Hello dear friends!  We hope this update finds you well!

Vanha Talo Suomi has elided into another month and soon into a new season. Spring is nearly palpable.  But the subtleties are easy to dismiss due to the occasional flakes and winds of winter which still hold a firm, yet somewhat relenting grasp on our daily lives.

Monday the evening lows dipped back into the cold stuff and we woke to a glistening morning.

We’ve had some very mild days lately and the snowmelt has been encouraging. Roadways were clear and dry only to get a fresh dust of snow. Rain has been more common than flakes lately, which is usually a good indicator change is on the way.

Of course, we’re as excited as all gardeners are this time of year. Anxious to get outside and to see even the teensiest sign of life renewed. We aren’t seeing much of anything currently though. Where snow has melted, the ground looks as bleak and uninspiring as ever!  Buds are slowly swelling on even the thinnest of tiny branches which is always encouraging. In another week or so, we’ll be hauling out the gear to begin our annual tree pruning.   And finally, we’ll be able to get the last bit of the major tree cutting done on the apples trees. It’s been three (3) years in coming – so it will be wonderful to get past this part of the pruning job once and for all. Next year and the following years, we can concentrate on shape, form and removing dead branches and water spouts – so much easier!  🙂

There were a couple of improvements made to the interior since the last post. Upstairs the TV room has been complimented with two tall standing, glass-front book cases, we’ve increased  the indoor plant factor x10, and have some artwork lined up to mount. All in all it’s shaping up to be the go-to space for entertainment and relaxation 🙂  Downstairs, Viiru has been quite at home on our new Berber rug – we like it too! 🙂

The upstairs bathroom is nearly fully complete. Painting is all done and Pekka “improvised” a wall- mounted vanity, hung mirrors & closet doors and the artwork that’s been sitting in storage for 2yrs is now on the walls. 🙂 Still a bit of “fluffing” to do in there before it can get off the to-do list.

The interior of the linen closet needs a coat of paint, and the inside cabinet requires some framing to camouflage the gap still visible between the door and the cabinet interior.

My recommendation would be to select another type of hinge than a butt hinge; unless you’re willing to mortise the hinge.   If you don’t – you get the gap between your hinge and the wall it’s attached to. 😦

Since February I’ve been setting assorted vegetable and flower garden seeds. Presently, the upstairs aula (Finnish word for upstairs landing) is being maxed-out in a purple haze of grow lights.  There are 60 cells in each of the two covered trays. I’ve already germinated and transplanted the 1st 60 seedlings which were early items such as; 3 different tomato varieties, 2 types of peppers, cucumber, and 2 varieties of melon.  I’ll soon have to transplant the remaining 120 seedlings which consist mainly of perennial flower items.

For us the highlight of March has to be the write-up and honor of being included in the Fine Gardening online magazine’s Photo of the Day.  We heard from many wonderful people who had kind words of encouragement and praise for our landscape gardening efforts of last year.  Getting  that many positive comments from other gardeners was really satisfying, and we look forward to our next opportunity to show our gardening progress as the gardens mature.

In addition to the fore-mentioned bits of news we’ve been hitting the gym pretty hard. Since November I’ve been going every week day for a couple of hours and he’s there almost as much. Sure feels good to get back in shape!

Pekka and I have only a few weeks left until our winter-arts courses are over for the season. He’s in an advanced jewelry silver-making course and I’m in beginning ceramics. He made a very intricate Viking-Scandi silver link bracelet and a lovely faceted smoky quartz ring. I’ve made a few hideous ceramics pieces but  this one is the least hideous of the lot, so I’ll include it.

Also, I have dived head-first into my cache of stored fabric and have been ona roll. So far I’ve made three dresses, three tops and a skirt! whew!!  Still have gobs of fabric left and I’ve ordered more patterns online in both pdf. and standard format. I’ve really gotten better and I’m so happy with the results of all that effort and have created wearable stylish clothes!!

 

You can check out our crazy Finnish weather in the sidebar or you can take my word for it! Since I began writing this post it has rained, it has snowed, it rained and then snowed some more. Currently, the flakes are winning – with flakes the size of goose down pillow filling, it’s not much of a contest! 🙂

Take care friends! We’re changing gears here and will be either amping up on our indoor projects or we’ll do more binge-tv-watching. Hmm. I hear that’s a THING now… 😀

Actually, our outdoor to-do list is going to get the green-light soon. Apple trees take notice!