The road trip!!!

Song of the day: “Never be the same” by Camilla Cabello. It tends to linger in my mind. Wonder if that means something.

So, yeah, it’s happened. The big road trip has been over and done with for several days now, and already it seems like an eternity. It was an exciting event, involving so much new adventures in just 20 days.

It started early on the 2^nd of October, with the three of us heading for the bus station around the corner, and leaving behind a running dishwasher, because, of course it somehow didn’t run the night before. Aaaaargh. Hate that, but what can you do. Housesitters were going to have to take care of it, right?

Anyway, we headed to Amersfoort by bus, then by train to the airport in Amsterdam. Were nicely on time, too, meaning we had quite a bit of waiting to do before we were going to board the plane. But we did, naturally. Firs the connecting flight to Zurich, which went fine, except that we were running late, which meant that we literally had to run to make our flight across the Atlantic. Because, of course, our flight left from across the friggin’ airport! My poor foot was not amused. And here I thought my foot was going to have a well deserved vacation to get better after all the running around at work the past few month. Grrrr.

Be that as it may, the flight was interminably long, the seats small, the food good, and the staff friendly. I didn’t manage to sleep a wink, mind you. My knees were literally squeezed between the seats and practically everything hurt by the time we finally arrived in Boston, and had to take the shuttle bus to the car rental agency. Luckily it wasn’t too far.

Since we had basically taken all safety precautions in regard to insurance and whatnot, they tried to have us upgrade to a bigger car (which would increase the price by “just a bit”, naturally) but we decided to be frugal and stuck to the sedan…good thing, too. Because when we got up to the parking area they had two cars left, of which would could take our pick. We took the massive (twice the size of what we paid for) red Nissan Pathfinder in a New York second, and didn’t regret it for even one second. I mean, seriously. We had head space, legs space and luggage space. And to think we had almost paid for that but didn’t have to…it was bliss.

The first bit of the drive went a little iffy, partly because the TomTom app we had hit the occasional snag. But we reached the booked hotel before midnight, just barely. Not the best of hotels regarding maintenance, but the service was good, and it was clean, which are the most important aspects in my book.

We drove through some gorgeous areas those first couple of days, which included The Pioneer Valley, the Mohawk trail and the mountains bordering on New York State in General. Loved that bit…and Niagara Falls, for that matter, which we managed to reach just before nightfall, meaning that the light was awesome. I was very impressed with the sights.

There was lots of traveling involved, yes, in the end we travelled more than 5250 miles (8000km) and despite being tired, and sore from all the sitting, and the fast food, and the microwave food, it was still something I wouldn’t trade for the world.

There were friends to visit. Long-time friends that I have been chatting with for ages and ages, and whom I’ve been wanting to meet for years. There was Terry in Michigan, which meant a much-anticipated detour on our route to Detroit where we would meet for a wonderful dinner with her and her husband. Terry was…well, Terry as I’d imagined her over the years, although her photo doesn’t do her justice. Regretfully we got in a bad traffic accident on the way back, where someone died, so that was kinda rough.

The driving is a little “looser” over there. Everyone drives at least 10mph over the speed limit, when stuck in a traffic jam, some folks will just drive over the shoulder of the road, to cross to the other direction lanes, and try to integrate there while cars are speeding past at a 110. Downright scary, I tell ya. In fact, at some point I saw this fella in an old beat-up truck, on the phone, and one foot sticking out of the driver’s window. How he even managed that, is a mystery to me.

Then things got flat, and that flatness stayed a long, long time.

There was an area in Indiana that was absolutely lovely. And the climate was mild there, so in regard to places to live, it was definitely worth another visit in the future. This is where we visited the lovely Archer, whose cedar cabin was perched on this lovely spot in the middle of the woods, so far out that we would never have been able to find it if she hadn’t met us at the local Wendy’s. We might have found the road through maps, but it kept going so far, that we would definitely have started doubted about the accuracy of the direction within the first fifteen minutes. I got to know Archer for real, and it was grand. We petted dogs, petted horses, and went out in a big 4x truck so we could travel over dirt roads, creeks and whatnot. It was great…followed by a crock-pot meal that did well in filling the empty corners of our stomachs. Hah. We were all sorry to say our goodbyes that evening, and head on over to our motel, which was downright dirty compared to the ones we had visited in the days before. Not recommendable, that one.

Our next visit was near Kansas City, where C.W. and her husband lived, and who kindly invited the three of us to spend the night there. It was awesome to meet her finally, too. And the plans they had for us…oh my. So much to see in the area. We went to Union station, visited the Hallmark company, toured around the city a little, and then went to the local shooting range where we got our first shooting lesson. I kid you not. I shot several guns that day, and I was pretty darn good with several of them. Woohoo. I so need to see about learning more about that. Had a wonderful time, getting to know C.W. better. She was just like I imagined her, too, which is an odd realization to make…but also something that implies that somehow you’ve managed to become true friends, even through the internet. Oh, and they took us to eat real Kansas City Barbeque, which sure was something. Big brother and Lisa (our companion) actually tried most of it, while I managed to enjoy some of the grilled chicken. Woohoo. Seeing as our hosts were so great, and the place lovely, I was sorry to leave there the next day…did see live buffalo, though, which was awesome

I friggin’ loved the Ozarks! Seriously. If you’re a nature buff, and if you like the hills, it is a place you HAVE to visit. It is gorgeous. You have towering trees, flowing pastures, winding little rivers. It was so beautiful, even in the cute little towns with its old Victorians and colonial buildings, that at times it absolutely took my breath away. The Wandaroo lodge is definitely a place you want to stay when you go there. Nothing fancy, but a lovely atmosphere. They’re still working on it, but have reasonable pricing. Really enjoyed our days there. Went on several hikes, near the lake, through Eureka Springs, the trail to King River’s overlook, which was grand. So beautiful there. Even took the car on some dirt roads (which wasn’t really allowed with the rental, but what with the TomTom having gotten us lost several times already, on dirt tracks too, we figured what the heck. A gorgeous place to further explore, for sure. Missouri was beautiful.

Our next big stop was New Orleans. There we met JR and her son, who once again, was exactly how I expected her to be. It was awesome meeting her too, especially the second day when she, her son and his girlfriend took us out on the town for a proper look-see. New Orleans was nice and warm. In fact, for a while it seemed like we were right back in Spain on a humid day. Some beautiful sights in the Big Easy. So much history in the French Quarter, lovely old buildings, friendly folks and many places where you could stuff your face. JR, in fact, took us for a late lunch at the Gumbo shop, where big brother tried gumbo, and I had black grilled chicken with garlicky mash potatoes and creamy spinach. Yummy. We saw quite a bit of the town, and though I still find it fascinating, a big city is just not my thing. I would have liked to explore some more, for sure, but I also looked forward to heading east.

Farther than we planned for the first day after New Orleans, actually. We had decided that we wanted to see Maine after all, which meant skipping one planned stop and driving straight through one time. So, the motel in Birmingham, Alabama got picked, and the others we had already booked rescheduled, which didn’t go as easily as we’d hoped due to the approaching weekend. But big brother persevered, and they all worked out in the end, thankfully.

After New Orleans there was a really, really long drive, through Missouri, Alabama and straight to the Smoky Mountains, a place we have all wanted to see a long time. We had an old motel near Sevierville, from where we could head on up into the national forest and truly see some of the nature there. It was so beautiful. I wanted to get lost in those woods. They were haunting and amazing, doing their name justice with narrow tendrils of clouds drifting between the mountains like smoke. Gorgeous! We also visited the reservation of the Cherokee nation there, which was just as special as the rest of the area. And amazing place…where we spent quite a few hours driving around before the end of the day approached and we had to return to the hotel.

The day after, was another long drive, but this time there was a bit of time limit, because we were going to meet Elsie at her place. I LOVED the Appalachian Mountains even more than the Smoky mountains, or maybe just in a different way. The area east of Boone, I want to explore that further some day. The plan had been a late lunch at Elsie’s, but by the time the TomTom app finally got us there, well, by then we had given into the inevitable and opened up maps, it was close to four o’clock. Luckily she didn’t mind.

It was so nice to finally meet her, too. We’d been chatting for quite some time online, and now we got to while away the afternoon talking of her wonderful home, perched above an old quarry, and comparing notes about publishing books. We had so much fun doing it that we completely forgot about the time. In fact, while we had planned to leave around seven (we still had some distance to travel that day) we didn’t actually get on the road until almost ten in the evening. * sigh * Can’t say I regret it, though. It was a great afternoon, where I got to meet some wonderful, wonderful people.

It did make getting to the booked motel of the night not all that easy. We rushed our way through North Caroline and Georgia at top speed. Still it took a long time. In fact, I could barely keep my eyes open, navigating those roads, but we did manage before midnight, so all was well.

The next day we hit Washington DC, which was an experience on its own. We had some business to attend there, and regretfully that took longer than expected, so guess what, we got stuck in traffic, which was absolutely horrid. Seriously, I think it took about an hour to navigate out of the city, making us late in reaching New Jersey, where we planned to spend the night. Did the Pentagon, and the Washington Monument, the obelisk, and the of course the Smithsonian and the Senate, which were all grand sites to see…if only from a slight distance. * sigh * The loss of time did cause that we could only see Philly by night, however impressive that still looked with all its lights and towering buildings.

Alas time was limited, and our aim, Maine. New York came next, and we didn’t even bother with the poor TomTom app by then. Heck, even maps had trouble in New York, and even though we had planned to stay out of the city entirely, we saw Queens, we saw Harlem, and swore like the heroes in a Tarantino movie. Impressive city, and I got some gorgeous pictures of it along the way, but it took so friggin’ long to get out that by the time we finally exited the city and found a place with a restroom, I was ready to slap both big brother and Lisa on the back of the head if they missed that turn. Aaaaargh! It felt like an eternity, and then when I went into the “Dunkin Donuts” the restrooms were closed because they needed cleaning. What’s worse, there were already four women waiting, and while I joined the wait, another three arrived. The poor guy who had to do the cleaning got so worried about the glares, he told us to go ahead, he would clean up after us. Haha.

With some difficulty we reached our destination that day just after nine, because the privately owned motel had a closing time of 10. Not an easy thing when navigating the horror traffic around the big cities like New York and Boston, but regardless, the nature started becoming beautiful as soon as we reached the outskirts of the city. Oh the colors it was astonishingly beautiful to see fall already in full swing.

The last hotel was a lovely spot to spent our last day in the US. It was nothing fancy, and they definitely needed a boost in income in order to improve on the accommodations, but I loved the old bits of it most. We went for a walk our first day, the weather still good enough, even though the sky was overcast. Went to this small wildlife preserve, along the salt marshes and it was great. Got to talking with three lovely ladies, one of which ran a girl camp up in Vermont, and she wondered if I wanted to check it out and see if I might be interested in a summer job cooking for the girls that would come there in summer. Everything, including my trip and stay would arranged, which sounds very tempting. I will have to give it some thought, even though I think it won’t be possible what with my job. Still, it was nice to be asked.

The next day we left early, leaving our supplies at the hotel, with a note saying we hoped they knew someone who needed them. And then we were on our way, with regret in our hearts, to Boston and our flight back to the Netherlands. It was a Sunday, so traffic was light at least, and we made good time along color flanked roads back to the big city.

Reach our gate went nicely fast, too. Delivered luggage, went through friendly, if somewhat impatient customs, and still had an hour and a half to spare when we got there. Of course, after an hour we discovered that our connecting flight had a delay, and when that went over an hour, I headed for the steward to talk about making our connecting flight from New York to Amsterdam. It took him but a minute to figure out that we weren’t going to make it, and decided to rebook us on a direct flight from Boston instead. This, I didn’t mind. It would shorten our journey by at least three hours…but it did mean fetching our luggage from baggage claim and going through the whole check-in progress once again. Including customs, who were, at this time, starting to get a little frazzled with the increase in passengers. Still, they remained friendly enough, and the lady patting me down even laughed with me when I told her this was the second time I was going through this procedure. She sent me on my way with a smile, and then we were through.

We were boarding our direct flight at the same time our connecting flight departed from Boston, and half an hour before our original flight left New York. Added to that, the seats were better than on the way to, the meal not as nice, but doable, and the flight less than six hours in total. It was amazing, especially since the way too almost took eight hours and was so very uncomfortable. Before we knew it, we were back in the Netherlands, going through customs, picking up our luggage again, and then rushing through our goodbyes with Lisa, who needed to go a different direction, because we all needed to make our trains.

Ours got us to Amersfoort within 45 minutes, and there we had to wait another thirty for the bus to drive us home in 40 minutes. At the break of dawn we were walking down the road to our house, and entering the clean and wonderful house that I call home at this time. It was lovely to be home, if surreal.

Puttered around a bit, and held out until 9 in the morning, local time. Slept for several hours, then did some groceries after picking up the keys of big brother’s fixed car, and then came home in time to greet our friend and big brother’s colleague, dropping of our laptops and keys. Had a nice chat, talking about work and the trip, but we were both fading fast by then, so we cut it all short asap. More than enough time for that when we meet up for real in the near future.

But that about sums up the grand road trip for now. It was amazing, it was special, and I want to do it again some day, but until that time, I’m going to have to focus on work, the books and life in general.

If you want to see a, basically, day by day report of the trip, with pictures and everything you can check it out on our website where I maintained a blog. You won’t regret it. The pics are lovely! http://www.samayatyoung.com/blog

I hope you’ll go and read it…and enjoy.

Late now. Gotta go. I’ll be back.

Back from Vacation!!!!

Song of the day: “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. Very cheerful song to have in your head, so not a bad one at all to experience it as an earworm every now and then.

Vacation in Finland! Yep. You guessed it: I’m back...have in fact been back for five days already, meaning that I should have gotten to this blog sooner, but what with going back to work immediately, that just wasn’t in the books. Seriously, I was still pretty bushed from our flight back when we were back to the grind, doing our usual stuff at the sauna the next day.

But no matter, our trip to Finland was a friggin’ success as in that I loved seeing T again, meet her family and see her in her “natural habitat”. Also, considering it was a five day journey, rather than a rushed weekend like last year when I had to go fetch Pimmetje over there. Weather wise we were both lucky and unlucky. Beautifully sunny days on the most part, but also cold, with an occasional splash of rain that caught us off guard at times. Luckily I’m the proverbial girl scout and had enough summer clothes with me to make layers work for me. Hah. Had we gone a week earlier or later, we would have been have enjoyed hotter temps, but it worked out well enough in the end. The cold made for beautifully clear skies and (a big one) thankfully less mosquitoes, because those babies were massive, I tell ya.

So, let’s see if I can give you a recount of my visit to Finland. The trip there was uneventful. Cousin Ed came to spend the night, I fed her dinner the night before and we departed from our place around nine in the morning so that we would be at the airport in time, despite rush hour still being in reluctant swing. Hah. It was a tight fit in her tiny Fiat, especially since she had three dogs with her and quite a bit of her own luggage because she was going straight on to her new place after she dropped us off at the airport. I guess we could have taken our own car, but that meant that she would have to bring it back afterward and then drive home. This was easier. Considering that father was going to pick us up at our return, it seemed wasteful to leave the car in airport parking somewhere.

Nah. This was way better.

So yeah, we arrived on time in Finland after a semi-quiet flight, and caused E (the same friend who hosted my stay the last time) some worry when we didn’t appear when expected. Apparently we followed the wrong signs and ended up at a wrong exit. No worries though, did find her in the end and soon we were on our way to her family’s vacation place in the country, where we would meet up with T later in the day. A long drive for sure, about two hours in fact, but beautiful country-side. I will try to post some photos at the end of the blog so you can get a taste.

As warned by E, our resting place for the night was a tad primitive. There was power, wifi, a roof over our heads, soft mattresses and plenty of food but, alas, no running water or in-house plumbing . Aaaaaargh. If you are female, you will know why these two things came as a bit of a startle to me at this particular time of the month. * sigh * Still made due, however, so it was no big disaster. In fact, I could actually laugh about it at times. I will have you know that this was the first time in my entire life that I used a genuine outhouse, which, I will tell you, I always thought as something exotic and part of history, rather than still in full practice. So strange to use “the can” and rather than flush sprinkle on some saw dust to fight odors...actually worked too, the smells weren’t too horrible, thank gawd!

Water came from a well, and yes, it could be pumped up by hand...instead, there was an electrical pump. Nice water too. Very soft and almost sweet. Came straight from the rich forest soil, too, so that was rather nice.

I will tell you that it was a special experience not to have any real night darkness. In fact, it seemed as if there was only a few hours of twilight before the sun came up again. I could get used to that kind of thing, I tell ya...at least, better than I could get used to permanent darkness which would definitely be a problem for me. Hah.

As it was, a walk after ten in the evening was still in full sunlight, and when I woke around six in the morning the sun was out and about again, confusing me for all of twenty seconds before I dropped off once more. Breakfast was a cheery occasion with both T and E, of which the latter’s parents were hosting our stay. A nice old couple that genuinely seemed to enjoy the company of “young folks” livening things up. They were very sweet and excellent hosts, and went as far as offering us a place to return to, should we so desire in the future. There was a language problem, naturally, seeing as our knowledge of Finnish (Suomi) is limited to counting to three, hello and goodbye. Pity, that. There were times I was tempted by the thought of maybe moving there some day, but I am definitely not doing that again. No more countries where I’m not fluent in the language, thank you very much.

Saw some beautiful sights in woods, lakes, sea...all of which there are plenty of over there. Day two, after another two hours’ drive, we arrived at T’s parents’ place where we spent the remainder of our visit. T’s parents, too, were incredibly nice. Her mom could do pretty good English, and her father not a word, but we all managed to get along well enough. Mom’s hospitality was tremendously generous, if the food was any indication. You’d think she thought we were starving orphans what with all the food served. Neither big brother nor I are shy eaters (picky, yes, but we don’t eat tiny amounts by any means...we’re rather big people, if in nothing more than height) but we were incapable of stowing away the amounts of food that were offered during breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it made me realize that I will have to be careful whenever I have guests over. Should never over-feed by keeping up offering food. Common courtesy makes you fold way too fast...it made a walk after breakfast and dinner every day essential.

Considering they were warned of our vegetarian tendencies, we didn’t get to try a lot of Finnish dishes, but the few that we did get were tasty and more than a little cute in appearances. Am definitely going to base some of my own experiments on their design in the near future. Hah

We saw the town of Naantali, which is T’s birth town. Visited the local hotspots, saw the presidential summer place, and some wonderfully authentic architecture. I love all the wood.

Also went to the city of Turku, which has some wonderful architecture as well, and a old handcrafts’ museum located in the old part of town that consisted of buildings that had just barely survived the big fire of 1827, leaving some structures that were up to two hundred years old. Impressive, considering it was wood built. Loved going through that place, which seeped with history. I kid you not, I played tourist for a few hours and took pictures of EVERYTHING! Hah

Before the museum we roamed the city a bit, went to genuine fresh produce market where they had a delicious variety of strawberries for sale. Seriously, you could get strawberries from Finland, Sweden and Spain of all places. Actually got to compare tastes, and gotta admit that taste wise the Finnish ones were tastiest. They do berries really well over there. They also like their cucumbers and cheeses, the latter of which I actually liked, surprising, considering I am picky about my cheeses.

Visited with a couple of close friends of T, one with three daughters, living out in the country in a gorgeous old farm that was for sale…was sorely tempted, I tell ya...if I had any money and the inclination to move to a country where I don’t know the language. Hah. It was wonderfully old, made of logs and with a gorgeous set of stoves in the center of the house around which all the rooms at been constructed.

I’ll see about putting some pictures off this below...and also the location was absolutely gorgeous. In case you’re wondering, basically every house in Finland has it’s own sauna (even the one without the plumbing) and they use it like us poor westerners use their shower: every evening. Imagine that, most folks pay good money for an outing to a sauna, and there they are, treating it like a daily thing never the wiser about what is considered a luxury around these parts.

The next day we visited another friend of T’s who makes a habit of fostering dogs...from Spain, too… so I got to play with doggies for a bit. It was nice, but it made me a little sad, too. When you don’t have them around you on a day to day basis, you forget how much you miss them, don’t you?

Had a small one rutting on my lap for quite a while, which was rather endearing; she (the doggie) has been experiencing some discomfort lately, so we discussed possible treatments before it was time for us to leave. Seriously, these people live in the most gorgeous places. This one, too, had a house right in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods everywhere. So jealous!

Also picked up T’s semi-son-in-law, who arrived by train on Friday afternoon. Cute kid, with a great sense of humor, especially for a 12 year old. Had loads of fun with him there, and it sure made the coming party that evening (T’s aunt likes to give a karaoke party this time of year, especially when they have international guests) a lot more fun, since it guaranteed conversation. Only a few of T’s relatives were adapt (or not too shy) at English, and I didn’t want to hoard all of T’s attention seeing these few days were about twenty percent of her own vacation that was to be an opportunity to reconnect with her family. Was a very cozy evening, all in all. Mostly a clear sky, so the sun stayed out keeping us semi-comfortable at least. Still, I was mighty happy about the three layers I had bothered to don at the beginning of the evening.

First thing at the party was a real Finnish game that took quite a bit of time and required mostly patience and a steady hand. There were 12 little trunks with numbers on them, and one without which you had to throw at the lot. I could go on about the whole system, but won’t bore you with it. It was all about reaching fifty, without going over it. The one who got there first, won, and suffice it to say I didn’t win...neither did big brother, considering the price was to sing Karaoke first. Hah...added to that “incentive” big brother also got seriously buzzed on the whiskey that was liberally offered to him during the course of the evening, and which threw off his aim, and thankfully for him, some of his shyness, at least.

In case you’re wondering...Yes, I did karaoke! Three times, in fact, and admittedly it was mostly because T’s family was so nice about it. Had been playing with the idea, naturally, figuring I was now old and confident enough to do some singing in public (and let’s face it, at work I am totally capable of forgetting that are colleagues around to hear me) but it was mostly T’s semi-son-in-law. I made a deal with him that if he’d sing, I’d sing, and he did, so I was pretty much toast. Hah. Ended up singing first an easy one: Madonna’s “Don’t cry for me Argentina”, which thankfully went without a hitch, followed later on in the evening, after a second cider, by Allanah Miles’s “Black Velvet”. Went well up until the last crooned “if you please”, but by then I didn’t mind all that much and was well content with my endeavors for the evening. Ended the evening, after one in the morning no less, with a duet...or triplet, more accurately of Ronan Keating’s “When you say nothing at all”, which didn’t go well at all, since we started too low, T, the kid and I. Hah. No matter. Were in bed after three (the drive back was almost another hour) and it would have to be an semi-early morning because we still had to drive a nice 200 miles back to Helsinki to catch our flight.

Fell asleep on the ride, so it went faster than expected. Made our goodbyes to T and the kid somewhat rushed, which was a pity. Before you know it we were inside the airport, through customs and waiting endlessly for boarding to be announced. Like the flight to Finland, the one back was packed to full capacity once more, had another half hour nap during that, and then we were back in the Netherlands with father waiting at the exit for us. Strange to see him standing there, but nice, too, despite me being pretty bushed.

He and mother-in-law took us out for dinner in Amsterdam, at this cozy little vegetarian place near the center. Had a very nice meal together before they drove us home where big brother quickly checked if the car was still working (fine, battery was still working, yay!) before we went to our respective apartments to unpack. Were a tad late getting to bed, too, considering we had a nightcap, but were back at work on the dot the next day, as planned.

Well, that about sums that up. Let’s see about those pics.

 Here we have E, together with T's lovely pugs, Nero and Fidel.

 A lake...duh!

Countryside.

A lake!

A paddock after ten in the evening.

Part of the sea, but it looked more like a lake. After nine in the evening.

T. As you can see, it was already cold by then.

Crop fields.

 

Meadow...gorgeous, right?

The day we went to Turku. How 'bout those strange clouds.

A museum...wouldn't you love have a courtyard like this?

I thought these rocks lovely. Had a lot of this over there, a combination of rocks and trees. Love it.

This used to be the town covered market. Now it was transformed into a place with tiny little restaurants, bistros and shops inside. It looked like a movieset...remember Cheers? That style. Wonderful. Too dark for a proper photo, however.

Next one is at the museum of the handcraft. You see T there, her mom and big brother's back. Hah.

 Up here the Karaoke party, with T, the kid and her mom singing together, and below here the kid posing for the pic.

Now let's do the house that was for sale. I absolutely loved the kitchen.

As you will see from the amount of pics I took of it. Hah.

See the pallets that were used for couches. Very cosy.
Logs were ancient, and in the room below here untreated.

In every room in the center you had a piece of art called a stove. All of them different, all of them lovely.

See that door in the corner. Old fridge. They used to build it in the coldest corner of the house so stuff stayed good. Nifty.

See that structure down here. It was a loom from the 17th century. Very cute.

Kitchen again.

And more kitchen. I want it...

 The poles by the stairs used to be used for drying of the hay. I thought it very nice in this way.

E, playing monster under the stairs.

The upper floor was one big room. Parts of the walls were papered with newspapers. I loved the look. Am going to remember that.

The stairs from the other side. The branches are a very nice touch. Kept everything open and light.

The outside. Typically finnish, actually.

And the time of the year was the best. Still blossoms everywhere.

A sauna.

 A converted barn. Cold as heck in winter, naturally, but incredibly cute in summer.

An outhouse...these seemed to be everywhere!

 And lastly, one more time, the kitchen with the three girls on top of the stove. like a triplet of pixies, right? Wonderful.

And with this, I'll leave you for now. Time to get to bed, and ready for work in the morning.

Seeya.