Sunday
Got up around 10:30 and made some coffee. Antti headed back to Helsinki before noon.
I tested my new Internet stick and it worked very well. This was the first time I have ever had Internet access at the cottage. Used to walk to my uncle’s house nearby, carrying my computer and using his phone line for dialup service. This Internet stick from Sonera is much faster…and much cheaper!
Washed all the dirty dishes in the afternoon. Talked with my folks and the family cat Lucky via Skype.
I cooked some honey-marinated chicken and macaroni for dinner. Always a favorite! Went for an after-dinner walk, taking lots of pictures. I saw my Aunt Meeri briefly, as she was getting ready to go back to her apartment in Hamina.
My cousin Tytti (real name Tarja) and her daughters came to pick up Meeri. My Aunt Terttu returned to Pihlaja at the same time. She and I went to see our old family friend Jenni who invited us over for coffee and sandwiches.
Terrtu stopped by our cottage to check her email and have some brandy.
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- Honey-marinated chicken, served over pasta. Yum yum yum!
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- Our cottage, celebrating her 15th birthday
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- The tall trees and blue skies of Finland
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- Welcome flowers by our cottage
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- A very a-peeling birch tree
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- Country roads take me home
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- Pihlaja berries
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- More berries
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- The beauty of the Finnish countryside
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- Still more berries
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- The grill and swingset at the old family homestead
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- The old family home. Many great childhood memories visiting this place.
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- Pretty flowers
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- A vintage tractor
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- The fields of Ala-Pihlaja. The yellow building in the background was the local grocery store when I was a kid.
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- Field of dreams
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- The old King’s Highway
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- Fern
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- Another view of the summer skies
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- A forest of birch
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- Lone flower
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- More pihlaja marjoja
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- A wood pile
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- An old wooden boat
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- One of my cousin’s old cars, next to the crapper
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- The sauna building
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- The old family barn
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- Have a seat
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- My Aunt Terrtu greets her niece, my cousin Tarja
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- My cousin with her daughters Laura and Maria
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- The view from my aunt’s cottage. The bay is seen in the distance.
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- My aunt’s cottage
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- A sunny afternoon
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- Flowers
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- Wild blueberries
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- Our friend Jenni’s cottage
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- Jenni’s flowers
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- Jenni and Terttu
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- Flowers
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- Flowers
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- Our neighbor Leena’s house
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- Leena’s sauna building
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- Leena’s garden
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- Leena’s grill house
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- Flowers
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- Flowers
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- Flowers
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- Flowers
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- More flowers
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- A beautiful sunset in Finland
