Tanja @tanjaostman@dingdash.com

Pictures part 3. My husband's third youngest cousin William's wedding. Pictures were taken of the guests with a Polaroid camera.

Pictures part 2. From a scout camp in Vasa, Finland.

I have had a break from DD and enjoyed vacation. Our summers in the Nordic countries are bittersweet – beautiful and too short. As soon as the sun is shining, we want to get to the beach/be outside. In the southernmost city of Finland, Hangö (Swedish)/Hanko (Finnish) there are 30 kilometers (19 miles) of sand beaches. We were there by the beach at a Christian family camp for a few days. I have also been a leader at a scout camp, where everything was simple and done outdoors, including cooking on fire. We have had an unusual warm summer, so I think I have been more outdoors than indoors. Next week it’s time to go back to work, and I don’t look forward to the dark autumn and winter – except from the last part of winter Feb-March. Hope you all are doing well! (I will share pictures in several postings, since it’s possible to share only four pictures at a time).

We were picking organic strawberries 🍓 at a lower cost than buying them picked. Do you have that system in your countries? I have never tasted sweeter strawberries than these Nordic berries. We need to store up vitamins and sunshine for our long, dark winters. 😉 We mashed them and put in the freezer.

Mark 12:31

Enjoying vacation. Today we brought our bikes by car to a part of of the archipelago that we hadn't visited before. We were biking around and swimming at a small secluded beach.

We went to my in-laws' summer cottage by the sea last night, since it's so warm this weekend (26-30°C = 79-86°F). The pictures were taken at 23:45 (11:45 PM). The first time I woke up because of the light was at 4 am. We have better curtains at home. That's life on latitude 63"...

I recently watched a documentary about the Britney Spears conservatorship. It was so sad. It just confirmed the idea of an evil behind the system of the "Hollywood industry". Ok, the power of evil cannot have a grip on you if you don't sell your soul to the system. But for many it's about giving them an inch but they'll take a mile. Then it's too late for regret. I don't know about the state of Britney's soul, but apparently she used to belong to Christ and give him the glory. Bad things happened along the way. Sometimes we don't acknowledge that people suffer, just because they have money - as if money could buy them love or freedom. As Christians we should know better, and don't be jealous of the rich. Britney has zero control over her own money. Money that came at a high cost. A daughter to a movie star, said that her father was put under conservatorship, and her experience is that they want to keep them under their control til their death. I pray for Britney. #britneyspears

I am happy that we have Asian stores in our small town in this corner of the world called Finland. This is from our favourite, called Asian Market. Today we had dumplings for dinner, and different snacks after. We use to buy ingredients for Thai food as well. I once watched a documentary about real Chinese food in China. They said that Chinese food is much more diverse, rich and tasty than we are used to in the West. That's true for our city. I prefer the Thai restaurants here. They said in the documentary that those who start restaurants here haven't got the right education by real Chinese chefs, and usually aren't chefs at all.

Happy midsummer from Finland! 🌸🏵 We are celebrating Finnish-Swedish midsummer when the sun never sets. I know it sounds exotic for foreigners with midnight sun, but we are so used to it. It's the opposite in the winter, when the sun never rises for a couple of months above the Arctic circle. Where we live we see the pale sun for a few hours a day.

I just finished this working week and am a little exhausted. I have interviewed (on Zoom) around 80 persons that have applied to become teachers. My ratio of their total points is 25 %. I picked this bouquet of wildflowers in our neighborhood last night. I love this time of the year in Scandinavia! 🌸🌷🌼🌻

At my in-laws' summer cottage. Swimming and Finnish sauna. Most Finns love this! Pictures taken at 9.30 pm and it will be light all night! It's nice in the evening but not so nice when it's hard to fall asleep or you wake up at 4 am.

@sinbach a cousin who has lived all of her life in Sweden shared this today, and it gave me goosebumps. A song written by Lewi Pethrus, who was the leader of the Swedish pentecostal movement half a century ago. It's about God's angels protecting the borders with their swords, praying mothers, to be spared from war when the rest of the world was bleeding, the beautiful nature, and all riches of the country.

Enjoying summer after a long, cold winter and a cold springtime. Two weeks ago we had +6°C during the weekend. Since Tuesday we have had around 20-24°C everyday. Beach day today.

The crabapple trees in our garden blossom for 7-10 days. Carpe diem! I wish time could stand still.

We have celebrated my friend's daughter Jasmine today! In Finland it's a big day to get the white cap after passing the Finnish matriculation exam (upper secondary school). About half of the students choose this path after the compulsory school at the age of 16, and the other half choose an easier more practical education for a vocation. This education called gymnasium is very theoretical and a preparation for university studies. Finnish women are among the highest educated women in the world, and outnumber males in Finnish universities. Unfortunately there aren't jobs for everyone that correspond to their education.

My dear son Edvin finished grade 6 today! Great grades and proud parents. In August he will go to another school in the city. We start school at the age of 7 in Finland so he has just turned 13.

Love is more than a feeling. Great examples from the Scripture how to love. I am still learning how to love and how to receive God's love. "But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor 13:13. "Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself ." Matthew 22