Delicacy from our garden and the forest

We have managed to make something out of the treats from the garden and the forest. Hopefully the next year we have more time to make most out of all the delicious things, that our surroundings offer. We have been picking mushrooms and berries. Mushrooms have been eaten almost right after we picked them. The berries have turned to tasty jam. The apples we took to the people, who made juice out of them. That was maybe the most exciting experience, because we both haven't seen the process before. At the end of August it was possible to get a lot of mushrooms from the forest just with a little effort to go there. It was full of them! Lately it has been too dry for mushrooms, minus the last two days. Some point we were eating mushrooms so much, that we were tired of them. Now it would be nice to have a taste from our favorite, the hedgehog mushroom.
The garden is full with berry bushes from Susanna's grandma's times. We didn't garden them this year at all, and still they are growing and growing. There are raspberries, green and red gooseberries, black and red currant and aronia berries. Not to mention the blueberries and lingonberries in the forest. We made jam out of them pure and mixed. The best taste for the jam was coming from the black currant. Just delicious! We have about ten apple trees in the garden and this year has been a really good apple year. We have already made juice from over 100kg apples and that's only a little part of them. Luckily also the deers and other animals have found them and enjoying the taste, whereas we have been too incapable to pick them all. First our hand picked apples were rolling like in some production line going to be squeezed. Then the squeezed juice was led to a huge tank to be pasteurized. At the end our empty bottles were filled. We hope that one glass apple juice every morning will keep the doctor away. At least the taste is perfect. The aronia bushes have turned beautiful with the colors of Autumn. We are planning to test them dried. Maybe it's working better than the jam. We are grateful from our garden, which was taken care from the previous generations. Now it's our turn. As former city people it may take some time untill we can make most of the nature's delicacy. One task is already set up for the next year: to test all the eatable mushrooms from the forest.

No longer a construction area

Now we have windows and a door at the basement. This made a huge difference from the time without them. The house is looking like a home, at least when looking from outside. We had helping hands here, which made the renovation took a big step further. Among installing the windows and the door we made some framing to the ceiling, so the electrician can place the cables there. Also the plumber made us happy by bringing the new heaters to the dining room. Some of the nights have been already quite cold, so it was a perfect timing with the heaters. The old garage doors were removed. It felt like now the new generation has taken the house to their hands. We were hurraing after putting the biggest window to its place. It was so shiny and glossy, that we could use it as a mirror. Though Tobi didn't appreciate the photo making. On Friday arrived the new windows and that made us smile. Goodbye coldness! Susanna's father, Seppo, was helping with the windows and the door. He has done construction work till his retirement, so he knew how these things are done. We were quite impressed, how fast he fixed the door and the saunawindow into their places. Stephan and Maik were helping us by doing the framing work to the ceiling at the basement in almost every room. The frames will be later on covered with plaster boards and wooden panels. The electric cables will be placed in between. Thank you guys, this helped a lot! Now on the heaters are keeping us warm and the heat is coming from the depth of the earth. Maybe the old heaters had more charm, but these new ones are giving more warmth and somehow this bent pipe looks appealing. Tobi made the plasterwork also to the outside walls. This was the feeling after getting all the windows fixed, a little bit show off. The Autumn is here, but so are the windows. This cute mini window is located in Susanna's future workshop space. It may not give so much light, but sometimes a little is enough in the darkness. We are ready for the next challenges. Actually now is the time for the nice work. Maybe in a one month the house is starting to look and feel like a home also inside of the house.

Frustrating walls and a little progress

At the moment there's lot to do at the basement. We started with the walls. First building them and then the new and the old walls needed to be straighten. The work is called plasterwork and it gave us a headache. Finally Tobi figured out, how it's done and the end result turned out okay. Last week we needed to have the technical room painted and ready for the geothermal heating pump and the warm water tank. Susanna painted the walls and Tobi sanded the concrete floor. It was quite a dusty work! We are waiting to get to do the beautiful work again - the finishing work. This time we are not enjoying so much about the renovation, but luckily every cloud has a silver lining. The heating system is installed and we'll have a warm house before the cold Autumn days. Also the work with the electricity is going further. First we wanted to test the plasterwork and make it a little easier by attaching wooden sticks. The sticks made the area smaller, so it was smoother to apply. The finishing touch was made with an even piece of wood. We had problems with the plaster. It was somehow all the time sliding even tough we tried to use less water and more plaster. At the end we decided to use a thin layer after another till we got the wanted thickness. Some point the work was feeling really frustrating. After the walls were dry the wooden helping sticks were removed and the holes filled. At the end all the walls were finished with a rough filing tool to make a smooth surface. The walls from the technical room were painted by spraying. And the floors were sanded before the machines were installed. The dust from sanding looked beautiful with the sunrays. The technical room is a funny mixture of old and new devices. The huge grey thing is for the warm water and we're not quite sure, what the cute little red thing is doing. Maybe controlling the water pressure some way. Anyhow the room might be the first to be ready at the basement. We have to hold from this thought and continue the renovation. The beautiful work is waiting just around the corner.

Silence of the forest

There has been recently a few obstacles with the renovation. Things haven't worked out so smoothly like earlier. We are getting tired and sometimes even grumpy. Little trips to our forest, which is located almost at our backyard, had helped us not to lose our nerves. It's working like a meditation. There we can relax and forget the time. Just focus on the present moment and be amazed about the beauty and diversity of the forest. So far our forest has surprised us every time, when we have stepped into its magical world. There has been new plants to discover, funny looking mushrooms and it never looks exactly the same. This astonishing view was captured on a one foggy morning. The same river, Nuijajoki, flows in front of the sauna building. Also this other part of the river is belonging to the farm. We love, how the moss feels like under our feet. So soft and calming to walk! The days have been quite warm, but the nights are already cold. We have to admit, that the Autumn is here. One of the coolest things with Autumn are all the beautiful, funny looking and sometimes also icky mushrooms. We have spend a lot of time exploring them. Some of them are also delicious to eat! Some of the trees have to be hundreds of years old. It gives us perspective to our lives and respect from us towards the forest. It's also fascinating how many living organism can seamlessly live together. Or even so, that they need each other. The forest is full of life, but sometimes the death has taken a visit. We found this deer in May and the skeleton is still there. Maybe the wolves took it down. Somehow in its own way the skull looks quite graceful. Hopefully all is turning better with the renovation. Maybe we have had too much speed at the beginning and now it's starting to hit us back. At least we are working as good as we can and sometimes having fun with it too. To keep our mind in balance, we are continuing our little trips to the forest every now and then.