Life-changing books? Do they exist? If our life has not been changed by a book, at least it has become more colourful because of a book. Keeping sheep had been in our minds for a long time. We even became members of a sheep association ten years before our sheep finally arrived. During those years … More The farm where fiction and reality blur
After mid-winter darkness, March seems to be full of light. Sun shines over the snow-covered landscape. Days feel long. It is time of Equinox. This spring, around the whole world, people are fighting against a disease or getting prepared to fight it. Lapland is turning quiet, travelers have gone home. We live in a remote … More All the light of the Equinox
We already told one story about our extremely snowy winter. It has just kept snowing ever since. So, the winter has been an exceptionally warm and wet. Here up in the north it has though been just and just cold enough: all the rain has come down as snow. It has snowed again during the … More And then it snowed even more
If your name is Othello, you are due to suspect that there is a conspiracy or two around. Shakespeare is to be blamed for this. To be specific, we are not blaming our chicken called Shakespeare, but the other more famous Shakespeare. Actually, our Othello is not even named after Shakespeare´s Othello. He is named … More Othello and the conspiracy theory
Livestock guard dog’s working environment changes over the seasons. Winter freezes even including dog´s paddling places and the thick layer of snow slows down running. Fresh snow softens the cents and the sounds. Winter smells different form the summer. Also warm winter morning after a fresh snow fall is very different from a cold winter … More Finding a new point of view
A flock of chicken may seem just a group of birds roaming around randomly. When you observe them for hours, days, months and years, you discover that there is a complicated social structure in the chicken community. There are also family bonds and other life-long relationships. Hertta and Japp were the king and the queen … More We are family!
The shortest day of the year 2019, 22nd December, is ending as we are writing this. Here, slightly above the Polar Circle, sun climbs above the horizon for less than two hours. Though we do not see it at all as it remains behind the hills and fells even at the highest point. Our one-and-half-hour … More The shortest day of the year
Livestock guard dogs can become great sheep whisperers. We did read a lot about this before we became “Maremmano-people”, but we had no idea how far these dog´s ability to communicate with another species goes. Our dogs do neither give commands to the sheep, nor steer them by staring. They just somehow gently and silently … More Speaking with another species
The year 2019 started really cold and continues really snowy here in Finnish Lapland. It just keeps snowing, day after day, week after week. There are no fences left in our world. Or if there are, you can just ski over them. Snow fall is most challenging when it comes with a lot of wind. … More Winter of extremes
It is the coldest of Lapland´s eight seasons, the “frosty winter”. Just few weeks have gone since the winter solstice. Days are still short. Temperature outside is around – 30 Celcius degrees while we are writing this. Yes, to be honest, the coldest days of the winter are rather challenging, just trying to survive the … More Midwinter magic?
