Jack’s Walk

I’m still in Toronto without Jack and although I miss him, I’m secretly smiling that I don’t have to take him out for a walk. The weather around here just keeps going from bad to worse. Yesterday we had snow and today we’re having a blizzard. The forecast for next week is no better with continued temperatures below zero and more snow to come. Again, ugh!

April Blizzard

April Blizzard

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M Is For Mattolaituri.

Mattolaituri.

Mattolaituri can be translated as carpet-washing pier. It is a tradition in Finland to wash carpets, especially the ubiquitous rag rugs in lakes, rivers or the sea, usually with tall oil soap, in the summer.

The practice is a bit controversial as the detergents are water pollutants. Myself, I’ve washed my carpets on the floor of the laundry room in my apartment building, but I as a kid I was often with my mom or grandma when they were washing carpets in a river.

In the bonus picture, a carpet press and beams for letting the carpets dry can be seen. The press cuts the drying time significantly.

Tall oil is a by-product of chemical pulping, along with turpentine. Tall is Swedish for pine. In the dominant kraft pulp process, the non-volatile resin and fatty acids of wood (especially pine or birch) form crude tall oil soap with the cooking chemicals (white liquor) and the soaps can be separated from the spent cooking liquor (black liquor), purified and the fatty acids used for making soap.

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Jack’s Walk

Jack is walking with his daddy today because I am in the big city of Toronto visiting a friend. I thought I would share a quick photo of Front Street in the heart of the city. On the left is the main transportation hub, Union Station where trains of several sorts come and go all day. On the right is a Canadian Classic, The Royal York Hotel built in 1927. In the center on the left is Citigroup Place and on the right is Simcoe Place. Me, I prefer the old classical buildings.

Front Street, Toronto

Front Street, Toronto

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L Is For Landmark.

Landmark.

This building is a landmark of the pastel-coloured Pikku Huopalahti residential area in Helsinki, close to downtown. The building, called Terassitalo (Terrace house) was completed in 1994. The area was built between 1986 and 2000 and it’s named after the narrow bay touching the area.

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Jack’s Walk

I think someone forgot to give Mother Nature the memo that it’s springtime. Yesterday we had a blizzard and today it continues to snow off and on. The temperature is hovering around -5 and everywhere I go people are grumbling. Jack and I decided to go to the park this morning and even the ducks and geese seemed out of sorts. Over at the frog pond the water is still frozen and there isn’t a single thing even close to blooming. What few bulbs that had poked their heads up have come no further. I don’t blame them. If not for Jack, I wouldn’t be outside today either.

Frog Pond

Frog Pond

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K Is For Käytöstä poistettu.

Käytöstä poistettu.

Finnish for “no longer in use”. The pictures are from spring 2017 and taken in the Vallilanlaakso park (in English: Vallila Valley). This is what was left of the one-track unelectrified railway to the port in Sörnäinen. The port facilities were relocated to Vuosaari in the southeastern corner of Helsinki and the rails and sleepers had been removed and junked. The tunnel leads to Pasila railyard and railway station, where various shunting operations for the trains from the port were done.

The port areas in Helsinki peninsula, apart from passenger and vehicle terminals for car ferries, high-speed passenger ferries and cruise ships to Sweden, Russia and Estonia are now in the process of being redeveloped into residential areas. This process has resulted in two railways becoming “käytöstä poistettu”.

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