Picking Paints, Flushing Toilets

by marjasisu, posted in Camp Many Moons

It’s February, and winter still hasn’t “arrived” here on the 47th parallel.

I’m back at Camp Many Moons in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where wild turkeys waddle out of my path and deer bolt across it. I hear coyotes at night and see evidence of a wild kill underfoot. And where is my attention? On toilets and paint colors, as we continue the slow progress to turn a house into a home. In the 10 days since my return, we took one day to celebrate a uniquely Finnish-American winter festival in my hometown. All the others have been focused on more decisions for the DIY home-builder — and admiring the flush toilet! The story below….

PS: The 47th parallel refers to 47 degrees latitude. I use it periodically in this blog to impress you about how far north we are here. (Is it working? 😉 ) The U.S./Canada border lies along the 45th-to-49th parallel, and all residents of the Upper Peninsula live farther north than half of all Canadians.

With attention on the house, I haven’t been out in nature as often as usual. The weather hasn’t been inviting either — mostly gray and icy. I finally took a walk through the woods yesterday. The snow is thin for February! Yet still beautiful, especially at sunset.
Indoors, the main news since I left here in late November is this. Finally, a flush toilet at Camp Many Moons! The first since I got this parcel of land six ago. I joke that I had to get a flush toilet for visitors — since many couldn’t adjust to a compost toilet — and built a house around it. I purchased this on-line while still in Virginia, and Jeff installed it while I was gone. It’s a relief to get back here and confirm that it works great.
Jeff also installed cedar lining in the bedroom closet while I was gone. Cedar-lined closets are a kind of luxury that I don’t care that much about (even though they do deter moths for awhile) — but it is very cool that this wood comes from trees we took down ourselves, which Jeff then cut on his own sawmill. Now that’s “local!” It fits my idea of a cabin that draws from nature.
Picking paint colors. Whew, what a process! Some people enjoy it. Maybe I will once I have the process down. I began by visiting two paint stores (45 minutes away) and laying out these tiny samples in various earthy tones, keeping in mind my goal that the interior echoes the exterior. The plentiful windows should draw the eye outside, not to the walls. (I’ve already looked at brochures and researched on-line. I realize now that you can find justification for any color and tone you want to use. Your goal is what matters.)
I compared various greens to the trees that surround the house. The dark greens here were my first choice, so I got $10 one-quart samples and put them on the walls. Whoa, too bright! Scratch Arugala and Cilantro. Back to the drawing board–er, paint sampling board–and back to the paint store to pick up more samples.
Retreating to more muted colors, I settled on a deep green called Basil on the north wall and a lighter version called Magnolia on the other. (This is a mish-mash of samples here, not what the walls will look like when done.) In the daylight, both draw the eye outside. Yep! I also compared Sherwin Williams to Benjamin Moore and learned about flat, matte, satin, and semi-gloss. See that plank sitting on the windowsill of the right-hand window? That’s knotty pine (which will soon cover the ceiling) with seven stain choices on it. The Sherwin Williams store did that for me, since I’ll also need to choose the stain for the wood surrounding the windowpane (sash) and the trim that will surround the window itself (casing). You see how complicated “DIY” can get. A contractor would be making suggestions for my reaction and refinement; I’m starting from scratch.
This is the bathroom, in Eucalyptus. Whew, pretty strong color. This was the first room to get paint, and I was focused only on color. I ended up buying the cheapest paint by mistake, which affects how it goes on the wall. (So does the type of roller, brush, stroke, etc.) We will re-do it. Painting well is a complex skill, and neither Jeff nor I are experts.
The hallway. Brown?? Yup. Actually, this is called Latte. (Jeff calls it “cardboard,” which is laying on the floor to protect the concrete, and it does look pretty close to that!) I settled on this after buying four quarts of even-darker browns as I try to create a warmth and coziness that mimics colors of nature. It’s hard to tell the final effect with only bright-white construction lights on it, but that’s what we have for now. (Buying samples to actually put on the walls, vs. the tiny squares you get in a paint store, is essential to the process. I repainted a few rooms in my Virginia home, where I learned that key step.) Jeff is doing all the painting so far, though I want to get into it. I’ve been helping sand the drywall to remove imperfections and playing with colors for the bedroom.
Jeff cleans the paint supplies at the well. Good thing it’s been warm enough for that, and we don’t have deep snow to trudge through. (So strange, for Feb.)
On our “off-day,” we participated in this event in Hancock. We carried a banner in the parade, judged the wife-carrying contest, and even tried the plunge!
I picked up my costume the day before. Jeff got his less than an hour before! I’m wearing historical Finnish garb while he’s dressed as a Saami reindeer herder from Lapland. (Fun fact: my grandmother migrated from Finnish Lapland to even farther-north Norwegian Lapland in a reindeer-drawn sled. There’s a good chance I have Saami blood, though DNA tests can’t prove it.) He’s wearing his own pants and shoes, and you can see my blue down jacket under my blouse. It was in the mid-30s — mild for January, but not “warm!”
The band from Michigan Technological University (MTU) added a new twist to the horn section. These guys always sport bare skin regardless of the temperature.
This made-up Finnish-American festival celebrates when the bear rolls over–i.e., when it senses that winter is half done and rolls over in its den. (If winter starts on Dec. 21 and ends on March 19, then midwinter is about six weeks between.)
The parade features not only traditional Nordic costumes but also characters from the epic Finnish poem, The Kalevala. Longfellow was inspired by The Kalevala’s rhythm when he wrote Song of Hiawatha … “By the shores of Gitchee-Gumee, by the shining Big Sea Water,” etc. (Gitchee-Gumee is what Native Americans called Lake Superior.)
Vikings also made an appearance, although historical records indicate that most were Norwegian, Danish, or Swedish. (Very few were Finnish.)
The parade was followed by a snake dance in front of my old high school.
Saunas were placed in front of the school also. Why? To warm up, before ….
…the polar plunge! Yes, I did it! I wasn’t sure I would, but … I once went from a sauna into a snowbank and remembered that it wasn’t bad. (If you pre-heat your skin, you don’t feel cold.) So, why not? It’s a pool, not a hole in the ice! Well. The water *was* cold! Ice cold. I didn’t hang around. But I did reheat and did a 2nd run. Nordic people swear by the health benefits of this, and ice baths are becoming a thing in the U.S. I think I get it because I felt fabulous afterwards. I might do it again someday.
Meanwhile, winter still eludes us here on the 47th parallel. Though I did have pretty frost patterns on my windshield during the short drive to the waterfront this morning.

7 thoughts on “Picking Paints, Flushing Toilets”

  1. Jeff does beautiful work with dedication. And so do you. You go all out whatever you do, Mary, from creating the perfect home space to celebrating the Finnish-American festival. I’ve heard the expression “work hard then play hard”. Such a fun read.

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