranged ) - Unnamed maternal grandparents ( estranged )

Horses: - Starfinder [ Soul Horse | Jorvik Warmblood | Mare | 11 yo | 19.8 hh ] Personality:

[ TBA ]

Trivia:

- Was thought to have albinism, but after multiple visits to different Doctors it was concluded that she just ended up inheriting some dormant genes causing the lack of pigmentation in her skin, hair and eyes. - Her name consists of 1 name per parent's choice: [ Saga | mom who wanted to give her a name that isn't from her culture ] [ Loviisa | dad who wanted to honor his late maternal grandma ]

[blur-from-the-north]

September 15, 2018. Somewhere on road in North Ostrobothnia, Finland. Olympus T-100.

[flagwars]

Finland City Flag Wars: Finals

[julietjonesdreams]

Knitting news

In the field of knitting, I have put a few projects in the queue and started. In the summer, when I visited the wool spinning mill in Mikkeli with my mother, I bought yarn for projects that also have instructions. Socks and mittens and sweaters. The yarn I bought is Finnish sheep’s wool. I am making this North Ostrobothnia sweater for myself. The yarn is 100% wool Pirti spinning mill’s karst…