The results of the annual ranking, developed by the Legatum Institute of 104 countries, were published a while ago. The Legatum Prosperity Index takes into account several factors such as wealth, economic growth, personal wellbeing, and quality of life. Finland, my home country, topped the list of the 2009 report. ( You can read more about Legatum Prosperity Index in Wikipedia ).

I was slightly amused to read The Daily Mail's article on the subject.
The Daily Mail wrote the following = ”Finland, which is famed for its snow and igloos, topped the survey. The Scandinavian country boasts universal health care, superb air quality, low crime rates and one of the most competitive economies in the world. ”
Firstly, Igloos are not typical for Finland, but were originally built by the Inuit and were predominantly constructed by people of Canada's Central Arctic and Greenland's Thule area. ( About igloos in Wikipedia ).
There is an igloo village in Kakslauttanen's area, in Saariselkä as the picture in the article showed, but they are there purely for tourism purposes. They are trying to offer new experiences. ( You can read about Kakslauttanen's igloo village here ).
Secondly, you might get the impression that there's snow in Finland the whole year round. There isn't. We are only now about to get the this year's first snow here in the Western Finland. (It is snowing a bit, right now, outside.)
And before anyone asks, we don't have polar bears here, either .

The Top 5 Countries were =
Finland
Switzerland
Sweden
Denmark and
Norway



My Realistic people-articles:
'Realistic people I'
'Realistic people II'
'Realistic people III'
'Realistic people IV'
'Realistic people V - a synopsis'
More wonderful traditional portraits you can see in my collection here =
'Traditional Portraits'



The clubs I'm in =




My newest watchers =

Thank you so much for the (over) 10.000 pageviews .

I'm sorry I have been uploading so many pictures and probably have filled the mailboxes of some of you, but you might be relieved to hear, that I have finally submitted all the photos I intend to, from my and Behemoth81's trip to Sweden and Norway. Thank you for your patience.




My Realistic people-articles:
'Realistic people I'
'Realistic people II'
'Realistic people III'
'Realistic people IV'
'Realistic people V - a synopsis'
More wonderful traditional portraits you can see in my collection here =
'Traditional Portraits'



The clubs I'm in =




My newest watchers =

I just came back from Sweden and Norway a couple of days ago!
Oh, the views in Norway are amazing. And the roads!

Me and Behemoth81 wanted to see the Sognefjord; the largest fjord in Norway, so we went to Sweden on a cruise ship (Turku-Stockholm) and then drove through Sweden and all the way to the fjords.
The water's colour is amazingly turquoise. I heard it was because of the melting waters that stream down from the glaciers. In the higher areas there was also still some snow. (I had to play with it a little.)
Most of the cows and the sheep wondered freely around and then you had to wait for them to pass you on the roads .
I loved them. I also loved the fjord horses. Such sturdy-legged animals.


Most nights we spent in little cabins or rooms, but we also slept in our tent and spent one night in the car... That wasn't the best of our nights .


It will take a LONG time for me to go through all the pictures, but after I'm done, I'll upload some for you to see, also .




My Realistic people-articles:
'Realistic people I'
'Realistic people II'
'Realistic people III'
'Realistic people IV'
'Realistic people V - a synopsis'


The clubs I'm in =





My newest watchers =


Thank you all so very much for the over 9000 pageviews .

The heading says it, by and large.
I had a five days leave for the Labor Day (the May Day) and since my goddaughter's birthday is on 30th of April, I headed for the southwestern parts of the country.
The party was on sunday, so on saturday me, Behemoth81 and my parents went to our summer cottage. Everything went fine except for one thing...
When we were about to leave, while stepping to the boat, my father somehow strained his ankle and swayed. The whole boat fell over.
It was lucky no-one got hit by the boat or the oars.
There is over ten metres deep at the end of our pier. The fall of the sea bed is very precipitous there.
Well, it was a shock to suddenly find yourself in the cold seawater, with your clothes on (my jeans started to feel pretty heavy). I struggled to the shore and climbed to the pier.
When the relief of realizing that everyone was okay started to pass, there came the woe of the lost things. Suddenly it came to my mind, that our bags might still be floating under the boat, which was still upside-down and I jumped back to the water and turned the boat (can you believe it?! Just like that! Must have been the adrenaline). And there they were.
Unluckily the seawater, which has a very corrosive effect, had already distroyed our cameras and cellphones.
I feel really sorry for Behemoth81 , because I know he had saved for his new Canon SX10 for a whole year. He isn't a fan of swimming, by the way, so it wasn't really a picnic for him.
Afterwards everything started to feel slightly amusing, when we collected all the dry clothes we could find from our gottage. The repertory was very street-credible .






'Realistic people I'
'Realistic people II'
'Realistic people III'
'Realistic people IV'
'Realistic people V - a synopsis'


The clubs I'm in =




My newest watchers =

Thank you all so very much .