For weekend reading this Saturday, I thought I would take you on a nostalgic tour around the yard and garden of my childhood home. I visited there last week for my dear dad’s 90th birthday.

The first thing I saw from my bedroom window waking up in the morning was the vibrant apple garden. The red “cinnamon” apples were hanging in huge clusters. They were not quite ready to be picked as yet. But the yellow-white apples were ready and so sweet!

I ate dozens of them for snack and for dessert. Could not get enough!

I loved just walking around the big yard and observing the activities going on. Like the mini-garden where my dad was growing vegetables and berries.

We had fresh lettuce for salad at every meal. Just to step out, pick and rinse!

The strawberries and blueberries had already come and gone, but there were still a few raspberries to pick for dessert. And my dad proudly presented a new type of berry, buckthorn, that apparently is very good for you. He eats them every day in his “berry mix”, is very healthy at 90, so I am inclined to trust the evidence.

Lots of other activity was also apparent in the yard, like  my dad’s wood chopping endevour…lots of firewood to heat up the sauna and to provide cozy warmth to his large country kitchen from the wood burning stove in the winter. He has preserved the stove and uses it for his cooking more than the electric one.

My dad has always loved our forest and had started a new hobby. He had collected natural “wood art” and put it on display on one side of the sauna building. Please meet the couple, “Adam and Eve” (inset) and other art works that are part of his large exhibition of various artistic wood formations.

And of course there were hints of fishing activity. The old table where we used to clean the fish still stood next to the sauna building. Like it has always done as long as I can remember.

And the red boat was there too, now full of leaves that were blowing down from the birch and other trees.

However, my main attraction back home is always the lake itself. It is so peaceful and beautiful when it rains..

…and when it shines. When I was a kid, we used to swim in it when the water reached about 50 degrees F. Now I prefer much higher temperatures 🙂

Mid September still carried some fading feel of summer, but the signs of fall were clearly already there. It was a lovely visit back to my family, my childhood and back to the nature.

Hope you enjoyed the tour around the house. Have a great weekend everyone. – Tiny