decem for “ten”. December was the tenth month in the Roman calendar until a monthless winter period was divided between January and February, according to Wikipedia. In Finnish, December is called joulukuu, meaning “month of Christmas”, since about the 18th century. Earlier it was called talvikuu, meaning “month of winter”. (Joulu is similar to “Jule”).

I finished printing my Christmas cards today! Now I will be starting the annual letter writing marathon, first with letters to family and friends in Finland and other places in the world, gradually narrowing down to the long list in North America. I will post the card here closer to Christmas as a virtual card to you, dear readers, so please be patient! But just to tease you, above is a tiny section of it.

When I came home and checked my emails, I learned that Finnish-American blogger sananlaskija (speaker of proverbs) has posted some of my works on her fairly new blog, with some lovely words about my Finnish roots and how that heritage appears in my work! I have been reading her little stories of Finnish traditions and proverbs from the viewpoint of an emigré, as a kind of a sentimental journey for me, recalling my youth and how my parents tried to continue some of the old traditions in the New World. Finnish readers will enjoy her snippets of life in the US and her photos of her quilting and felting projects and her garden. Thanks for introducing me to your readers, Sananlaskija, I’m honoured to be on your lovely blog pages! I wish you much enjoyment with this new project of a blog!

Oh, and thanks to ionarts for the complement on my “snowlace”! If you don’t already read this blog, go over there now – it’s on the top of my daily blog trawl for great articles on music and visual arts!