Our Cabin on Clearwater Lake

A photo of our cabin on Clearwater Lake.  It was built by my parents, with help from family and friends.

In a previous post, Great Grandpa Johnson Built Log Cabins, I mentioned that it would be kind of cool if he had built our cabin (not likely, but neat to think about).

If he did, pieces of the original cabin are still there.  Mom and Dad incorporated some of the logs from the old cabin into the design of their new place.

The logs were used to help create stairs up to the loft.

I think they were used to build the deck
(the corner posts in photo above and beams below).

I’m also wondering if Dad used some of the logs to make the beds too…

Regardless of whether their first cabin was built by my Great Grandpa or not,
I love that my parents incorporated logs from it.

The cabin looks much different than the first one we had.
Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about it.

10 Interesting Facts about Falu Red

image from routesnorth.com

Falu Rödfärg is an iconic red paint in Sweden and the West coast of Finland. I just recently learned about it after realizing that many of the log cabins back home are painted red and were made by my Finnish family members (in Northwestern Ontario).  You can read more about that here (Great Grandpa Johnson Built Log Cabins).

Is red a Finnish colour?  Yes.

Here are 10 things you might not know about Falu Red:

1. In Finland, falu red is known as punamulta (red earth). 

   image from skandium.com

    

    

2. Falu Rödfärg or punamulta is made with pigments from the Falun Mine in Dalarna/Sweden. The paint is created from ore with a low copper content that has decomposed over the centuries. In addition to copper, red mull contains a rare compound of iron ochre, silica and zinc.
   

   Falu red comes from a mine in Falun, Sweden.

3. The Falun mine is actually a Unesco World Heritage site.A person can hike around the grounds, read information plaques, and learn about the iconic colour.   To see photos of the mine and learn about visits underground, visit falugruva.se/en (the site is in English, just scroll down).
4. Falu Rödfärg’s classic colour is not available as an exact paint number that can be mixed in a machine.The colour is created by experts who burn the pigment. It is a craft that has been handed down since the Falun mine started pigment manufacturing in 1764.
5. In warm evening light, the red colour becomes intense, almost glowing.When the powder and linseed are mixed thoroughly, it creates a beautiful, matte finish.  A translucent surface with course silicon dioxide crystals helps reflect rays of light.
6. Houses that were painted a 100 years ago still have pigment granules that are red. The pigment is highly stable in terms of light.
7. The paint produces an open coat that allows the wood to breathe.It lets in moisture, but equally allows moisture to evaporate quickly, minimizing the risk of rot.
8. Falu Red paint was used as far back as the 1500s.Timber houses were painted red as symbols of wealth and status, mimicking the look of red brick buildings.  Eventually it spread from the city to the countryside, first being used on the homes of the wealthy, then to farmers in the 1800s.
9. Falu red is a traditional colour that remains popular today due to its effectiveness in preserving wood. 

   Since the binder is starch, the paint is permeable to water. An upside, it only needs to be repainted every 20 years.

10. NCS S5040-Y80R is the Swedish colour code for Falu red.

Do you now also have a little colour crush on Falu Red?!  It’s kind of a cool story behind the pigment.

Note from Lainie:

When Mom and Dad go up to the cabin on Clearwater Lake this weekend, I’m going to see if Mom will take a few photos for me of some red cabins.

It’s kind of cool to actually see a piece of Finnish history on the lake.  All of these years, I had no idea.  It makes me wonder which cabins my Great Grandpa Johnson and William Juhala built and whether or not they made ours. Can you imagine?!

They probably didn’t but if they did, we would still have the logs they used.  When my parents built their new place, they incorporated pieces of the old log cabin creatively into the design.  I’ll share some pictures tomorrow so you can see!

And if you’re interested in reading more about the colour, here’s where I found some of the information shared:

Falu Mine Where Sweden’s Cottages Get Their Colour

Falu Red: The One and Only

The History of Falun Red Paint

the emo cemetery.

Imagine, there is a stone that will sit in a museum.  People will walk by and look at it 100 years after you’re gone.  You can choose an image to represent what you loved most. You can choose a few words that capture what you valued in life.  What would yours look like?

I’m not a fan of cemeteries and funerals, and yet I can appreciate how they tell a story.

I know it sounds a little weird, but it is interesting to think that centuries later, someone out there can look at a headstone and learn something about your life.

And yet, I am not one for visiting a cemetery.  It’s weird. I never know where to walk. And it’s not like they’re still there, so why visit?

My family grieves loss in a different way.

We don’t do funerals and graveside services for others.  We don’t visit plots regularly with flowers. Most of our loved ones have been cremated, with ashes scattered in meaningful places to them.  Clearwater Lake. Trout Lake. On the trapline. There are few headstones or markers. Maybe our grieving process explains a lot. That’s a whole story in itself.

Anyways, on my drive to Grandma Ina’s farm, I decided to pull over and stop at the Emo Cemetery along the way.  I knew that Grandma and Grandpa Johnson had been buried there (Dad’s parents).  The last time I was there I was a kid.

I think the stones were down near the road.  Down this way. There they are.

William and Beatrice Johnson.

I took some pictures of their stone so I could add it to the kids’ book.  Maybe someday they will want to know where their great grandparents are buried.

But after taking a few pictures, I wasn’t ready to leave yet.  And I wasn’t about to sit down and have a chat with a gravestone, so I decided to wander around.

One thing about living in a small town, is that when in a cemetery, you instantly see last names you know.  Grennier.  I wonder if that’s a relative of Todd’s (we went to elementary school together).   Ogden.  I wonder if they are related to Stacey (another childhood friend).  McComb. I remember a Buzz and Louise McComb.  I think they used to live up by Fairway (the grocery store in town back in the day).  We would go there trick-or-treating. See what I mean. Small town.

And then the older stones caught my attention.  Stay with me here, this is going somewhere.

This stone was from 1909.  It was for a baby boy who died at 8 months, 15 days.  First, a person is struck by how sad it would be for parents to lose a child so young.  Second, it makes a person start to wonder what happened. And third, to know the exact number of days that your child lived is heartbreaking.  8 months and 15 days.

Stones tell stories.

I saw family plots where a large stone represented the family name, with every mother, father, brother and sister labelled.  It was like seeing a family tree right before you.

There were stones with images etched of places or things that they once loved.

After some wandering around, I came back to Grandma and Grandpa’s stone.  After reading the lines on other stones, I finally noticed the one on theirs:  Great Loves Live On.  I thought it was really sweet, until I realized that I read the same line on many of the stones.  The funeral home or headstone place must offer a bank of generic statements that you can choose from.

And it all made me think about the stones themselves.  I know it may sound dark, but that’s why I asked you, what would you put on yours?  They are a representation of us, of our lives.

These pieces of stone can tell our stories centuries later. But with cremations and some opting not to have stones, where is the tangible record of family stories?  How will people share their lineage and does it matter?

I think so.  For me, I just plan to do it in another way.