PROJECT SUMMER HOME

  Finally we got our hands on the main cabin at our summer home! It is about time to renovate it, we´ve had it for nearly four years now. Easy does it, we´ve learned. Living in and getting to know your property is the key to successful remodeling.

  The ice finally melted off, and we were able to go there by our boat. It actually feels like summer season has started already!

Looking at this picture of our boat bay, it also looks like summer too! But in reality, it was only a bit above freezing...

Signs of spring have arrived here too.

Flag up to show summer season has started! Yay!

The project begins. This is the main room, I guess it could be called the living room. So far we´ve already taken down the old bunk beds and half paneling on the walls. The bunches of panels are awaiting installation.

Originally this room was the kitchen, which we turned into a bedroom two years ago. Now it is getting another makeover.

When it comes to survival in cold and windy weather, something´s got to give. In this case it is style... =)

It was not all springy sunshine, we also got cold rain (and occasional sleet).

An unfortunate creature on the shore...

I got a tip from a Kentuckian friend of mine to try out Jack Daniel´s. Wow, so different and tasty from the Scottish or Canadian whiskies I´ve tried before. Really yummy, and surprisingly girly. Me like. Thanks Carl!

I was actually able to be helpful!

After two days of work. We built a whole new bedroom and added a window to it too. Now there are two bedrooms, in which three of us can sleep (we´ll see where the fourth one will end up... on the couch maybe?).

This is the first bedroom after makeover (the one that used to be kitchen.).

The new, second, bedroom. Here the color of the walls is quite close to the original. We used breathable and non-toxic wood wax for finishing the wood paneled walls.

In between the bedrooms we were able to squeeze a tiny toilet. It will be an eco-friendly waterless one, but more about it later.

  Phew, that was a lot for one long weekend! Now we just can´t wait for the next one!!!  =)

RENOVATING SUMMER CABIN

  This winter has been a warm one. In our corner of the world that means that temperature has hovered only at around freezing, not below like it usually does. Therefore we´ve only been able to go to our summer home twice this year, hiking on ice.

  We have a major project at hand there, we´re about to renovate and remodel the whole cabin inside and out. It was built in the sixties, and nothing done to it since (except changed curtains =).
  So the two times we´ve been able to spend a weekend there with my husband this winter, we´ve done our best to get things started.

This has been a rare treat during the past months, a sunny day.

We have no running water there, so we need to saw a hole in the ice to get water to sauna and wash up. Drinking water we bring in canisters of course. Talk about getting close to nature!

The project. This phase is always the worst, when you´ve torn out the old and not yet put anything new back in.  It does need to get worse before it can get any better.

We´re turning the old kitchen into a bedroom. In the floor there was a small hatch leading to a cool concrete-covered hole in the ground, which used to serve as a "refrigerator" before electricity was brought to this small island.

The door will be removed and sealed, and the double-windows taken out completely. This time it was time to add insulation to the floor and cover it with another layer of plywood. Hopefully we´ll find use to the old door. It´s always valuable to preserve something from the old.

Accurate account on measures on the wall...

Luckily "these tools were made for working, and that´s just what they do"!

   We´re hoping to get the living room and bedrooms done by warm summer days, so we can all fit in to enjoy ourselves as a family! Thumbs up!

WINTER CRUISING

  Things wound up so, that last weekend I ended up on a cruise ship alone, without company. I never get to go anywhere alone, so I was exhilarated!

The boat was new, and I´d never been on it before. Taking short cruises is something I like to do pretty much every winter, as a mini holiday outside of the summer cabin season (at the moment the ice is not yet thick enough to walk on, and we´re waiting to get to the cabin).

The weather was not at it´s prettiest, but I didn´t care, I got to stay inside in the warm the whole time!

A time for relaxation. I partied up until very late, slept long, had an abundant breakfast, took a nap, watched tv, shopped, and ate again. Plus enjoyed live music by various artists throughout the cruise. How cool!

  Then I returned home refreshed, ready to do laundry and cooking again... =)
  I value it highly to take a break from the usual in regular basis, to prevent life from becoming boring. That´s a feature I wish to maintain until and throughout my old days too. Life should never feel boring. If it does, it´s time to conjure up something new and exciting!

PROJECT GUESTHOUSE

  Needless to say, we have spent a lot of time at our summer cabin in the past few months. Mostly it is about fun and play, but we have also been productive.
 We have been restoring and building a guesthouse there. Since the cabin is located on an island where you can only get to and from by your own boat, our guests often stay overnight. So there is big demand for an updated, quality, up-to-date lodging.

  Here´s what we´ve done (so far) this summer:

The starting point. An old tool shed from the sixties. We wanted to conserve the old, instead of demolishing it and building a completely new one, out of respect for the history of the place.

Emptying it was a huge task in itself! Under the floor boards there were old bird nests and 35 abandoned, rotten, eggs...

Only one window in the whole building.

Don´t they say it always has to get worse before it can get better?

Roof under construction, plus bits here and there too.

Floors, walls, the roof, everything was strengthened and rotten wood replaced with new. And the whole building lifted up higher a foot.

Then it was time to start rebuilding. Now light begun to show at the end of the tunnel.

Now the inside feels fresh and good to breathe in.

And after installing more and bigger windows, the space seemed to triple.

Some of the old boards and beams are still visible, but not much is left of the old shag.

The outside begins to form.

Especially after getting painted.

We wanted it to match the new shed-outhouse we finished earlier this year. (Needless to say, the buildings are not crooked in reality, the camera lens is to blame here!)

This is what awaits for us next: insulation. And it is about time, the temperature has dropped to near freezing in the past couple of days!

  The style of these buildings I drew from old fishing sheds, which I imagine having stood by the sea for a hundred years. Something like this.

  Project guesthouse will continue until the sea freezes around the island. And then we´ll see what the winter will be like, whether or not we´ll be able to drive there by car.
  Projects keep life interesting. Highly recommendable I say!

DARKENING NIGHTS

  It is always an inevitable sign of fall approaching, when nights begin to darken. Summer nights are unbelievably light here in Finland, as the sun sets only for a couple of hours (or not at all further North) leaving the sky beautifully lit. But now darkness is creeping slowly back in.

In a way it feels calming, after a hectic and super energetic summer.

And it feels cozy to use light bulbs and candles again.

My zen.

As a bonus the solar lights I installed two months ago in our summer home´s brand new outhouse come in use, finally.

  I count these murk nights as the first sign of autumn.

LUXURIOUS DAY

  Being alone is the best luxury for me these days. I´m a mother of two- and a nine-year-olds and happily married to the man of my life. They are the most important things to me. But right after them comes me, myself, and I. I love myself too. And I need time to myself too. Luckily my family lets me have it whenever possible. When mommy is happy, the whole family is happier too. It is not selfishness, it is a fact. Mommies need to take care of themselves too.

  Recently I was able to enjoy one of those important moments of solitude. Three full days in fact. Naturally I headed to our summer cabin to enjoy summer. On one of those days I decided to head to the nearby town, where I used to live as a child and a teenager, to refresh memories and check out the little boutiques there.

I started the warm summer day out by having a relaxed breakfast on the pier. 

I could start daydreaming watching these beautiful clouds on the horizon.

After a short ride, first on our boat and then by my car, I landed Rauma, a town I used to live in and have not visited for nearly three years. This view is from the old part of town, and in this particular picture the 19th century atmosphere is exceptionally well presented because there are no cars, traffic signs, people, or anything reminding of the present modern day.

A fun piece of art in the canal flowing through the town. I´m glad I have not encountered anything like that while swimming in the sea. I did get scared twice this day. First there was a bee crawling up my back inside my grey summer dress, but miraculously I was able to slip out of it without getting stung by the bee! And second, I almost stepped on a viper at boat harbor. There are snakes on our little island too, but so far every one I have seen was a non-venomous grass snake.

Next it was time to hit my ever favorite second hand store by the Red Cross. They operate solely on voluntary workers and sell stuff people have donated. The prices are ridiculously low. The store has been there forever, and I remember shopping here already in my teens. I must admit the stuff back then was older, nicer and more retro. I guess the selection just reveals that the lifespan of goods is much shorter now than in the nineties.

Would this look okay with jeans? Why not, it´s only 50 cents, and all I have to do back home is to take it in on the back a bit. Worth a try.

By now I was hungry. I heard that an old classmate of mine, whom I have not seen or been in contact with since 1989, had opened a cafeteria a few years back. So naturally I headed there to support her business by getting me a sinfully buttery and sugary pastry. After all that walking and shopping, I definitely needed these calories, right? =) I so rarely go out to eat, that this definitely was luxurious! And by chance I even saw a glimpse of that old classmate of mine! She had not changed too much since we were... um... eleven, twelve.  =) I have, but naturally only for the better!

Back at the summer house. It was so hot that I just had to jump into the sea right away to cool down. While in the water, this flock of wild geese flew by close to me. I could hear their wings swish and all. It was so cool, and I felt somewhat in tune with nature. Awesome.

After skinny-dipping in the sea I dried off in the late afternoon sun. I only dare to do this when the neighbors aren´t there. =)

In the evening I saw the most adoring sight: a pair of horned grebes feeding their young together (darn my snapshot camera, I could not get a closer picture). That made me miss my own kids...

  When my family came to join me in the cabin, I was fully charged and happy to meet and greet them again. What a difference it makes to occasionally just be left alone for a moment! That´s a big problem in our Western culture. Evening out the hectic times and the lonely times of life. When we are young, we are too busy to do anything. And when we are old, we have too much time and nothing to do. Peace of mind comes from balancing these two, or recognizing the deal and trying to balance it the best we can anyway. Easier said than done, I know.