My house isn't that big. It has a combined kitchen and living-room, a bedroom and a small entrance hall. The main part is made of logs, and the walls have an extra layer of insulation both on the outer and inner side. The entrance hall is made of just boards and thermal insulation. Now the hall begins to be in a rather poor shape, and my plan is to tear it down, leaving only the supporting structure. Then I should just buy some materials and build the walls again, making it tight and warm. I've been doing some planning and preparations for this project. One of the problems is that there are electric wires, installed inside the old layers of thermal insulation. So I called an electirician and asked him to disconnect each and every cable going into the house. What was left is electricity for the water pump and the shed. He also installed an outdoor socket, so I can get electricity for tools. (At the moment I'm using an extension cord to power the computer.)

I'm not yet completely sure if I'll have enough money, time and energy to renovate the hall this summer. But I just felt ready for the challenge - I'll start and see how it goes, as somehow I feel easy and peaceful about this. (Unlike last summer - I was planning to renovate the hall already then, but decided to postpone it, because it felt like too big a project for my energy level.) Now it will be safe to tear down all the old materials, wihtout a risk of electric shock. And removing the old materials is something I can do without spending any money, so I'll only need to buy the new materials in August or something - looking at my calendar I guess I can make the money by that time, and still combine working for money with being at home working with renovation project.

In the hall there were my freezer and fridge. Now they are inside the shed, connected to electricity. But the lights don't work (time to lit candles), there's no warm water from the tap, no electric stove nor oven. I have a steady routine with morning coffee; Every night before going to bed I fill a coffee pot with water and place it on the electric stove. When I wake up, I walk to the stove, turn it on, and go to the sofa waiting for the water to boil. Then I add grinded coffee to the pot, and when it is ready I spend nearly an hour just slowly drinking the coffee. Now, without the electric stove I have to change this habit. So, last evening I collected dry spruce twigs and poured some water into a kettle. In the morning when I woke up I went outdoors and lit the twigs, placing the kettle into the fire. Soon my coffee was ready, and I sat in front of the sauna, drinking the coffee and watching the animals grazing.

In the coming days I have to re-arrange some other things as well. When there is no electricity to heat water, it might be easier just to wash the dishes in the sauna. Actually, this might save me some money - it costs nearly nothing to burn wood to get warm water and to cook food. Oh well, the rest of my summer will be a lot about starting fires =)