Okay, so not an overly original title, but it has been a long day as I had a bit of a 4-10 split training day with a early morning and a late afternoon delivery. Instead of space between, I recorded a customer-specific video video, which means that I have been talking nearly without break for 13 hours straight. When I finally got home, I had to remove wall panels for an hour and a half as the electrician is coming early tomorrow morning to put in a new electrical box, as the current one is the original.
This house (built in 1963) actually has two separate electrical lines coming in, as originally there were two families living here, one upstairs, one down. While the kitchen was removed some time ago, the room (that will eventually belong to @smallsteps) still has the space and sockets for fridge and oven. We are changing the electricity to one line (as having two electricity bills sucks twice as much as one) and moving the location of the mains box from the entrance to the top of the basement stairs, a short distance, but it cleans up the entrance lines a lot, especially considering the new box is 110x55 centimeters - which is massive - I don't know why it needs to be so big.
But, just after finishing up - my daughter, who was eating her evening snack at the table with my wife said, "look" and pointed. Expecting to see a squirrel or perhaps a rabbit, my wife was surprised to see deer in the yard - and called to me. I was able to grab the camera (which had a 60mm macro lens on) and snap a couple shots before a passing car chased the away. These are the first time I have ever got pictures of deer - and only the second time I have seen them this close in the wild - as they are about 10 meters from our kitchen window.
This is a good sign, as there are some fields about 500 meters down the road and perhaps if I am lucky, I will be able to head down there in the evening or early morning some time and get some nice pictures of them grazing, something I have always wanted to capture. I will need a longer lens. These are white-tail deer, which are introduced into Finland and are considered a little bit of a pest - but they are prettier than moose and reindeer, which are native - Kind of like the introduced Swedes compared to the native Finns.
I know that this is nothing special for many people, but I have been living on the 5th floor of an apartment building for the last 6 years and before that, in the middle of the city in a small apartment. Having deer walk through the garden is exciting - even nuisance ones - we foreigners have to stick together.
When we told friends we were buying this place, most laughed and thought we were joking as they have never pictured us as anything other than "city slickers". This was emphasized by the sheer amount of work that it requires - as well as the tight schedule we must keep to adhere to the loan terms. it is funny how impressions of others are developed on what people see in a moment, without considering that there is a lot that they don't see. Most people who know me in Finland and know that I grew up in the country, still can't picture it. "Are you sure you can live in an old house?" has been a common phrase, even though I grew up in a house that was 40 years older than this one, on land that would occasionally have the "neighborhood" sheep wander through.
While I am looking forward to getting this place the way we have planned (plus compromises), I am so far really enjoying the process and the honest work aspect of it, where I get to create something "real". It is quite different to the paid work I have done for the last 25 years and is more similar to the feeling of when I paint or draw - albeit, with a little more sweat involved and sawdust in my hair. It is nice to see things devolve as I tear them down and hopefully, evolve into something I appreciate even more, because it is mine - and not just because I paid for it.
Ownership comes in may forms and while some think it is just because something is held, I still think that the way it came into possession is a large part of the story. When you work your ass off for something, it holds more intrinsic value than if one might have more, for doing far less. Part of the benefit of doing is that once done, it can never be taken away - even if what was created or held can be.
Thanks for the upvotes deer.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
It is a sign that your daughter saw my friend.
Over here it is said that if mother nature visits your new home, it simply means that you are home at last. Maybe the deer was asking for a carrot or two:D
We moved into this province on the 7th of July 2018 and after staying at a few places, this cottage found us on the 7th of August 2019. After a few days a wild squirrel came and jumped on my shoulder and she has now become a daily visitor even having breakfast with us outside. Here she is with Marian.
Taken this morning! Please show your daughter!
This reminds me, we are going to have to fence off the veggie garden when it is ready!
<After a few days a wild squirrel came and jumped on my shoulder and she has now become a daily visitor even having breakfast with us outside. Here she is with Marian.
That is awesome! I will show here in the morning for sure. Before I was born, my parents had a "pet" possum in the house - I have never heard of another.
They say that the apple never falls far from the tree.
Your daughter has your parents blood and just think how she would love a baby something. A baby deer? Possum? Fox? Something out of the norm.
On the farm as a child, before we moved to the city, I was friends with an otter.
Reminds me about your post about isolation.
One can never become isolated if one has wild friends in nature. I prefer them than having to listen to the sad moans and groans of humankind every day at the charity.
A really positive sign! Hopefully it's made up for a long grueling day :)
It was well worth it. Soon, I will have plenty more time to stare out the window. :D
Pretty damn cool having wild like in your garden. I can just see @galenkp saying there is lunch. Much better living out of town as your whole existence will be so much more rewarding. You have made the right move as the quality of life for all of you will be so much better. I don't understand people who want to live on top of each other as that is not living.
There were two, so I could have eaten one of them :D
Yeah, it should be nice once we are really settled in and things are a bit more comfortable - it is not that it is bad now at all by any measure, but it would be nice to have things a little more on the way.
In Finland, there is no real need to live on top of each other, but the culture does it anyway.
That's amazing! I'm very happy that you and @smallsteps are grateful for that moment.
It is always important to think that others may never have the possibility to feel those emotions, we should always be grateful.
For example, as I live in the city center I'll never see a Deer from my kitchen! :)
If I can ask, I'd love to have your feedback on our #HiveReforestationProject and our Community.
It would mean a lot to me.
Happy Earth Day!
Are there any natural predators there? If you're planning on growing a garden, you might want to make friends with a few cougars or wolves if whitetail deer are around.
There are Lynx here according to my wife (but I think she day drinks)
Those are the invisible cats. They're everywhere but you'll rarely see one, unlike those empty bottles you keep finding?
My wife says she sees them all the time in this area (she has lived here all her life, hence the drinking), but I am yet to see one. I thought they lived more northward from here.
The weird thing is - all the bourbon bottles - she doesn't like bourbon...
Maybe the Canadian version likes to be more stealthy, or they're attracted to the smell of bourbon.
Around this area (Finland) this is just about everyone....
I guess it's better than urine.
Working with an electrician for many years, the boxes need to be that big in order to wire it properly and not kill yourself or short it out. Inside it is the circuit breakers, which we all know but alongside that is the grounding and neutral bar. We've come a long way since the 60's! There is also now new circuit breakers that have an additional wire in it for arc-fault resistance and that requires even more work. Fun stuff!
Glad you're settling into the house, it's always a nice (challenging of course) time in that part of the process.
It is larger than my car - and that is a stationwagon ;D
It wouldn't be that bad if it wan't the entrance and we only have one door in. It will be nice once the corridor is clear.
what kind of work were you doing?
My dad is an electrician so I helped him on weekends for about 6 years with all kinds of work. We would call that job a "service job" since you are replacing the electrical service to the house. They typically took about 8-10 hours, sometimes more depending on what we needed to do. The longest ones were 2 full days, not to scare you!
Does the house have a basement with the electrical panel in it, or is it on one of the living floors?
Was a lot of fun doing the work now that I look back on it, helped set me up for doing lots of my DIY posts here on Hive!
It is on one of the living floors, but moving it to the top of the basement stairs, which is about 4 metres away. The paneling coming off is so the cables can run underneath later.
A guy from the supplier has to come and install the meter, as the electrician is not allowed to do that - for some reason.
I wish my dad was handier around the house - he could paint very pretty pictures though :)
Yes I heard from @galenkp that he was quite the painter! Each type of parent is awesome in their own unique way. My dad, love him to death, was fantastic in many ways but also very challenging in others.
Yeah, the electric company has to hook the meter back up in some areas, it depends on local laws, really. We only had that happen a couple times. They hopefully won't charge you to do it, right?
Having it on the basement stairs is both a blessing as well as a curse. Be careful if you ever need to access the panel, standing on the stairs! Hopefully there is a small landing or something there, so you aren't so precarious. I also hope that the electrician installs a light bulb directly above it, if there isn't one already. Ask him (or her) to do that, makes for easier troubleshooting if one of the breakers short out and trip.
I think this one is "free" as it is a government level thing.
There is a landing. The law says 80cm and I think there is 77 - close enough ;D
Nearly all parents. My daughter is sooo lucky, I am her father!
I'm sure the deer would upvote you if it had a hive account XD
It's that imagination thing, I think if some people can't imagine themselves doing or liking something they can't fathom other people doing it XD
I figure that the imagination is imagining doing what one hasn't done, right?
Some people seem to get too stuck on "but WHY" to imagine anything outside of that XD
A low imagination won't find a reason - a viscous cycle of boring :D
While I think you meant vicious, viscous works just as well XD
Boring = very low viscosity :D
Hey, handsome guy @tarazkp! Don't you like koalas and kangaroos more than deer?
By the way, I am afraid of kangaroo claws. Kangaroos have a terrible smell. hahaha
depends on the kangaroo I guess, but they are a wild animal - and most don't smell great.
On a regular basis, I get to see these beautiful animals and I still stop to admire them.
There is a real sense of accomplishment in renovating a home. If a person is willing, sweat equity can save you lots of cash, and standing back and looking at something that has been constructed using your own two hands gives you a really good feeling.
This is what I enjoy wit hit - sure it might not be a job well done, but it is a job I did :)
While real deers are running, not imaginary - everything is ok. The main thing is that hallucination bears and squirrels do not attack :)
I am the bear in this family - my wife does look a bit like a squirrel ...
Don't speak this your wife :)