Today we left our cabin near Oulu and drove down to our home in southern Finland. It was a bit sad to leave since it’s so relaxing being up there and we’d only just gotten started with the renovation projects. It was really fun crafting up stuff with wood and paint and working outside and exploring all the really old treasures hidden in books and barns and attics.

As my last craft project I made this brush holder out of birch. Similar to my birch coasters. I’m just going to say that I used a manual crank drill for this, so way more time went into it than should’ve by any modern standards. Yes, we do have an electric drill too, but man, it’s so much more satisfying doing it yourself. Broke a bit of sweat in that barn!

Started a painting too, as you can tell by the photo. It was loosely inspired by the opposite bank of our river. It’s just going to take a little rest in its incompleteness: I left it at the cabin for now.
 
 
 

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We got home an hour ago in our little red mini, 7 hour drive, and we all took turns.

Aaannd, what don’t you know, we run out of gas.

 
In the middle of the highway we start losing speed and we’re all “abbuh?” (in Finnish though, “mitäh?”)
and lo and behold our tank is empty and our engine is winding down.

Jenni scrambles to locate the nearest gas station as Mom rides the clutch,

“Where is it?”
“Ahead there’s one!”
“How far is it?”
“…14 kilometers.”

Yep, we are not going to roll 14 kilometers. On the highway.

Anyway, it was hilarious and surreal and we pulled over and called the gas station that quickly sent two guys with gas over and within 15 minutes we were on our merry way.

Definitely a movie moment. I blame the poorly designed dashboard. NO ONE can see that dinky fuel gauge. (Especially since this speedometer lies directly in the middle of the car and not in front of the driver.)
 
 
 

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That was memorable.
 
I got the idea to document our packing:

Do you know how we jam? We jam. Jam like pros. Included in this small army are blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, redcurrants, and – my favorite – blackcurrants. Mmm mmm good all winter long.
 
 

And of course there are other things you can do with berries – we had so many we infused vodka with redcurrants. It works surprisingly well and the flavor really suits it – think a tart cosmopolitan. Really, really lovely with some lime and seltzer.
 
 

And last but not least an array of delicious Finnish staples straight from supermarket shelves – so many things I’m going to miss while away at college.
 
Some notable foods:
CLOUDBERRY JAM & LEIPAJUUSTO – explained in this earlier entry; you put the jam on the squeaky cheese bread and it makes a delicious dessert.
LINGONBERRY PORRIDGE – you add milk and whip it up and eat it like clouds.
MEAT PIE – sounds nasty, tastes better than… a lot of things. Basically the best invention. Add ketchup. You’re done.
PEA SOUP – mundane enough, also super delicious and satisfying. This can specifically wins. (Also a lot of people like to put our delicious mustard in it…)
OLTERMANNI – best Finnish cheese, hands down, a staple in every house.
BEETROOT SALAD – WHY IS THIS MISSING FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD?

 
 
This is an abbreviated list of wonder foods though: bread and candy would need separate lists altogether. Mmm mmm, love us some carbs.