It has been an exceptional winter
in Southern Finland. First, the winter was so mild that there was no snow on the
Kemiö Island and the sea was barely frozen. Then in February, it was rainy, and
Annie even found small new chanterelles in the woods. The nature was still in
late autumn. The forest didn't get the usual snow cover. 
Secondly, after the dense rain and fog, the sun appeared and
suddenly, in early March, the ice melted and the sea was all open. It was full spring – birds were twittering, flies and wasps were buzzing, and the trees and bushes were pushing buds. The first ones to burst into flowers will be the cherry trees.The sun was absolutely shocking - to bright even with sun glasses.
On Saturday, people were already playing golf at the Meri-Teijo golf course. So, it seems we've missed three winter months here.
Some of the herbs are already green, like thyme and sage. I let them grow, because, being on a diet and 100 days without any wine or other alcohol, we didn't cook much. We brought some ready meals with max. 300 calories. Boring, boring....The island is still kind of sleeping, I didn’t see one single person or animal during my 6 km Nordic walking track. Our Fisherman neighbor in the red cottage had, however, put the fishnets in the sea, which indicates that somebody has been near by.
During two weekends I have
been cutting the shoots from five old apple trees. A couple of old branches had to be removed, and it succeeded quite well with a pruning hook. Of course, with my technique the sawing took some time, but I am proud of the result. It also kind of irritates the men who prefer watching tv or waiting for a better moment to do this kind of work.There is not much more you can do in the garden at this point – there can still be ‘takatalvi’, late winter with snow and frost. If that happens in April, I don’t know how the birds, who have flown all the way from Africa and built their nests here, will survive.
