What happened?

The last post is from January, so maybe it's time to update a bit. What happened then? No renovation whatsoever. We have been busy with building our jewelry brand viilu and with our company Koivisto Studio. Biggest change might be, that we have a cat called Luigi now in the house. He has a big heart and lot of patience. He has taught us, how to relax and to be happy with the things we have. His favorite thing is to smell the fresh air. It's mesmerizing, that such a small thing can make him so happy.

Sorry about the winter photos in the middle of hot summer, but the winter was this year so beautiful and really cold, that we have to share a couple of views from our backyard. We had lot of sunny days and snow here. The photos are taken along the river side. At the coldest days the Nuijajoki river was almost completely frozen.

A tiny bit happened to our restroom. We updated it by adding there a new mirror. Tobi used an old mirror glass, but build a new frame for it. The mirror gave the room a feel of a bigger space than the restroom actually is.

The whole spring time we were busy with creating and producing a new collection for our viilu jewelry. This new collection is called valo & varjo, it means light and shadow. Eventually it took us to the Talents show in Frankfurt, Germany and brought us our first design award the Form 2018. So the effort and the work was worth it.
The photos were taken in our forest, because one important aspect to our brand is to show the environment where we live and work. We go also back to the roots, where the material comes from. It gives an understanding and respect to the wood. In trees we trust! You can find more information about our jewelry brand from here: www.viilu.fi

A little vegetable garden is a must, when living at the countryside. This is the second year we have it here. Everything is growing really fast and well, because the spring and the summer has been hot this year. Also the flowers we planted are blossoming in powerful colors.
Last but not least we have some good news. The next post is about renovation! We are continuing it by making our bedroom and living room ready. Until then, we wish all the best for your summer. Enjoy the blossoming nature and life!

Highlights of 2017

Carrying over the threshold. Photo: Stephan Deininger
When the year changes many of us have this sentimental feeling, leaving something behind and stepping into new and unknown. We were quite tired at the end of the year 2017, other words you could say a little bit lazy. However as we started to think what happened in our year 2017, we found out that we had actually accomplished and experienced lot of things. No wonder that at the end our energy was gone. It's nice to go through the year and say goodbye to it. Welcome the new year and make some wishes. There's always a possibility, that the dreams will turn true.

Our basement at New Year's Eve. Photo: Özlem Gün
Photo: Özlem Gün
The first day. Photo: Özlem Gün
The year 2017 began with laughter - having a good time with friends. We celebrated New Year here at our partly unfinished basement. First day of 2017 was cold but beautiful and surrounded by lovely people. Beginning of the year was in general quite relaxed. We were renovation slowly, but mainly we focused on writing our business plan for our future company.

Photo: Stephan Deininger
At the end of February we got married! The propose was done by Tobi in January. It all happened pretty fast. The ceremony was short and we had already decided, that a bigger celebration would be held in Summer. The feeling as a newly wed couple was incredible. Maybe the first time, when our feet were of the ground and heads in the pink clouds.

The spring time were quite busy for us. At the beginning of summer three big steps were taken. The renovation was officially over, our company was ready to begin and we had our first jewelry collection ready to be produced. The photos above are from our office and how it looks at the moment. The change is quite huge from January last year. The drawer as well as the working table are both from a second hand shop. We are dreaming about new tables and working chairs.

Photo: Marco Menestrina
Photo: Lars Gölnitz
Then started the preparation for our wedding celebration, which was planned to take place in our barn house. We had quite a lot to do and a little time. At the celebration day some things weren't perfect, but our family and friends had a great time and that is what counts. We are astonished that the day turned out to be so memorable with so little planing. We could have not make it without all our lovely friends and family, who were working hard for our big day.

View over Lisbon.
Sintra.
Cabo da Roca.
We got the perfect wedding present, a holiday. We had five incredibly warm and beautiful days in Lisbon at the beginning of October. We visited also Sintra, UNESCO's World Heritage Site and were impressed about the buildings and gardens in the area. Last we went to the most Western point in mainland Europe, Cabo da Roca. The view was stunning! In addition Portuguese food and wine were excellent!
Photo: Özlem Gün
The year 2017 ended in Germany. We had a lovely time there. Visiting Germany is for us like coming to a second home. Last we want to say a few words about this year, about our dreams and goals. We want to have a new family member here, a cat and finally visit Lapland, hopefully in wintertime. One huge goal is to make our company succesful. And a smaller goal to renovate the sauna house in summer. So bring it on 2018, we are ready! Hugs and kisses to you our dear friends and have a great year 2018!

Months flew by

It's already mid October. The whole summer and also the early autumn just passed by. We have been quite busy with our company and the farm and other projects. The past months have been challenging. There has been a lot to do and almost no time to relax. The summer was cold here and the few warm days we spent at the workshop.
The biggest project at the farm was to fix the barn or the upper part of it. We wanted to have our wedding celebration there. It was at weekends project, that began in May and continued till the day before the celebration. Mostly it was about cleaning and emptying. We removed 30 years old hay and other abandoned things. The floor had some damages from the broken roof and the rain water. We repaired the floor from these parts. Tobi also built a fence, that the people wouldn't fall after a few glasses of wine.
Photo: Judith Hirsch
Photo: Judith Hirsch
With many helping hands the barn turned out better, than we could have imagined. We are grateful to have such a friends and family. The process was emotional and we were quite tired on the celebration day, but happier than ever.
Photo: Özlem Gün

Photo: Marco Menestrina
Photo: Marco Menestrina
Our own vegetable garden gave us lot to eat, but also a headache. However it gave also a good reason to detach from the work, go outside and let the hands get dirty. And at the end, now we can survive from the loooong winter.

Little digging was again done. In the beginning of July new electric cables were installed for the water pump and also for other buildings, the barn and the sauna house. Later in autumn our porch got a new isolation, so that the workshop underneath would stay warm. That ment also new layer of concrete. Maybe next year, we will put tiles on the porch floor, but first it needs to try about two months.

In all the hectic we missed a lot from the surrounding nature and suddenly it was already autumn. Early summer days we saw baby squirrels playing around an old silver willow at our yard. In the Midsummer we saw the first double rainbow here. Late summer evenings there was often a fog above the crop fields. A few memorable views captured with the camera.
At the moment when the days are getting shorter and darker, the same is happening in mind. We are waiting, that the stress will turn into a success and we could have a couple of care free days. Whatever happens, after winter comes always spring.

Cheerful things

Hi there! About a year ago we started our renovation project and today it's officially over. We had a successful end control today. It means the basement is ready. Otherwise there's still things to do, for example to renovate the living room and bedroom and so on. This feels like a neverending project. However we are concentrating now on our company, which is also now official! And last but not least we are pretty excited about our brand new photo studio at the basement.
Spring came also finally, although a little late. This white wagtail, which is by the way a very suitable name for the bird because of the way it moves, we saw about a month ago. There's a Finnish saying, when this bird arrives it means the summer has almost arrived. Now it's already really green here. Apple trees are blossoming and today we baked the first rhubarb pie of the year.
We spent the whole Autumn without lights in the dining room. Before Christmas this beauty was installed, but we were quite in a hurry with the sauna and bathroom, so we have forgotton to show it to you. This is one of our favorite lights here. Also originally from the farm, dates back to the 70's.
Ledges have been missing almost half of a year. So finally Tobi attached painted pine ledges to dining room and kitchen. They gave a finished look and made the rooms feel bigger.
Project oven is our first post after our blog launch. It was about turning an old bread oven to a closet. We wanted to use the space and turn our kitchen bigger. In April we finally finished this project. Goodbye to the old bread oven and welcome to our new kitchen closet!
We had already a new closet project with our bedroom closet. We moved at the beginning of the year from upstairs to the main floor, but we have been sleeping and living in a chaos. Recently we fixed the closets for our clothes to control the chaos. This is a good start for the renovation of the bedroom.
This spring we had also time to concentrate on other things than only renovating. We hope, that we will have nice flowers and vegetables at summer time. This is all for now, quite good news from Koivisto. Good way to start the summer. Warm days will come with warm thoughts!
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