The Traskvik Villa

Picture 1 Austin on the inflatable alligator (about 9 p.m.)
Picture 2 Davis and Jessico in inflatable boat
Picture 3 Ralf,Anna, and Mom looking over pictures
Picture 4 Fun in the hot tub

On Thursday, June 19, we had another family cookout at my grandmother's nepthew's, Ralf's, villa. His daughters, Åsa and Erika, visited my mom about 3 years ago. When I was here in 1976 and 1980, Ralf, who is a few years older than me, had a motorcycle and would give us rides around Traskvik. A lot of good memories there!

Åsa was our hostess for the evening and she did a fantastic job of preparing a meal for us...all of our favorites--grilled hamburgers and chicken, corn on the cob, watermelon, and a table full of other delicious foods. We really appreciate all the effort that is made for us at these gatherings...it makes us feel really at home and welcome. For dessert, my grandmother's sister-in-law, Anna, made us Svenska pleta, Swedish pancakes, with strawberries on top. Absolutely delicious!

Ralf arranged for a portable hot tub to be set up as well as a large tent with long tables for dinner. We enjoyed the hot tub and sauna. The kids played around the dock and eventually tried paddling a large, inflatable alligator and boat. They would get wet and then run warm up in the sauna or hot tub. It was a great eveninging and we hated for it to end. More memories with the Traskvik family!

A Midsummer's Day Eve

Picture 1 Adult table for Midsummer feast
Picture 2 Grilled bananas wrapped in bacon
Picture 3 Kids table for Midsummer feast
Picture 4 Cousin Ida with Midsummer wreath and boyfriend, Miakel
Friday, June 19, was Midsummer Eve, the night before the longest day of the year. We had a wonderful day at the Holti-Andersson villa in Korsnas. The kids played along the shore, made boats with sails, sharpened sticks to make arrows/spears for bows, and watched Ida make a Midsummer headpiece. She also made a birch arbor over the steps-entrance to the villa which is traditional as well. The weather was partly cloudy and breezy which made it a little cool but pleasant.

Another tradition that the young girls practice on Midsummer Eve is placing 9 different kinds of flowers under their pillows and then they will dream of the man they are to marry. If Jessica did, she is not telling!

The food was wonderful--grilled bbq chicken, pork tenderloin, and salmon, several salads, herring and caviar, boiled new potatoes and new to us, bananas wrapped in bacon and cooked on the grill. (You should try it!) Wonderful desserts, too.

We were a big group--the 5 of us, Lena and Bo's family and Ida's boyfriend (5), Mats and Britt's family from Jakobstad(5), Lena and Mats's mother, Aunt Viktoria, and Lena's friend, Caroline and her husband Mats. I knew Caroline from my visits before and it has been good to see her again.

We ate, played, and visited to welcome in Midsummer Day, the longest day of the year, and the first day of summer!

Happy Birthday, Austin!

Wednesday, June 17, was Austin's 10th birthday and he celebrated it in Finnish style. My cousin, Lena, and her daughter, Ida, sang a song to him which is sung to wake up children on their birthday in Finland. He thought at first they were singing 'Happy Birthday', but then they explained.

Although Austin spent part of his birthday following us around shopping, he did get to pick the meals throughout the day. For breakfast, his grandmother made Svenska pleta, or Swedish pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. For lunch in the city, we all ate a great McDonald's lunch, and for dinner, he chose good old American tacos. But then came more birthday celebration.

Before we left the US, I told him he was going to get a big surprise for his birthday (because I got it on my birthday when I turned 12 and 16 in Finland.}! He begged me to tell him what it was; he asked his cousins through email; he asked his grandmother and great grandparents but no one would tell him what it would be. So now it was time!

Instead of birthday spankings for the number of years you are, in Finland, they throw you up in the air and say 'hurrah' for the number of years you are and it is usually a surprise when it happens...and Austin was no exception! He absolutely loved it!

Then Lena made him a traditional Finnish birthday cake which was absolutely delicious. It was homemade chocolate (not from a box] with very thin layers. In between the layers was bananas and strawberries and then a little strawberry juice with added to the layers. Instead of frosting, real whipped cream (not cool whip) was used. Around the top of the cake were rows of sliced strawberries, and in the circle was crushed chocolate and toffee. It was heavenly! Of course, Austin blew out the candles, but then a few trick candles reignited!

He also received a few presents: a Finnish soccer ball, some lego models, a coffee cup with the famous Finnish cartoon character on it, and some money (Euros and dollars).

I am certain Austin will always remember his Finnish birthday when he turned 10 years old. Lena, Bo, Ida, Viktor, and Viktoria made it very special for him...Thanks!

Fishing and Waterparks

Picture 1 Cousin Åsa with daughter Tildy at the water park
Picture 2 Davis and Austin in the hot tub
Picture 3 and 4 Austin down the water slides
Picture 5 Davis with the big catch of the day
Picture 6 Jessica baiting hook for Isak
Picture 7 Cousin Viktor showing how to catch a fish

Davis, Austin, and Jessica have had a great time on the trip with all the different cousins they have met. On Friday and Saturday, our cousin Victor who is 16 took them on a short boat ride to a dock area where they could fish. On Friday it was not so successful with only 5 or 6 fish caught. But on Saturday, they caught 67! Half of them were too small and the other half were not the right ones to eat. But a few good sized ones were caught and a lot of fun was had by all!

On Monday, another cousin, Åsa (who visited my mom 3 years ago) took us to a nearby town and to the water park called Tropicale. (The weather here has turned wet and cold-45 F and rainy for the last two days.) Some of the waterpark is inside so we were able to swim and play in some very warm water, and the air inside is warm as well. The kids had a very good time!

Korsnäs Hembygdsmuseum

Pic 1 Cousin Isak and Austin show all the things they have made at the museum
Pic 2 The old house at the museum Pic 3 The kitchen in the museum house
Pic 4 Davis making bread Pic 5 Davis building birdhouse with Cousin Lena
Pic 6 Austin washing clothes the old fashioned way
Pic 7 Karen making a hot plate with sticks and string

Sunday afternoon was a terrific opportunity for the kids at the local museum's 'Children's Festival'. They were able to make many old fashioned items and participate in old fashioned jobs under the instruction of local people. They made hot plates out of sticks and string (picture), washed clothes by hand (picture) made birdhouses (picture), painted\stamped a bag with potato stamps, made old fashioned rye bread (picture), made toys out of pine cones and wool, made cards with wool pin-pushed into felt, and made some beautiful paper flowers. We're bringing all of it home except the birdhouses which we will give one to my grandmother's sister and one to my grandmother's brother.

The museum itself has a windmill, an old fashioned house and barn, and the house that the Lutheran minister used to live in.

Villas or Summer Houses

Many families in Finland have a summer house, or villa as they are called in Finland, which are located on or very near water. Some are small and quaint, others are large and fancy. Most, however, are somewhat primitive because some do not have all the utilities. Some may have electricity, but not many have running water and sewage. So when you go to the villa, you must go prepared with whatever amenities one may need such as large containers of water, food, matches, and toilet paper for the outhouse! It is very comfortable camping plus the outhouse. Most villas also have saunas which is where we have had the two opportunities to utilize them. Families use them as weekend getaways, or in the case of my cousin, Lena, they are staying at their villa while we use their home. Some villas have an extra building for additional sleeping areas and\or the sauna. Again, the pictures do not do them justice..they are very nice! (I need to take more pictures.)

Pic #1 Ralf Traskvik's villa Pic 2 & 3 Lena's Villa Korsnas Pic #4 the outhouse at Larsmo villa Pic #5 & 6 villas along the way

Cucumbers and Mink

On Tuesday, we changed living locations from Jakobstad-Larsmo to about 2 hours south to Korsnas where my grandmother and grandfather's mother are from. We will stay with Mats's sister, Lena, and her husband, Bo, and children, Ida, 20, a college student, and Viktor, 16.

Yesterday, we were invited for the afternoon to Susanne and Harry's house in Edsvik which is like Dothan-Headland, Lynn Haven-Panama City--when does it change? Susanne is a cousin through my grandmother and in 1976 her father rented a car to us when we came for several months. And in 1976 Harry's girlfriend was another cousin of mine, Ulla, and he drove his car to Helsinki to help pick us up. About 2 1\2 years ago, Susanne and Harry, and my cousin Lars Erik and his wife, son, and nephew were to my sister's in Marietta, our house, and to my parents in Panama City for a visit. So now you know who's who in this blog!

Susanne and Harry grow cucumbers for a living year round. The cucumbers are the long 12 inch kind and are grown in huge (180 meter) long greenhouses and they have 2 of them. They are picked often and then picked up by a packaging company. Each plant lasts about 3 to 4 months. The long plastic tube carries carbon dioxide to the plants and they are also automatically watered. When they reach a certain length, the plants are trained over a string and usually double over the string in length (in other words if the plant grew straight up it would be about 12 ft tall!}.

After a nice visit and a good lunch, I walked the kids down the road to my grandmother's old home place. Her childhood house is still standing but has deteriorated and will fall down soon (a sad part of my trip). Of course the large rocks that have many stories associated with them are still there!

Lena's dad, Egil, who is my grandmother's brother, had a mink farm on the old home place for many years and now Bo has taken it over and has expanded it. In 1976, Egil had 3 or 4 mink houses and over the years, he and Bo have expanded it to 10 or 12. He has about 4000 mink. While we were walking around yesterday, Bo came to feed the mink and he showed us around a little bit. He has a large metal building where he processes the mink for their skins. He processes about 3000 per year and it takes about 100 to 150 mink to make a fur coat. The mink houses are exposed outside cages with a long walkway in between the two rows of cages where he can care and feed for them. He adds hay and saw chips-dust to the cages for them to keep warm in the winter. They eat horrible smelling minced fish which is delivered to a hopper once a day and then he hand delivers the food to the cages down the long walkway in each house. (This would be a great episode of *Dirty Jobs* on Discovery Channel)

Pic #1 Bo shows mink pelts Pic #2 Bo with a baby mink
Pic #3 & #4 the mink houses Pic #5 the cucumber greenhouse
Pic #6 Yummy cucumbers ready for shipping Pic#7 (sideways) carbon dioxide carried to plants Pic #8 Harry showing the cucumbers Pic #9 a long row of cucumber plant