Sunday, April 23

 

 

I woke up at 9:08 and looked out of the window. I had to look twice. Thick, heavy snow fell continuously like a curtain. I could see nothing on the ground at all except whiteness. I went back to sleep.

I woke again at about 10:30. The weather had warmed up so that much of the snow had already melted. However snow still fell, albeit in thinner less surprising amounts.

By the time we had had breakfast the sky had turned blue and I set off to see if any evidence remained. In the woods I find the ground as changeable as the weather. Some parts have no snow at all while others have a white cover. I look at the rubbish bin where the paths divide and notice that the ground looks pleasingly mottled. Pleasing or not, I find it odd to have snow like this at the end of April.

Soon after I get home Cata will arrive with Claudia, on their way to Borgå to see relatives.

In the afternoon I will put a second coat of paint on the under-roof, dodging bad weather as I do. We will then collect Naa and go to see Irma’s father. On the way back we will stop at Herttaniemi and stand in the entrance of Lidl. A woman will arrive and offer us a haalari, and we will give her 12 €. I will now own a haalari for the first time in my life.

This interaction formed the end of something that began on a Facebook page dedicated to buying and selling things in Herttoniemi. Irma had sold Naa’s old television there last week and I had casually mentioned that I wouldn’t mind getting a haalari. Early today Irma found one on the page, and off we went.

When we get home snow will start again, and we will both agree that the roof needs a third coat of paint. I will paint in hail and sleet until we have a white under-roof. Then I will have a shower.