Animal Noises

Well I promised to write another blog before the wife and I left for our trip this week, so here it is.

Tanja and I were talking the other day and the topic moved somehow onto animal noises. Now I have heard that different countries have different 'sounds' for animals and they even made a joke about it during an episode of Family Guy. So Tanja and I had great fun laughing at the different noises Finnish and English Animals make.

 So as we know Cows go moo, Dogs go woof woof, Ducks go quack quack, Horses go neigh, Pigs go oink oink, Roosters go Cock-a-doodle-do, Sheep go Baa and Owls go hoot hoot. Well in Finland they make totally different sounds. Cows go ammuu, Dogs go hau hau, Ducks go kvaak kvaak, Horses go ihahaa, Pigs go röh röh, Roosters go kukkokiekuu, Sheep go mää mää and Owls go huhuu. So as you can see completely different.

On Sunday I cooked for the Family as Tanja's Brother Jani is going away on his Mission this week. So her mother asked would I cook and could I do Lamb. I made a Roast Lamb dinner that I marinaded for two days with Rosemary, Lemon and Garlic and slow cooked for three and a half hours, it was so gorgeous, very tender. I accompanied it with Roast Potatoes, mashed carrot and turnip, home made stuffing balls and Gravy.  We also had Salad, Various breads, Cheese, smoked Salmon, Ham and Salami. Only in Finland can you possible get a roast dinner with Salad and bread. It went down well with everyone who ate. One of the best things about it was her Grandma ate, I had been told that her Grandma cooks for others and not the other way round very often, so I was pleased with myself. For dessert I made Sticky Toffee Pudding and we also had Ritva's Winter Dream (It is cream, rahka, domino biscuits and caramel sauce. Very nice). By the end of the meal we were all stuffed, so stuffed that I couldn't even think about a bowl of Mämmi, which is a Easter dessert made with malted rye and molasses, which I enjoy but not many others I have met do.

I got some good news on Friday, I got my Registration papers back from the Police. So I officially have a Right of Residence in Finland which is great news. That is stage 1 of 3 completed to become fully registered in Finland.

So now, we are just sorting out what things to pack to take on our trip to Helsinki and Stockholm. We both cannot wait to go on the mini cruise but we also know that by the end of the trip Jani will be a missionary and we won't see him for 2 years. He will be missed by all but he will have a good time in the UK and he will benefit from it, as I am sure we will all learn from his experience.

So I will write with pictures etc from our trip when I get back. So until then have Superfun my friends.