Aurora Borealis, Finland

here is one of the occurences in the world which totally fascinate me and which i really would love to see it live one day...i really wish i understood physics better, so i could analyze and understand in depth, how all this works and why do they occur...i know the general definition and i do grasp it...but i would love details...i would love to know what makes them vary in colours, and sometimes they are bluish, sometimes greenish, sometimes even red...and if maybe a particular colour can be invoked somehow...

the back of the card says: When the particles of the solar wind hit the atmoshpere of the earth, the oxygen of the air flares in a greenish light. I wish i could comprehened this cut down to the slightest details...

Ive talked of the Aurora Borealis before, so i wont be repeating myself over again...should i mention, i have several Auroras on stand by....ill just give you some links or nice things to watch....and while im on the subject, anyone cares to send me an Aurora Australis card? I would really love to have it as well...


i thought this video was educational...for the basics...and it also gives you a thrill of the Auroras....unfortunately, i cant embedded in the post, so you'll have to click on the link...


A Nasa Video about the Auroras

why are they sooo magnificient?!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone who celebrates it, to anyone to whom it has the slightest of significance, to everyone out there who treasures it for the love and friendship.
Well personally I dont celebrate Valentine;s...Ive never have...for the simple reason that its a Catholic holiday...Macedonia's main religion is Orthodox Christian...but years ago people started celebrating Valentine;s Day here as well....probably coz they thought its fancy and markets and companies thought it would be a great way to earn money out of it...coz lets face it, everything that gets modern is money consuming...and what bothers me most is that here people celebrate Valentine's Day for the wrong reasons...so if you are with someone, then by default you celebrate Valentine's Day coz the calendar says so, not coz you truly believe in it...i like it that people can express their love and affection but then on the other hand, i dont like the idea of doing it on this day only...just as mother's day...i prefer to give my mum a gift on a day she least expects it than on the one where im somewhat obliged to do so...
Valentine's also somewhat depresses me, coz people so much emphasize it and in general make me feel more aware im alone...yeah, more or less ive always been alone on this day and even if i wasnt, that someone wasnt physically present so again i felt alone....thats why i dont like these holidays....they are all about being with people around you at times when i maybe dont feel like being with people....and that's just depressing...

Here on the other hand we have a holiday called St. Trifun. St. Trifun in Macedonia is considered the patron of the fields, patron of the grape fields and grape growers.

The holy martyr Trifun was born in Kampsada in Phrygia, near the town of Apameia. His healing abilities were manifested already in his childhood, when he was still tending the geese. He healed various diseases and freed people from evil demons. The stories of the miracles he performed reached far, and one day he was summoned by the Roman Emperor, Gordian, to heal his dauther Gordiana who suffered from a mental illness which no physician could heal. Trifun soon healed her, gaining even greater fame as a result.
St. Trifun died as a martyr during the rule of the Emperor Decius. He was summoned before the Emperor's regional administrator, Acquillian by name, and ordered to renounce Christ and make offerings to the Roman gods. Having refused, Trifun was tortured. He was tied to a tree and beaten with a stick, then tied to a horse's tail and dragged through the fields, and when all this failed to frighten him into changing his mind, they threatened to cut off his head. But as the soldiers were leading him outside the town to behead him, St. Trifun prayed to the Lord to take his soul, so that when they reached the place of execution his soul had already passed to God. This happened on 14th February 248, according to some in 250, when the holy martyr St. Trifun was only 21 years old.

Well, back to the Valentine's...there is a bright side on it, and that is that apart from celebrating love, it also celebrates friendship...and that is something i can accept coz ive barely seen anyone celebrating Valentine;s coz of the friendship...but thats why there are the GTKY ladies...and as it happened for Christmas, a Valentine's Flamingo was organised again...and i got a number of wonderfully hand-made cards from the ladies..with really nice thoughts and quotes...i think im really happy to know those girls
Here are the cards i had received so far...as it was for Christmas, i wont post the quotes or the personal messages....hope you have nothing against that :)

from Chrissy in the USA

from Essi in Finland

from Marta in Portugal

 

from Ana in Portugal

from Katy in Estonia

from Relie in Singapore

from Valerie in France

as i receive the rest of the cards, they will be posted below. Just want to say an enormous Thank You to to GTKY gang for being who they are and for befriending me in the first place...luv ya girls!

Suomenlinna, Finland

Here is a lovely UNESCO card coming from Finland....I so much love the colours on this one...its just beautiful!

Suomenlinna is a major monument of military architecture. The construction of the sea fortress on the islands just off Helsinki in the middle of the 18th century was the most extensive building project during Swedish rule. When it was complete, its military shipyard was one of the biggest dry docks in the world and centres of know-how at that time. At the end of Swedish rule the fortress was being compared with the maritime fortifications at Gibraltar.

The 250-year-old fortress, which has been preserved intact because of its military use, is today part of the world heritage. In 1991 it was included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Suomenlinna is one of Finland’s most popular tourist attractions. At the same time it is a suburb of Helsinki, with 850 people living in the renovated ramparts and barracks.. 

GTKY Christmas Cards

Hello Hello Hello! For the first time this year :)
Hope you have had a nice New Year's eve and that this year had a great start....mine was nice, just that it seems that i cant get enough sleep in general :)
Do you people make New Year Resolutions? I try not to, but ive made some this year, and i hope ill have the strength to stick up to them...and if you made resolutions as well, im wishing you all the necessary strength in the world so you keep up with them...*fingers crossed* :)

Well, enough chit-chat, lets show some stuff here...as its most convenient, i think, this is the time to show Christmas related stuff, no? So thats why todays posts will be all Christmas related

The first one is dedicated to the Christmas cards received through the GTKY thread....we arranged there with the ladies a nice Christmas Flamingo :) We were supposed to send each other Christmas cards, but with some rules applied...the cards HAD to be handmade and they had to have a quote/poem inside...so even though im totally anti-artistic, i decided to join, coz i knew if i didnt i would regret it...and im more than pleased to have done so....maybe my art skills suck, but what mattered eventually is the friendship...as we say, the cards were made with love, friendship, glue and paper :) So its the thought that counts....and here is what my thoughtful friends sent to me (im still waiting for the last one to arrive, and once it does, ill edit the post and post it here...)
No comments this time....i think the cards feel too personal and comments may just ruin the moment this time...so just feel the thoughtfulness and the friendship that comes along with them :)

The cards are posted in order they had been received...

from Marta in Portugal

from Essi in Finland

from Katy in Estonia

from Sally in New Zealand

from Valerie in France

from Charlotte in UK

from Carol in USA

from Ula in Poland

from Relie in Singapore
these are actually two Christmas cards, so i posted both of them

from Wendy in Jamaica

Enormous thanks my friends! Its been a pleasure to take part in this and share the Christmas spirit with you :)

*Hugs to you all*

Christmas Stamps

And here is an extra post for all you who love and collect stamps... i know that many of you who drop by here are into stamps, so here is a small treat for you...my Christmas gift to you ;)

just enjoy it...i dont think any comment is necessary coz the stamps themselves are pretty self-explanatory....if there is a stamp which is not Christmas related it means that it couldnt have been left out, in order to scan the Christmas ones.....any additional Christmas stamps received upon Christmas cards will be added here....too bad Macedonia didnt issue some nice ones this year...there was one, but it was intended for mail inside the country, and either way, as usual, the post offices didnt really offer them...otherwise, i would have put one on the mail i had sent...

 

Hope you like them :) 

Regular postings will be back from tomorrow on so stay tuned :)

Iloranta, Finland

The second card from this RR comes from Sabrina in Finland (btw, Sabrina, what happened to your blog??!)
Its a lovely huge card showing Iloranta...

 

Iloranta is a holiday area in Finland and as Sabrina says on the card, it means "Lucky Beach".....mmmm, nice name for a place :)

I really like the nature portrayed on the card....feels so peaceful...winterish and cold but nice :)

For some reason when i look at the card i feel the scent of an apple tea...with rum.....dont ask me why coz frankly i dont know either but looking at the images i just feel that scent in the air :)

And another thing i have to point out about this card, is the stamp....Ive already shown a card with a Kimi stamp...but ill have to show it again....coz Sabrina actually cared to make sure the card was gonna have a Kimi stamp, coz she knows i would love that....and really, is there a better way to make a Finnish card complete than with a Kimi stamp! 

Thank you Sabrina a lot, both for the lovely card and for the consideration on what stamp to put...its the thoughtfulness which means so much to me :)

 

Punkaharju, Finland

An absolutely lovely Finnish landscape!! 

Punkaharju is a narrow ridge about seven kilometres long, created from gravel deposits along the edge of the continental ice sheet, separating Lake Puruvesi and Lake Pihlajavesi. Its height varies considerably. Its most beautiful scenery can be seen from the road at the north end of the ridge, where one looks through a reddish pine forest down the plunging slopes of the ridge to the placid coves and crystal-clear waters of the surrounding lakes. It is one of Finland’s "national landscapes.

Kipa, Finland

I really really love this map card....at first you'll think it shows a map of Finland, which in a way it does...but the actual thing this card is about is to advertise the bookstore chain "Kipa"..

All the cities on the map have/had Kipa bookstores. Thats why so many 'random' small cities are marked, while bigger ones, such as Turku for example, are missing. Kipa is a small booksore and fits better in smaller cities than bigger ones.
Well, maybe its a small bookstore, but it certainly is spreaded well all over Finland.
And i have to say that this advertisement would DEFINITELY make me wanna go to the bookstore...by just looking at the card, i think of a nice cosy room, with an armchair, and a fireplace, with me reading, while drinking a nice cup of hot chocolate, while outside is cold, but inside feels just so perfect....and you get carried away with your book, that you dont even keep track of time...as if time is a non-existent category there....yup, thats how this card makes me feel ;-))))
Personally, im actually too picky when it comes to advertisements, and many times, i dont even want to buy a product, just coz it has a silly/stupid/boring/annoying/senseless ad....and for what its worth, Macedonian commercials/advertisements are like that in general....disappointing!!

Helsinki, Finland

A really lovely card from Helsinki....my first card from the Finnish capital!



The card shows the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral.
Its name comes from the Russian word uspenie, which denotes the Ascension. (in Macedonian we also use that word, 'uspenie').
Uspenski Cathedral is the main cathedral of the Finnish Orthodox church and claimed to be the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe....even though Finland is actually considered to be in Northern Europe, no?
In the foreground you can see the terminal building of one of the boat lines that traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn, while on the left side of the Cathedral is what is considered to be the ugliest building in Helsinki.....well, honestly, it does look rather...unattractive :)

Finland

An official card from Finland...which i dont know what does it actually represent

FI- 329658

is it a mouse? a dog? a wolf? a cat?

i leave it up to your imagination...of if anyone knows for sure, please, enlighten me!

Finland

My FIRST Aurora Borealis card!!!!!!


Ive been wanting for so long for someone to send me a card with Aurora Borealis, and finally here it is....

"The Northern lights are flaming in the frost nights on the northern hemisphere"

Auroras are natural colored light displays in the sky, usually observed at night, particularly in the polar zone, typically occurring in the ionosphere.
They are named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas.

Now, when i find an explanation of how and why they occur in SIMPLE English, ill elaborate it here as well.....a VERY SIMPLE English.....maybe if someone draws it to me in detailed steps...i dont know....but photons, protons, electrons, molecules etc etc, have NEVER been my strong side....unfortunately...

Finland

Believe it or not this is my FIRST official from Finland...I wonder why they have been avoiding me till now :)

FI-313286

As it is said on the front of the card, it shows the four seasons in Finland. Though, i think im envious of the Finnish summer coz its not even close to the summer we have here, and I think its more like our early spring...which is my favourite time of the year.

I just love the nature and the scenery on this card.....I guess I havent been "lucky" enough yet to get Finnish cards....this reminded me of all those complaints about receiving cards from Finland and a message i read once which said "and please, pretty please, NO MORE snowy Finnish cards :)"

I really wonder that, besides luck, what else does it take to receive an official from, lets say, Mauritius, Isle of Man, Jersey, Cayman Islands, Barbados, Uruguay, Cape Verde etc etc etc.....just wishing!!

Archipelago, Finland

My FIRST card from Finland comes as a private swap (along with the one above). Yeeeyyy!! I know it may be weird how come i dont have a Finnish card by now...but. well, i just dont...thus i have like 20 cards from Budapest or Vienna or Montenegro or so...but im slowly making things balanced :)



Archipelago Sea is a part of the Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Bothinia and the Gulf of Finland, within Finnish territorial waters. It is the largest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, although the islands tend to be very small and clustered in a small area. The sea area is shallow, with a mean depth of 23 m. Most of the channels are not navigable for large ships. The Archipelago Sea has a very large number of islands. The exact number of islands depends on the definition of the term "island", as the sizes of the pieces of dry land vary from small rocks peeking out of the water to large islands with several villages or even a small town. The area is roughly divided into inner and outer archipelagos, with the outer archipelago consisting mainly of smaller, uninhabited islands. The archipelago covers a roughly triangular area with the cities of Mariehamn, Uusikaupunki and Hanko at the corners. The islands began emerging from the sea shortly after the last Ice Age.

I LOVE nature!! And for some reason while looking at this card, i feel some chilli atmosphere...which comes as a great contrary to the hot weather we have here right now.

Lapland, Finland

The second card from the private swap with Maffe.


And this time she decided to send me a card completely opposite from the other one, that is, to show me Finland in winter, and she chose to send me Lapland!! She couldnt have made a better choice :) Heyyy!! Its Lapland!! Santa Clause's home!!!
I love cards which awake the child in me. Many will probably see this as another Finnish card full of snow but to me its also a card which shows Santa's home! (lets not go into the issue about Santa's existence, please! :)))

The Province of Lapland is the home of about 3.6% of the Finnish population, and is by far the least densely populated area in the country. The biggest towns in the Finnish Lapland are Rovaniemi (the province capital), Kemi and Tornio.

I have to say that I also love snowy postcards, since i absolutely LOVE snow. Too bad we havent had a decent snow here in a long time, well at least not in my town, and i havent had much of a chance in the last years to go to one of the mountains here where there was snow during winter.
But just look at that endless snowy view on the card....ahh, i love it!!


Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells.....