Working with the kids

Our normal day is that we get up when its getting light outside so around 8 o'clock. When we are ready to leave we pack some lunch, I put Luna in a carry ruck sack on my back and Leo gets on a sledge. We put Luna's sleeping cot in the sledge as well. The place we are now clearing is just a 10 minute walk away from our house. 

Mick with Leo and the cot for Luna. Mick, Leo ja Lunan nukkumakoppa.

When we are in the forest we start the work what ever it might be that day. Luna is happy on my back until she falls asleep. When she does I move her into the sleeping cot that we have left further away from us (so the noises we make don't wake her). She sleeps in there a good hour and I am able to help Mick lift logs or do some other work that isn't so good with Luna on my back. When she wakes up I put her back on my back and continue working for a bit. She usually falls asleep again. 
Leo likes being in the woods and plays his games following us. The ground with all the branches and trees lying around is hard going for him but he is determined enough to keep on walking. When we get to the forest clearing place the first thing he asks is "äiti, onko nyt lounasaika" "Daddy, is it lunch time now?" so lunch is what he looks forward to. He is also very interested in all the tools and how to use them. And there is a little mouse Mitsy who comes to see us and to eat the crumbs from our lunch from one meter away.

Leo and "roseflowers". Leo ja "ruusunkukkia".

When we have had lunch me and the kids go back home for Leo's nap and Luna's milky lunch. Mick stays in the forest working till it's dark so until about four o'clock so his work day is much longer than mine (and getting longer each day since the days are getting longer). 

Me and the kids going back home. Minä menossa kotiin lasten kanssa.

It goes without saying that we get less work done with the kids around and we need to look out that they are safe and look after them. But still we get more done than if I would stay home with the kids and not go at all to the forest. And we believe this is very healthy for the kids! They get to be outside a lot and Leo gets to see the whole amazing project of building a house. 

Peeling the logs

Whenever it is above -3 celcius we peel trees, colder than that the bark is too frozen. The peeling is a quite slow job but we are getting better at that too. First all the ends of the branches and knots have to be cut with an ax so that the tree is totally smooth and then it can be peeled easier. The trees are peeled so that they dry faster and so that no insects get into the tree since the beetles like the bark the best and if there is none they don't bother. Actually in Finland there is a requirement that all the cut trees used for building must be pealed.

Mick does it on the ground using a debarking spade. He peels the bigger trees and I do the smaller ones.

I do the peeling on a stand Mick made for me.That way I can stand in a good position with Luna on my back in a carry ruck sack. I use a drawknife.

My ax I got from my brother for a christmas present when I was about 20 years old. I would have never thought I will be using it for building my own house! The drawknife is from a flea market in Joensuu.

 

We have now about 20 trees peeled, only 180 to go!

The beginning

It all started on the 5th of November 2016. That's when we decided to build. We wanted to buy land from near my dad's organic vegetable farm. It took some weeks contacting the land owner to ask will he sell and waiting for an answer. Those weeks felt long and we were making plan B and plan C in case the land wouldn't be sold. But the owner did decide to sell and we were delighted! We bought the land on the 14th of December 2016. At the same time also my dad bought land surrounding his fields and our plot. That makes it easier for us because now we can make the road through his land.

In the end of December we started clearing trees to make the road that will lead to our home. The road will be off the road that leads to my dads farm and it will be about 750 meters long. It has to be cleared a shocking 12 meters wide for the digger to be able to work. The clearing we do happens with a motor saw, a billhook and and ax. We have recently found a good pattern to go about it. I chop with the billhook low branches off the trees so that it is easier for Mick to come along and saw the trees down. When he has sawed a good amount of trees down we chop the rest of the branches off all along the tree. The trees that we will use for the building we carry in a pile for peeling. Until now we are saving all the suitable size spruce trees for building. Spruce is what we will mainly be getting off this road and it's a strong tree type to be using. The rest so birch, aspen and alder Mick cuts up into suitable length's for firewood and we pile them up as well to be taken away later.