Easter 2014

I saw the Finnish Orthodox Easter service last night on TV. It was uplifting. The music was truly wonderful.

Jacob told me that in India it is similar. 

I did attend weddings in the Orthodox Churches but never the Good Friday and Easter services. The level of direct emotional involvement by a church member in India compared to Finland is considerably more. 

Jacob once wrote in one of his online pages about his childhood memories about celebrating Good Friday.

 I must find it. It was truly inspiring. It showed that members felt the pain of Christ on that fateful day, personally. They lived His suffering and felt His pain.

That was why on Easter Day they felt the joy of His Resurrection!

Finnish media and freedom of speech - a myth?

Given below is the email (in Finnish, but English translation is provided here also) I sent to a Finnish reporter in Kaleva who wrote an article about the situation in Ukraine and Russia. 

It made me very angry! 

There is no freedom of speech in Finland except for the media itself to defend its corrupt brothers in the Finnish Justice System, the Police, the Lawyers, the Bureacracy and the Politicians!

All my experiences are highly personal pver the last 30 years I have lived in Finland!

Below is cover of my book "Freedom of Speech - Whose?" (In Finnish) which I had compiled a few years ago of my text messages that Kaleva had refused to carry in its Readers' Comments page! (The updated Finnish/English version will be released shortly.)

Email to Kaleva Reporter:

Hello,

Your views on Finland are suspect so it is difficult to accept your opinion about Russia.

 If I write the sky is blue, Kaleva will publish the opinion. If I tell the truth, I will not.

 That is why I published my book, "Freedom of Speech - Whose?" Text messages rejected by Kaleva! 

The justice system, the police, the lawyers, the bureaucrats and politicians operate a brotherhood system! 

This type of corruption is built into the Finnish lifestyle aided by a willing media which wants to ingratiate itself with their powerful brothers! 

The common Finnish citizen does not enjoy any of these privileges.

And in Finnish:

Hei,

Mielipiteenne Suomesta ovat epäilyttäviä, joten on vaikeaa hyväksyä mielipiteenne Venjäjästä.

Jos kirjoitan taivas on sininen, Kaleva voi julkaista mielipiteen. Jos kerron totuuden, se ei voi.

Sen vuoksi kirjoitin kirjani "Sananvapaus - Kenen?" Kalevan hylkäämiä tekstiviestejä!

Oikeuslaitos, poliisi, asianajajat, byrokraatit ja politiikot ylläpitävät veljeskuntasysteemiä!

Tämän tyyppinen korruptio on sisäänrakennettu suomalaiseen elämän tyyliin median suostumuksella, joka haluaa päästä heidän voimallisen veljeskunnan suosioon!

Tavallinen Suomen kansalainen ei nauti naistä etuoikeuksista!

tv.

Annikki 

Finnish TV interview about Me!

I am pleased to give you two links to a TV interview by Helena Lehtimäki of Laureus University of Applied Sciences, Espoo, about me. I really enjoyed myself! It was aired in a new TV station called CaringTV which is to motivate us older folk to do creative things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEwPv_6U0X8&feature=youtu.be

http://youtu.be/yEwPv_6U0X8

Helena and her team have gone a great job. Thank you Helena.

Natural childbirth - Is it for you?

Take a look at the story today in Huffington Post "New Mom's Uncensored Photos Reveal The Beautiful, Messy Reality Of Home Birth"

You may have to register to read the story.

Natural births difficult unless you prepare for it correctly. 

In Finland it is not permitted. I have covered this in one of my tutorials.
Although Finland has the lowest mortality rate with regard to childbirth, something is missing in the mother/child relationship. 

That develops out of natural childbirth.

Please see the details in my book "Raising a Child the Montessori Way" where the importance of natural childbirth is discussed.

In my case, our first daughter was born in a hospital in an English village (Cross Houses), the second, our elder son was born in our home in a very small English village (Shawbury), while the next two, a daughter and then our youngest son were born in Willingdon Hospital, in Chennai. Each was difficult in its own way.

I have just uploaded Tutorial 5 A, 5 B and 5 C on Scribd.com

Tutorials 5 A, 5 B, and 5 C by Annikki Matthan

The next upload of the Tutorial series will be in a couple of days.

Do you think there is anything we missed?

Jacob and I  tried our level best to cover  all important aspects of life in Finland.

Here is the Contents list of our latest eBook, "Handbook For Survival in Finland".

We have latest links to most of the relevant sites as Universities, Applied Science Universities, hsl.fi, vr.fi, Koskilinjat Oy, Finnair, Magistrates Office, Tax Office, KELA, etc., etc.

And we also have our own interprettions!! :-)

We have the guidelines of prices you should be paying for your foodstuffs!

Is there anything we missed as we can put it as Anexure! Your help would be greatly appreciated!

Criticism welcome as we want this to be the only independent reference book you need when coming to or living in Finland as a  student, out-sourced engineer or even a tourist.

Contents

PrefaceContentsGlossary for AcronymsDedicationA FrontpieceA Survival System?

Some FactsHistoryGeography

• Flora and Fauna
• Climate
• Lake and Sea Temperatures
• Wind Conditions
• Snow and Ice
• Midnight Sun
• Winter Darkness
• Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights
• Nature's Markers

DemographyReligionPeopleGovernmentPressEconomy

• Currency and Finance
• Inflation
• Taxation

Education

Universities

Language

Learning the Finnish Language

Culture

Guide for Foreigners (and Some Others)

EmbassiesDocumentsFinancial and Other RequirementsCustoms Regulations on First EntryRegistration in the Population RegisterUnemployment BenefitTerms of EmploymentTrade Union MembershipEmployment ContractSocial BenefitsChurch MembershipTaxesAccommodationMarriageMaternity, Paternity and Parents' AllowancesChildren's AllowancesChildren's Day CareMaintenance supportConcluding Remarks

Existing in Finland

Finnish Department Stores and ShopsFood and DrinkGardening for ProfitPet FoodDomestic AppliancesGlass and ChinaClothes, Textiles, Jewellery, FursToysSports goodsSouvenirsInternational Mail Order PurchasingFlea MarketsRestaurantsTransportHair DressersTippingPostal RatesTelephoneElectricity and WaterSmoking and DrinkingHealth CareCredit and Bank CardsConcluding Remarks

Third World Holidays

TicketsDuty Free PresentsClothesOther Travel RequisitesOpticiansDentistsExecutive Health Check-upMedical Supplies and ToiletriesMiscellaneous ItemsShipping PurchasesHoliday FilmsFinnish Customs RegulationsP. S. Moscow Airport

And Finally - Dying in Finland

Bibliography

Finally completed and uploaded

An effort of almost 2+ years to update our 1994 best-seller has now been completed and uploaded as an eBook on Scribd.com (eBook Handbook for Survival in Finland).

Handbook for Survival in Finland by Annikki Matthan

The book is meant for foreign students coming or in Finland, out-source engineers, those foreigners living in Finland and also tourists coming to Finland.

The Survival System developed by us can help you live a comfortable life in Finland at a reasonable cost. 

It is not only the front and back cover that has been changed. The entire book has been re-written and the full advantage of an eBook with hundreds of useful links have been introduced which will take you to all the important pages about Finland which we used in doing our research. It covers almost every aspect of this wonderful and beautiful country! But it also thells you of the many hundreds of pitfalls that you will encounter when you live here.

Our original Guarantee goes with the new eBook that if you do not recover the cost of the book after using our system for 1 month, we will refund you the cost of the book.

Thank you for the patience, but it was a really hard task to do this!

Comments welcome so that we can quickly correct any errors.

The Finnish lies continue!

Recently we saw that a Viking Line ship M/S Amorella drove up against a rock and was run aground!

If one reads the stories on internet, it appears that the company did not learn its lesson of 38 years ago and continue to promote lies, as they did then!

Many people ask why Jacob and I do not ever travel on Viking Line.

Driving ships aground appears to be part of the tradition of the Viking line.

I will describe our experience on 15th August 1975.

We had come to Finland for a holiday in July 1975. We were scheduled to spend about a month in Finland. However, Indira Gandhi declared emergency in India. Some close friends of Jacob's, who were in the Indian Administration Service in New Delhi, sent Jacob messages not to immediately return to India as there were some problems related to my stay in India. (We returned in November instead of August as originally planned!

Luckily, as we were staying with my parents, there was not too much extra cost to carry on living in Finland. However, we were short of money.

As we had been living in England, I had left some money with my friends in England and our Barclays Bank was still active as I was not bound by Indian rules to close our bank accounts when we returned to India.

However, as there was no Barclays Bank in Finland, the only way was to go to Copenhagen in Denmark and draw the money from the branch there.

My brother, Eino, agreed to drive us there. We set off to Helsinki. We left or two daughters, Susanna (8) and Joanna (4) with my sister, Anneli, and her friends, while Jacob, Jaakko (7) and Mika (2) and me drove to Naantali on Western Finland to take the car on a ferry to Kapellskär in Sweden.

The reason we chose this route was it was the shortest and cheapest to do the crossing to Sweden. (It still is!!)

Official picture of M/S Viking 1

Career Name: Viking 1 
 Operator: Viking Line (1970–1982) 
 Route: Naantali — Mariehamn — Kapellskär 
 Builder: Meyer Werft, Papenburg, West Germany 
 Acquired: 19 August 1970 
 Identification: IMO number: 7018599 Fate: 
 Scrapped, October 2002 
 General characteristics 
 Tonnage: 4,239 GRT 
 Length: 108.68 m (356 ft 7 in) 
 Beam: 17.24 m (56 ft 7 in) 
 Ice class: 1 A 
 Propulsion: 5,965 kW (7,999 hp) 
 Speed: 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) 
 Capacity: 1,200 passengers and 260 vehicles







We left Naantali on the M/S Viking 1 in the evening. We had a great buffet meal on the boat. We then settled the children in the bunks in the cabin and we went to the nearby cafe to enjoy an evening drink.

While we were relaxing, Annikki's brother commented that this was the best part of our trip.

Then suddenly there was a churning sound and all the curtains in the room started to shudder as the ship shuddered violently. Jacob commented that we had probably hit some rough weather, but one look out of the window showed it was a very calm sea. I knew that the propellers were churning backwards.

I ran to the cabin when the ship hit rock and it was obvious we were running aground.

Viking 1 (In Finnish. From Wikipedia)Rederiaktiebolaget Sallyn omistaman aluksen kotisatama oli Maarianhamina ja tunnuskirjaimet OGXO. Se liikennöi Suomen lipun alla.Viking 1 oli tulossa Naantalista Kapellskärin lauttasatamaan aamulla 21. marraskuuta 1971, kun ankara lumimyräkkä ja myrskytuuli painoi aluksen lujasti karille. Päällystö kuulutti jo lähestyessään satamaa, että laivan on vaikea päästä laituriin. Aluksella olleet 851 matkustajaa odottelivat kahvilassa , että veneet ehtisivät kuljettaa heidät maihin. Viking 1, jossa oli myös 10 yhdistelmäajoneuvoa ja 77 henkilöautoa, ei saanut karilleajossa vuotoja. Hinaaja avusti aluksen irti karilta ja alus siirtyi telakalle Tukholmaan tutkituttamaan vaurioitaan. Vuotojen ja koneiston siirtymisen vuoksi alus joutui olemaan poissa vilkkaasta joulunalusliikenteestä pari viikkoa.
Elokuun 15. päivänä vuonna 1975 Viking 1 ajoi Nauvon pohjoispuolella päin Järvisaarta. Väylä tekee paikalla lähes 90 asteen käännöksen, mutta alus jatkoi kulkuaan suoraan nousten saaren rantakalliolle. Potkurit ehdittiin kuitenkin kääntää ennen saarta jarrutusasentoon, joten vauhti hidastui ja vauriot jäivät vähäisiksi. Satamahinaaja Naantali ehti pian paikalle ja sai aluksen irti savisesta pohjasta yhdellä nykäyksellä. Alus pääsi omin avuin jatkamaan matkaansa Kapellskäriin, joten 407 matkustajan matka viivästyi vain 7 tuntia.

A look out of the window showed we were sitting atop an island with trees just outside of the window.

The crew was in chaos, while the passengers were even more in panic.

Jacob and I kept our nerve, collected the children, put on some clothes and went to the deck to survey the situation.

Slowly order was being restored. We knew we could jump off the ship too dry land!

The ship was supposed to do a 90 degree turn at that point and the person at the helm had forgotten this and driven the ship straight up into the island called "Järvi Saari" (Lake Island).

Now started the damage control by the captain and crew. They said that the matter was under control and they were organising for divers to inspect the bottom of the ship to assess the damage. They said that the tug boat to pull us off the ship would arrive and they would keep us informed.

I went back to the cabin with the children while Jacob stayed on deck to keep watch on things.

At about 7 in the morning, Jacob noted many crew members being herded into the dining room where they were served breakfast. Just at that time the helicopter arrived with the journalists. The passengers were kept well away from the journalists while a set up scene of the crew meeting the journalists as passengers was  organised.

The helicopter went away with their false story.

By that time 2 tugs arrived and attached the tug lines to the ship. As they pulled to try to pull the ship back into the water, one tug line snapped making the ship lurch violently. It could have well turned on its side!

They attached another tow line and the experienced tug captains this time very carefully got the ship off the island.

By the time we reached Kapellskär it was late on Friday afternoon, a delay of several hours.

We had to drive right across Sweden to Copenhagen taking the boat ferry from Helsingborg. We slept on the roadside under and in the car and we reached Copenhagen on saturday morning.

This was a wasted trip as banks were not open in Copenhagen on Saturday. We went to the parents of Jacob's friend, Viney Sethi, who was married to a Danish girl. They were very kind and gave us a hearty late breakfast and the we had to drive back all across Sweden to reach Kapellskär as we had to cross on the ferry back to Finland.

We found a different boat but the crew was the same as had brought us over - which was rather disconcerting.

The trip back was without event. We reached Helsinki, picked up the girls and drove back to Oulu.

Jacob wrote an article "Vikings invade Järvi Saari" and sent it off to the ship owners explaining the issues and our losses. They were extremely angry to get this letter as they were trying to cover up the incident as a mechanical failure.

This could have never been, as at 10 at night in summer, it was bright sunshine, so it was obvious the guy at the helm had lost concentration or gone to sleep! The captain was in the dining room just at that time as we saw him when we were finishing our dinner!

The Finnish version from Wikipedia shows that even 38 years on, there is the continuation of the lie - but they forgot that there were some witnesses - Jacob and I being among them!

The reason for moving to Finland?

Many people have asked both Jacob and me why we moved to Finland in 1984?

It is difficult to give a straight answer, but there were several contributing factors, but none of them were individually strong enough to the decision. 

There was another reason which we discovered much later!

The first reason was the terrible time I went through being subjected to a false charge by the Bangalore Police which had dragged on for 5 years. I was subjected to much humiliation. But it ended with the Police withdrawing all charges against me and acting as my defenders, but then I was subjected to harassment by the Indian judicial system! 

In itself it made me make a decision halfway through this episode that I wanted to leave India!

Jacob was being harassed by a totally corrupt Karnataka bureaucracy, and fight as he would, there was no way around this very public battle. It sort of made him decide that he was not doing anything constructive in Karnataka, and if he wanted to preserve his integrity and honesty, there was no other way than to go somewhere his work and talents would be judged on its merits. 

So he met Karnataka Member of Parliament, S. M. Krishna, who was then Union Minister of State for Finance in New Delhi, and explained the reasons why he was pulling out and moving to pastures where he had an even chance of succeeding.

The third reason was that both Jacob and I felt that our children had received and accepted their roots in India, and we both felt that they should be given a chance to understand their roots in Finland. So, if there was an option, we felt we should allow them a reasonable period for them to appreciate this. 

The children loved their life in India and they had a close bond with their paternal grandparents, so it was a very difficult decision for them.

We waited for Susanna to finish her School and after that, we felt it was time to move as I received my freedom in March 1984.

So we processed all our papers by mid April 1984 but with no job under the belt for either of us in Finland, trusting in our Lord, we set off to Finland. 

We were welcomed by my parents in their home in Oulu, Finland. It was a small house but we settled in into an upstairs corner with our own kitchen, a living room and two small attic bedrooms.

The children were back in Finnish schools in August, but it became very obvious that Susanna, who had to move into the High School system of Finland to get into University, would not be able to survive the three  years.

Since Susanna was born in England in the 60s, she had her British Passport. When one of her classmate friends from India invited Susanna to come to England, we made the decision that for her future, she should move to England and continue her studies there.

This was the first time one of our family was leaving us, and both Jacob and I were heart-broken, but we knew that we had to be concerned about Susanna's future and not our feelings.

So in November 1984, 8 months after our shift to Finland, Susanna moved to England.

Jacob had not yet got a job, but God looked after us in may ways and we were able to survive those 8 months. 

By 1985 April it became obvious that our elder son, Jaakko. was also having problems with the Finnish education system, so when he finished his middle school, we allowed him to join Susanna in England, as he too had been born in England and held a British Passport.

This was again a big emotional blow for all of us, as Jaakko was the life and soul of our family, but his future decided our action.

By that time Jacob had got a job in the Unversity of Oulu as an assistant Researcher and as Scientific Editor of English publications for the Microelectronics Laboratory. It became obvious he was outstanding in his job so he was firmly entrenched in the University, but I was keen to reunify our family.

So in the summer of 1986, I shifted, with the two younger children to Birmingham, England where Susanna and Jaakko were now well established.

Jacob came to England in September, but he was not happy with life in England and our circumstances, while he was doing so well in Oulu. We decided that I would return with the two younger children to Finland. We returned in November 1986 to Oulu.

I must give you some background of the situation in my parent’s home in Oulu. 

Also living there was my younger sister, who had, by her rather difficult experience in France in 1965, had become a schizophrenic patient. The Finnish system was that she was to be looked after by her parents, but they were unable to control her and she ruled the roost in there home.

I could manage her, to a point, but she was milking her parents and they could do nothing.

One fateful Friday in December 1986, I had gone to town for shopping. As the Sabbath was soon approaching, I cut short my shopping trip and took the bus home. I went upstairs where Mika was listening to the radio and put the kettle on for cup of coffee. I smelt some smoke and went downstairs to see what was the problem. 

When I opened my sister's room I saw a fire raging in one corner. I shut the door and quickly told Mika to get out of the house. I ran to the neighbours and asked the lady to call the Fire Brigade.

Our neighbour, being a reporter, also called her newspaper.

We soon had a crowd of people waiting for the house to burst into flames, as was the case with wooden houses.

I was concerned for my parents, whom I knew were in the house. Mika banged on the living room window, where we knew my father was resting.

I went into the house and when I opened the door of the living room, as it was already dark (in December darkness descends by 3 pm), I could not see him, but he immediately smelt the fire. He ran out and started to collect water in buckets in the small toilet and tried to put out the fire, which was gathering momentum, with dark smoke coming out of my sister's room.

My mother managed to come down the stairs from her room. She was blinded by the smoke, but we managed to get her out of the house.

I was wondering where my father was as he had not come out of the house. So I went in and I found him trying to close the door to my sister's room to try to contain the fire, but the force of the smoke was so strong, he was not able to shut it. I dragged him out twice but he just went back in.

Finally I understood his intention and I tried to help him, but the pressure inside the room was so strong that we could not together shut the door.

The suddenly, for no reason, the door shut.

My father acted slowly but surely. His clothes cupboard was just behind us. He opened and took out his main clothes and proceeded down the stairs to the cellar, where he had his shoes.

I went out by the front door and waited for the Fire Brigade. By that time people were streaming in from around to see the blaze. My sister was standing at the gate. She told a neighbour that it seemed that the fire had not started in earnest!

I was in the back gaden watching the blaze through the window while at the same time, the small ventilation duct was billowing out thick smoke.

Te Fire Brigade arrived and the first question was whether there was anyone left into house. I told them that my mother's dog, Jesse, was trapped in the upstairs bedroom. Thy went in with a smoke extractor and soon emerged with the dog.

They acted quickly and efficiently and before the house could explode, they were able to put out the fire. My sister's room was completely gutted and the entire house was flooded as the firemen ensured that no spark was left unattended.

They took my parents to then hospital to ensure they were not suffering from any smoke inhalation problems.

Joanna had been walking home from school and when she saw the Fire Engines rushing, she thought that our house must be on fire. She and her friends rushed home, but the main excitement was over.

The Police arrived and having establishing the facts took my sister to the psychiatric hospital.

If we had moved to Finland, if my experience in England had not been negative, and if I had not returned home before the start of the Sabbath, the lives of my parents and their home would have been lost.

Coincidence, fate or the handiwork of our Lord God, could have directed efforts to ensure that my parents survived and their home was saved.

There is no doubt in my mind why we had to move to Finland. As a result of this I was able to fight the case of my sister in Court that she was not convicted as an arsonist and to also get her a permanent place in the psychiatric hospital, so that my parents were freed from her over-bearing and demanding character.

For that I can surely say what or who was the reason for shifting us from India to Finland. 

Can you?

What could drive you to create a masterpiece?

Many of you have written to me to ask how I get the inspiration to create the cake or interior decor designs, my garden designs or my paintings.

What drives me is the mood of the moment.

I see something or someone. What the meeting conveys may drive me to create my next piece.

Old Bulbs made by me into interior decor objects.
Aluminium film created into leaves.

As I have grown older, I have moved from the traditional media to new forms of art expression. Turning old bulbs into fruit and old aluminium sheet or candle canisters into roses or leaves are some examples of my new media! That has given me much joy.

In the late 1980's I was still in my chalk drawing phase.

Painting of an island in Finland from original photo
published in the local newspaper, Kaleva.

I came across a beautiful photograph in black and white in our local newspaper, Kaleva. I was immediately drawn to the photograph. I wanted to create a chalk drawing of it.

My drawing turned out to be better (in my opinion) than the original.

I wish I could track the original as it appeared in the Kaleva as it would give you some idea of how the thought processes work to inspire one to do a painting.

Many times, while driving from here to Helsinki, I have seen such amazing sceneries as we drive across the lakes and through the forests. But, I have never had the time to either photograph these, let alone sketch them, as my dear husband, Jacob, is always in a hurry to reach the end of the journey!

Maybe one day when we grow older :-), he may slow down and give me the opportunity to capture some of this scenery as we drive through this fantastically beautiful country! Scenery changes with the seasons giving thousands of opportunities!

Even in a city like Oulu, during summer and autumn, we go to the Nallikari Beach to have a pizza, sitting on the steps of the disused restaurant building, and we have captured some amazing sunset photographs.

Photo: 2010, Oulu Nallikari Sunset

To my mind, as I love photographs and painting, for me painting is definitely more exciting than a photograph as it brings in the artists feeling and depth which is not there in a photograph.

To capture a good photograph takes me many minutes as I approach the object from different angles. In the old days, Jacob used to complain as I would have to take many tens of shots with the film camera to get the right one. Now-a-days I can take as many as I like with my digital camera and knockout those I do not like.

In short, we have another dimension in a painting - the artist and his strokes of the chalk crayon!

I am now putting together my paintings to follow the first two ebooks "Edible Art" and "Nelson Mandela Birthday Cakes", both of which have received bouquets from so many of you.

Please let me know whether you prefer photographs to paintings!

Is Finland one of the Least Corrupt countries in the world?

I have the ability to laugh at myself. That is the basis of good satire. I use it, and also Jacob uses satire in a lot in his writngs.

When I put together the "Edible Art" eBook, there was a lot of humour in the pages.

Right from the first catastrophe of our labrador ravishing my first ginger bread house in Chennai, through to my making the cake "Ruins" for myself, as I could not possibly make it for anyone else, we were looking for an interesting ending to our book.

We are both non-fiction writers. Our books to date include "...for the hour of His Judgement is come:..." which was my rather horrific exprience with the Indian Legal System, "Handbook for Survival in Finland" and Jacob's exposure of the corruption with the Finnish University System, "Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University".

The first two of these are available as eBooks and paperbacks from Lulu.com.

Another two books we have writing presently are "The Last Will and Testament" which concerns inheritance problems of one side of the family and "Inheritance Nightmare" which is about another part of the family.

Satire on corruption in Finland.

A few years ago when Kampitie, the family property in Oulu was still in my custody, during Christmas, I made an enormous Snow Cake in the front compound. The idea grew steadily in my mind till I finished it with the six inheritors of their parent's property were made as snow people, sitting around this enormous snow cake.

They had been waiting for over 10 years to get their inheritance.

The lawyer who had been appointed by the Court as the Adminisrator had other plans and kept the inheritors waiting as he milked the property and estate for his own ends. Our dead father, 10 years after his death turned up as an entrepreneur and he was taken to the Bailiff as the lawyer took the money for himself and his crony friends!

He used his position as a lawyer to defraud all the investors. By causing two rival groups to be formed in the inheritors, he made hay while the snow cake melted!

My snow cake, with the snow people inheritors sitting around it, was my satirical view of the completely corrupt Finnish Legal System where the judiciary play their own game.

Aided and abetted by the Finnish Police, they can twist any situation to the advantage of those who are more powerful. Your own lawyer also plays as a pawn in the game to get his rightful share of the bounty!

The Finnish Lawyer's Association, which is supposed to protect the lay public from sharks who pose as lawyers, was the biggest joke of all in my saga, and the Finnish Lower and High Courts were just pawns n the hands of the corrupt lawyers and bureaucracy.

Finland is supposed to be one of the least corrupt countries in the world, but if corruption is not defined in the law books, then how can any asssessment be done of corruption in the country.

Finland lives by the image it creates. One of the images they have built up is to present before the world that there is no corruption here.

This image is far from the truth. My Snow Cake is a reflection of the true state of affairs in this country.

Hope you enjoy this satire. Although I have been at the receiving end of this tragic story and saga which still continues into its 13th year!

Snowman Cake

In the last blog I introduced you to the very first Mobile Snowman.

Living in Finland, making art out of snow is second nature. But to create a good snow creation, one must have what I call as Snowman's snow.

It must grip and be able to be fashioned.


But making a cake which is a snowman needs something quite different.

Once Grandson Samu asked for a snowman as his birthday cake, I had to think how to go about it.

I was glad to make a really good Snowman cake, and Samu and his friends loved it!

Mobile Snowman

I took up a challenge of my own a few years ago to create a Mobile Snowman. This was the first attempt to make a mobile snowman, and I am glad to say that it succeeded!

The first one was made in Annikki's mother's Oulu Kampitie home in 2006. The grandchildren loved the idea. I got a friend from Bangalore, Vishwa Mallabdi,  to do the filming.

I first constructed a short hill slope in the garden. I had to make it absolutely smooth. 

Then I created a snowman on top of a plastic snow platter which the kids in Finland use to slide down snow slopes.

It was a delicate operation to place this at the top of the slope.

Once I did this I carefully moved it to the edge of the slope so that it would slide down by itself using gravity. 

We tried it many times and it was hilarious. On one occasion the head of the snowman fell down at the foot of the photographer! Merriment all around!

Then, for Samu's birthday in 2008 at their Vesaisentie house in Oulu, I created another Mobile Snowman. It was made on a longer slope. We had slightly better cameras at our disposal. Watched by grandson Daniel and Samu's friends, Samu and I sent it on its way.  The children loved it.

It was another original challenge as an artist that I successfully completed.

Launch of eBook Version of EDIBLE ART

Finally we have been able to launch the eBook version of the book "Edible Art".

Radha (aka SRK, Sriradhakrishnan Polsetti) finished the editing of the photographs, working late into the night. Without his inputs this beautiful book would never have seen the light of day.   

Once this was done, Jacob inserted the text in English for most of the photographs and the details. This was edited by Annikki as she wanted to ensure the facts were correct. 

Memories fade over the years, but her intimate knowledge about the designing of each cake and the circumstances of their creation, never faded from her artist's mind.

We decided to use an image taken at the end of the Eighties for the cover.

This is a picture of our nephew, Samuli Reinikka, when he was a little boy and his spontaneous reaction to seeing this Ginger Bread Creation by Annikki. He certainly wanted to get his teeth into it.

Radha and Annikki created the cover by removing the background and the final result was the grand cover.

Every time Jacob completed the cover text, Radha would rearrange it so his name vanished. He gave lots of lame excuses! 

Annikki was adamant as she knew that without his dedicated input this project would never have seen the light of day. aAnnikki and Jacob have always believed that credit must always be given when credit is due.

After working a long day at the office, Radha would come home and work late into the night to ensure that every picture was good enough to earn a place in the book. 

He worked out a background picture strategy for most of the pages, where he embedded the main picture as a background on which he placed a filter on top of which we could put details and text.

 Both Annikki and Jacob liked this idea.

Radha had to return to Bangalore, so Jacob was left to complete the book.

The decision was to launch first the eBook. Again using Radha's input, Jacob decided to use Scribd.com and put the pdf format file on line.

Converting the Powerpoint presentation to the eBook format was not too difficult. 

Before we realised this was an eBook and it was on the Apple Apps Store.

We priced it at just $4.99, as Annikki was really keen to showcase her cake designs in front of the world.

Another waste recovery idea - Old Bulbs

 I was collecting used bulbs and turned them into pears and other Interior Decor ideas.

Have fun.

Turning waste into something artisistic

I will, in some of my blog entries, show you that everything can be made useful.

For many years I was saving the little aluminum cases in which the little candles came. Jacob wondered why I was saving ththese useless pieces of aluminium.

I planned to make these roses and little leaves from those little candle holders and they came out better than I expected. It was a lot of roses and leaves I could make and besides displaying them as above, I attached them to some of my home made greeting cards.

Special Christmas Offer

Annikki and I decided to make a special Christmas Offer of the Paperback version of our book "Edible Art". It would make a very special Christmas gift for your loved one.

We are working out a special discount price with the publisher and the first page will carry a signature of Annikki.

We are working out the shipping costs so that you can take advantage of this special offer. (Already people from Oulu have started to take up this offer.)

Watch this space as we release details here.

This picture is the most famous of Annikki's Ginger Bread creations. The stained glass windows were created by slicing sweets into thin slices. Based on the type of knife used, annikki created different effects! The small Christmas tree in the foreground took over two hours to decorate as Annikki threaded the decorations hanging on the tree through very tiny holes she created on the ginger bread tree! The doors were hinged so they could open and close. She used black liquorice hinged sweets to tet that feature.

It won the Oulu Rotuaari (Walking Street) Ginger Bread Competition prize in 1998. 

It lived for several years under a plastic wooden frame cover as no one wanted to destroy this creation.

LAUNCH

This is a still life painting by Annikki, one of the many beautiful works of art by her.

The intention of the blog is to bring to light the art of Annikki. It will talk about her paintings, her interior decor expertise, her designs of cakes, gardens and snow creations. The blog is authored by her husband, Jacob, and herself.

We really would like your criticism and comments.