Saturday, August 5

 

 

Loud thunder and heavy rain woke us briefly at 1:30, but only briefly. To my surprise Irma leaped up at 7:30, saying that all this sleeping had got too much. She had a cup of coffee and I had nothing. We got to the market at 8:50 in time for me to head to Benitas for a market breakfast of egg and anchovy bread and a big coffee.

We bought fishcakes and a few more things. I helped Eva with her flag, and we discovered that neither Titti nor the woman from Loviisa had come today: no pies or cookies for us.

We get back to Sundö by about 10:15 and I wander over to the farm shop to take photographs of vegetables for my Instagram followers. On the way I look down and see two beetles walking across my path one after the other. Perhaps they form a key part of this morning’s Insect Patrol. I watch them until they disappear under a leaf.

Naa will wake and eat and at 11:30 Naa and Irma will drive to Erika’s shop to pick up our tickets for next Saturday’s concert. I will sit outside until sudden rain forces me back in. Sudden rain sometimes stops as quickly as it started, but today it will give way to fierce wind and hot sun. The strength of the wind will successfully make the sun feel cold.

Irma will stop everything at 15:00 for big bowls of strawberries, crumbled ginger biscuits and ice cream. We will follow this with some mowing and weeding, and a round of goodbyes.

Naa and Irma will leave in time to catch the 16:15 ferry and I will race after them when I notice that they have left the dvds that Naa intends to return to the library in Borgå when she returns on Thursday.

I will make myself a dinner of fishcakes and salad with iced water, and then listen to an orchestral arrangement of Debussy’s piano works. I will get things ready for next week: check schedules, make plans and answer some mail.

Sunshine will return about 21:30. I will chat with Irma briefly before the 22:00 news and at 23:00 I will fall soundly asleep.