Sunday, July 12

We got up and I went off to wash my hair. While Irma was making breakfast part of the floor gave way and she almost fell through. Mika came and patched it temporarily.

It suddenly looked as though the house might need to be renovated next year, which gave us something to talk about over breakfast.

At 13:00 we went to the main farmhouse to join the celebrations for Aili’s birthday. Her cousins and other relatives from Nokia were there, as well as Jurg from the Alps, and Mona from Pellinki.

Johan barbecued steak, pork and lamb perfectly. Camilla had made a potato salad, and Irma had made a pasta salad. We all ate more than we should and then the cakes arrived.

Mona’s daughter Sofia had made three fantastic cakes that were moist in exactly the right way. My stomach was begging me to stop, but I couldn’t.

Afterwards we set off for a walk to work off some of the excess intake, but it started raining. We found the blackberries but they were mostly unripe. We hurried back.

Naa and Ann-Sofie were out walking. Ten minutes Naa arrived home completely dry because, she said, they had been walking the dogs deep in the woods where the rain can’t reach.

Eventually the rain stopped and Irma and I went down and sat on the jetty. We have been here for almost an hour taking photos of the sky and water. The patterns in the water make some interesting images. The one above is my favourite of my images. Some of Irma’s are even better.

We will leave when it starts to rain again.

Naa will fall asleep on the sofa-bed, while reading, next to the already-sleeping cat. We will have a cup of tea and go to bed.