As I have been preoccupied in the basement, the garden has been largely neglected. I am pretty much the only one who does anything out there, so it gets out of shape pretty fast when I am on something else. However, today after doing a little prep for some painting tonight, I decided I would mow the lawn before it gets so unruly the mower won't cut it.
But before I could do that...
I had to pick up apples.
There are still a billion apples on the tree, but they have been falling in the wind, and getting pulled down by the flocks of crows and ravens that have been haunting our house the last week, taking all the fruit they can get their claws on. It took me a good half hour to collect the apples up, and I still didn't get them all - but it was enough to overfill a wheelbarrow.
However, while picking them up, a woman walked past I hadn't seen before and she stopped for a chat and asked what I was going to do with all of the apples. While she spoke Finnish to begin with, she was obviously not Finnish and ended up being from Korea. I invited her into the garden to take some apples for her and her daughter who goes to a nearby school and is about the same age as my daughter. We ended up chatting for ten minutes and talking about learning Finnish, English and the cultural differences between here and Korea. She is divorced from a Finn, but she stays in Finland with her daughter because she has more freedoms here, and far less expectation on her as a woman. I have always found it strange how a country as technologically advanced as Korea, can still be so culturally traditional.
I invited her to come back with her daughter and take as many apples as they want.
And cherries too, if they are interested.
Last Autumn I gave our cherry tree a very heavy pruning and this year, it is so full of cherries the branches are bending down and look like some might crack in the wind. It is insane how many there are on the tree, even after my wife took a pile to work for their cafeteria to use, her family took a tonne, and the birds have been feasting like they might never eat again. And still, there are piles and piles, so I decided I am going to get some and make a cherry pie (unfortunately gluten-free) for the family tomorrow, as it is my daughter's birthday.
I have never made a sweet pie before.
How hard can it be?
Oh, and Finns don't seem to like cherries all that much, but I do, we have them, and I am determined to make something at least edible. I have looked at a few recipes, but half the stuff they talk of I can't even get here, and while I know it likely exists, I have no idea what or where - so I am largely going to make it up. And with some vanilla sauce, I am sure that it will be fine.
At least my daughter will have some kind of cake for her birthday by the time she gets home from school - though we are still yet to get her an actual present. She doesn't really have anything in mind that she wants (or needs), so my wife is planning to do something with her in the Autumn holidays instead of getting her something. That is fine, but a bit lame in my opinion. Still, she will get other stuff from family.
And a cherry pie.
Now, hopefully after the yard work and writing, the filler I placed in the floor is dry enough to paint over. I am not expecting it to be a brilliant outcome considering the condition of the floor currently, so I am not too fussed with the details. It is more important that it is dry in a day or two so I can walk on it and do some other stuff there.
Tomorrow I will be baking pie anyway.
Taraz
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