House-Elf Doings 

Guess where we are in Jarvenpaa, Finland.

There is roving too.

Yes it is the wool shop Ulla has told us about before.

You are allowed to dribble.

I certainly did. There were so many yarns I just cannot get locally here.

Beautiful rainbow colours!

Now let us travel along the shore of Lake Tuusula to the South East.

It is frozen over so people are at play cross country skiing and other sports.

 Beautiful buildings line the lake.

 Mostly made of wood.

This picture sums up the colours of Finland for me.

This is the house built in 1900 to 1902 by the artist Pekka Halonen and his friends. 

Juhani Aho (see previous post) recommended the area and it developed into a community of artists. 

Downstairs was a fabulous double storey studio with a cosy library alcove. Just off it in the centre of this pic is a guest room (think log cabin in feeling). To the left of the pic is the kitchen, and the dining room is behind, with a view over the lake.

Upstairs is u shaped to allow for the studio with 4 bedrooms and a built in bed on the landing constructed in a cosy bespoke way. I was so impressed with it.

 Just look at the views

 from this huge studio window.

 It is made from huge red cedar beams, hand worked having been brought down from central Finland by the same rail line we travelled on, then dragged across the ice from Jarvenpaa station. 

In England the only time I have seen beams this big were on ships like HMS Victory, or as a frame for Medieval houses. Epic!

 You can see his art in this art review.

The sauna house overlooking the lake was used as a laundry too.

I was not allowed to take pictures inside the house which is now a museum but I have found one pic of inside the studio on the net.

Each fireplace had a cast iron door with particular significance to the family. 

When an 8th child was born, an 8th piglet was added to the door in the dining room.

Ulla and her kind husband then took me for what had to be the biggest meal ever of 38 courses!

You can read about the venue here with the menu here.

Here is a map of the lake showing the main houses.

 Here is Ainola the home of Sibelius. It is closed until May but here are some internal photographs.

 This is the statue of Sibelius in Jarvenpaa.

 

View from the woods by Ainola.

Now sadly we must say goodbye to Finland.

There are some older aviation buildings tucked away in Helsinki airport.

 The arch support looks like wings.

View over Sweden of clear blues.

Then we land again in England to more snow piled up at the sides of the road.

It is a mushy wet air which clings to the bones not like the crisp clean air of Finland. I was so impressed with the country. It is not overdeveloped like England and the people have a better relationship with the countryside. Most of all though I was so pleased to be meeting a much cherished blog friend.