Greetings from the other side.
A quick one today, as it is a very busy day.
Yesterday we had the same guy who had been here before regarding the ants, visit us again. We had removed the skirting boards ('golvlister' in Swedish. Blame Google if I got the translation into English wrong. ;) he he ) and he drilled holes into the walls behind them and pumped them full of ant-poison. Now, last time he was here we didn't have much luck getting to the ants. This time however, we had almost immediate success! 10 minutes after had had done that, we had about 10 dead ants on the floor. The following day we were up to about 30. We spent the night at my future in-laws place because my fiancee didn't quite feel like sleeping here with the poison in the walls and the ants crawling out of the walls. I can't say I blame her for that.
Hopefully we have been able to deal a decisive blow to the carpenter ants that had taken up residence in our home. Granted, there's no guarantee they won't come back later, but we are hoping they will at least be gone for now. We still have to wait and see how it goes though.
After some warmer days we now have somewhat cooler days again. Not 'cold' per se, but we do get temperatures that drop into the minuses at night.
As we are heading into the warmer periods of the year, Spring and Summer, I will start to see my work-load increase again. Both at work, and at home around the house. I have quite a few little projects I want to take care of this summer, so we will see how that goes. I'll probably write more about them in here as I get to them.
On the Sunday, last weekend, my fiancee and I, together with her parents, went to a concert at the city church which was held to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the school where my fiancee's brother works. He was there as well, playing the piano for several of the acts that were there, as well as performing a beautiful piano piece which he had composed himself. In all honesty he is probably one of the best pianists I have ever heard, and it was a pleasure hearing him play. All in all it was a good concert with a lot of good music.
That's about all for this time.
See you all on the other side!
Visar inlägg med etikett Homestead. Visa alla inlägg
Visar inlägg med etikett Homestead. Visa alla inlägg
onsdag 29 mars 2017
lördag 8 oktober 2016
Living in the countryside & more
Greetings from the other side.
Living in the countryside is very different from the life I was used to back home in Sweden. I've always lived in a town or city, so transitioning to life in a more rural area is definitely something different. Yet somehow it is also similar, and I have found it surprisingly easy to do so. You really have access to all the basic things you need out here. There is internet, a store, a church, good people, and anything you need that you can't find here is only about a 20-minute drive away in the city. I like the calm here, the d.i.y. mentality and the helpfulness that people exhibit on a regular basis. People help eachother out and it is the most natural thing ever. I like this mentality. I think it is the same thing in smaller communities back home in Sweden as well.
I love how open everything is here. There is forest, fields, open landscapes, and the sea. All clad in beautiful autumn colours. It is getting colder outside though, which is a minus. Pardon the non-intentional pun there. You can see the frost on the ground in the morning, and I have had to move my car indoors now to avoid having to scrape the frost off of the windows every morning before I head to work. At least I probably won't have to do any more lawn-mowing this year, which helps. Because of the warm weather all the lawns were growing like crazy up until a week or two ago.
As the days are getting inevitably shorter and it is getting darker outside, I sometimes wish I could gather a few friends and play some tabletop RPG. Go out on an adventure with my friends and get away from the darkness outside for a little bit. Sadly there is nothing set up here at home for that at the moment, except for the tabletop RPG books that are currently stored in the bookcase in our 'office'. I might try and get something set up in the future though, and see if I can scrape together some people to play a game or two. :)
Tomorrow we have my girlfriend's parents, siblings with their families, and her friends over for coffee to celebrate our engagement. Celebrations with my family and friends, who are currently back home in Sweden, will have to wait until they are able to get over here. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I am sure it will be a nice time and that lots of merriment will be had by all.
Had a chance to sit down and brain-storm a bit with my girlfriend today regarding my world-building. Even if she wasn't able to come up with too many ideas herself, she asked questions about things and let me speak freely, both of which helped get my brain-juices flowing. It is one thing sitting down in front of the computer with a blank document in front of you and try to write something, and something completely different when you get a chance to talk about and/or discuss it. I am grateful for her help.
One issue that has come up with my new phone is the ringtone. I can't really find one I really like amongst the ones that are already on there, and for some reason my mind has been drawing a complete blank on good music that would make good ringtunes. I am sure it will come to me eventually, but for now I am stuck with the default option, unfortunately. Other than that I am happy with it so far.
See you all on the other side!
Living in the countryside is very different from the life I was used to back home in Sweden. I've always lived in a town or city, so transitioning to life in a more rural area is definitely something different. Yet somehow it is also similar, and I have found it surprisingly easy to do so. You really have access to all the basic things you need out here. There is internet, a store, a church, good people, and anything you need that you can't find here is only about a 20-minute drive away in the city. I like the calm here, the d.i.y. mentality and the helpfulness that people exhibit on a regular basis. People help eachother out and it is the most natural thing ever. I like this mentality. I think it is the same thing in smaller communities back home in Sweden as well.
I love how open everything is here. There is forest, fields, open landscapes, and the sea. All clad in beautiful autumn colours. It is getting colder outside though, which is a minus. Pardon the non-intentional pun there. You can see the frost on the ground in the morning, and I have had to move my car indoors now to avoid having to scrape the frost off of the windows every morning before I head to work. At least I probably won't have to do any more lawn-mowing this year, which helps. Because of the warm weather all the lawns were growing like crazy up until a week or two ago.
As the days are getting inevitably shorter and it is getting darker outside, I sometimes wish I could gather a few friends and play some tabletop RPG. Go out on an adventure with my friends and get away from the darkness outside for a little bit. Sadly there is nothing set up here at home for that at the moment, except for the tabletop RPG books that are currently stored in the bookcase in our 'office'. I might try and get something set up in the future though, and see if I can scrape together some people to play a game or two. :)
Tomorrow we have my girlfriend's parents, siblings with their families, and her friends over for coffee to celebrate our engagement. Celebrations with my family and friends, who are currently back home in Sweden, will have to wait until they are able to get over here. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I am sure it will be a nice time and that lots of merriment will be had by all.
Had a chance to sit down and brain-storm a bit with my girlfriend today regarding my world-building. Even if she wasn't able to come up with too many ideas herself, she asked questions about things and let me speak freely, both of which helped get my brain-juices flowing. It is one thing sitting down in front of the computer with a blank document in front of you and try to write something, and something completely different when you get a chance to talk about and/or discuss it. I am grateful for her help.
One issue that has come up with my new phone is the ringtone. I can't really find one I really like amongst the ones that are already on there, and for some reason my mind has been drawing a complete blank on good music that would make good ringtunes. I am sure it will come to me eventually, but for now I am stuck with the default option, unfortunately. Other than that I am happy with it so far.
See you all on the other side!
måndag 8 augusti 2016
A slice of life on the other side
Greetings from the other side.
This is my second attempt at writing this blog post after the first one mysteriously disappeared somewhere into the ether. I blame my computer, though I am guessing the real answer lies somewhere between that and me still learning how this whole blogging thing works. Oh well, let's try this again! :)
Yesterday I took it upon myself to do some yard work around the house. A lot of that time was spent cutting down and uprooting rowans, which grow in abundance here. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against rowans, but they are so plentiful, especially the saplings, that I kinda need to keep their numbers in check a bit. After a few hours of work I have only gone through about 1/5 of the area I was planning to go through. There is really no rush though, as I have the rest of summer and autumn in which to do it in, so there's no use stressing about it. :)
Stress is one of those things that I take seriously. Having suffered from stress-related issues before, I have learned the importance of trying not to stress too much, especially over things you have little or no control over. I am only human however, so that doesn't always work according to plan, but what is important is that I try to affect the amount of stress when I can at least.
I have found that working outside, in this beautiful part of Finland, being surrounded by natural surroundings, is very calming and peaceful, and gives a sense of serenity in the midst of the, sometimes, hard work. It can sometimes almost be a meditative experience of sorts. Working outside in the sun yesterday for a few hours, really did wonders, and it was such a nice feeling of accomplishment afterwards. Not the kind you get after coming home after a full day's work, but something that comes out of knowing that what I do improves things around the homestead, for my gf and I. That is a very nice feeling. I find that, in general, working outside is preferable to working inside. You feel much closer to the world somehow, and you get to be out in the fresh air. Of course, it is one thing to say that now, in the midst of summer, and quite another one when winter comes. But in general I quite enjoy being outside.
Speaking of being outside, I have found myself realizing just how similar it is here compared to back home in Sweden. The natural scenery looks the same, and it is only really when you look at the prices of things, or see signs in finnish or hear someone speaking finnish that you realize that you have crossed the border. It is ok though. I like finnish, even though I don't speak it. I guess it comes from my love of languages in general. I also really like the dialect of the swedish-speaking population here. To some degree I think it brings out more of my own dialect from back home as well. :)
See you all on the other side!
This is my second attempt at writing this blog post after the first one mysteriously disappeared somewhere into the ether. I blame my computer, though I am guessing the real answer lies somewhere between that and me still learning how this whole blogging thing works. Oh well, let's try this again! :)
Yesterday I took it upon myself to do some yard work around the house. A lot of that time was spent cutting down and uprooting rowans, which grow in abundance here. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against rowans, but they are so plentiful, especially the saplings, that I kinda need to keep their numbers in check a bit. After a few hours of work I have only gone through about 1/5 of the area I was planning to go through. There is really no rush though, as I have the rest of summer and autumn in which to do it in, so there's no use stressing about it. :)
Stress is one of those things that I take seriously. Having suffered from stress-related issues before, I have learned the importance of trying not to stress too much, especially over things you have little or no control over. I am only human however, so that doesn't always work according to plan, but what is important is that I try to affect the amount of stress when I can at least.
I have found that working outside, in this beautiful part of Finland, being surrounded by natural surroundings, is very calming and peaceful, and gives a sense of serenity in the midst of the, sometimes, hard work. It can sometimes almost be a meditative experience of sorts. Working outside in the sun yesterday for a few hours, really did wonders, and it was such a nice feeling of accomplishment afterwards. Not the kind you get after coming home after a full day's work, but something that comes out of knowing that what I do improves things around the homestead, for my gf and I. That is a very nice feeling. I find that, in general, working outside is preferable to working inside. You feel much closer to the world somehow, and you get to be out in the fresh air. Of course, it is one thing to say that now, in the midst of summer, and quite another one when winter comes. But in general I quite enjoy being outside.
Speaking of being outside, I have found myself realizing just how similar it is here compared to back home in Sweden. The natural scenery looks the same, and it is only really when you look at the prices of things, or see signs in finnish or hear someone speaking finnish that you realize that you have crossed the border. It is ok though. I like finnish, even though I don't speak it. I guess it comes from my love of languages in general. I also really like the dialect of the swedish-speaking population here. To some degree I think it brings out more of my own dialect from back home as well. :)
See you all on the other side!
Prenumerera på:
Inlägg (Atom)