Christmas celebrations

For this year, Christmas is over again. All greetings and presents have been exchanged, all Christmas food is eaten and lots of time spent with the family.

Here are some photos of the celebrations.

Christmas with friends:

Photo: Each Christmas, we gather to Pille's place. This time, it was 19th of December

Christmas with my family

Photo: Celebrations with my brother's family and my mom

Photo: I and my niece Lisanne (1 year and 2 months old)

Photo: Lisanne is a cheerful girl!

Photo: Lisanne making her dancing moves...

Christmas with Erik's family

Photo: Our Christmas Eve dinner table

Photo: The Christmas tree

Photo: Erik's nieces Anna and Emily (3 years old)

Photo: Our family picture at Christmas + Erik's niece Anna

Photo: Time to exchange presents!

Photo: The end of the party - all tired and comfortably resting on the couch - I, Martin, Erik and Helen

Photo: The family photo on Christmas Eve

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Like snowflakes,

the Christmas memories gather and dance -

each beautiful, unique

and too soon gone...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Walkaround in Tallinn Old Town

Today, I and Kristi had our small Christmas party and this year, in a café in the centre of Tallinn. Afterwards, when it snowed so very beautifully, we took a walk in Tallinn Old Town and went to see the main Christmas tree in the Town Hall Square as well as the Christmas market. It was really like in a fairytale!

I only had my little camera with me, so the pictures cannot show all the beauty...

All I can say is that "ESTONIA IS READY FOR CHRISTMAS!"

Photo: Viru Gates - the entrance to the Old Town

Photo: Our Town Hall and the main tree

Photo: Christmas market in the snow (already closed at that late time when we went there)

Photo: Houses in the Old Town

Photo: I sitting in the bench of Tammsaare Park

Photo: Tammsaare Park

Xmas cards made by my friends

Each year, I get some really lovely Christmas cards made by my friends.

This year, I have received four lovely cards which I'd like to show here. I know that Christmas will be here only in the end of next week, so I'm sure I'll get some more lovely self-made cards! I'm grateful for all friends who take time to make something special!

Photo: Christmas card from my friend Martina (Austria)

Photo: Christmas card from my friend Annette (Norway)

Photo: Christmas card from my friend Birgit (Austria)

Photo: Christmas card from my friend Pille (Estonia)

Christmas with colleagues

Yesterday, we celebrated Christmas together with the colleagues. The party took place an hour from Tallinn and about 100 people took part of it (it was the Christmas party for Econimics Faculty only).

It's the funniest party we have ever had with our co-workers. All people enjoyed it, we danced a lot, had so many different activities, also many performers (folk dancers, local fire fighters dancing club, singers, choir, live band) and even our own band (just for fun)!

Photo: The Band "TTY Wild" made of my colleagues. By the way, the singer is the only Afro-American professor we are having in our faculty (and maybe the whole university)!

Photo: The people in our faculty Photo: My room-mate Marina and I, and our secretary in our party

It's snowing! :)

It has been snowing quite nicely during the weekend and has brought the Christmas feeling to my heart. I keep fingers crossed that this year, we will enjoy the beauty of white Christmas...

Photo: A fragment of our village today afternoon

My very first photo award

PHOTO: "Longing" - photo by Karin. Special prize in "Estonian Nature Photo" Contest 2009.

On Thursday, I had a very special moment in my life - I went to Tartu town to the official ceremony of "Estonian Nature Photo" Contest 2009 to get my very first award in photographing! My fox photo had won a special prize in this 2nd largest nature photo competition! I was so surprised by it and of course, also very, very happy. I have never won anything before and sure it's not that easy to win in big competitions where thousands of photos have been sent and many of them, taken by the professional photographers. So it was absolutely wonderful to get the award among all those professional photographers and once, in my life, feel that I had made a photo which makes a difference!

The photo won the prize because it has a new perceptive - tells a story much better without showing the fox' babies face. Another photographer in the Nature photographer's Society told what emotions he felt while looking at my photo:

"This fox baby is either longing for her mom, dreaming about a chance to go over the gulf to take a trip to Sweden, takes sun from the warmth of the stone or misses her brothers and sisters who might have been killed under the wheels of vechiles"

You can read some more evaluations in the Looduspilt webpage where the photo has been up for a while, too - http://www.looduspilt.ee/?page=pilt&id=29406

Some photos of the final award ceremony:

Photo by Meelis Kalev

In the same contest, Erik's moose photo was awarded with the special prize of Estonian Hunters. Congratulations to him, too, as this is also his first award. :)

PHOTO: "Are we going to buck with our horns?" - photo by Erik, Special Price of "Estonian Hunter", Estonian Nature Photo Contest 2009

Preparing for Christmas

Yesterday, I took the whole day to make Christmas cards... I was inspired by ethno and ornament styles, and I really enjoyed my time in the middle of all decoration staff. Alltogether, I made around 30 cards, so watch out - something may pop to your mailbox as well! ;)

Since I do not want to ruin the surprise, then I will introduce the cards when Christmas is over and the greetings have reached their destination.