250709 Lighting and Sunshine

 

The new staff has arrived to Märket. We are Johan, Anita, Sari, Sini and the photographer Untamo. Päivi and Jake are staying another week in Märket.

Today we started to clean the storage room facade. First we cleaned the walls and then Sari washed them with a pressure washer.

Johan built new scaffoldings and pulled down old ones. Also he built a new lid for the water pot and received guests.

Päivi put new window glasses in the frames and prepared a delicious lunch for us. Everyone ate with good appetite and after the lunch we had a short siesta.

Soon Sari and Sini began to paint the storage room wall white, while Anita continued cleaning the boards from old nails. Anita gave the guests a sightseeing tour around the island.

Just like in the morning, Untamo continued filming for his document film and also built some scaffoldings with Johan and helped us in many ways.

Jake was in charge of delegating the tasks and did a big part of them himself.

Around five o´clock there were some lightnings and we had to finish the work for today due to heavy rain. Anita had prepared a great dinner with perch fillets, new potatoes and salad. The rest of the evening we are going to relax and enjoy this lovely place.

 

260709 Sunday

 

Today we got up a little bit later because it is sunday. After breakfast, which Sari prepared, we started to work.

Johan and Anita were designing the new terasse which is planned to be built between the lighthouse and the old machinary room. Sari, Sini and Jake painted the first white layer of the storage facade. The weather was just perfect.

Before lunch we ordered almost one ton of concrete for the renovation of the bridge between the lighthouse and the machinary room. Then we ate some lunch that Päivi and Anita had prepared for us. In the lunch table the bench broke down, so Johan dedicated the rest of his day in making two wonderful and well designed benches for us.

When the benches were ready, Johan was jumping on the top of them just to make sure they would carry a lot of weight. After that Sini finalized the top of the benches with sandpaper.

Jake and Sari cleaned really properly the boat storage. Päivi and Anita cleaned the window frames and painted them. Uolevi filmed an interwiev of Päivi and Jake and Sini was his sound assistant. Then we ate dinner which Anita made for us.

We ate grilled pork stakes, potatoes and sallad. It was great to enjoy the delicious dinner with glass of red wine, sitting outside on the new benches. Then some guests arrived and Anita gave them a sightseeing tour around the island.

 

270709 Pictures

 

 

280709 Windy Tuesday

 

Yesterday it was sunny and we had many visitors. Today it´s windy and so far we haven´t had anybody visiting the lighthouse. Today we decided to interview each group member and write down their feelings, opinions and ideas.

We will start the interview with Päivi who is doing her tasks inside the lighthouse. Päivi says: We have finalized big tasks in the renovation, which is great. The weather hasn´t been as good as last years but still we have had some sushine. And it is great to have the seals back.

Jake is outside scrapping the storage facade. Jake says: This year we have worked hard with the renovation outside the lighthouse and now the changes are visible. Still there is a lot of work to be done inside the lighthouse?

Johan is building a new terrasse outside. He says: It´s great to have a 360 degree view on the horizon. In this kind of place you can meet people who think in the same way about things as you do, and that is interesting, and fun. In here something is happening all the time, the weather is changing, guests arriving, boats coming and going etc. And constantly the nature is very much present. Also it is fun to observe the big cargo boats that pass by. You might get the idea of travelling in one of them for a week or two.

Sari is scrapping paint from an old door. Sari says: It´s wonderful to do something totally different and new. You can learn many things about yourself and there is the change of learning some practical skill as well. I have always loved old furniture and objects and I know how to fix them. This lighthouse brings the renovation into a bigger scale. Of course the nature is unbelievable and we have a good team. You meet interesting people and you also gain a lot from this experience.

Anita is outside helping Johan to build the new terrasse. She says: In here different kind of people from different backgrounds are working together for a common good, to have the lighthouse in a better shape. Life in here must be very different from what we have at home. We are in the middle of the sea, but on the border. It is nice to notice that people come to visit the lighthouse from both sides, sweden, åland and finland.

Sini is sitting inside the lighthouse writing the lighthouse diary. She thinks: The sea has always been important to me. I really like to be in here and try to help somehow to renovate the lighthouse. We have a nice group of people, it´s interesting to get to know them and to learn from them. Maybe some new thoughts will also appear, in here or after this week. It is great to have the nature so close. I have seen seals, the other day we counted there were 15 of them on the rocks.

 

290709 Sunny Wednesday

 

Today the sun is shining and the wind blows 2-3 m/s.

After the breakfast Jake and Sari climbed up the scaffolding behind the storage and continued scrapping the facade. Later on the storage facade will be cleaned with pressure washer and then the painting will begin. Johan and Anita continued building the terrasse.

Johan is also preparing reinforcement for concrete beams to replace supporting beams of the walk bridge.

Also an investigation to the tower will take place and we will do some drilling before the carpenter arrives. We decided to enjoy the lovely weather and have a picnic behind the lighthouse, next to the lagoon. We saw many cargo ships, seven at a time.

In the evening Yvonne will bring tourists and other visitors to see the lighthouse.

 

300709 Dear Diary

 

Today we had a lot of people at the lunch table: our two new guests, two roofmakers, 5 crewmembers and then mr. Humell who brought us some hardware.

Before lunch Jake was cleaning the watertubes, Uffe and Tobias laid a new sheetmetal roof on the machinery room, Sari and Ami were painting the primary paint to the gas storage room. In the afternoon when the first paint was dry, work continued with the final paint. Johan continued his work with bridge and terrace. Anita was the grillmaster and Päivi made rest of the lunch.

Weather was absolutely wonderful with tiny wind untill the evening, when wind rise up. Today we had a few visitors who came by cayaks, and we still wait someone to come in the evening if the wind wont get too heavy. Also yesterday evening was busy with visitors, lots of little children with their parents.

 

310709 Special Guests

 

This morning beguns in a foggy weather, also the night was very windy. Wall of the storage room was now ready, and all the scaffoulds could be moved down and carried to the harbour. Also the roof of machinery room is almost ready. So we had a little time for weekly routine works, such as emptying the bio-toilet (brave Jake) and cleaning the kitchen shelfs.

In the afternoon weather turned out very sunny, and we got some very special guests. Marianne Brus, a brave lady who have been working at the Understen lighthouse in our neighbourhood, came visit us with her crew. She also left us a markable donation for Märket renovation work. Thank you very much, Marianne!

Some other guests came with Yvonne later in the afternoon, and our over-night guests left Märket with them. Yesterday evening Yvonnes boat brought also some interesting guests. Four older ladies from Eckerö and then two guest from Germany. We also got a nice gift: a packet of coffee and a bottle of something to warm us up in the cold summer nights… Both gifts were decorated with märket-borderline pictures and Finnish and Swedish flags.

In the evening, when the slabbing of the concrete to the bridge was ready, we had a little celebration. We rise a toast to the new bridge and all the nice visitors and the crew of the week.

Soon it will be time to enjoy the last meal of this crew. Spaghetti bolognese with the sound of waves.