Tanja @tanjaostman@dingdash.com

@MaryMamuzich 16 hours is nice! We will have it in a few weeks. Officially we have 20 hours of daylight but it doesn't get really dark right now. What's the name your city or the nearest city? I could google it...

An addition: my son (the shorter boy) and his cousin in two of the pictures.

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"...

@mariapombo beautiful! Where is it?

@sinbach You're right!

@Berrybunchfamily it seems so! They have given her dementia as a diagnosis to keep her. It's extremely unusual for a 39 year old to have dementia. And if she would have, she wouldn't remember the song lyrics and other things.

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

@Cherishingsparrows2020 on a BTJ podcast episode Eugene recommended Samsung for security reasons, since they aren't manufactured in China like lots of phones.

@sinbach looks great! We use to buy beef from local farmers that have grass fed highland cows (Scottish), that roam outdoors all year round. It tastes heavenly and it doesn't push me be to become vegetarian...

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.

@MaryMamuzich great pictures!

A prophetic song. Many of us have had broken fathers and/or mothers. The good news is that the curse is broken through the new bloodline (Jesus’), and we have a perfect Father! We don’t have to repeat the same mistakes as our earthly parents. A renewal of the mind is not always easy, because we have to actively change our way of thinking, be honest with ourselves, recognize our own brokenness, but God is willing to help us if we honestly cry out to him and he makes us new creations! It’s an ongoing work. In God’s eyes our brokenness is not a disaster, but a possibility for him to use us for his purposes. We learn empathy. He has promised a new family and blessings for all who are rejected by their families (some fathers want to kill their own children for turning from other religions to Christ). God’s heart is beating for the widows and fatherless all throughout the Bible. He is defending the weak and needy. This is what He is like!

https://youtu.be/ep1GLeeiiWE

@OneofTen Thanks for asking! The question is valid, since depression and alcoholism is a huge problem here. I have heard that they have the same problem in Alaska, that is on the same latitude. I hate the darkness a lot and want to move south every winter (but there are few places on earth as beautiful as the Nordic countries in the summer and I enjoy the snow as the light comes back)… but I am aware of my own reactions, psychologically and physiologically. It helps me not to blame different circumstances for feeling low, because he darkness messes with the brain chemistry. When we can afford it and have time, we travel south a couple of weeks during the darkest time of the winter, preferably Nov-Feb. But 2 weeks are a minimum for any effect. We have a light therapy lamp on the kitchen table. I take vit. D supplements. I rest more. I am trying to be kind to myself and don’t blame myself for lack of energy and feeling low.

@sinbach perfekt midsommar!

@Kruselady that's right!

@sinbach tack detsamma! Har din familj nordiska midsommartraditioner?

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.

@sinbach beautiful!