1stWeekend

This Friday we drove for the 1st time for the weekend to Lappala. Last weekend He and YoungLady made a day-trip to drive the 1st load to Lappala, but this weekend was the 1st ever we spend in this beautiful traditional house. We needed 2 cars and a trailer to drive the 2nd load.

For example the recycled LED-lanterns traveled to Lappala. They lighted up our moments at the wood burning traditional sauna where is no electricity or drains. They are really beautiful!

This is the view I woke up this weekend. I just need to open my eyes and see this fabulous view. I love the old trees that can tell many stories.

This is the view I see when having a breakfast at Lappala. There are many young trees also. I do love them all. I do love the lake too. It is so big that it feels almost like the sea bay at home.

This is the view I see through the bedroom window. Autumn colors arrived early this year and at the moment outside is very beautiful.

Lappala is going to be quite a lot recycling. All we can't recycle, but we do recycle as much as possible. In this picture you can see the old beds with new mattresses, old rag rug and old curtain.

Pii had a rough weekend at Lappala. She meets my mom very rarely and never at over night visit. Now my mom came with us. Pii decided it is her job to look after granny. It was endearing how seriously she took her self-imposed duty. She even slept beside my mom's bed and didn't move until she woke up. My mom was there to help me with cleaning Lappala. Believe me or not, but we didn't made it in one weekend. Not even we worked 3 hours on Friday, 13 hours on Saturday and 10 hours today. It really is a forgotten old traditional house which none has been serve in years. I'll be back with my mom next Friday.

LED-Lanterns

We need some lanterns for Lappala. Because of the fire safety for this valuable old traditional house, we don't want to use real candles or petrol lanterns. That's why I bought new similar LED String Lights for Lappala I installed in our sauna at home. They work with the batteries.

Other parts of these lights are recycled. You can see I have wind the string around a green wire. It is recycled fine wire mesh from our garden. I was a bit worried if the wire should be metallic shade but He could not find anything available for my purpose on the moment. I tried the green and we can see that's just fine. 

The lanterns are recycled from our garden. I just washed them well. I got even the glasses out. They are metallic and have last much longer than the wooden ones which I bought at first years ago. These are already rusty but that creates just more character on them. 

Can't wait to see the moss and lichen start to grow over them in the future now when I just let them be. Now I can let the nature grow over them, because I don't use the real fire anymore inside them.

Now they are ready for Lappala to lighten up the dark polar nights. Later we'll see where I will place them.

SaunaLights

Now it is finally installed: the new lights for our sauna. We had to wait until they arrive to the local shops and now it's there.

It is nothing very rare or special. Just something not available around here up in the north by the arctic circle all the time. None needs them over the summer season when there's daylight even during the nights!

It is LED String Light for home decoration purposes only. It is suitable for indoor and outdoor use. It works with 3 x AA battery. It has 50 small warm white shade lights. Best of all is that it has the timer you can adjust to work 6 hours on and 18 hours off. We placed it all between the window glasses. Yep, between. Not inside because there would be too hot because of the sauna heat. Not outdoors because they are better safe from the frost and snow indoors. In Finland we have multi layer windows to keep the cold to stay better away. There's a small space between the glasses. These tiny lights fit just perfectly in that space. It's not inside temperature but much warmer than outside. That makes also the batteries to last longer.

BathroomWallCabinet

I bought this traditional style and beautiful old small wall cabinet this week. I paid 20 € for it plus 8 liters of petrol to fetch it. I cleaned it gently but well.

After cleaning it, I oiled it by Extra Virgin Macadamia Nut Oil that I still have for my save the parquet flooring project. It looks very beautiful now. It is hand made small wall cabinet used usually by hired men at the estates. They kept their personal items in these cabinets: small hand mirror, comb, razor and soap.

This cabinet is for Lappala. Lappala is a traditional house. We will cherish Lappala according to the traditions. That's why we are going to recycle as much as possible. In Lappala is a small toilet which needs updating. We have already bought the new hot water boilers: one for electric sauna and the other for the toilet. Also, the toilet needs new seat. That one we had to buy as new, like the hot water boilers. But other things we can try to recycle. This bathroom wall cabinet is one of those old things which can have a new life in Lappala. 💚

The Reading Challenge 2026 - Part 4

In August 2026 I've read two books in English. These ones are quite untypical for me to buy for myself. Still, they are very useful, practical, educative and  great souvenirs from your journeys and can take you back there where you were time ago.

Bernard Meehan's The Book of Kells -Official Guide (in English, mine) is a great book about the famous book. It provides excellent illustration, explanations and information about this historical object. We went to see The Book of Kells at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland in June 2024. It was great to see that place and the book itself, even the library was under the renovation. I bought this book as a souvenir because you can't actually touch the original book, not to mention investigate it by your own hands. I usually don't buy this kind of guide books but in this case I think it is the only way to get to see The Book better. And investigate at least some pages of it. In August 2026 I finally read the whole book and paid a special attention on its illustration and refreshed my memories about Ireland and its history. Nice way to travel back there again in my memories.

Valerie Ryan's The Story of Russborough House (in English, mine) was another untypical book I bought on my journey to Dublin, Ireland in 2024. Back then I visited the place, and now I returned by the book. Unfortunately I noticed my copy was missing 4 pages of 35!!!! And the last sentences of the book revealed that I must live much longer to find out what's written in the Alfred Beit diaries. They must have something connected to Queen Elizabeth II.