When the sun is setting, between dusk and darkness, there is a moment when the light turns blue. And the world stops for a heartbeat.
There’s something special about a summer cottage sauna. Wood-heated, with water scooped from buckets to wash, it’s wonderfully old-fashioned and impractical. It smells like… summer.
My mum wants to build a modern sauna. We all understand it would be infinitely more practical – and object to it with our last breath.
Washing rugs on the summer cottage pier was fun as a child. Mum would throw buckets of water on my feet as I scrubbed as hard as I could. I still love the smell of Mäntysuopa (pine soap).
As we cleaned the wendy house today, the girls tried the traditional method of cleaning a rug.
Their comment was a dry, “Clearly kids in the old days had a different way of having fun”. Apparently, it was hard work.
The best purchase of the summer – if you ask the girls – has been the massive, almost 5m-long swimming mattress Ukki ordered.
It easily holds both girls standing up, so, wearing a life jackets, Alanna and Kiara have been allowed to push it almost to the middle of the lake by themselves. This is, of course, infinitely cooler than doing it with an adult. Ukki even towed the girls and the mattress all the way to the other side of the strait.
In the deep, the mattress becomes a platform for jumping, diving, kicking, pushing and generally messing around in the water. The best game, naturally, is trying to stay standing when the waves from a passing boat rock the mattress.
Great fun and a great way to build even more confidence in the water.
Now we just need to figure out where an earth to store a thick, 5m mattress for the winter.
There is a beautiful narrow strait just next to our summer cottage. It used to be a protected fish migration route, so no building and no fishing were allowed. I think the regulations have changed somewhat, but parts of the shoreline remain untouched.
As kids – maybe 14-17 years old – my brother and I would occassionally take the boat there for a swim. The strait is so sheltered from the wind that the water was always several degrees warmer than anywhere else.
Playing games in the evening is as much a part of the summer cottage holiday as the sauna.
When I was a kid, we played cards with my parents and grandma, mostly Marjapussi and Lupaus. We still occassionally crack open a deck of cards, but we have expanded our repertoire to include all kinds of card and board games. My brother has become our game-finder-in-chief, so we usually discover approximately one new game every summer.
It’s not easy to find a game that works. There are usually 7-8 of us, with very different intrests and attention spans.
Deciding what to play can sometimes take almost as long as playing it.
When something is close to home, you rarely see it as anything special.
Pulkkilanharju is a narrow esker gormed during the Ice Age. It is surrounded by the open waters of lake Päijänne, with small green islands dotting the landscape. It is often listed as one of the most scenic drives in Finland.
But because it is so close to the summer cottage, years can pass without us visiting.
This year, we decided not only to drive across it, but also to walk the short nature trail in the national park. The girls insisted the terrain was so challenging they couldn’t possibly have finished the walk without the 1,5l of bilberries they ate along the way. It really wasn’t. But the bilberries were clearly excellent.
We finished the adventure with lunch and ice cream at Vääksy Lock. Another piece of Finland’s must-see scenery.
Boats (of any size) are hard work.
I love being on the water, but have no interest in owning, operating or maintaining a boat. I want to admire the scenery, take photos, feel the wind… and step off at the end.
I only have to look at my dad or some of my friends to understand how much work boats are. I’m lucky to be in a position, where I can help out here and there without carrying the resposibility. I occassionally drive boats, but even that I do reluctantly. Like with a car, I get no pleasure from being behind the wheel (and I’m always convinced I am bad at it).
When we moved into our house in Espoo, the previous owners asked whether we’d like to include their boat in the deal. Stuart and I did not even need to glance at each other before saying no.
Luckily, there are people more willing to put in the work. I certainly benefit from the result.
As an adult, it takes me several days to settle into a holiday. The girls have been in a holiday for over five weeks and have no problem being incredibly busy doing absolutely nothing.
The main reason we moved to Finland four years ago – instead of choosing another ‘random’ country, as we had so many times before – was to let the girls grow up close to family. (One side of it, anyway)
It is paying off.
The next few weeks we’ll be at the summer cottage with ukki, mummi, Noora, Lassi and Masi.
The girls could not be happier.
Several years ago, my dad decided to get a quad bike for the summer cottage. He said it was to help with work around the yard, but none of us siblings believed him. We were convinced it is just his latest toy.
But admittedly, it has turned out to be really useful thing to have around. The yard is big, and there is a never-ending list of things to do.
The girls think it is the best toy ever. They especially love the adventure rides they take with ukki along the nearby dirt roads.
Blue Moment 