Sunshine!

The Sun is really important here, as is anything that is scarce. When I see the sun coming up I position myself to catch rays. We had the same thing in Seattle but I didn't heed it. The "drop everything and get outside the sun is showing itself" rule. Wisconsin isn't as bad because when there is snow it reflects a lot of light (even inside) and that satisfies.

So despite the fact that I am having a hard time seeing the screen, I have positioned myself so the sun if full in my face through the window. Soon I will get out and walk around, as I can't stand the thought of "wasting" the light!

We went to the store yesterday to check out full spectrum lights, thankfully we found a salesperson who understood what we wanted, a full spectrum light bulb. They only have the lamps, that you set up and look at or have in your workspace, not just a bulb as we do in the states. Now I will try to find a bulb with 6800K (Kelvin) light. Will have to talk to my supplier back home, this could be a niche to fill. 

Louise asked about the food here. So far everything tastes very, very good. The apples and pears have flavor, so too the bananas which are usually fair trade.  On the few occasions that we ate out the Italian food was superb, the sauces for the pasta soft and light, not bitter the way tomatoes can be.  We had Chinese food once, in the mall in Helsinki and that was fresh and tasty too. To save money we are eating at home, I will need to learn new recipes! Hope to bring back some new ways to cook things. 

One of the things that are different for us here is the fact that Europe bans the use of antibiotics and hormones when raising animals. So we can eat them here without having to go to a specialty store (love you Just Local!) as we do at home.

Thankfully there is a small grocery store across the street, they were even open on Christmas day so we could replenish supplies, we were worried about not having access to a store for Christmas and Boxing Day. 

The city was very quiet for those two days, no buses almost no cars. Just people walking their dogs! Lot's of dogs here!! We are missing ours and have now been put in touch with a lady who has Husky and would enjoy sharing her dog with us. Looking forward to that!!