Sheep and Aunts

   Tätejä ja lampaita

Isotädit Alli ja Salli Turusta saapuivat joka kesä kuin pääskyset kylän höyrylaivalaituriin, ja heidän pienessä mökissään meren rannalla sai teetä niin paljon kuin yhdestä liptonista irtosi. Neideistä muistuttaa kalasumppu kalliomännyn juurella ja meidän lampaamme. Alli on se järkevä ja rauhallinen äitityyppi ja Salli vähän säikky ja hysteriaan taipuvainen - aivan kuin esikuvansa.

 

 

Great-aunts Alli and Salli from Turku arrived with the old Östern to the steamship pier of Rumar Village like swallows after the winter. They were built a tiny cottage by the beach where you could get as much tea as you liked from a tea-bag. Already a third generation after them enjoys summers at the cottage and we remember the ladies when  we see their old fish well under the pine. And of our sheep. Alli is the sensible one, a calm mother-type and Salli is a bit shy and hysterical - as their paragons.

Salli

Alli at the hair-dresser's last spring

Lampaat muuttivat vanhaan talliin suomenvuohi Agneksen kaveriksi, mutta Agnes on pomo, jonka kanssa ei kaveerata. Totteleminen riittää. Suuren yhteisen karsinan korkeutta piti kasvattaa Agneksen ketteryyden vuoksi. Muuten talli kelpasi lampolaksi. Syksyksi seinät suditaan kalkkivellillä  - vanha konsti, joka myös puhdistaa. Kullankeltainen puolimetrinen olkipatja muheutuu, maatuu ja lämmittää. Kuiviketta lisätään niin, että itsekin kelpaisi kelliä kostumatta. Puhdasta vettä ja suolakivi heinän kyytipojaksi. Lampaat ja vuohet ovat sillä tavalla helppoja, mutta se, mikä on pahasta, ovat veto ja kosteus.

 

Our sheep moved in to keep company to the Finnish goat  Agnes but Agnes is a born leader, she doesn't need company, she wants a flock to rule. The old stable became their home and it didn't need much renovation. Every summer the walls are painted with a lime paint which makes the stable white and also disinfects. Half a metre straw mattress and new straws every week to keep the surfice dry, clean water and a salt stone with hay - and we have happy sheep! There are two things to avoid in a sheep barn, humidity and draught.

Agnes, the film star 2012 at Archipelago High Way...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMzkrRqiF3I&list=PL0680D11B3FE7BDBC

Saariston lampoloissa huipentuu tulevina viikkoina odotus. Valvotaan öitä karitsoja vartoen. Niistä meillä vasta haaveillaan, sillä ensin tarvitaan jälkikasvulle tilaa. Lammaskerho, johon meidät harrastelijatkin on otettu avosylin, retkeili taannoin tutustumassa rakentamistapoihin. Näimme erilaisia ratkaisuja ja kuulimme jopa kasvihuonelampaista. Suurin haaste kaikissa oli, miten pitää ilma raittiina ilman vetoisuutta. Terve järki, olemassaolevien rakennusten hyödyntäminen uusrakentamisen rinnalla sekä mielikuvitus olivat parhaat työkalut. Luonnollinen ilmanvaihto kävi ratkaisuksi luovasti soveltaen lampoloissakin. Alkoi kutkuttaa, mitähän meidän vanhasta navetasta syntyisi.

At the sheep barns of our archipelago the coming weeks are exciting. The new baby lambs are born soon. We are still just dreaming of them because we would need a new barn with more space before we could get some company for our spinsters. Even if we are amateurs with our little flock we were warmly wellcomed to the local Sheep Club and took part in a trip to visit the other farmers. We were shown different kind of solutions and heard even of sheep living in an old green house. It was interesting and inspiring and great to see the spirit and support to each other in the Club. KnowSheep project has given en extra energy for the local farmers and besides trips organized courses in all the possible themes useful for sheep owners. 

 

A family sheep farm in Nauvo

 

A bit bigger farm of Westankärr Gård http://www.westankarr.fi/

Kun aamulla avaan lampolan oven, ja lauma seuraa Agnesta ulos kerpulle, on se molemminpuolista mielenvirkistystä. Katraani märehtii ja havainnoi sulavia hankia, minä saan lanoliinit talvikuiviin sormenpäihini rapsutellessani näitä vihreän hoivan personal trainereitani. Oppisi siellä lammaskerhossa muutakin, kuten miten kehrätty lanka värjäytyy ja maito juoksettuu juustoksi. Makkarakurssin yli kuitenkin hypättiin, kun tuli niitä isotätejä muistettua. Ehkä uuden unelmalampolan asukeista tuleekin sitten Pihvi ja Paisti niin kuin hurtein lapsista jo alunperin koitti ehdottaa.

Every morning summer or winter my flock is let to come and go as they please in and out of the stable. We often stand nowadays and watch the snow melt, my fury friends enjoy their dried leaves, I get lanolin to my dry finger-tips. It is the best green care to me. It would be possible to learn also to make sausages at the Club, but it is unthinkable of our aunties. Perhaps the future inhabitants of the dream barn should be named Steak and Stew as one of the children tried to suggest in the first place...

http://www.skargardensfarklubb.fi/en/
http://www.knowsheep.eu/index.php?page_id=1

Ladies in Action

Korppoo island has an ancient centre with a medieval church and the charming cemetary, one grocery-shop, a multi-function post-office, Anna-Lena's flower-shop, a hair-dresser, a bank and a pharmacy - and in the old smuggler´s house restaurant Hjalmars. On the opposite side of the small market place in the middle is the former kindergarten, so called Mäkelä's house - after the smuggler Jalmari Mäkelä. It is full of life - no more kids but three energetic women who have started business of their own, each one of them under the same roof. They call it DAG-15 or Dagis, Swedish word for kindergarten.

We enjoyed our morning coffee with ice-cream there one morning after being donated the high-grown bushes by the small brook beside. They will be the winter-sweets for our sheep after being dried in the barn.

Anne owns the house and has a boutique Örtti of ecologically produced clothes of the Earth Collection for example. She also sells the Himalayan salt that we use on our steaks and the Indian sugar that we love on our morning porridge. And food for our dogs, this time we got home with frozen kneecaps! Now she is starting courses of well-being - it will be exciting.

Terhi fills our homes with beautiful old, re-produced old and self-made beauties of decoration. She is our savior when in instant need of a gift to give... She also sews by order. Her place is called Amalias Hem.

Sara has opened a café with bright 70's-style decoration. Baguettes from our local bakery filled, sweets and soft ice-cream. We decided with the girls to console ourselves in the winter after a dark, damp and stressfull day at school with a cup of hot chocolate and a muffin - even if Pappa thought it will ruin our food budget for good... If not the hot drink melts you, it will be Sara's warm smile!

http://amaliashem.blogspot.fi/
http://www.ortti.com/Suomi/Ortti.html
http://www.facebook.com/dagfemton

When the time stands still on Midsummer...

These light, clear late hours of the day, when the wind goes home for the night and the next morning is almost here - I can feel summer with all my sences. Perhaps it is the magic of Midsummer or I just let go of all the worries of the world for one night.

We enjoyed the nordic Midsummer evening already yesterday when packing our boat for an over-night trip to our island Svidi. We had half an hours drive from our pier to the cliff shore where we dropped the anchor, cooked evening tea and watched the silent moments of a summer night when the sun never goes down.

The sheep that we had there every summer for five years did a good job and now the island is airy and only the ancient pines are left and strawberries, blueberries and meadows.

We followed the paths and investigated small animals of the sea, swam in the  cool water and would have stayed if not the every day tasks were waiting and the food-basket was empty - but tomorrow again if we have the weather on our side.

Tomorrow we celebrate the Midsummer Eve, raise the May pole decorated with wild flowers in the middle of our village, perhaps take few dance steps and sing the old sailor songs, taste the new potatoes and try to find nine flowers to put under the pillow - in the boat - in the evening.

Happy Midsummer!

Café Cecilia made me glad today!

Our first pop-up café ever was today! And we had such a great fun - both prepairing for the day and opening our home for people who popped in for a Sunday coffee and cake.

The whole family and grand-parents helped with the preparations and bakings and the closer we got the pop-day the more there were new ideas popping.

Some we had time to try out and some will have to wait for the next pop-up.

The bakings succeeded splendidly - even if our muffins became too healthy: we had forgotten the butter from the dought...

Luckily they didn't look too healthy!

The Italian chocolate cake, torta di ciaccolato is our favourite and the queen of every big celebration in our family.

The Kisses are baked according to an old recipe and are dopped in melted butter and sugar.

It was lovely to meet new people and have time to chat with old friends, and of course, tell about the house and Cecilia...

        Thank you for your visit - we had a great day!

Popping up wishes...

The time flies this spring and it is already June. We have been working outdoors ploughing, planting and planning... 

Pellas II has got a new shiny tar coat and is waiting for a good day to start summer-sailing.

We have been planting potatoes, tomatoes and new flower-beds - oh, I just remember the poor lilac I have forgotten under the bushes, tomorrow, I promise.. - and working with the vegetable-land to fill our cellar and our plates with salads, carrots, onions, beetroots, parsnips and other goodies.

And notice: no scaffolding in the front side..

And planning! We decided to try how it would feel to have a café, so just for one day,
a pop-up café Cecilia is born next Sunday - Welcome all! We got so excited when noticing the add of a pop-up-day in Parainen in the local news paper and wanted to arrange something on our island, too.

So we had our first planning meeting testing the products and enjoying one of the first warm days in the garden.

"Cecilia" because she is one of the strong women from the history of this house full of strong women today, the wife of August who built the main building in 1870, and an interesting figure otherwise, too.

We are hoping for a good weather so that we can enjoy our cakes and cups of coffee under the old apple-tree. Now we have ahead of us few busy days of baking and prepairing... Wish us luck!

Through the Lens

At the same time in several places in the archipelago and Turku we were wandering, looking through the lens and observing with new eyes familiar paths, roads, streets - cliffs, beaches, neighbourhoods.

First it seemed that my inner lens needed some cleaning and my artistic eye wasn't finding anything special - 

 - the road to Almas and the lovely beach of our home village Rumar had too many memories of winter sledge rides, hot long days at the beach with books and picnic baskets and magical night swims in the waves. I could see them all. 

But I truely enjoyed - the spring air and the dimmering evening sun, the brave flora raising their heads and the eager companions chatting and running, creaping and observing the small and the wide. 

And at home I realised that I had managed to catch quite a lot with my dusty lens and baggage of memories. 

It is interesting to see what the others saw and caught: 

http://www.varkultur.fi/varkultur-2012/fotovandring/ 

- our guide was Renja Leino, our local photo artist: 


http://www.renjaleino.com/