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| A well organised game of mölkky |
Vappu is the traditional Finnish 1st May festivity, but because of our fortnightly school sessions it's rare that we manage to celebrate it on the actual date. And it's Manchester. The stereotype is that it rains all the time, which just isn't true. But at this time of year the weather is often 'changeable' (or some such euphemism) and we've not been able to do anything at all, except a desultory escape to the pub.
(Remember, click on a picture to see it larger)
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| Get over here! Group photo! |
So, our nearest possible date was 6 May, and after school we headed across Sale to
Worthington Park, to the corner with lots of picnic tables. The weather... It was sunny and warm the day before, and would be pleasant again a couple of days later, but you'll notice lots of warm tops in the pictures. Thankfully it didn't rain, and we probably decamped sooner than we might have done. Pity. But Heidi and Lawrence brought a mini barbecue (and some very nice
sima) and everyone was grateful for that. In fact it was a very popular place to stand.
You know, I don't know why I'm making it sound like Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole. This year's
Vappu was pretty successful - see how many people turned up! And there were quite a few others who didn't happen to get into these pictures. I'm waiting to see some more pics, like the one Anna was taking here over on the right, maybe on Facebook some time.
Worthington Park is an attractive place, as I hope you can see. It's big enough so that even on a fine Saturday there's enough room for us. And not just to have a picnic, but to spread out and maybe enjoy a game of
mölkky or
pesäpallo. We have the equipment for both those games by the way. No
pesäpallo (Finnish baseball - from what I've seen of the US and Finnish varieties, the Finnish form of the game has a lot going for it) this time around, but we've often organised it in the past, and if there are enough people interested at the same time, we'll set it up again in the future, and not just for Vappu. So - our little Vappu picnic this year was actually pretty good. We had a lovely friendly family atmosphere - mission accomplished, as they say.
You know, I don't know why I'm making it sound like Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole. This year's Vappu was pretty successful - see how many people turned up! And there were quite a few others who didn't happen to get into these pictures. I'm waiting to see some more pics, like the one Anna was taking here over on the right, maybe on Facebook some time.