Travelog for: Porridge

i just visited the park today!

Hi! I visited a park today, where I got stuck in a hedge- pictures will follow!
,
Porridge

Hi Mom!

It's me, Porridge.

I arrived in Finland today. I was so curious to see this new place, that I sneeked out of my envelope.



"Oh, hello! Who are you? I'm Mervi, your hostmom here in Finland. I'm sure we will have so great time here! It's so nice to have you here, I was waiting for you."
"Hi! I'm a newbie ToyVoyager hippo. My name is Porridge, and I come from Germany."
"Welcome to Finland, Porridge! I will take good care of you. And I have many ideas, what we can do here while your visit."


"You can come out of the envelope now!" hostmom said to me.


Hurray! I dont have to be in that envelope anymore.


I feel so welcome here. Some of hostmom's toys came to introduced themselves. It was nice to have friends.


I asked my hostmom to tell me, where we are exactly. She smiled and show me the map of Finland. She told me, that we are now in town named Jyväskylä. It's a nice town in Central-Finland, and there's about 130 000 inhabitants in this city.



Mom look, the city where I am now, it's there. Just where the red spot is. Just in the middle of Finland.



Kisses and hugs to you, Mom!
Everything is fine here.

Porridge
xxx

Hi Mom,

Today was very fun day!

First, my hostmom said that I will need something warm clothes, because we are going to do some nice things today. She didn't tell me, what we are going to do, she wanted to keep that in secret. 

Ooooh, I will going to have a surprise!  What would it be? I have no clue about it... She said I would need warm clothes... hmm... Are we going to somewhere? Somewhere cold place?
I'm sooooo exited! Just can't wait!

Then hostmom asked me to pick 2 colours from all these strings:



It was quite difficult to choose only two. But I finally decided these:



And then hostmom told me what we are going to do at first. We would make me a scarf and a skicap. She told me that I'm going to need them when we are going to outside.
Well, I asked hostmom to teach me chrocheting, and I learned it quite fast.



And this is the result. Do I look nice?





Hostmom said I look very cute. And she also said I'm ready to go outside. Hurray! I'm going to see some snow!!!

Hostmom's own travelling toy kitten Luna came with us. It was nice to have company. We walked little bit, and then we stopped. I was wondering, why we stopped, why we won't go forward...? But then hostmom couldn't help herself, and started laughing, and told that
we are going to make a snowman!!!
Wow!!! That must be fun!!! I haven't ever before do a snowman, so I was really exited!

Me and Luna was thinking that this place looks the perfect place to make a snowman.



Yeah, this place is good for that.



It was really hard work to roll on such a BIG snowballs.



The body is ready, but snowman's head must be put to the right place...
Uuhg, snowman's head is so heavy!
Someone please come and help me with this thing... 



Luna came to help me...



...and together we managed to put snowman's head in the right place.



And then it's time to put snowman's hands.







Then we put the hat...



...and a scarf...



...and I made snowman's face.



Oh, how nice! The snowman is ready! We did it! 





Luna was in funny mood. He climbed to sit on the snowman's nose!!! 



I wanted to try it, too. It looked so funny!
But when I was on the snowman's nose, I decided try to do something wild. I would go on the snowman's head! ha haa! 



Hurray! I did it! I climbed on the snowman! Look Mom, I'm here! 



It was fun!!! 

* * *

When I was back inside, I wanted something warm drink. So, I made a tea for myself.



Mmmmmmm... it smells good! 



Hostmom's cat came to help me, and he took off the teabag from the cup. How nice cat he is! Thank you for helping me!





And then it's time to relax, and enjoy the cup of tea. 



bye,
Porridge
xxx

Hi Mom,

Today we got some company. 

First, we were thinking, what is that envelope...



Then we saw a small tiger coming out of the envelope. She said her name is Sylvia and she comes from Germany. 





I gave her a welcome hug.



And we all became friends!



It's so nice to have other ToyVoyagers here.

Lots of love,
Porridge
xxx

Hello mommy,

I was outside today, too. It was just a little visit in fresh air.

Mom, look! It's still so snowy here! Snow has already started to melt away, but there's still lots of it here. Great!

This is the house, where I'm living right now. My hostmom's home is there in the 2nd floor.



My hostmom lives just next to the small lake. The lake is still frozen, but I didn't go walk on the ice, just in case, it might not be safe anymore. Spring is here.





Look, there were some boats there.





Look, there's a place for downhill skiing and ski jumping there just the opposite side of the lake.



Mom, can you see me? Where I am?



Was it difficult to find me?

Well, now it would be easier to see me... Can you see me now?



I'm toooooop of the snooooow mountaaaain!!! La la lal lal laa... (I'm singing)



Hih, I like climbing.

Can you see me here? Maybe I can say you a little clue: I'm not on the ground. You must look up...



Well, here you can see me for sure! I asked my hostmom to come closer with her camera...



...and little more closer...



...and still little more...



hi hii...

bye,
Porridge
xxx

Hi mom,

I went outside today, too. Sylvia were there, too. We saw this funny, but very lovely sign. Do you like it, too?



Hostmom showed some places located near her home.



But then, we all get hungry, and we decided to go back inside.
But mom, the refrigerator was totaly EMPTY. Can you believe it, mom?



What can we eat now? We don't have any food...

Well, hostmom said it's time to go shop and buy some food. So, we all went to the car, and hostmom drove to the shop.





This is the place where we are going to buy some food.



Inside the building there's a police car, and I drive it. Cool! 
"Bevare all thiefs, here comes the police-Porridge!"





Mom, hey, MOM!!! Can you believe this? There's a big cow just next to milk products there. Wow! 





And guess what I found, too? I found other hippos!!! 
It's just little shame, they were not real living ones... 



After we came home from the shop, the refrigerator looks much better.  Now we can eat something.



Love and kisses,
Porridge

THIS IS FOR YOU, MOM!!!



   

I played with snow today. 

First, I made a snowangel.







...and then just other snow plays







It was really FUN!!! 


Love,
Porridge

Hi mom,

I was helping my hostmom to prepare Easter, we sow some Easter Grass.



First I put some soil...



...and then some seeds of Easter Grass...



...and then more soil...



...and then was time for water. All must be wet.



It's ready. Let's hope the Easter Grass will grow fast.

Hugs,
Porridge
xxx

Hello mom,

Today I had very exiting day!

Hostmom told me that today we do something very special. She showed me a book, and told me that pictures and texts in that book is a clue for what we are going to do. How exiting! I was wondering, why hostmom showed me the book of heart disease? Are we going to see a doctor? Or is hostmom sick? I asked those questions from her, and she started to smile, and said that no, she isn't sick, and we are not going to see a doctor. I was so confused... What are we going to do today? Something related to heart, but what would it be?





Hostmom said we must eat something before doing the thing what she has planned for today.  We will need energy to keep going. And we would need that energy. So, I decided to cook porridge.



I will cook porridge in milk, because it tastes better in that way.



Well, there's enough to cook little porridge... I think...



...just adding them into milk.



...and mixing them well together.



...add little bit of salt. And it's ready.



I like my porridge with strawberry jam.



...and finally I can taste it. 



Ooooh, I'm so full!!! I ate all.



   
GONGRATULATIONS PORRIDGE, YOU JUST GOT 2 OF YOUR LIFE MISSIONS COMPLETED!!! 
   



After eating porridge, hostmom said it's time to go. We would go to the hospital. I was wondering why we are going to the centralhospital... 
Then hostmom told me she is a nurse in profession, and she will take me to her workplace today. How awesome is that? Wow!

This is the hospital, where my hostmom works today. It's not the main door.



Now we all are ready. Hostmom has changed her clothes. Now we are going to take care of patients who has heart diseases.



How cool is that? There's some EKGs there.





And a stetoscope



Here is my hostmom in working. Can you see me? Just take a look hostmom's front pocket.



Now I'm tired. The day was long, and so exiting.

I'm going to sleep now...

See you soon, mom!

Love and kisses,
Porridge
xxx

Hi mom,

Today I was helping my hostmom about her postcrossing hobby.
She aloud me to pick postcards to send someone.



I wrote the addresses of the receivers...



...and clued stamps...



...and priority stickers, too.



And offcourse I dropped them into the mailbox.



That was fun!

bye,
Porridge
xxx

Mom hello,

Guess what I did also today?
I visited in 2 small islands!!!

And guess what? I didn't swim or fly to the island, I walked to there!!!

Hostmom was thinking, that because there's several people are skiing on the lake, the ice must be enough strong to walk. So, we walked on the ice of the lake. It was sunny day, but the wind was quite strong.



This is the first island where we are going:



Now we are in the island. It's time to see landcapes and take a little brake. And just enjoy!



Mom, I'm here! Sitting on the end of the pier. Can you see me?
I'm just thinking that I could go to swim, if it'd be summer...





Mom, can you see that other small island?
Guess what? We will go there next! I can visit another small island!!! 



Sitting and relaxing in this second island.









Now it's time go back.
In this picture you can see the white house (behind those trees). There's my hostmom's home. She lives so close to this lake.



While walking on the ice I noticed this weird thing.
I went to closer to see, what it is.
My hostmom told me, that there has been a hole in the ice, and through the hole some humans are fishing.
I looked through the hole, but it was already frozen, and I didn't see any fish there.





Mom, in this picture you can see both small islands where I visited. First one was the island in right side of the photo, and second island was the smaller one in left side of the photo.



When we were back inside, hostmom showed from the map, where those islands are located.
And mom, look those small arrows, and you can see where exactly we were walking.





and same maps, but satellite maps






Love,
Porridge
xxx

Mom hi,

Today we got some company here! Small ToyVoyager sheep Mo arrived here.







I gave him a welcome hug.



And there we are, small travelling friends, all together.



We have a little party. It's a welcome party for Mo, but we also celebrate completed life missions of me and Sylvia tiger. We both got one or two life missions completed here! How cool is that! 



And here I am. Happy and celebrating my completed life missions: making and eating porridge.



I was outside today, too. There was snowing hard all day long.








Lots of love,
Porridge
xxx

Hi mom,

Guess what? We got company also today! Cute ToyVoyager Tokki came here from Canada. This is also his very first journey abroud, as like mine. So we have something common.



And here I am, giving a welcome hug for Tokki.



Today we all decided to play little in the climbing tree of hostmom's cat. It was really fun! Cat came to play with us, too. 















Then we all hear something weird sound from outside. We wanted to know, where that sound comes from. So, we all went to see trough the window...
...and we saw a big car, who removes snow.
Awwww, we all stared that big car.     







Oh no, hostmom's car is under the snow... We must do something about it... hmmmm... We all were thinking, how we can solve this problem. 

We decided to go outside and clean hostmom's car out of the snow.
Here I am, cleaning the car:



I'm so exited about tomorrow! Hostmom told me she has something very special plans for tomorrow. What it might be? Just can't wait! 

Lots of love,
Porridge
xxx

Hello mom,

I had a wonderful day! Guess what my hostmom has planned for today?
I can come with her in a postcrossing meeting. Wow, I meet new Finnish people there, and chatting with them, and offcourse write many postcards.
(Mom, keep on eye in YOUR mailbox! )

The meeting was in Harjun Paperi, the wonderful little postcard shop in this town. You can see from the following pictures, that I had really good time there! 


As you can see, there's something little to eat (pizza, Karelian pies, cookies, chocolate eggs etc.) 





Here I am, eating a Karelian Pie with egg-butter. It's something really Finnish thing. It was good!


The Wikipedia tells this about Karelian pies:
Karelian pasties or Karelian pies (South Karelian dialect of Finnish: karjalanpiirakat, singular karjalanpiirakka; North Karelian dialect of Finnish: karjalanpiiraat, singular karjalanpiiras; Karelian: kalitt, singular kalittoa; Olonets Karelian: šipainiekku) are traditional pasties from the region of Karelia. Today they are eaten throughout Finland.

The oldest traditional pasties usually had a rye crust, but the North Karelian and Ladoga Karelian variants also had wheat alongside of rye to improve the baking characteristics of the available rye breads. The common fillings of this era were barley and talkkuna. The 19th century first introduced potato and buckwheat as new fillings, and later due to trade, also rice and millet.

Nowadays in the most familiar and common recipe the pasties are made from a thin rye crust with a filling of rice. Butter, often mixed with boiled egg (egg butter or munavoi), is spread over the hot pasties before eating.


And here I am, drinking milk.



Then it's time to write some postcards





Mom look, how cute Easter things and postcards there was!!!










Can you see me, mom?




Riding a bike, hi hiiii!!!! 


Look mom! 
There's flowers in shoes!!! 


Here are we all toys. They are my friends!






Love,
Porridge
xxx