Ronan’s home and holiday cottages are all on The Kvarken Archipelago, a world heritage site, that was formed as glaciers retreated in the last ice age, depositing rocks to form long thing “moraine” islands, and with the retreat of the glaciers, causing the land to rise, 9mm a year, to…

Day 2 in Vaasa was forecast to be rainy, so Ronan and Lena suggested we spend the day in Vaasa itself. But before we headed out, I managed to fit in a short swim in the part of the sea that stretches almost over to Ronan and Lena’s property. This…

The 4-hour train trip from Helsinki to Vaasa was a very comfortable with pleasant views of the Finnish countryside and forests. Along the way I picked up the shocking fact that Finland has 10 trees for every person on the planet. Great vacation spot for a Treekeeper! Here are some…

We had a full day in Helsinki so headed out early (some may dispute the definition of early but i felt very rested!) to do a lot of sightseeing. First we stopped at a cafe for some breakfast where I learned that ‘toast’ on a menu means toasted cheese sandwich!…

We had a very smooth flight to helsinki, and from the airport took a train from the airport to the downtown train station, and then had a short walk to our hostel. Once checked in to a very nice private room there (just in case anyone though we were sleeping…

By the charts, we’re coming up on the halfway point of summer, so I thought it would be a good time to do a post about some swim and gardening highlights so far. And ice cream! First, our front garden. I was much more diligent this year in identifying plants…

Miles has had a busy couple of months since graduation, including moving into a new apartment with new roommate (hi, Vinny!). They moved to the northeast quadrant of Portland, from the southwest, so it’s definitely new surroundings. And Miles adopted a cat! I’ll let Miles take it from here, here’s…

A couple of weeks back I got a chance to visit the wine-growing region of California called Sonoma, with a couple of old friends. It was hard to say no, the region is pretty famous for its wine and great food, and because of the time difference, I could get…

We also got to see Hillary Clinton speak in Chicago in May. Mary took the train in for it and we all really enjoyed it .

Back in Chicago now and readers will be forgiven for looking at Lake Michigan below and thinking it looks a lot like the Pacific Ocean! Here a few photos from a visit to northerly island this morning. After coming back Kathleen had a latte in the big comfy chair, and…