Happy New Year 2014... with Love from Oulu!

Franzen park, Oulu, Festival of Light in November 2013.

Crew activation tip

The crew has had very low activity level and they have napped more than ever. I think it is because of the high load caused by the situation with the water main and the fact the there is very limited access to electricity and we are in the darkness of sub-arctic mid-winter. I have been also like that but still taken care of my daily physical and mental training. So I needed to do something to activate the crew and I found this nice cardio training. It is good for the crew because it has very varying movements and I believe improves their agility. Of course they cannot never reach my level of grace and elegance but I challenge them to improve in their own limits.

http://www.fitnessblender.com/v/workout-detail/SweatFest-Butt-and-Thigh-Cardio-Workout-Calorie-Blasting-Interval-Cardio-for-Lower-Body/hf/

Xmas roses

The roses are equally enchanting in both jardin francais and broken water main Xmas scenarios... 

And the setup includes huckleberry too... 

Nora's villa?

The crew got some light on their pondering if this Sandhamn summer residence was Nora's villa by watching an episode of Murder in Sandhamn. You judge if they were right in their thinking.

Wintery Sandhamn - Part 4

Re-arranging

Oh, I was very busy this morning. The first mate got the xmas vegetation set in late schedule this year and only today I got to start the inspection work. If I am not happy with the results I may make some re-arrangements to my taste. 

Talking about taste - the huckleberry is my new favorite with its plump buds and pleasant texture that is somewhat chewy but still nicely cuttable. 

Xmas night

My music recommendations for this night: Sarah McLachlan O little town. And with Jussi Björling O helga natt you can never miss.

The tree

Keep Calm & Relax, now!

My instructions on how to manage the Xmas excitement became suddenly very topical in an unexpected way.

When the water main on my street broke an alternative Xmas plan become necessary. Fortunately as a sea cat and the chief of the vessel I manage well unexpected situations and come up with alternative plans fast. The Xmas theme jardin francais is not seen this year in the planned extent. Instead I get to take the crew to visit my temp crew every day! Not that bad, I enjoy the outings and visits at the temp crew.

 Nothing in life is more expected than the unexpected.

Wintery Sandhamn - Part 3b On the way in Skeppsholm

Keep calm and Relax

Cooking, baking and wrapping has became a routine activity on last days here in my lair on land. I need to show example to the crew how to relax even on the kitchen floor in the middle of action.

No, I have not gained weight since Summer. I am as svelte as in August. I have just developed a coat suitable to sub-arctic conditions.

WIntery Sandhamn - Part 3 On the way in Skeppsholm

To get into nautical feel the crew recommends to pick a hotel where you can channel your internal naval officer in 17th century naval barrack building, http://www.hotelskeppsholmen.com/. Lovely surroundings and great place for feeding crew, superb breakfast.

Wintery Sandhamn - Part 2 Trouville trek

Wintery Sandhamn - Part 1

For some reason the first mate got an idea on our summer sailing to revisit Sandhamn before Xmas. Here are the resulting pics.