The Germans have driven away and continued their Finnish expedition. July begins.
Ken shows his phone to Kaarna:
- Look, whole two days without rain!!! And it says the temperature might get as high as 23 degrees!!!!
- Yay! But then the next 10 days are all rain again. This summer is officially ruined.
Kaarna can bring her work out to the garden which makes painting so much more pleasant!
Ken asks if he could borrow her bike and ride to the grocery store. He hasn’t ridden a bike in years, and
Kaarna says:
- But don’t crash it! I need it back in one piece!
Ken wobbles to the supermarket safely.
He gets all sweaty and tired, but riding a bike really is nice after such a long time. Maybe Kaarna will lend it to him again sometimes.
There are sausages, meat and vegetables on Ken's shopping list and the plan is to barbeque in the evening.
On a day like this it's forbidden to spend any time in the kitchen! (Ken's summer rule.)
What's the best thing you can do on a crappy weather? Watch a Brad Pitt movie of course! That man just keeps getting hotter and hotter as years go by!
Ken never misses a movie with Brad Pitt - even if it was about zombies (horribly scary) or vampires (oh how corny) or like in this case, about Formula 1. Disgusting motorsports! Ken hates that so very much! Just think about the amount of money the mankind wastes on such a stupid thing when there's also a lot of suffering, poverty and a tiny little problem called the climate change for the love of god!
But for Ken's surprise this movie turns out to be so exciting and intense that his heart keeps pounding hours after the movie has ended!
Oh what a feeling!
The eternal rain continues. Life is no different than in the wintertime and that sucks.
Ken decides to sew new bathrobes for them both.
The sound of the sewing machine annoys Kaarna a bit.
She has to take a photo for Ken’s social media.
The sewing method Ken used was so easy that anyone could make this kind of robes and Ken wants to share the pattern.
Kaarna can’t feel her toes. The ground is terribly cold.
When they rush inside to warm themselves up, Kaarna suddenly collapses on the floor and starts to cry.
- I can't take this any longer! This summer FROM HELL is killing me! Why are we being punished like this? I'm really suffering! I don't want to live anymore!!!
Ken sits down and says:
- But Kaarna, haven't you watched the weather forecast? It has changed completely! Summer will begin tomorrow! Even the night temperatures will finally rise! And we will also get a lot of sun and heat!
- Can we go road tripping?!
- Yes! Tomorrow we'll start to pack and then we hit the road!
In the morning Ken gives Kaarna the check list and leaves her to take care of the packing.
Then he drives to the pharmacy and grocery store.
- I think I'll stop by at Reiska's car repair shop first and get a new battery for Herbert. Just in case! The battery is at least 8 years old and Herbert hasn't been waking up very smoothly lately.
After Kaarna gets her part done, she sits on the porch waiting for Ken.
But what's keeping him this long?
When Ken finally arrives at home - by foot - Kaarna runs to him yelling:
- What the absolute hell, Ken? Where's Herbert?!
Ken can't hold his tears when he tells that the strange sound that Herbert has been making lately turned out to be something really bad. Reiska forbade him to drive any further and the van had to be left there.
- Something about cardans and bearings and differentials and loads of money and expensive parts, Ken sobs.
It seems that every Finnish doll wears a crocheted bikini made by @neuleita_barbie_ken_siskot nowadays, so also Ken ordered a set! And oh boy he feels fabulous now!
When the temperature rises above +25 °C (which we call HELLE in Finnish), Ken’s menopausal brain starts to melt. At +30 °C he’s already suffering. The only way to survive is to spend the days in the lake and wear a wet scarf.
Kaarna is horrified:
- I hope I die before getting that old!!!! This is the best weather ever!
- I’m not complaining! Ken shouts.
Ken is so grateful that they live so close to the Lake Saimaa and there’s a quiet spot at the lake shore only one kilometer from home.
- We can do all the same things here than what do on the road. SUP boarding, easy meals, walking in the woods… This is not bad at all!
- And we can walk to our home toilet when we need to poop, Kaarna adds.
The sun sets in the north and it always looks lovely on this shore.
But Ken and Kaarna hardly ever see it, because they crawl into the tent after 9 p.m. and fall asleep.
After ten hot and sunny days Herbert gets home with a bill of 1500 euros. Now it’s obvious that Ken and Kaarna really can’t afford any road trips this year. Luckily Herbert’s tank is full and a short trip might be possible at some point.
Luckily there are many wonderful places to visit close to home also, like for example Parikkalan Patsaspuisto.
The rainy summer has helped the statue garden to blossom like never before!
For Ken and Kaarna’s surprise the place is crowded today.
Unfortunately both the statue park and Ken’s favorite ice cream place have raised their prices.
- 4 euros for one ice cream cone! This is insane, Kaarna moans.
- True. From now on, we will only visit free places and buy ice cream from Lidl.
Ken attends a free boat trip to a nearby island to do a little bit of voluntary work.
The organization that arranges this trip takes care of many lovely recreational areas in the South Carelian area and this island is their new project.
The guide tells that the island used to be a place for children's summer camps, but since they are not popular anymore, the island is being opened for everybody to enjoy.
- Unfortunately we can´t barbeque sausages today after all, because the exceptionally hot and dry ”helle” has continued for two weeks now and today is the hottest day so far: +32°C. The risk of a wildfire is extremely high. Remember to stay hydrated, we have brought plenty of drinking water.
The old buildings are in good condition and the area only needs some tidying up.
The guide is interested to hear what kind of ideas people have for the place. Some of them have been on the summer camps here as kids and they love to talk about their memories.
The sauna can be heated also, and of course when the temperature outside is hotter than ever, the Finns want to sweat in even hotter place!
Ken helps with the firewood.
The kids enjoy swimming more than the sauna.
Ken takes a snack break before heading to sauna. However, he didn´t bring nearly enough food to eat, because he was looking forward to eating the sausages. He's happy that Kaarna isn't here with her hunger anger though!
On his way to the sauna, Ken stops by the toilets.
There are almost ten composting toilets in the woods but naturally Ken chooses the only one occupied!
The next task would definitely have to be adding working locks on the toilet doors!
When nobody lives inside the walls, the home soon becomes a mess.
Ken and Kaarna just pop in every now and then to pick up or drop out something.
It’s been three weeks without a drop of rain. Elisabet’s flowers are suffering.
Ken sighs:
- I wouldn’t mind a great big thunder storm for the nature’s sake every now and then, if only I could keep this heat and light forever.
- What about your menopausal melting brain?
- I got used to the heat after one week. And luckily the river Vuoksi and amazingly the lake Saimaa too are still chilly! And always close!
Kaarna usually hates picking blueberries, but this summer is an exception! There are hardly any mosquitoes in the forest!
- Too hot for the little asswipes! Kaarna laughs and starts to clean up her haul.
To be continued.