adventures inside

The past few days have been significantly warmer, peaking at 27º F. The heating malfunctioned sometime on Friday, but equipped with a space heater and fingerless gloves, I endured. Culinary adventures included macaroni and cheese, sans recipe and substituting penne for elbow macaroni, which seems to be absent from Alajärvi supermarkets. My attempt at béchamel was risky, as I only had whole wheat baking flour on hand. But the overall result, including a topping of stale Swedish rye breadcrumbs [hand-shredded in lieu of any sort of automated kitchen appliance] and aged cheddar, was a satisfactory venture into starving artist comfort food.

It ain't pretty, but it tastes okay

I spent most of the chilly weekend holed up with brown paper and an assortment of chalk and pencils, with occasional trips to the kitchen for tea and reheated penne n' cheese. The difference is nearly imperceptible, but I believe the daylight is lasting slightly longer than the days of my first week here. My sketches and smaller drawings and taking priority over large-scale work, and I am gradually letting go of my compulsion to work big - not that I don't still enjoy covering whole walls in paper, but being here alone means I make my own rules.

Small ink piece

On Sunday, my e-mails were finally answered, and the heating was fixed. It was once again warm enough to spend time in the kitchen without getting numb toes [which did happen earlier, even in wool socks], so I chopped veggies for leek and potato soup. Again, having no blender, I relied on my own ingenuity [which is what I call looking up an alternate method online] to mash up a hearty soup with a fork and strainer.

More Suomi comfort food! Butter, leeks and potatoes are hard to screw up

I ate dinner in the little lounge by the kitchen; I don't go in there much, but the Panasonic air inverter provides additional electric heat, and it stays toasty. I sketched and savored my starchy masterpiece while the rest of the house gradually warmed back up.

Fun with brown paper and chalk

Tomorrow, I plan on another venture into town for additional groceries and a little exploration. The are rabbit and deer tracks in the yard, often fresh ones in the daily deepening blanket of snow. No bears yet. For the past few nights, the clouds have been dense and reddish with subarctic light. No aurora sighted yet.

Morning view from my window