Back in Finland the house is still standing, and not a single thing is broken or damaged after severe winter storms. The workmanship is on such a different level here, and the triple glazing paid off!
It seems, though, that we’ll have to spend at least 3 months a year on the island. Just moving all the deck furniture outside, cleaning, making beds, turning on water etc etc takes two weeks, and closing-up the house the same again, so to come for the odd week or two is just not an option.
It’s incredible to walk back into the house for the first time in a year because you see it from a fresh perspective, and it looks amazing! We only spent one night in it last year because we finished at the last minute, so there’s still a lot of unpacking and organising to be done, and my boxes from South Africa and the furniture from Denmark will be arriving, so I’ve been busy busy busy painting cleaning organising, and only now, finally, do we have an internet connection on the island. We’re very organised, flat screen tv, satellite, internet, very first-world, except, of course, we have to use an outhouse. Ha ha, it’s not great, especially seeing as it’s about 50m from the house, and no fun if you need to answer nature’s call in the middle of the night, but it’s not as bad as I thought. Avoiding moose at night when you’re sleepy is a bit scary though….I love the walkways, and the lanterns give a bit of a lodge feel. We never get to use them in summer though, because it doesn’t get dark!