Around this time last summer we planted an ash tree up at Rosendal, opposite the old barn. It is doing really well - this cool, wet spring seems to give all the trees a boost. It's a pretty area with a profusion of wild flowers in all the ditches and around the trees. Finland must have the most beautiful ditches in Europe!
There is a cabin nearby which is up for sale so we wandered over to look around. The cabin is situated at the end of the lake and has a pretty river running along one side. Peter found this skull and antlers from a white-tail deer lying in the undergrowth. We brought it home so Thomas can use the horn for making knife handles.
We drove up to Dalkarby Farm: it was once the biggest farm in Finland. it is now abandoned and few of the original buildings remain. The Finnish Forestry Commission has taken over the land and done something weird These are pine trees. The tops have been cut off, probably more than once causing branches to form a sort of umbrella in a storm shape. According to my Other Half, this is done to encourage the production of pine cone which provide seeds that are harvested and used to grow saplings,
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