European Vacation Part II

Helsinki - National Church

One of the landmarks we went to on our first day of seeing Helsinki was the National Church of Finland.  Finland as part of Sweden for much of its history embraced the Protestant Reformation.  The National Church, or Cathedral of Helsinki is a Lutheran church.

The Cathedral sits up on a hill in a large square surrounded by government buildings.

I loved the stars on the domes.

Here's one of the building it faces.

The statue of Alexander II of Russia is prominent in the square.

It's a popular tourist spot and the woman on the left is volunteering to take a photo of all of us with my brother's camera.

Inside the cathedral, we would later realize, the decor was understated.

The organist was practicing so we paused to listen.

On Sunday we returned to this cathedral for the service in Finnish.  My sister in law had to tell us what the sermon was about.

More of Helsinki and other European cities to come in future posts.

Joining Inspired Sunday

Through My Lens

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Move Complete!

We have moved

We have unpacked.

We have organized

We have downsized even more than what we thought we would need to.

We are residing now at Vantage House, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC).  We have just lowered the average age of the residents because even thought the minimum age is 60, at 65 we are the youngest folks here.  I was mistaken today for the daughter of a resident which is understandable because if my Mom was still alive she would still be living at Penn Hall also a CCRC.

I've signed up for three trips.  Been to the movies in the auditorium.  Sat in the library to read.  Dan loves the coffee machine that grinds the beans each time he goes for coffee.  He has made regular trips to the fitness center.

I enjoy walking out the front door and down the street to walk around a lovely lake.  I can admire the gardens and not have to worry about weeding or watering them.

We are on the 11th floor and see magnificent sunrises and just as gorgeous sunsets.  We don't face the right way for the fireworks downtown but were invited to the apartment of a woman we knew from our former church who is 98 and living independently here.  She is on the 5th floor and we could see the top half of the fireworks.

The food is delicious with a wide assortment of choices each day.  There are 4 courses every day and we have learned to pace ourselves.

It's a lovely spot and very happy to have made this move when we are physically able to enjoy it for many years to come.

Tuesday Treasure #20 - The Bench

Move day was yesterday.  Today I'm back at the house cleaning for the new owners in preparation for their walkthrough before settlement.  Here's a look back at an old post with special memories.

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This post first appeared in December 2008.  My Mom was still alive and a widow for just one year.  The post was written just before her 90th birthday.  She lived until almost her 95th birthday.

Joining Tuesday Treasure.

The Bench

(December 5, 2008)

Almost two years ago Dan and I took a woodworking course. It was a lot of fun and I made some nice things. Afterward I helped Dan make tables for our shop. I also promised Emily a deacon's bench for her house. That was the summer of 2007. She found plans for me, I purchased them, and then filed them away.

Last summer Dan encouraged me to take the plans out and order the wood. We bought some very nice oak instead of the pine it called for. In reading through the plans we both realized I had not done enough woodworking to tackle the project on my own so I gratefully became the assistant to him.

We presented the bench to Emily and Matt at Thanksgiving and they took it home in their car.


It is a very special present because it was made by us and it was hand-painted by my mom, Emily's grandmother, who will be 90 years old on Sunday.


Before we did the final finishing of the bench, we repaired, sanded and refinished an oak antique table I had purchased for use on the porch. We realized it had been made by someone from pieces of wood they had around and we wondered about its history. So no one would wonder about the history of the bench 50, 75, or 100+ years from now we burned on the bottom who it was made for, when, and by whom plus we added who did the painting. (Sorry we didn't take a picture of that part.) We know it will be an antique for someone, hopefully a descendant of this family, one day.

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2016 Footnote:  The bench still resides at Emily and Matt's home in New Hampshire.  I have a lovely photo of my granddaughter sitting on it.

The referenced antique oak table has gone to ReStore for someone else to use.

Tuesday Treasure #19 - A Posting in Four Parts

The big move day is getting closer - six days away.  As I count down to that I have been reflecting back on our time at this house by posting old blogs.  

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This one first appeared in May 2011.  I made a lot of changes in the garden from 2011 to present.  It's interesting to look back to see how it once looked and compare.

Linking to Tuesday Treasure.

A Posting in Four Parts

(May 3, 2011)

PART ONE - "GONE FISHIN'"

That's the sign the heron left on its nest this morning. I startled it as I walked through the perennial garden taking photos at 10 am. It must have been perched on my roof

and when I walked by it flapped it huge wings and took off. I tried to see if it landed on the north side of the house but it wasn't there. Then I thought of the goldfish in my pond.

Here are some of the goldfish some days ago.


I think I had between 25 and 30 of various sizes. Some of them were 5 years old and 6 inches long. I got them as 29 cent feeder goldfish. Notice I used past tense. Yep! No sign of them. This afternoon I did spot this tiny one but nothing else there.


The heron didn't fish for frogs or tadpoles. I'm sure the goldfish made it easy because they were probably attracted to those pinkish orange legs and all it had to do was keep snatching them up.


Goodbye goldfish. You'll be missed.

PART TWO - "I Don't Know, Honey If This is the Right House for Us."



The bluebirds have been in and out of the bluebird box today. I thought finally they're building a nest and so I took a peek. Nope, no nest. They can't make up their mind which house to use since I put up two more. They will miss their chance because the chickadees have moved into one already.

PART THREE - Faces in the Garden

The glen garden

A wooden rabbit - its really just a piece of scrap cedar.

The perennial garden looking east.

PART FOUR - The Pile is Gone!

I moved the last of the mulch today finishing the paths in the perennial garden, adding more around the new junipers on the north side and mulching the vegetable garden pathways. Glad to have that chore complete.

You can see the lavender showing green. I hope they fill out a lot more this year.

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2016 Footnote:  All those faces in the garden except the little girl angel statue are gone.  Sold in the auction!

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