¡Hola amigos y familia!

Since it’s the 5th of March and this is our FIRST post of 2018 – Happy New Year!!!

We have been a little busy here – doing NOTHING!!! For a change it’s been a near constant day-to-day existence of work, Playstation, gym, movies, reading and sleep. It’s quite easy to fall into the role of n’r-do-well couch potato! 🙂 Don’t let this happen to YOU!!

Pekka and I did have have an earnest discussion yesterday about organizing our to-do lists for the spring & summer projects. And as usual, there are pages of ideas, must-do’s, and hopeful mentions. Some of the items we’ll be doing include routine maintenance on trees & bushes – spring pruning!  This is expected, needed and nothing to get too excited about. Everything always looks much better afterwards, we feel a great sense of accomplishment, and we grow the chipper pile to ever-greater heights!

If you’ve been enjoying warmer weather, or have indeed been snowed in – we feel your winter blahs! After I returned to Finland from a visit to the states, I was greeted by sub-zero winter temps – achingly cold brisk air has been with us a few days, mixed with more regular temps. Snowfall amounts have remained normal, with no new additional snow in weeks.

Luckily, the days are growing longer – the sun is shining and warm everyday. We bundled up yesterday for a short walk to the local – approximately a 4km/2.5 mile trek. It was a glorious day! Cider & beer were well appreciated and it was a good outing! Get out & enjoy yourself!!

Greta does NOT enjoy snow time! The first few times she was game, but then she decided to not bother with the outdoor romps, preferring to wait out the white sorcery that has covered her favorite places to run & play.  Now she contents herself with chasing pistaschio nuts shells, fruit flies and the occasional mouse.

That to-do list I mentioned, isn’t going to get done overnight. We are even discussing the pros & cons of hiring a stone mason to construct a couple of gate posts to flank our front entrance gateway. It would look marvelous! But we’re still undecided.

There’s always the rest of everything we’ve procrastinated about finishing indoors & outside:

1. new interior stairway including all the dry-walling, sanding, painting, trims, etc.
2. finishing the upstairs landing & Pekka’s office GAMING space, assorted trims, painting, caulking, staining, etc
3. cleaning out the shed building, cellar spaces and hauling away all the yak.
4. assorted touch-ups, trims, hardware, etc everywhere else inside & out

Our plans to travel to Poland, were put on the back burner, then off the burner, then back on the burner, but actually I don’t know what is going to happen or whether we’ll go there!  If we go, I want to bring back something besides just plants! Maybe something unique – like a garden statue or art piece to adorn the garden.  It looks like we’ll also be able to get the necessary FABRIC, linings and essentials to complete the water feature!!! Hurray!!! Now, won’t that be something to see!!

In keeping with springtime traditions – I started some seeds off – but on a MUCH smaller scale than previous attempts. So far, so good. Tomatoes & peppers seem to be off to a good start. Stay tuned! hahah 🙂

We’ll be clearing out the greenhouse soon to make way for our summer vegetables. We have learned a few things after last year and won’t be making those same mistakes again. Only new ones!

Despite the crazy Finnish weather and the occasional cold snap – our plants, trees & bushes look okay. There was enough snow to help insulate which should be enough to avoid damage. Guess we’ll see in a couple more months. Yes, a couple more months! Mid-April I’m expecting another 14 roses from David Austin in the UK. But don’t forget, last year it snowed in MAY!! yikes – I hope we don’t go through that again!

Stay warm or stay cool – but stay you!

We love ya, and look forward to sharing much more with you as our home improvement & gardening journey continues! Say hello – we always enjoy hearing from you!

Until next time! ¡Hasta pronto amigos!

❤  Vanha Talo Sumoi ❤