Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and Phobos is reading the Night Before Christmas to the little ones. Deimos is hanging around and trying to look uninterested but I think he wants to hear the story, too.

Fruit cake

This is the time for baking a fruit cake for Christmas. Niks and Naks wanted to participate.


Niks: Are you sure we have all the ingredients?

Naks: Yes, but we must taste everything to be sure that they are of high quality.

Niks: They look good enough to me...

Naks: I think these cherries must be tasted very thoroughly. You can taste half of them...

Outsider: You are not tasting the cherries, they are needed for the cake!


Niks: Finally the cake is in the oven.

Naks: Now comes the best part...

Niks: ... we can lick the bowls and utensils!


Niks: The cake is ready and it looks delicious!

Naks: Can we eat it all...

Deimos: I would like a little, too.

Niks: I did not know demons like cake.

Deimos: People seldom give little demons any cake. They think we only eat frogs and bats and spiders...

Outsider: You can taste a little, but not the whole cake!


Niks: Aaah, this is so good!

Naks: Definitely!

Deimos: I wish people would give more often little demons some cake.

Black and white

Deimos got so intrigues by the ice monsters Sampo saw yesterday that he wanted to go out and see them too. It snowed a bit this morning, so the effect is not quite the same any more, but the pictures captured some of the blue light so typical of this time of the year when the days are short and the sun is low and it is hard to say when the day begins and when it ends - especially if it is cloudy.

There is now snowy frosting on the icy trees.


Deimos finds the blue light and the icy trees fascinating.


The ice monster now has snow whiskers - or is frothing at the mouth.


Ice, snow and blue light - and a little demon.


This bush has long icicle claws and snow fur.

Ice

The temperature has dropped below freezing, but it takes a long time before the big lakes freeze. When the wind blows hard towards the shore, the trees get loaded with icicles.



Little Sampo wanted to climb the icy trees, but they are very slippery and it was pretty hard to stay on the tree.


The huge icicle is as tall as little Sampo.


A huge ice monster - but Sampo is not afraid.


Even weeds are encrusted in ice.


Here's a really pretty bush - or are these just weeds?