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Saturday, June 23, 2007

Juhannus/Midsummer

Today was Juhannus or Midsummer. We didn't do anything spectacular as it is getting close to our summer holiday. Tiina and I had morning sauna and sat out on the terrace with the morning sun in our faces. It was very refreshing. After sauna we had breakfast and then went to work in the yards.
The boys decided to go on an adventure and rode their bikes to Matinkylä which was about 15 kilometers round trip. They were gone for some time. Each had a backpack with them and some water to drink. They tried find a place that was open selling icecream but had to settle for the gas station in Finno before returning home. They were pretty beat but had a good time. Tomorrow they will probably go to Tapiola and do the same.
First Tiina weeded her flower beds and then placed supports for the bigger leafer plants such as the Bleeding Hearts and Rhododendron. We hung a trellis in one corner for a climber to use. Tiina had cut it all the way to the ground earlier this Spring. I trimmed the hedge out at the front gate as it had become very overgrown. After the front had been taken care of we went down to the backyard and began to chip up all of the branches we had pruned from the Lilac trees and berry bushes. We pruned out more dead branches from the Lilacs as well and chipped them up too. The chipper works very nicely. After this work was done Tiina did a little weeding and then went to BBQ our Juhannus food. She grilled Norwegian Salmon, hamburgers, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, red peppers, corn on the cob, egg plant and Zucchini. While she was BBQing I mowed and trimmed the backyard then raked it all up finishing just in time when the mosquitoes tried to make a meal out of me. The pictures included in this entry were taken around 10 PM. The days will start getting shorter now but we will still have light throughout the night.
There are a few things that need to be done to the front yard. One is that the whole structure where the gate is needs to be replaced as all of the wood has become rotten. The other is the awning over the front door due to the same. When the place had been painted (before we bought it) it hadn't been done right with the wall between us and our end neighbor. The paint is peeling off so that will need to be scraped away, sanded and new added. This all can wait until after summer holiday. That is if I am not too tired to do it ;-)

1 comment:

Jemayá said...

Nice flowerbenches and color of the wall! A bit sentimental to hear about Matinkylä - I could have invited the boys to some icecream, if I had still lived there :)! I hope you will have time to come and see us in the summer! I'll be home, might have some visitors now and then, but Tiina has my phonenumber, so just give me a call and check that the coast is clear!See you!