Leaving France

was hard and awful…
lahtopaniikki_n

leipäkauppiaalleni_n

// This is for you, miss. Welcome again whenever you wish! Yes, actually I’ll be returning to my home country soon… / What!? When? Next wednesday… / Leave me your adress, I’ll send your bread there. / I’ll be missing you so much! Thank you thank you thank you and good bye! / To my vendor of bread whose name I never got to know. //

I came back to Finland already in the beginning of August and of course it would have been more elegant to post these comics then, but that would have broken the chronology and my autism would have hurt…

So that’s all about my adventures in France, folks! Life as ordinary will fill these pages again, hopefully sooner than later. I’ll do my best…

Extended family

42poulains_n

// In our family there are five dogs and four cats –
/ One hundred and fifty horses –
/ This year we had fourty two foals. They keep us entertained… Mojitos?
/ Stud farm //

Voluntary work may take a person to wondrous places…

The 15th of July

French National Day is the 14th of July.

kansallispaiva

// … / *death* / Hey Ina, are all the Finns as sensitive to alcohol as you are?
/ It’s the lack of sleep!! / I didn’t even drink a drop… //

I noticed that I do a lot of comics where I reconstruct a situation or conversation, and actually I don’t know if they are funny or not… This is one of them.

First time of everything

bel_exercise_n

// Today you’ll bring the horses from the pasture to the stables. Theres no space for saddles in the car, so you’ll have to do without. Have you ever held another horse in a leach while riding? Well, no… / Well, it will make a good excercise. / –Riiight… //

The horse poop chronicles

So, comics about manure, as shoveling it was my only job during a couple of weeks last summer. The following comics were born in action and based on reality. Enjoy!

lantahifistely_n

// There are bicycle diggers. ”white sided tyres and leather seat” / and tea diggers ”shun the non-believer!” / and hifi diggers ”This goes to eleven”
/ When you find yourself trying to scrape the remains of three-day-old pile of horse poo out of a spikey bush you may have to acknowledge – / I’ve become a manure digger!
/ The first shovel cleans up the body of poo. The second one finishes. Third one is just digging.
/ Manure digging is a combination of cleaning neurose and pedantry. You are a manure digger, if you prefer hunting down the smallest pieces of it instead of taking a shower after the working hours.
/ As other diggers, manure diggers care about the origins of a product: ”that’s fallen from the wheelbarrow, that one was trampled by a horse and that came out running” / The most experienced may even recongnize a horse from it’s poop!
/ Manure digging isn’t harmful, but vice versa. ” Cleanliness is half a meal ” / Which is good, because manure diggers are motivated by the well-being of horses. Hence they are REALLY motivated! ” Literally, since horses eat and poop in the same paddock” /
/ Manure digging may cause minor trouble amongst the people who aren’t manure diggers, which is normal also in other mild neurose cases. ”Ina it’s already good! Wait, there are still some nuggets…!” Happy digging!

lannankerayskone

// Dear horse owners, especially you who have ridicolous amounts of money- / I’ll be addressing you about a very serious well-being problem / that touches both horses and humans across the globe. / As the well-being of a horse is depending on the well-being of their human…
/ I’d like you to tell me the one thing that reduces the well-being of horse-nutties / A hint: it’s a hard and dull job that you have to do, regardless, every day. / Did I hear someone say ”Cleaning up the manure”? / That’s right! Cleaning up the manure! /
/ Horses and humans share a history of thousands of years. / Imagine the amount of manure that has been shoveled manually – / and continues to be shoveled manually even today!
/ Humankind han traveled to the moon and split the atom- / but hasn’t invented a machine to clean up the manure!! / So I suggest you quit quickly splurging money on race horses and sperm banks –
/ -and start to pay some guy MONEY in order to invent a manure-picking-machine!! / … / … / Chop-chop! //

Omg, I need to learn to make comics with less text… >=<*

Ye be warned…

crottin_n

//… / If I had to eat poo, I’d prefer horse shit to a dog shit… You know, I’ve thought exactly the same thing! / Besides, I’d have my horse poo well dried. Sun-dried dookies look almost delicious… / What are you laughing? Nothing, I just realised what I just said. / Oh yes, this is a very strange conversation. After the woofing one thing is sure- / I’ll be drawing a lot of comics about manure in my blog! //

Tomorrow: Horse poop chronicles!

Animated animal contest

We took one day off to go to them movies and continued the animated marathon in the evening. And the winner iiiiiiis…!!

spiritvsdori_n

// Don’t worry, my dear! Just keep swimming! / Just keep swimming… / Let’s go, Hank! Just keep swimming!! / It was nice. Yes, the little Dory was sweet. I luuv the octopus! / Five hours later: / Oh no! / Oh yes! / … / Go Spirit, go! Woooooow! I’m gonna cry I’m gonna cry! Awesome! / The horses vs. the fish, 6-0 //

The result may have something to do with the fact that Spirit came out when almost all of us were in the sensitive age of ten or something and hopeless cases even then, when it comes to horses. All in all, it’s a very well made animated film. Yay!! <3

Summer reading

a.k.a Antispeciesism for donkeys
antispesismia_aaseille_n

// Aymeric Caron: Antispéciste / Humans and animals have a lot in common. These shared features include, for example, consciousness, sense of pain and emotions — / Every animal is a conscious and intelligent individual. Like humans, animals show empathy, solidarity and sense of justice. / Some species even have superhuman skills — / That’s right, don’t you think, Cadet? / … / *clip clop* / Well, you probably knew that already… / Or maybe he just didn’t dig my accent… //

saint_ex_n

// Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: Terre des Hommes / Two days after our plane crashed I’ve drank only a drop of rosé and walked almost 200 kilometres under the merciless sun. / My throat hasn’t yet dried completely, but it’s aching and sore. Small droplets of light have started their dance in the fringes of my vision. / The treacherous wind of the desert caresses my face and dries my blood with it’s every soft breath — / Oh please!! / Saint-Ex needed only keep himself alive! //

I recommend Terre des Hommes (Siipien sankarit suomeksi) to all who like the works of Hugo Pratt and Hayao Miyazaki who, in my opinion, share more or less the same world view and are amazing artists… When I grow up I’d like to be like one of them.

Horses and other animals

rhinoceros_n

// … / I’m going to sleep, good night! Good night, Manon! / Waah, there’s an enormous animal! Is it a wild boar? / No, it’s a rhino! ??/ Wow!//

I spent my summer in french countryside, doing voluntary work on two horse farms. I met lovely equines, of course, but also some very interesting, beautiful or otherwise absolutely cool animals as well.