Tove to Svante, her assistant in the church
Tove to her assistant in the church: "Well then Svante, let’s go have us a good fanny smoke!". This meant that they would sit down and have a peaceful smoke. The saying may have originated from the Finnish-speaking Teuva resident Svante Lähdes.
Yellow fizzy drink and French bread
Erkki Onnela was in the construction crew and wondered at Tove Jansson’s midday meal: yellow fizzy drink and French bread.
Tove on painting in the middle of a churchyard
Tove remembers: "When I was painting, the church was still without its windows. The gold foil of the virgins’ halos flew with the winds and the bricklaying mortar dropped among my uncomprehending virgins, and the workmen swore so much that the church didn’t become holy until its dedication ceremony – which I will never forget."
