Letters from Blomsterkulla documents my journey of renovating a derelict homestead in the Finnish countryside. I'm renovating a traditional red log cottage of 30 square meters, as well as a sauna and barn. I'm tackling an overgrown yard and learning how to create and maintain a garden. Sometimes I like to visit other historic homes or homestead museums.
It was time to clean up the barn. I had to get it cleared so that I could store things from the house there while I'm renovating.I started with this area in front of the barn entrance. I found stacks of the same advertisement and spare bits of wood. The yellow
One of my summer projects was to clean out the tool cabinet. It was full of old finds; looking like it hadn't been cleaned out in decades...or maybe a century. There were antique items in there, like this beautiful cake tin, full of rusty screws.The tool cabin
Finally, it was time to clear out the driveway. We felled most of the trees while my mom and dad was visiting. There was a couple trees left at the corner of the barn. My neighbour very kindly felled those for me and came with farm equipment and removed severa
Last week was very productive, as my parents were visiting me at the cottage to help me out with some bigger tasks. We felled all the trees growing between the barn and the road. In the picture above we've already cleared half of the trees, the barn was comple
Last week, I spent five days at the cabin. It was the longest time I've spent there, previously I've only been over on weekends. I was a bit worried how it would go, as there's no sauna or shower and everything is very basic. It went quite well, even though it
Looking over the fields...Chipping trees and making garden paths...Cutting firewood...Scaling back on roses...Improving vistas...Organising...Admiring the wildflowers...Taming the forest...Enjoying the process.
Yesterday, I was at the country estate (ahem), doing the final preparations for overnight stays. I washed the bedroom windows and removed the inner panes. I had thrifted some curtains as I feel they are necessary for privacy. I was originally looking for some
Yesterday and the Saturday prior, I was doing some spring cleaning at the cottage. I set up this old washstand, complete with an enamel basin and soap dish, next the the entrance. It's all a bit rusty, sure, but I appreciate it all the same. I did not apprecia
Spring has finally arrived to the north! That means the cottage season is officially opened. In this post, there are photos from the past month. In autumn, I'd started clearing the front garden, so I decided to try to finish it - and maybe make it look nice, t
There's a very old oak tree in my yard. If I had to guess, I'd say it's about 300 years old. It has been receiving some well-deserved care and attention. This is how the oak looked when I bought the cottage in late summer 2023. You can barely see that it's the
For the past four Saturdays, I've been clearing away the rubbish at the cottage. I prioritised this, because the local recycling station will be switching to winter opening hours, and soon it will no longer be open on the weekends. I also need space cleared in
On a September Saturday, my friend G joined me for some work on the cottage. The main task of the day was to tackle the pile of bricks that was laying in the driveway. But first, I had to prepare for the pickup of this carpet. It's a nice enough wool carpet, b
I got started on removing the concrete shell on the foundation. I picked a spot where the concrete was cracking. I used the hammer mode of an impact drill. It basically vibrates a bit, and you have to use force to push the chisel down into the concrete. The wo
Let's check out the crawlspace! You can only access it through this hatch that was hidden under a rug.It's a bit unusual, but there's no insulation in the floors. There are floor joists and floor boards, and later someone's added fibreboard and masonite. Perha
Yesterday, I spent some time taking a closer look at the attic and roof. I retrieved the aluminium attic ladder from storage. The attic smelled really good; fresh and woody. That's a sign that the ventilation has been working well, even if there is no vents. T
There was no progress at the cottage last weekend, because I decided to visit the Loviisa Old Houses event instead (Loviisan Wanhat Talot). Loviisa is a charming small town of 15 000 people on the south coast of Finland, an hour's drive from Helsinki. It hosts
Good news: The fireplace is approved for use! The chimney sweep visited and everything looked good. The house has large fireplace that takes up about 1/8 of the whole house. It has a wood stove and a separate baking oven with a large brick hearth. It's not ori
In a pile of old newspapers waiting to be burned, I found an old notebook. On the first page it said "The Garden, 1998". I'd found a garden journal! I was excited, it was a chance to learn more about what had grown in the garden and what it may have looked lik
Last Saturday, my friend G and I started clearing out the veranda and took some rubbish to the recycling center. I returned on Sunday to finish the job. It looks so different when it's emptied out! Clearing out this space feels like claiming it for myself, mor
The house had small trees and overgrown rose and berry bushes around it. Oftentimes you see that houses have plantings right next to the walls, but this is a bad idea for many reasons. Firstly, the leaves of plants keep the siding of the house wet for longer a
On my second day at the cottage, I was desperately tired, with two sleepless nights behind me. I could also feel a cold coming on. I decided to explore but for only a little while, before heading home to rest and regroup. There is big barn on the property. It'
On the 24th of July in 2023, after a decade of dreaming, I became a cottage owner. It didn't seem likely to happen, as my budget was tight. I made my best offer on an old cottage, sitting on a smallish plot of 2000 square meters, in a little village in souther
