Invasion of the Finns

This week we had a houseful of Finns. All of the guys doing wood flooring and wood trim have Finnish ancestry. I wasn’t too surprised to learn this. Firstly they are all exceptionally nice people and that’s something we’ve learned in our travels in Finland – Finns are exceptionally nice people. Finns are also known for their woodworking skill so finding a bunch of Finns doing woodworking and an exceptionally good job fits.

Our lake got a thin coat of ice on it this week.

Scandinavian Christmas stuff is starting to appear (not surprising given how many Scandinavians are in Minnesota). Gløgg is a Norwegian version of mulled wine which is ubiquitous throughout much of Europe in the winter. We’ve enjoyed many cups of it sitting outside at sidewalk cafés and in Christmas markets. I’ve learned to be careful with it as some can be quite strong.

Kurt and Ben installing shingles. They’re not around this current week. It seems Ben got married on Saturday and wanted to go on a honeymoon. Kurt’s daughter also got married on Saturday and went on the exact same honeymoon 🙂  Congrats to them!

Guys from Topo working on the sunken patio.

José carrying a chunk of frozen granite sand in to the tent. 

Perry & Co Finnished the floors in our master. They look great!

Owen (a Finn from GK Millwork) cutting a bit of trim for the guest room bay window.

Still a lot of trim left to do.

Almost done!

Owen had to shave off or remove bits of sheetrock to make sure that the wood trim lays perfectly flat. I have a huge appreciation for craftsman like this.

Matt began laying out the dining room ceiling.

Ready for a conservatory.

A Finn called Frosty making progress on the dining room ceiling.

Eric is building the water manifold.

Scullery trimmed.

The cabinets on this wall are deep due to the refrigerator. Stuff gets lost in the back of deep cabinets so Mark made these shallower. 

Vanities for master bath. This wood is gorgeous.

Laundry chute in the master bath cabinet.

The chute comes in to the laundry.

Checking a carpet sample on the stairs to the loft. Don’t think so.

Our entire house is filled with tools like this compliments of tile folks, wood flooring, cabinets and trim.

Walkway to the bike door in the garage.

Limestone caps for the interior of the conservatory were delivered.