Directors Bitter at Crooklets Inn
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

When you’re staying with my Dad, you end up drinking a lot of these! (Not just Directors, but Worthington’s Cream Flow and lots of interesting real ales).

Creosoting the shed
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

I’m on holiday in Bude, Cornwall, visiting my Dad. Dad really knows how to entertain his visitors – here I’m creosoting his shed!

Coffee at Hakaniementori
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

Jyjy called me on Saturday morning and proposed meeting for coffee at Hakaniemi market square. I had coffee and a pancake. It was a gloriously bright sunny day, and it felt great to sit outside in the sun. You wouldn’t believe it was -5°C!

Sailing suit
Originally uploaded by epoyhonen.

Eve was trying on her new sailing suit too – looks like it fits her OK. It has a thick fleece jacket zipped inside it, so it should be plenty warm enough when she’s sitting in the boat on its first trips of the season.

Next summer our boat will be here
Originally uploaded by epoyhonen.

Last Sunday Eve & I went for another walk on the ice. This photo shows where our H-boat will be moored in the summer – as you can see we can’t sail it there quite yet!

Eve & I were very pleased when we discovered that we’d been assigned a mooring place on this jetty: it’s just 5 minutes’ walk from our flat, and easy for our friends to find too.

Sailor suit
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

This last week I’ve been a few times to the Helsinki Boat Show, getting bits and pieces for the boat. Today I bought my sailing suit: a jacket and tall trousers with shoulder-straps. I already have my sailing boots and gloves: all ready now to go sailing! Except that you can still stand on the sea ice where our boat is going to be moored…

Yacht mooring
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

We went to check our newly-assigned mooring place at Merihaka sailing club. Our H-boat will be moored in front of where Eve is standing – just five minutes’ walk from our flat.

Halo
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

Eve & I went for a walk on the ice near Kaivopuisto: here I’m just to seaward of Harakka. It’s been a lovely day, and the lack of wind made the -15C temperatures quite comfortable.

Christmas tree
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

Michael came round and helped Eve decorate our Christmas tree, while I was working on icing the Christmas cake. Then we got out the ‘interesting’ beers and whiskies, and talked and talked and talked. We got out my copies of Robert Herrick’s Select Poems and Palgrave’s Golden Treasury and read a few poems together, Michael specializing in pronounding Burns’ Scottish poems.

I always enjoy reading poetry out loud: the challenge is to read the words so fluently that they sound completely natural, even if the language is that of 400 years ago. Back when I was studying Finnish a dozen years ago, we used to go to a bar after the Thursday evening lesson, and I’d always get out my copy of Palgrave’s Golden Treasury and pass it around for each to read a poem in turn. It was a lot of fun – I’m sure the others will still remember.

Mimosa
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

It’s traditionally bad luck to change a boat’s name; on the other hand, neither Eve nor I really like the name ‘Mimosa’, and as you can see it looks like the name’s letters (and grey dolphins!) were cut out by a previous owner’s child.

I think it would be nice to name our boat after one of the ancient Greek sea nymphs, the Oceanids and Nereids. Most of the names are pretty wierd by today’s tastes; two which seem suitable are Electra and Doris (Doris was a popular name in England around the start of the 20th century and sounds sort of old-fashioned; I had a great-aunt called Doris).