Mellandagsbestyr

Hur jag ska hinna få in något av det jag inte hunnit skriva de senaste månaderna förstår jag inte...men tänker försöka att i varje fall "rapportera" det som nyligen hänt...Det jag märkt är att när jag nu haft bort pressen på att jobba, komma ihåg var jag ska vara, deadlines etc, så stiger lusten att skriva fram. Den begravs under vardagens måsten, men egentligen skulle jag ju helst skriva. Två nätter sedan var det dags igen, jag var tvungen att gå på toa 3-tiden på natten och så var sömnen puts weg. Fyra började jag skriva ett kåseri i sängen - D snusade lugnt vidare bredvid mig. Halv sex steg jag upp och småningom omskrev jag på datorn och skickade iväg det på förmiddagen. Har ingen aning om det uppfattas som roligt, det blir spännande att se :).

På måndagkväll då D kom hem från sin pappa fick jag en överraskning då jag tog av honom kläderna - röda prickar på mage och bröst. Tyvärr syns det inte speciellt bra på bilden, men jag hoppas att det är vattkoppor. Jag har till och med kollat med förstoringsglas, men något

"vatten" har jag inte sett. Vi hade till och med gäster i går - en mamma som hoppades att hennes dotter, som är några månader yngre än D och en lillebror skulle bli smittade. Jag har funderat om det ändå kan vara höstblåsor, men de är på "fel" ställen och enligt mamman ser de inte lika ut som då hennes dotter hade dem. D har inte haft feber alls, möjligen hos pappan, som sa att D var väldigt trött en dag. Jag hoppas att han bara fått en väldigt mild variant av vattkopporna. Nu just har han lite rödare på baksidan av låren, medan de få han hade runt halsen har kvar endast små röda skorvfläckar.

I går dök plötsligt vår rörmokare upp och undrade om bergsvärmeborrana får komma. Det var lite plötsligt, eftersom jag förväntade mig att de kommer någon gång i slutet av januari eller i februari, men jag sa det var ok.

På eftermiddagen kom de, borrade till åtta på kvällen och började åtta på morgonen. Mitt på dagen i dag fick de klart - 170 meter ner i marken for de, vid 24 meter kom berget emot. I början på året är det meningen att rörmokaren ska göra sitt - gräva resten, lyfta ut oljepannan och sätta in värmesystemet. Det blir himla skönt att bli av med oljan, men lite spännande att se om bergsvärmen klarar av att värma upp huset och mitt badvatten!

Hoppsan vad klockan är mycket...dags för D och mig att gå i säng. Har tyvärr blivit rätt sena kvällar för honom.

Jajo, nu har vi sex kaniner inne i huset :). Tänkte att det kan bli programnummer för D som jag tills i dag inte vågade ta ut. Småkaninerna

skulle ha blivit helt vilda ute i fähuset - när jag såg att de låg gömda i halmen direkt jag syntes till, bestämde jag mig för att ta in hela familjen. En halv dag fixade jag en gallerbur i mitt arbetsrum - just nu prasslar det mysigt i halmen bakom mig :). Katterna har varit förundrade, Pekka har svårt att hålla sig från att attackera genom gallret (därav lite förstärkningar av f.d. kylskåpshyllor :). Men helt underbart söta är de och om några dagar ska jag försöka börja locka dem i famnen, nu redan, efter två dygn, rusar de inte mera och gömmer sig då jag kommer i rummet.

Här är mamma Doris med Nemo (troligen, till höger) och tillsvidare namnlös till vänster (det finns två som ser exakt likadana ut!)

The 24th

Before I start going back in time, to try to show you what we've been up to, I think I should start with the present moment. Right now I'm rather relaxed. Yesterday I took D to his dad and after that I have been reading, watching tv, did a bit of zumba in the living room this morning, put henna in my hair, had a long bath and am planning to read more tonight. I'm not even going to go to church for carol singing - I really value my own time.

This year I realized our old Christmas traditions are really changing - and that is just a good thing. One change is that the

livingroom looks different now - now I'm really happy with the furniture! Also the timetable was different now. I'd rather have it this way - I think the "old Christmas feeling", which I've had before and not now, was connected to a calm, when everything follows a certain order and everything is ready and you can just enjoy the clean house, the candles and colors of Christmas.

This year D was more active and we also had a guest in the house - one of the refugees joined us. He is now 18, so I'm not his guardian anymore, but I hope we'll stay friends. He is wonderful company to D - so I could prepare food etc in peace and quiet. Unfortunately it was - 26 degrees outside, so going to the graveyard to light candles was not quite as pleasant as it used to be. I also forgot to serve the ham :), but instead I tried

a new thing. A second cousin to me gave us moose meat and I decided that would be great on the Christmas table. And it was! This was the first time I'd ever prepared it, since I don't even know where you could get hold of it (maybe in the markets, but I've never thought of looking for it!).

Unfortunately my good camera gave up - it refused to take any photos when it was dark, so these are just snapshots with the small camera, and as a consequence, not really good quality.

D and I were doing a bit of baking, but he stayed for about five minutes :).

In Swedish Santa's helpers are "tomtar" - so here you have four "tomtar" that celebrated Xmas together :).

D had so waited for Santa and all his presents - in the evening in bed he sighed happily: "Santa is sooo nice" :).

The 24th felt a bit chaotic, but on the other hand I've always felt it was almost too lonely a day, I hope we can always have guests for Christmas from now on!

D and A tried out a lot of the toys in the evening :).

Rabbit babies

With rabbits your life never becomes boring....Just when I thought I had everything settled, the next surprise turned up... A few weeks back I decided to try to insulate Doris' and Ellen's "house" a bit more, since the extreme cold was just continuing and even in the barn temperature was dropping below -10. I tried to get the roof off and while I was at it two rabbits babies suddenly fell out! I was, as you can imagine, quite stunned! There was nothing else to do but quickly put them back into the warmth of the "house", go in and call the vet - still wasn't sure who was mum an

d who was dad, even if I had my suspicions. The next day me and D went out when there was a bit more light, so I could pick the babies out and see how many there were - four! A few days after, I carried the babies into our cool laundry room and after a bit of work, had both adult rabbits in a box and off to the vet we went. As I had suspected, Ellen turned out to be Elmer and got his balls removed, poor thing. The problem was, the vet told me, he could not go back with Doris and her babies. She would probably attack him, since he smelled differently and then he might also kill the small ones. He slept all the way home and ended up in the laundry room. After three days of pondering what to do, I decided he could stay inside with us. I was too lazy to start building another pen in the barn for him (well I still had to do it inside, but it's warmer there!) and besides, he has been the frightened one from the beginning, so I thought it might be good for him to get more used to humans. After a week now, he isn't as afraid anymore, I even get to scratch him a bit, soon I'm planning to take him in my lap (I know he won't like it, but tough!) :)

So now we have six rabbits in the barn, and one inside. At the end of January, I have to separate the males from the rest (how the h... will I know which one is which!! Tried to look already, but no idea!) and have thought about bringing him/them inside then. They are so incredibly cute right now and I was actually thinking of bringing the whole family in, but then Maya would be left alone in the barn (she is in a separate pen, since Doris was bullying her - now I understand why, she wanted her boyfriend to herself!) and I don't want to bring her inside as well! And since it's so much warmer inside, they'd have to stay here until April, maybe, whereas if they stay in the barn, I can take them outside in March, when the really cold days should be over. But it's really a shame, it's not nice to sit for long in the cold barn with them and right now they'd need a lot of human contact, so they don't become scared of humans...Let's see if I still change my mind...

God Jul! Merry Christmas!

All is well, even if I haven't had time to write for a while again. Our family has increased by four rabbitbabies - Ellen turned out to be Elmer and has moved into the house now. I hope to write a bit more during the holidays but for now on I would just like to wish you all out there:

A love-, happiness- and lightfilled Christmastime!

How are the rabbits? :)

I think a lot of people are sighing when I go on about my rabbits, but for some reason I can't rest until I know they are fine - even if they are a pain in the butt and not nice to me at all, run at any sign from me that I want to pet them (well, sometimes when they've just received something yummy they can stay put for a while...). I've been worrying that it's too cold for them outside - we have already had a week of around - 20 degrees. Well, today it was - 6, which felt really warm :). Anyway, I moved the rabbits into the barn ("cowshed"..hmmm, not sure about the right word) and hoped they would all three get along, since they spend a lot of time on each side of the "net" between them outside. But no, D found a ball of black hair almost immediately - Doris had bitten Maya first thing and Maya was just running around trying to find somewhere to hide, even from her own sister Ellen. So, out Maya went for still another night, until I had time the next day to put up a net between the rabbits inside.

I was furious with them - they are causing me so much extra work. I also needed a warmer "house" for Maya who was alone, finally my neighbour had time to make one, for me it would've taken days and I would've been a nervous wreck. It's been even -10 in the barn as well, so if it gets to be so cold again for a long period, I plan to but in a radiator. People say rabbits have survived even - 30 outside. I just think rabbits are not endemic to Finland, they probably come from somewhere south-central Europe, where it seldom gets to be much below around - 5. So I don't want my rabbits to just make it through the winter, I want them to be comfortable.

And I guess, they are doing me a favour - I suspect they are helping me focus on something else than the constant "remember to do this, do that etc etc" which goes on in my head otherwise. When I worry about the rabbits, it's just them, and it's somehow easier to handle and I get more fresh air feeding them every day. So even if they are not affectionate to me, they are very important! Which means I really, really want them to be comfortable!

(last photo - D and Pekka had to help as well. You can also see the state of the rest of the barn here :(. I will never run out of things to do in this place)