Tribute files

Carola was like an auntie for the CrowHall children, coming from the Cold snowy north a little like Mrs. Father Christmas.

She contributed to the celebration of Christmas in many ways, A good hot sauna was vital and if it snowed we would make a path of lanterns using a bucket for a mould when the ice was about a centimetre thick we would tip out the water invert it to cover a nightlight from the wind.

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We always made a huge gingerbread house to her famous Finnish Recipe, She had a wonderful Finnish country cooking book; “to test the oven is the correct temperature hold your cheek towards the fire and if necessary put another log on the fire”! Famous among the children for reading Tove Jansson’s tales of the Moomintroll family, she could make the stories feel as if she had written them.

Carola introduced me to the Kalevala, which in a way matched our temperament as we searched for new ways of being and spiritual development within our respective cultures.

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New Years' eve was very special, as the New year dawned Grahame would stoke up the fire for the annual ritual of melting a piece of lead, often but not always last years piece, after melting in the fire under Grahame’s supervision the molten lead would be plunged into a bucket full of cold water and out of the different shape it formed, Carola and I would read fortunes for the coming New year! Music played an important part in Carola’s life, many happy hours were spent listening, from Medieval Russian liturgy to Bach’s musical Easter offering. She played the silver flute magically often in the walled garden one could hear her nostalgic, wistful music, one day one of the children asked her how she had learned, her reply was “ you have to listen very carefully to the birds”.

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“Tricia and I, and Nicki, have such good memories of her from the Crow Hall days: her gentleness, the wistful sound of her flute wafting out over the garden, her telling stories to Nicki and other little children round the fire in the sauna hut, her making those wonderful ginger-bread houses at Christmas - there is so much by which she will be lovingly remembered”.

(quoted from a recent letter from Grahame)