Classical foundation training

Well, I haven’t really told much about the training style we adopted last year with our teddybear of a Finnhorse.

We discovered the classical foundation training by Will Faerber at Art2Ride in January last year and after watching all of the then available blog videos from Will, decided to go for it with our big pony. Started with lunging in February and boy, didn’t it take a while for our chap to calm down and get to business. But he did eventually and started to stretch and lower his head. First day we worked in total somewhat over an hour, next day the same, but then slowly things started to click with him and he gave us work sooner and sooner. He also became a lot calmer.

During the first couple weeks one has to be really patient and wait for things to start happening. One has to remain calm, consistent, but firm at the same time. And leave the arena only after the horse is calm and observant to you.

In May I thought that we had somehow stalled with our progress. The horse was calm, put his head low… but somehow nothing happened. I had no idea what was wrong. Riding was also calm, but maybe too calm… He started to avoid my leg when he didn’t feel like listening to it.

We were seriously in the jam-jar so to say.

Well, by chance a new trainer arrived to do a demo at the yard. We came to watch and listen if he would be anything for us. And he did seem to be it. So, we started to take lessons. And suddenly things started working again. We were put to work.

Lesson in early June. Notice dipped back, short neck,
thick underneck, hanging belly and short stride.

The progress was notable in June, but then we started to get into difficulties with our Teddybear. He became reluctant to move, resisted contact as much as possible and was just very unhappy chap indeed. He was also a little bit unlevel, and we self-diagnosed a grade one groin injury. Rest for a week and then we started to gradually bring him back to training. At that time in July the trainer was away as well, so we did not have any lessons for the remainder of the month.

Then I noticed the offer Will had put up in his blog page. Free video evaluations during July, provided he could use them in his blog. Deadline was 1^st of August. I just and just made it.

Oh my, after I sent my submission, I kept on watching the video over and over again. And it dawned on me there and then how horrible it all looked! Oh hellsbells, how embarrassing! By the next day (and god knows how many times I watched that video) I had realised what had happened in the spring and why we seemed to have dropped into the jam-pot and why the new trainer’s methods worked for some weeks and then not…

It was simple. We had fallen into the Finnhorse-trap. They are smart. Our boy had pretty quickly learned that lowering of the head will mean that we take off the pressure and praise him. In other words, we let him slouch. Ridden work was the same, we did not really push him at all. This is why the other training method worked at first, because we were put to work. He responded positively, because he had enough muscle for the work for the first couple weeks, but then it became too much for him too soon, and he couldn’t do it anymore. Finnhorses don’t respond well to being pushed and crunched and put into a package with hard riding. They have good work morale and they do try to please you, but you don’t get too far by bullying them.

From the first video submission I suddenly saw how horribly short he had become. How unhappy he looked and how much I had to do to just keep him going! Appalling. Totally humiliating.

Change came swiftly: next training session was on the lunge and forward and forward, Properly. Husband rode and I told him to forget the reins, just make him go Forward. And then he did finally start moving properly, and what a relief for him and us.

Will’s critique a couple days later was then no surprise to me. I have to say that I have not watched the video since… I was listening to Will’s comments and making notes, but not watching… I was and am that embarrassed. Well, we filmed the next training session, and that became our second submission. Now that one I can watch and listen again. I couldn’t stop smiling for a long while. :) 

A still from our second submission (1st Aug). Notice how stride is longer already,
lower neck still not totally relaxed, but upper neck muscles are already being used
and he is starting to stretch, and back is starting to work. 

New Year

New year, new tricks?

Well, we’ll see if I will manage to be a bit more of an active blogger in the future.

There are several reasons behind the break; new training routine with our big pony, and an actual paying job for a couple months.

Could start blogging about the training next. 

Uusi vuosi

Uusi vuosi, uudet kujeet?

No, katsotaan, jospa saisi enemmän kirjoittelua aikaiseksi.

Taukoa on tullut aika monen ’syyn’ takia; uusi treenirutiini pojun kanssa sekä parin kuun työpesti, josta sai ihan palkkaakin.

Voisipa sitä vähän valaista pojun treeniä tässä seuraavien postien aikana.

My horsemanship gurus; Monty Roberts, Buck Brannaman, Ray Hunt

I got into riding when I was only a kid. Back at those times we just enjoyed riding and mucking out at the local stables. I have to say that I didn’t really think about anything else when it came to horses, it was just riding. And riding we did according to what we were told by the teacher. Luckily we had good instructors and I learned to sit well on horses and treat them with fairness without really thinking that it was anything extraordinary.

I was lucky enough to have good self esteem with natural leadership qualities concerning horses. I also did not know that at the time, this I have actually realised only quite recently. It was just a natural way for me to handle the slightly tricky horses that they had at the stables; I wouldn’t take their intimidation even as a child, I just bravely marched to them with confidence and they would listen to me. I was attracted to the more difficult horses, they somehow presented me with a challenge and I loved working through the difficulties.

Only a lot later on, perhaps 20 years later, with our first own horse I started to think more about how does one handle the horse from the ground and communicate with it other than by riding it? We were lucky back then to live nearby one of the places Monty Roberts frequents in his yearly tours. I cannot quite remember how I came to read about him and the Intelligent Horsemanship, it may just have been one of those chance events of buying a book… In any case, I was determined to get to his next demo at Gleneagles! And there our journey into real horsemanship started.

It’s a never-ending journey that. Every new horse you come across is a new relationship that you have to figure out and work at. Some horses are sensitive and require ‘whispering’ with impeccable timing, others are robust and self assured that need more of a ‘shout’ and while timing is always important, it is not as crucial… I have come across both types; although my own ones have been more the latter type. 

Reading about Monty’s methods and seeing them close by in action year after year was a great education. At one point in my life I had the opportunity to go and train myself with Kelly Marks, but I decided that I wanted to keep horses as my hobby, not my profession. How I now regret that decision! As they say; you always regret the things you did not try or do in life! And how true it is! I did not have to become a professional trainer at that point, but that course would have given me more options. I guess I was afraid of the new and unknown, as so many of us are. If I just had let go and thought at that time ‘why not! Lets go for it!’…

But I (and my husband too) started to use those methods with our horse with success. And I have continued with the same attitude ever since. If I handle other people’s horses I always make sure that they know that I’m the leader and that they can relax and trust me. It is a matter of just checking them out and having a small ‘conversation’ with the horse before you take them out or in. Nothing to do with force or aggressive actions. Calm firmness with consistency. If a horse plays up on you or acts up naughty, there is no use getting upset or angry, it is far more useful to remain non-aggressive, calm and consistent at how you react and what you do.

So, ever since seeing him in that first demo, I’ve been an advocate of Monty’s methods. I believe this is why our two horses are calm and happy, without losing their personalities, by the way! And perhaps we have been also lucky with the choice of our horses, but we have never come across a problem with them that couldn’t be solved in a calm and consistent manner. But I would attribute a big chunk of our ‘luck’ with our horses to the way we handle them. In other hands, these two fellows may have been quite different – especially our lovely Mr Big Pony Finnhorse.

 

Mr Big Pony got his nickname naturally because he looks like a pony, but in a much larger frame. And he also has a clever mind of a pony. He is in fact a typical smart Finnhorse. They learn immensely quickly. If you let him get away with something once, he will make a habit out of it! So, we had to learn to be very observant and correct any unwanted behaviour either from the ground or while ridden immediately when it occurs. If we miss the moment, we have to work twice as hard and long to get rid of this behaviour; Finnhorses can be stubborn as well!  

However, another trait of a Finnhorse is, that they are incredibly willing to work for you if you ask properly. They can also be very calm, kind and curious once they feel settled and confident within themselves. This is our horse. He is confident and happy within himself, and I’m hoping that he is mirroring our qualities.

During the past year I happened to watch the documentary ‘Buck’ from the telly. Well! What an amazing horseman! Never realised (even though have been a Monty follower for a long time) that cowboys could be that sensitive and in tune with their horses. To me the working cowboys had always been the sort you see in a Western movie… Naïve, I know, but one doesn’t really think about these things that happen so far away from one’s own existence… Mind you, one of the best ever riding experiences was with a cowboy in South Dakota. Andy had some fabulous horses and we went on a trail for one afternoon crisscross meadows and up and down steep hills where no paths are apparent. We loped with our hands stretched out on our sides like imitating an aeroplane and standing on the stirrups, galloped across prairie. It was a joy and such a feeling of pure freedom. 

Well, I simply had to know more about Buck, so on I went reading his books and watching the documentary a couple more times. He seems an unbelievable horseman, so calm and present all the time. He has a fabulous connection with horses – and people – that one can only aspire to emulate. I think I will try though. Maybe one day I could take a trip across the pond and watch one of his clinics live.

One of Buck’s words of wisdom is that what ever happens in life to you, it is the attitude that you have that determines your happiness. This is actually shared by a Finnish positivity movement; their slogan is:’Attitude determines everything’. It means that even if you don't have any control over the things that happen to you, you can choose how you react to them, you choose your attitude. You can choose to be negative and unhappy, but at the same time you can also choose to be positive and happy. I know myself that this is not as easy as it sounds. I have had to struggle with negativity and self doubt. But these words are true; you choose. It may be (and at first will be!) hard to change and choose to be positive, but with practice it will become eventually automatic and your life will be happier no matter what happens in it.

So, Buck is a true horseman, but he is also a great person, who has a lot to teach us about ourselves.

What Buck and Monty have in common is their connection to Ray Hunt and Tom & Bill Dorrance. Now there were three fabulous horsemen as well.

I’ve recently read Ray’s book, and was in awe of the message that he had put across in it. It is a small book, but almost every sentence is heavy with deep meaning. It is more of a philosophical book than a quick fix ‘how-to’ manual, just to warn anyone, who is looking for the latter type of advice. Here're some snippets and some of the central things in his book:

“Feel, timing and balance.” Now, there it is in a nutshell. The whole art or riding. In every imaginable discipline. But it takes a lifetime to perfect that art, although I think these gurus mentioned here are pretty close to perfection in my opinion.

“Think. Be aware and alert, visualize what you want.” It’s a good reminder for us all that riding is not just tricks and performing certain movements, it is a process where you have to think. You have to be aware of your horse, his movement, mood and attitude. You have to be alert at all times so that you will stay in tune with your horse and know where his attention lies. Lastly visualising what you want will help you immensely to get the right message across to your horse; to make it his idea to do the thing you want. "Your idea should become his idea..."

“Make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy.” Yea, this is also what Buck teaches. The horse will learn that your way is the easy way, and he will make it his idea to do it for you. With this, you will have to allow the process to take as long as it is necessary to sink into the horse’s head. I spent one day quite a while with our Big Pony going in small circles when returning from a hack he thought he wanted to spurt the final bit. From the first hint of alert movement from him, I turned him calmly into a small circle. And round we went, after a couple loops I would ask if he would like to stand for me, if not, round and round we went again. After maybe 15 min of this he finally decided that stopping and even going away from home is actually easier than wanting to rush home. And then we could walk home in a relaxed manner.

These horsemen have all improved my relationship with horses and with life in general. Go on, get into Youtube, buy some of their books or borrow them from library, go and watch the documentaries and learn from their DVDs or better still; sign up for a clinic or a demo if at all possible. You won’t regret it. You know what you will regret…  
 

Muovinen kasvihuone pienellä budjetilla

Ja tämä on nyt ihan pakko jakaa kaikkien teidän netti-ihmisten kanssa!

Alkuperäinen idea on Isältä, ja todella mahtava.

Vuosikausia olen yrittänyt päästä samalle tomaatin ja paprikan kasvatustasolle Äidin kanssa… Mutta en ole koskaan onnistunut kasvattamaan noita ihania makupommeja yhtä hyvin. Ensin haittasivat kauheat tuulet ja jatkuvat sateet Skottilan kukkuloilla ja sitten en vaan tiennyt tarpeeksi eri lämpötilojen ja valon merkityksestä tomaatintaimiin. Tänä vuonna ajattelin antaa mennä ja oikein kunnolla. Nyt onnistun!

Viime kesänä tätini antoi todella hyviä ohjeita tomaatin taimien kasvattamisesta. Ja sitten se Isän hyvä idea, joka putkahti keskustellessamme kasvihuoneiden kalleudesta ja siitä, että olimme päättäneet tehdä itse kasvihuonetunnelin muovista.

Haluttiin myös jonkinlainen suoja autolle talveksi, kun se ei mahdu meidän autotalliin – ja sitäpaitsi se on täynnä puutarhatyövälineitä yms… Jotta Isä sitten ehdotti, että ostaisimme pressuautotallin. Niitähän löytyy Suomesta pienemmästäkin kaupungista, eivätkä ole edes kalliita. Ja sitten isälle välähti, että kesäksi sitten voi ottaa pressun pois ja laittaa kasvihuonemuovin sen sijaan.

Jepulis! Todella mahtava idea meidän mielestä! Eli ostettiin autotalli, vietiin mukanamme Ruotsiin ja laitetiin se pystyyn viime syksynä talveksi. Toimi erittäin hyvin. Ja sitten, kun lumet sulivat, otettiin pressu pois ja vaihdettiin se muoviin!

En voisi olla tyytyväisempi tuloksesta! Saatiin ihanan avara kasvihuone kymmenesosaan ’normaalin’ ostohinnasta.

Tässä kuvia ja kommentteja prosessista:

Autotalli pressuineen. Me oltiin laitettu ekstrapressu tallin oman pressun alle tueksi, ja se toimi todella hyvin. Etupuolen oviosassa oli kaksi todella heikkoa vetoketjua, jotka menivät rikki melkein heti... mutta ei muuta kun ensi talveksi ompelen siihen kiinni pari parempaa vetoketjua.

 

 

Niin, ensimmäinen tehtävä pressun poisoton jälkeen oli laittaa pehmuste-teippiä kaikkiin paikkoihin, missä muovi tulee koskemaan metallirunkoon. Teippi on siis sellaista vaahtomuoviteippiä, sitä pitäis saada samasta kaupasta, mistä tuota muoviakin voi ostaa.

 

 

Tässä näkyy koko autotallin rakenne. Me oltiin jo aiemmin laitettu isot puupalkit alaputkiin kiinni, niin ettei kasvihuonetta tarvinnut enää ruveta ankkuroimaan. Mies siinä laittaa ovenkarmia.

 

 

Ovenkarmi laitettiin kiinni putkiin metallinauhalla. Hyvin ja tukevasti se siihen istahti. Myöhemmin teippasin metalliosat vielä hieman paremmin kuin mitä tässä näkyy.

 

 

Karmin alapuoli ruuvattiin kiinni etupalkkiin. Hevosenkenkä on hyvä luotiviivan paino…

 

 

Tässä ollan jo vedetty muovi päälle ja laitettu se kiinni pitkiltä sivuiltaan. Ovi tehtiin vanhan kirjahyllyn sivuista… Yhdistettiin ne kahdella sopivan paksuisella puun palalla.

Huomaa punaiset nipistimet! Niitä on kaksi per kulma. Ne pitää muovia paremmin paikallaan. Otin yhden pois päiväksi pariksi, mutta laitoin sen äkkiä takas, kun muovi rupes repeämään alhaalta siitä kohti.

 

 

Tässä kuva etupuolesta. Tilasin muovin sellaisena palana, että voitiin se vetää suoraan rakenteen päälle pitkältä sivultaan, laittaa kiinni alhaalta ja sitten kerätä etu ja takapuolen muovit niiden karmeihin.

 

 

Tässä vielä näkymä oven karmin yläpuolesta. Nyt näkyy hyvin toi pehmuste-teippi.

 

 

Valmis!

Kerättiin siis muovi edestä napakasti ovenkarmiin. Taitettiin se kaksinkerroin missä tarvitsi, eli lähinnä siinä kohdalla, mistä katto alkaa. Ja listat päälle muovin pidikkeiksi.

Oven sivulle jätettiin kolminkertainen muovitaite, joka sitten eristää oven kohdan. Ovi ei jatku maahan asti, vaan ollaan oven alaosa tehty muovitaitteesta. Sen saa sitten kivasti auki vähän viileämmällä säällä tuuletusluukuksi. 

 

 

Näin sitten istutin tomaatit, paprikat, munakoisot, kurkut ja chillipaprikat. Eli siis paljuihin. Ne on muistaakseni 70 ja 90 litraisia. Jokaiseen menee kaksi kasvia, ja 3-4 basilikaa per tomaattipalju!

Mulla ei ole nyt kuvia tosta takaosan muovin laitosta, mutta ehkä se nyt tästäkin tulee selväksi. Laitettiin muovi kahden lankun väliin alalaidassa ja sitten keskelle laitettiin roikkumaan lauta kattoputkesta, samaan tyyliin kuin ovenkarmitkin. Muovi kerättiin sitten keskilautaan ja taitettiin se kaksinkerroin katonrajasta. Siihen sitten toinen lauta päälle pitämään muovi tiukasti kiinni. Siinä se!

Myöhemmin teippasin noi isot taitteet sisältä kiinni, kun sinne rupes menemään perhosia ja muita ötököitä kuolemaan… Käytin muovihuoneen korjausteippiä.

 

 

Ja tässä mun kasvihuone viime viikolta! Tomaatit on erittäin tyytyväisiä, kuten myös muut kasvit. Kurkut rupes melkein heti kukkimaan ja nyt niissä on jo viiden sentin pikkukurkkuja! Ja tomaatit on ruvenneet tällä viikolla kukkimaan! Basilikaa ollaan syöty jo tomaattisalaateissa ja chilipaprikaa kokeiltu. Chilipaprikat on nuo isot kasvit huoneen perällä, ne ovat talven yli eläneitä, sen takia jo noin isoja. Niissä on kukkia ja chilejä vaikka muille jakaa. Ne on Numex Twilight lajiketta, pieniä, mutta pippurisia.

Nyt on siis todella hyvät edellytykset mahtavaan satoon. Peukut vaan pystyyn…  

Niin, voisin tässä vielä mainita, mitä meni noihin paljuihin.  

Aloitin poraamalla yhteensä kuusi reikää paljujen alasivuihin. Pohjalle laitoin haketta, jota oltiin tehty tontilta kaadettujen puiden pikkuoksista; se on paljon kevyempää kuin kivet tms. Sitten aikalailla (ehkä puoleen väliin asti paljua) hevosen olkilantaa ja päälle hieman hiekkaa. Ylin kerros oli puutarhamullan, kompostimullan ja hiekan sekoitusta.

 

Kasvit näyttää tykkäävän ainakin tähän asti.

Ruokin niitä silloin tällöin tomaattilannoitteella, mutta en käytä sitä säännöllisesti, kun tuota lantaa on kuitenkin paljussa ihan tarpeeksi. Ja kasvit näyttää oikein hyviltä ja terveiltä, ovat tanakoita, hyvät lehdet ja todella paljon kukintojen alkuja.

 

Suosittelen tämmöistä vaihtoehtoa kasvihuoneelle. Ainoa asia, joka ajateltiin tehdä toisin ensi vuonna on se, että laitetaan takaosaan myös joko ovenkarmi tai tuuletusluukun karmi, niin että ilma pääsee vaihtumaan paremmin. Nyt lämpötila nousee huonessa herkästi yli 30 asteen, eikä oven pitäminen auki aina auta asiaan.

Eli siis, ensi syksynä otetaan muovi ja ovenkarmi pois, ja laitetaan pressu takaisin. Sitten ensi vuonna nähdään, miten hyvin saadaan vanha muovi takaisin kehikon päälle! Jätettiin kyllä vähän ylimääräistä muovia karmien kohdalle, jotta pitäisi onnistua. Peukut pystyyn…

 

How to make a greenhouse with a budget!

Well, this I have just got to share with you internetting people!

This idea was originally my Dad's, and it's simply brilliant.

I really have aspired for years to the tomato and pepper growing standard of my Mum's... But I have never managed to grow those wonderfully flavoursome sweet bombs. First it was the howling gales and driving rains of a Scottish hillside that prevented my ambitions, then just lack of proper knowledge on growing temperatures and so forth. This year I decided to go for it with all guns blazing! Last summer my aunt provided me with some really good practical advice on the importance of temperature and light on different tomato seedling stages. And then Dad had this brilliant idea, when we were discussing the expensiveness of buying a greenhouse and us thinking of building a polytunnel ourselves...

We wanted to have shelter for our car for the winter, since our garage is not wide enough for our car - and besides is full of gardening stuff and tools and all sorts... So, Dad suggested that we'd buy one of these tarpaulin garages and put that up. Lots of them about in Finland and cheap as well! And then when we were thinking about the building of a polytunnel, dad suggested that for summer we could change the tarpaulin into greenhouse plastic!

Wow, we thought that was fab idea! So, we went ahead and bought the garage, took it along to Sweden with us and put it up last autumn for winter. Worked really nicely for the car for winter, managed only to bend one of the metallic bars of the front... And then when the snow melted, we took the tarpaulin away and changed it into plastic! I cannot be happier with the result! We got a really nice and spacious greenhouse for one tenth of the price of a 'normal' one.

Here you are: some photos and comments of the process.

 

The garage with tarpaulin on still. We had put an extra tarpaulin on the roof part to give extra support and it did work like a dream. The front doorflap had two very weak normal zippers which broke pretty soon... I'm going to replace them with some sturdier stuff for next winter.

 

 

 

Well, the first thing after taking off the tarpaulin was to 'hot-tape' all the parts that may come in touch with the greenhouse plastic. With hot-tape I mean tape that is very spongy and will cushion any hard surfaces. You should be able to get this from the same place as you got your plastic from. I cushioned all the metal tubes and fixings that I thought might touch the plastic.

 

 

Here you see the overall frame of the original garage. We had already attached the bottom rails into heavy duty treated wood when we made the garage last autumn, so we did not have to anchor the greenhouse in any way. You see my husband there fixing the doorframe.  

 

 

The doorframe was fixed onto the frame with metal strips. It actually hang there pretty snugly and easily. Later on I hot-taped the metal bits of the frame.

 

 

And the bottom of the doorframe was attached into the treated timber that we had used to anchor the whole structure with. You can see the clever use of a horseshoe as a straight-line-weight...

 

 

Here we have already pulled the greenhouse plastic over the structure and attached it in the bottom frame with some wood strips. And the door was made from old bookshelf sides... Just attached them together with two bits of similar width wood pieces.

Notice the red clips! We put two of them per corner with some padding in between. Actually they are very important in keeping the plastic from ripping away from the bottom when it's breezy. I took one off for a couple days to use it elsewhere, but put it quickly back after I noticed that without it, one bottom side started to rip away. The clips add stability to the whole structure.

 

 

Here you have a front view. I had ordered the plastic in such a size that we could just pull it from one long side of the frame to the other and then gather the ends and attach them at the front and back frames.

 

 

Here is a view of the top of the doorway frame. You can see how I have taped anything that comes into contact with the plastic.

 

 

Here is the finished article!

We gathered the plastic first at the front and tacked it lightly on the doorframe, folding it at the spot where the roof starts. Then we screwed strips of wood on top. 

We left a double fold of plastic on the side of the door so that it will isolate a bit more. The door does not go all the way on the ground as you may see from the picture. We folded plastic double there as well, here you see that it can then also be used as a small hatch that can be opened for some ventilation in cooler weather.  

 

 

Tadaa! And this is the way I've planted my tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers and chillipeppers. In big tubs. I think they are 70 and 90 litre tubs. Two plants per tub, plus some basil plants with the tomatoes!

I did not have photos separately of how we made the back part, but here you should be able to see it as well. The plastic was wedged between two planks in the bottom and then we hang one vertical plank from the top and attached in the bottom plank. The plastic was gathered there and folded as you see. Another plank on top to fasten the plastic and we were done!

Later on I had to tape the fold shut from inside, since it gathered some amount of butterflies and other insects... I used the greenhouse repair tape.

 

 

And here is my greenhouse view just last week! The tomatoes are extremely happy as are other plants. I have lots of cucumber flowering and this week my first tomatoflowers opened up as well!

I have high hopes for nice crop. Fingers crossed!

 

And maybe some words on what soil did I put in them tubs.

I started by drilling six holes on the long sides of the tub. Then I poured in a layer of wood chop for drainage; that's a lot lighter alternative to stones or such. Then a nice and thick layer of strawmuck. A thin layer of sand went on that and then I added on a mix of topsoil, bought compost and sand.

The plants seem to really like their soil so far.

I have occationally fed them with tomato fertiliser, but am hesitant of using it as often as they say, since I do have that strawmuck there as well. And the plants look brilliant, stocky, good leaves and with lots of flowerbuds.

 

I heartily recommend anyone to try this alternative for a greenhouse. The only thing we are thinking of changing next year is to add another doorframe or hatch-frame to the back of the greenhouse so that we have proper ventilation. Now keeping the door wide open is not always enough to keep the temperature below 30C.

So, next autumn we are going to take the plastic and door frame away and fit the tarpaulin back again. And we will see in a year, how well we are able to fit the plastic back again! We did leave quite some extra plastic around the edges, so it should work. Wish us luck!

Mistä link-a-bordeja...?

Suomestapäin tuli kysymys (netin ulkopuolelta), että saako näitä 'link-a-bord'eja Suomesta. No, suora vastaus on, että en tiedä. Mutta, valmistaja myy kyllä niitä Briteistä netin kautta ja lähettää ulkomaillekin. Sanovat sivullaan, että kannattaa lähettää heille sähköpostin tai nettilomakkeen kautta kysely postimaksuista ennen tilausta. Sitten ei tule mitään kauheita yllätyksiä laskuun. Voihan sitä vaikka kavereiden kanssa tehdä yhteistilauksen, jos vaan innostusta riittää. Silleen postimaksukin pitäisi tulla halvemmaksi.

Niinkun sanottu aiemmin tuolla lämpöpenkin teossa, nää on kestäneet mulla vuosikausia, eivätkä tunnu menevän miksikään edes talvella lumen alla. Ainoastaan niiden keskussauvojen (jotka pitää isomman penkin sivuja yhdessä) metallikoukut on ruostuneet vuosien saatossa ja jotkut laitapalat on himpun verran vääntyneet. Mutta kun käyttöä on ollut näin monta vuotta ja kaikki palat on vieläkin helposti koottavissa ja purettavissa, niin ei ole valittamista.

Jotta tämmöinen pieni mainospätkä tässä.