Finland
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I am a mother (~50 years) with two children of 17 and 18 years old, living in an old summer cottage area for capital region, Espoo, and renovating a cottage in the countryside of Asikkala, Finland. We have two very lovable cats and sometimes chickens in the summer.
In Espoo, we have a traditional two-story timber house with about 7000 m2 of property. For our gests we have separate house, another timber cottage, with running water, small kitchen corner for cold meals, fridge and electric heating. Our house is located by the sea and surrounded by forests and nearby sheep pasture. We eat mostly vegetarian food that we grow at our yard and we eat also fish occasionally. We grow shitake mushrooms and black berries in the garden.
There are several natural trails nearby and also a possibility to take a ferry in the nearby islands. Nuuksio national park is from 30min drive and I love to pick mushrooms there during the autumn. We are located by the sea with a possibility for swimming and fishing. We also have a rowing boat and sup-board at your disposal. We are 40 min by buss from Helsinki city center, small grocery shop and a coffee is nearby and about 15 minutes to the nearest shopping center by buss. You can also borrow our bicycles: there are nice cycling roads around.
The summer cottage is a 2-hour drive from our house and my plan is to go there on Friday afternoon and come back on Sunday evening. Aim is to clean and paint the old houses and build a terrace there. I would love to have both company and help while spending the weekend at the cottage. We always warm-up the sauna and take a swim in the lake, as the first thing when we arrive, eat well and chat at the fire place. Then on Saturday morning I start to renovate and then towards the evening, it’s sauna time again.
We like peaceful and quiet country living, hiking, yoga, skiing, ice-skating, gardening and nature. I’m eager to learn how to take nice nature photos, maybe you can guide me with that.
We are looking for 1-2 likeminded persons, who seek for the peaceful countryside but appreciate the closeness of Helsinki. During the week we will be at work and kids at school so I hope you could take care of the tasks quite independently. We usually eat dinner together at 7-8 pm and other meals you can prepare yourself.
Gardening
Building
General Maintenance
Cooking / shopping
You will experience normal finish life both at the capital area and also at the countryside. I can teach you different mushroom types at the forest and also several natural remedies and how to use them, as well as how to find water with a willow withe.
At Espoo:
- cutting the lawn (we also have a robotic lawnmover, so it's not a weekly task)
- cutting the reed by the seaside
- removing weed from vegetable garden
- planting flowers and plants
- cooking & baking occasionally if you like it
- washing windows
- brushing the timber walls outside
- picking berries & mushrooms
At the cottage:
- painting a wall inside/outside
- vacuum cleaning & washing the floors/windows
- helping in building the terrace
- planting flowers and plants
- cutting the grass and reed
Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, English, some French and little German
We have about 40 m2, simple timber cottage in our yard, which is completely at your disposal. At the cottage, you will find:
- Internet
- running warm water, shower
- fridge, water kettle
- basic kitchen equipment (no stove or oven)
- electricity
- electric heating, no cooling is needed in Finland
- bed linens and towels
- traditional Finnish dry-toilet, 10m outside the building, called ‘ulko huussi’ in Finnish
Notice: No smoking or candle light prohibited
Washing machine in the main house and can be used when we are at home. We will have a warm dinner together at each evening.
If you arrive alone, the whole cabin is for you- we don’t take two strangers at the same time period.
You can google activities near Espoo, Helsinki and Vääksy. We are happy to help you with your special interest.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
More than two
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
