Bilberries and rain and fulfilling dreams

As most Europeans are suffering extreme heat, we have had a cold week. Last night it was 8C, and during the day it's from 14C to 17C. I think this is way too cold. Hb is content, because he's suffering anytime temperatures rise above 18C - he works in a freezer (literally). I'm suffering now.

But we had our bout of warmth earlier this summer, and for most berries and fruits it was a perfect timing, no frost nights during the time they were blooming, a lot of pollinators buzzing around and dry weather fot those buzzers to fly. And once the blooming was over, there was rain - plants can't make fruits/berries if it's too dry.

I've baked two bilberry pies so far - we call bilberries blueberries (They are original blueberries). D don't eat them, because bilberries make her sick. As do oat, milk, pasta, chicken, too much eggs, most fruits (but not raspberries, which make me  sick), potatoes, rice (but not rice milk), bread, cheese if not cooked, meat in most forms... But anyway, os and ys LOVE bilberry pie.

I told them they will have just as many bilberry pies during the winter as there is berries in the freezer. So far os has been twice picking bilberries with me!!!

Because of the heat wave and this rain, our firewood project is behind our normal schedule. We started cutting and splitting last weekend, and if it's not raining today, we might get more done tonight. Yesterday it was rain on and off whole afternoon.

A bit boring.

Old man decided to build a log cabin/retirement house. He has dreamt of three things in his life: learning to fly (got his license in early twenties), owning a forest (bought first forest in his fifties) and building a log house. Now it's time for him to fulfill his last dream, groundwork is done, just waiting for last signatures for the permit. Yesterday they were digging an old well, it was filled with roots and concrete rings were a bit loose. So all is now nicely clean and sealed, and after a while that water is drinkable. My cousin's digger on the other hand is not ok, it stopped working several times. Oh well, just like it always is, something happens and you just have to fix it.

And as for my mother, she has had her dreams fulfilled: a house of their own in the countryside, work from home, a nice garden.

It's getting better

There is so many good news in my life.

Old man's surgery in June was a success. Tumor was completely removed (no growth ouside pancreas), and among all lymph nodes there were only few with suspicioius cells, and they were nearest to pancreas, further away nodes were all clean.

So, now he "just" have to adjust being diabetic (type 1)... Of course there's follow ups regularily, after all we are talking about cancer, not infected toe nail. But now we can breathe.

He needs to learn to eat again, it's been difficult (he had a weight loss surgery as well, because part of his stomac was removed - he was lightly underweight in the beginning, and now he is "moderately underweight"  he needs to gain at least 10 kg to be on healthy range.

Ys's room is progressed. I got all walls finished and we had electrician today working for four hours (he did more than just ys's electrics), now hb needs to build the ceiling so rest of electric sockets and light fittings can be installed. I'll put the floor down after that and then off to Ikea!

My last vacation week, back to work on Monday. Well, back.. to log in on my laptop. We'll be back on office next week - and only if someone wants to go to the office, we can work from home until November.

My veggie patch has started producing. I've been digging potatoes, first I had to dig six plants to get pot full of potatoes for my family (six people eat quite a lot of spuds at dinner), now it's down to two plants. My early potatoes are Colomba, they are a bit too creamy to my liking, but kids love them. And they are even sized and they have grown very well.

We've been eating lettuce from garden only for weeks. Haven't bought any. My strawberries have been really nice suprice this year, today I picked a little shy of 2l, because yesterday it rained all day and I didn't go to veggie patch at all. But I have been able to give kids handfull of berries each day (a handfull for each child!)

My beets (golden beets and striped ones) are growing strongly, but my Cylindras didn't even germinate, and those few that did haven't been growing. Maybe seeds were too old?

And carrots! yes, I have carrots, I've made carrot top pesto again (because I feed children carrots daily, I've had a few carrot tops, too) and now I'm drying some to get green powder to sprinkle into foods in winter... (my kids hate me)

Harvesting dinner

For a very long time this has been a good year to my roses, I have a soft spot fot these pink ones (don't ask me names or types, they all were growing here when we bought this place over 25 years ago, I was young and not interested in gardening).

They have a lovely strong (byt not overwhelming) smell, and it's been expecially nice this summer, because this is first summer for a very long time I have been abe to smell them! We keep joking that I have corona because I got my sense of smell back...

My mother had these by our front door when I was a child. Those bushes are gone, but my aunt took some of them to her house, which is now our home.

Otherwise i've sent my time in forest. Twice a day I take 'Suma for a walk, and finally I remember to take plastic bag and a knife with me...

These lovelies

And these little buttons

And those tiny pearls

Yes, foraging season is here!

Usually I pick only mushrooms, and get my berries from hb's father or my aunt or someone (like my co-workers in-laws), but because this covid-19 and my in-laws being way over 90 years I quess it's my turn to get my fingers blue.

Local blueberries are tiny, they are different from those garden varieties (which are originally from North America), it takes a long time to pick enough berries for a pie... But I even got kids to pick few berries, we have thermacell to keep mosquitos away.

I usually fry all mushrooms, that's how os likes them. First I boil excess moisture off, like this:

Some porchinos and chanterelles

Chanterelles

Many people think that frying mushrooms means that first you melt butter on frying pand and then toss mushrooms in there. It might work out ok that way, but these mushrooms we have here like to be first boiled in their own juices and then fried with butter and salt.

For freezer I boil mushrooms in their own moisture until it's almos all gone, cool them and bag them. That way they keep for a very long time (over a year). If fat (oil or butter) is added, they keep only few months.

My aim is to have at least 20 bags of mushrooms in freezer, so os can get fried mushrooms once every fortnight during winter. 15 to go...

And those blueberries...

Pie!

This is our go-to berry pie. Pie crust needs something to be perfect, but this is good. I don't blind bake the bottom, and white stuff is yoghurt, one egg and some sugar and vanilla sugar.

Just add heat

Crust looks darker than it was (this was eaten before it was even cooled down. Filling firms up when it gets cool.

Os ate half of the first pie I made, so I quess even with not so perfect crust it was delicious...

My children don't get to eat out often, not once a month, maybe three times a year. Now that d goes out with her friends, she's been eating out more, but of course it all came to halt due to covid-19.

Younger boys like sushi, and it's expensive to take them to eat sushi to a sushi restaurant. So we've mahde sushi ourselves:

Only authentic things were sushi vinegar and seaweed. Rice was pudding rice (rinsed before boiling), sesame seeds were found in the bottom of my pantry cuboard and a bit over toasted in frying pan, surimi sticks (fake crab stics) and shrimps, and cucumber sticks and cooked carrot sticks. Maybe not authentic but quite nice with soy sauce (in Ikea egg cup) and fake wasabi. I don't know how to use chopsticks but kids do.

I wanted to try to make tortillas, they were suprinsingly easy. But I don't think they worth the effort, because only half of kids will eat tortillas in any form or shape. But if I can't go to shops I know I'm able to make them. Another skill acquired.

An di finally after three years have a working remote for my car. Now I'm able to sell it - but also now I want to keep it 😁

Weeks 3, 4 and 5, i think

I've been busy. It's the beginning of gardening season, even if we have had three weeks of snow, sleet and frosts. It's April.
I put up my polytunnel two weeks ago, and I have sown first seeds there already, salads, radishes and swiss chard (if I remember right). I hope I can get some harvest before I can plant tomatoes and peppers (and chillies) there.
I bought plant light few weeks ago (it was just before this shut down started) and now my peppers, aubergines, chillies and some other seed have sprouted, so I rigged it with a plank and windowsills to hold it on place. 'Suma is no longer a menace, so I can keep my seedlings in a plastic box on floor.
Second lot of seeds are sown and put up on a tall freezer, I hope I remember to check on them occasionally!
Mental breakdowns are fewer and fewer. Ys has one every now and then, but so far I have managed to get him over them with ease. He thinks he has too much to do (at home school). I don't think so, but my kids always blame me for being too demanding. Last breakdown was because he had to make a totem pole (out of kitchen towel cardboard tube...), he wanted to draw and it was supposed to be made with different papers... Oh dear. Ice cream, tissue to blow one's nose and pep talk later all was well and he spent two hours crafting a pretty totem pole.
Oh, there was Easter. We had roasted lamb leg (it's rarity here, but kids love lamb/mutton so I try to get some for easter), chocolate eggs and other easter stuff to eat. We don't celebrate it as such, it's more like a spring time feast for us.
Work might not have been as busy as it could have been if I was working in office (and I have few days off anyway before easter). Meetings via skype and teams.
Ys's room has been under construction, I've plastered outer wall (with window) and that moster block of concrete that lies in that room (it's in extension which is a half floor below the old house, and because we have non-solid gorund here, we had to make some weird stuctural solutions in order to keep old house solidly in place). One wall is waiting for planks (I'm treating them atm, first treatment is strong black tea for tannines, and next treatment is mixture of vinegar and iron (rebar bars I had lying around). I will not produce even colour, and that's the point - it might end up with very dark brown, or just light greyish. I'm aiming for lighter greysish tones as ys has asked for that, but... You never know, when playing with natural material and not so accurate measurements. We cut the planks and now we only have to wait for that first tea treatment to dry so that I can put that vinegar concotion on, but it will probably have to wait until tomorrow.
(we have mostly spruce as buiding material here, and it has no tannin unlike oak, so in order to get some colour out of iron-vinegar mix I have to treat the planks first eith tannin, I could buy it, or use crushed acorns (didn't harvested then last autunm) or even use red wine, but I opted for strong tea).
I've managed with one weekly shopping, occasionally I've run out of milk or spread a day early, but then we have had just cope without for a day. I've been (my own opinion) successfull so far, even if I don't have a set meny for the week ahead. I have some ideas (like hot dog casserole hb asked for) and then I'm just playing along.
Freezers are not actually emptying, because every time I go shopping I buy stuff I put into freezer: bread, meat, chicken, fish, chips, veggies etc. But I have used some odd items now and then, I hope that in summer I have enough room for berries.
I've sewn four masks so far, I think the last one is very usable, it fits nicely (not too tight). I think I should be doing several now, I'm using them when I'm shopping. Yes, people look me weirdly, but I don't care, I don't want to be the one who spreads covid-19 around. Self-made mask will not protect me 100%, but it will protect others, if I happen to have infection!
I'm really missing number two, I so long for holding a baby. My sister sends daily messages, pictures and videos, but I can't hold her or smell the wonderfull smell of a baby.... My kids are so bid they are not good substitutes on that - teenager boys don't smell like babies...
People are telling in social media how they are spending their extra time now in isolation. I mean what extra time? I haven't had time to write to my blog in three weeks!
My alarm goes off at 6am, then after brushing my teeth I'm off to 'Suma walk, back at 7am, waking kids, eating own breakfast and it's 8am, then logging in to work, doing that until just before noon, making lunch for school kids, back to work, then by 3is pm getting out for another 'Suma walk (into the forest so only max 30mins) if kids haven't done that, laundy, dishes, another cooking time, more work (need to get not only my hours but also my work done), some building/gardening/crafting stuff and then I'm finally sitting in front of telly, and its half past eight in the evening!

Some works done

Yesterday I decided I need to get ys's room done. Now it's just half-built walls, no ceiling and no flooring.
I taped and put plastic to cover the window, taped and covered with building paper the only ready-to-be-painted wall and asked hb to mix a batch of cement filler and set to work (I have grinded that cinder block wall already). Now wall with a window is plastered, and window opening is almost done. Sounds simple, but me being a short type of a human it took quite a lot climbing ladders up and down. My legs hurt now.
Of course it needs windowsill and before that sides needs anothed go with filler, but it's an improvement, anyway.
And I think I have some arthritis in my right thumb, it was painful to use it. I just hope I can get this houde done before I'm seriously affected (my mother and my brother have it).

Ys wants back wall (which will be built of plain planks) painted/treated dark brown or grey, and two other walls (plasterboard) painted dark grey. I asked him to consider again, because that would make the room look really dark...
Floor will be the same vinyl flooring we have here at dining(livin room), anf ceiling will be also the same white plywood, i have plywood ready and painted.

Of course everything needs a lot time because hb doens't want to do anything, next time I have to make mix by myself - I just hate to attach any equipment to drill, never get it done right on first try. I need somehow to make hb to put up the ceiling, I just can't do it myself (not even with ladders, I'm just too short). Then there's bathroom, kitchen, foyer and stairs. Haha, kitchen kabinets have been in their boxes for three years... Luckily I still like them.

Preparing for colder months

Mid September. Somehow it feels like winter is going to be here right now, but in real life I know it'll take at least two months until we are really in to the winter.

I have a bunch of tasks to do before serious frosts and snow (and the darkness October and November brings).

Garden, veggie plot, geenhouse and polytunnel:

Things need to be done now (before we have first frosts at the end of this week):
- harvest everything that can be harvested (beets, chard, nz spinach, zucchinies, beans, corn, potatoes from bags)
- cover plants that need shelter (pumpkins, zucchinies, beans)
- get strawberry runners planted
- make sure greenhouse and polytunnel are kept ready for cold nights

Things need to be done ASAP:
- build a new additional cold frame for garlic
- build a new frame ready for next summer's cucumbers
- build a new additional frame for more strawberries
- empty compost bin to aforementioned frames
- harvest everything that will not be producing anymore from greenhouse and polytunnel (cucamelon, herbs, potatoes)
- mix old spoiled concrete mixes with sawdust and fill holes on the forest tractor tracks (so that tractor is no longer in danger to fall over or lose it's oil plug)
- forage more mushrooms (boletes are soon over)
- get chillies and peppers from polytunnel inside house (and buy a growing light for them)

Things need to be done before winter is here:
- harvest all pumpkins
- harvest all tomatoes
- harvest carrots and parsnips
- plant garlic to new frame
- empty all growing bags (excluding ones inside greenhouse) and pots into cold frames
- harvest everything else left in greenhouse and polytunnel
- empty greenhouse and polytunnel, rescue rosemary and ginger (they need growing light, too)
- harvest aronia berris from aunt's garden
- harvest rowan berries (from aunt's garden?)
- empty ash buckets to cold frames (this needs to be done several times to get all frames covered)
- take poly from polytunnel down and put it into greenhouse for winter
- try to figure out how to protect kale from hares during the winter....

And some additional stuff to be done:
- try to locate some free apples
- buy new winter shoes fro three kids
- check kids' winter coats if they neew new ones
- mix sawdust and (garden) peat for outhouse use
- get some heavy duty candles for outhouse
- grind ys's new room's outside wall ready for filler
- level out that wall with filler
- get one wall done with planks, treat planks before that
- fill, sand and fill again plaster walls to be painted
- figure out what colour ys wants for those plaster board walls (hopefully not wallpaper)
- make floor with vinyl planks
- move ys to that room!
- and then the toilet...

Oh bugger

Yes, I have noticed the winter is here. First i the November the polytunnel was blown away (plastic cover). We set it back and tucked it tightly and neatly, no sagging  anywhere to prevent water or snow accumulating on it.
And then came third or fourth storm this winter, and with very sticky wet snow there was at least 20cm pile of snow, which turned to slush and there went crashing down my tunnel... It's broken. Metallic pipes of frame were bent and stretched, but the covering is intact. In the morning when I left for work, there was no snow over the tunnel at all, and by 3pm the whole thing was down ( I left work ealry just for specific purpose to take snow off the tunnel... too late).

I'm so mad and sad. Of course I know I should have to build a supporting extra frame inside the tunnel, but I haven't had time to do it. It's been three months of darkness after five o'clock pm when I get back home from work (and then I have to make dinner and make sure kids do their homework), and on free time I have been working on the dining/sitting room and toilet. There is only limited hours in my days and weeks...
So I have to buy a new polytunnel. Were it only the covering, I could have bought that separately, but of course no, it's the framing... Buying a new polytunnel is not a problem (yes, I have a plenty of other things to use my money, but right now it doesn't make me bankruptcy because I have money I was planning to spend on other things on the veg plot and polytunnel and greenhouse...). The thing is I can't begin to sow/plant anything outside now before I have a working polytunnel or big greenhouse and I can't build a new polytunnel until spring when all the snow has melted and ground has softened enought to put new foundations on ground. And by then it will be at least May.

The whole idea of having a big polytunnel was to get a headstart in spring with seedlings (I was planning to put a kind of a greenhouse inside the polytunnel), so aaaaargh. Growing season is so short here north, two weeks delay might lead to unsuccessful season.

Thank you and move on.

On the other news we got some venison to the freezer (one joint from the hunting party that is allowed to use our forest and a couple of pieces from hb:s co worker), as well as lamb from my brother. First small piece of venison made into a stew, a bit too sweet to my taste (I used beer) but no leftovers... D found some edible mushrooms at Christmas when she went to fetch some branches and moss for flower arrangements (all four of our children know their 'shrooms, they have been with me in the forest since they were babies). Wild chanterells go well with game.

Dining/sitting room is missing skirtings (they are waiting in the hallway) because Christmas got on the way, I hope hb puts them on place while I'm at work, otherwise I would have to put them myself and I.m not comfortable with glue or nailgun. And the ceiling is not finished, but I have no idea what kind of wood I need for the planned lattice I have in mind... Work on process.