Day 14 - Hot, Sunny, Perfect!

Every year we have been coming to Finland in the summer, I always pray for glorious weather. Sometimes we've been lucky; I'll never forget the wonderful years of 2010 and 2011, when it seemed every day was hot. Then we had a great year in 2014 here at Palvajarvi. But this year, above all, has been truly outstanding. Not only has the weather been sunny every day, it's been above 25C every single day we've been here, and above 30C at least half of the fortnight too. Moreover, in previous years when there's been hot weather it has always been followed quickly by thunderstorms. This year, it simply has been hot.

So today it was lovely again and we simply relaxed in the sun and swam in the gorgeous warm lake. I don't think anyone wanted to get out this evening! Tonight we are busy getting ready for tomorrow when we leave here at 3am for Helsinki!

Day 13 - Cooler, but not by much!

Sitting on the jetty this holiday has been pretty special. Until today, it's been almost unbroken sunshine there, which has been fantastic. Even though we had a period of rain this morning, it didn't really come to much, and indeed under the trees on the path down to the lake stayed dry. But on the jetty this afternoon, it was simply great to just sit and listen to what could be heard. And that was simply the rustling of leaves in the aspen tree in the garden, which always make more noise than the birches, and the sound of the swallows and sand martins flying around us.
In previous years I've only seen the odd pair of swallows darting about the lake but this year there have been many, with their young and a whole host of sand martins too. I always marvel at these wee birds; how on earth do they get from here to Africa and back again? It really is one of nature's miracles.

As it was cloudy we also headed to the local trampoline park this afternoon where Olivia spent an hour doing various tricks. She was extremely hot and sweaty afterwards, and no wonder as although it hasn't been 30C today; in fact only 25C, it has been extremely clammy. So she was happy to get back to jump in the lake afterwards. Keith and Sandy also took some sauna time and swam as well, before Keith came in and watched the British Speedway GP from Cardiff with me. He was happy to see Craig Cook reach his first semi final after scoring 9 points, easily his highest score of the GP season so far.
Tomorrow, the sunshine is due to return and the temperature is set to climb again closer to 30C so we should have a good last day here.

Day 12 - Serenity and Peace

It's some feeling swimming in a lake that has been warmed for a week or more of temperatures of 30C plus. I can honestly say that it has never been as warm at Palvajarvi as it is now while we have been here. This evening, a few minutes ago at 9pm, Keith and I showered after literally hours in the water today. While the temperature of the air was 28C at 9pm, the water temperature is hovering at about 27.5C, which when you consider just how far north we are, is quite simply astonishing. And when you consider that only 12 weeks ago at Easter, the lake was frozen with around 60cm thickness of ice, these stats are even more mind boggling. 
So, as I swam out for the umpteenth time  to about 75m out from the jetty, just before retreating from the water for the  day, I simply marvelled at this wonderful, wonderful place. 

Some of the photos this evening are from a walk Anna and I took just after dinner to take a short break from swimming. We explored to the south of the cottage, at a part of the lake we haven't walked to much over the years. You'll see it's cloudier tonight as there is rain and thunderstorms forecast, though it's still very hot. Anna doesn't think the rain will come... We will see! 

Day 11 - Guess what?

Not too much to say weather wise today, as it has been another 30C scorcher of a day with wall to wall sunshine all day, which has seen us make short trips to the shops for ice creams and provisions and spend the rest of the time either swimming or sunbathing. To be honest, we are beginning to find it actually too hot to spend too long in the sauna at a time, so more time is being spent outside in the sun and the water. Who would have ever thought that?
Tomorrow looks much the same, but the weekend could finally see a change as apparently tomorrow night and into Saturday (and possibly Sunday too) there could be intense thunderstorms over the bulk of the country. We will see...
Photos today include some of the small house which is visible to the left of the main house in the trees behind the swings in the first picture. This summer cottage is where Olga and Arnold slept last week, and do every year. It's perfect for up to four, has electricity and heating, and has bunks and two single beds pushed together to make a large double bed. It's really cosy!

The other photos here include a traditional one on the steps of the main house of Anna and me that we take every year, and one looking down to the lake beyond the flower pot, again which I have taken each year.

Day 10 - Yet more heat

We decided to head into the centre of Jyväskylä late morning today, so we could make sure Keith bought himself something nice with his money. We made our way to the pedestrian precinct and Keith soon chose himself a couple of very nice Nike tops.
After that we headed for a quick pizza before Sandy announced he had found a shop online that sold lots of fishing gear and he wanted a rod.
The shop, XXL, I presume named after clothing sizes, was extremely large and sold all sorts of sports goods in huge quantities. As he wanted something specifically for catching perch and pike, we chatted to a young sales guy who very helpfully directed us to the best types of bait and the various weights and assorted things he'd need.
So, we then headed back to the house and took the sun for the most part of the afternoon, as the temperature was again sitting at just over 30C, with not a cloud in the sky to be seen all day. 
Meanwhile Sandy and Olivia set about starting their fishing. As he was using a rod of a different kind to what he has used before, with a different type of spinning reel, it took a wee while to get things right, but then he was off. He was using a rubbery looking fish as the bait and soon had a bite from a much larger fish than he was actually trying to catch. A pike perch, of around 2 feet long! I saw it too, the largest fish by a long way of anything I've seen here in all the years we've been here!

After stopping for dinner both he and Olivia continued while Anna and I drove along to the shop to buy some milk. Keith meanwhile alternated between sauna and swimming, under the watchful eyes of Sandy and Olivia.
Back 15 minutes later, and the first perch was caught and ready to be fried! Around 20cm long, it proved to be extremely tasty, and we all had a bit each. And so the fishing it seems will continue tomorrow!
Finally this evening, incredibly, as every year, one of the Finnish TV channels is showing James Bond films each night of the week. So Keith sat down to enjoy Goldfinger at 9pm very happily!

Day 9 - The Hottest Yet

Last night's trip to Lahti and back went smoothly enough, and we arrived there at 8pm, in good time for the train to St Petersburg, which was due to leave from Lahti at 8.47pm.
While having teas in the cafe though, messages appeared on the noticeboard informing us that due to the Trump - Putin summit and all the associated traffic chaos, the train driver had been held up from getting to work, and therefore the train itself would be late! As Olivia needed to be picked up from Timo's house at 11pm, we had to set off back for home. Anna's folks eventually left Lahti at 9.38pm, a bit later than planned!

Today we had the hottest day for a long time here. The temperature headed up to 30C before 11am and continued to rise right up to 32.4C here by early afternoon. It was great after a longish lie in just to breeze along to the shops with Keith and Anna first thing, then simply relax for the rest of the day. The lake temperature this afternoon confirmed what we all thought, that it's warmer still and indeed it was 28C, not seen on our holidays for many years. On the side of this blog, there is a photo from 2010 showing similar temperatures on a thermometer, and I've had various discussions with folk who can't believe lakes here so far north could be so warm. Well, they can be, as today shows!
And guess what. The weather is to continue as is, for the next few days at the very least!

Day 8: Back to Lahti

Another day in paradise with ridiculously high but fantastically enjoyable temperatures today.
It's been more than 30C most of the afternoon, and I'm writing this earlier than usual as we have a 200 mile round trip this evening to take Anna's folks back to Lahti before we run back up the road again afterwards.
We set off at 6.00pm and their train leaves at 8.47pm, so hopefully we will be home by around 11.00pm.
Olivia will stay here as she's going trampoline training with Timo, the owner's daughter at her club, for the second year running. This is extremely kind of them, especially as it wouldn't happen back in Scotland for all sorts of health and safety reasons that are too silly to go into. Anyhow, she will have great fun once again at a sports hall that is so well resourced with unbelievable equipment that it truly makes us look like a third world country!
Last night, after the World Cup final we headed into Jyväskylä Harbour area for ice creams in the intense evening heat. At 9pm it was still 28.5C, incredible temperatures indeed!
That's it for today, more tomorrow.

Day 7 - Hotter Still!

Sleeping at night is becoming more and more difficult as the temperature rises outside ever higher, which in turn means it's warmer each day inside too. Several of the windows in the cottage have mosquito meshes and these windows have been fully open all the time, yet when the outside temperature is reaching 30C as it did today, and it's not dipping below 20C for more than a couple of hours in the early morning, the house simply won't cool down.

So, with the weather so good, after breakfast it was straight into the garden to sunbathe for a while before lunch. In order to cool down a bit, we also took the boat out for a row, with Keith, Olivia and Arnold  coming along for the ride. We saw a couple of other folk sunbathing on their jetties on the other side of where we are. Other than that, it really does seem like our own lake!

This afternoon, we simply carried on enjoying the amazing heat and the wonderful water. All of us, even Babushka, were in the lake this afternoon! The sauna was busy and Keith, Olivia and Arnold spent ages diving repeatedly into the water. 

About 4pm, I set up the wood burning BBQ and cooked some marinated pork for dinner as we wanted to be finished in plenty of time for the football this evening. We ate down by the water before heading inside for the match.

I'm writing this half way through, and after we are heading into Jyväskylä for some ice creams by the harbour as it's Anna's folks last night here, before we then head back via the nearby "diving board" lake at Leppävesi just along the road. 

Just before I publish this, I realise looking at these photos that there are some really lovely colours especially today. Bearing in mind that I am only using my phone camera this year I'm quite impressed. Usually I have my small Fujifilm camera which has an outstanding zoom lens on it, as well as a small waterproof camera but this year I decided simply to see how the phone would cope. Quite well, I'd say.