Showing posts with label Laitila. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laitila. Show all posts

Monday, June 07, 2010

Laitila

Next day all picked themselves up and spent the morning perusing the empty chicken farms that could house 100.000 free range chicks. There were many other outhouses as well used for various purposes not known to us but nevertheless Mia and Marko had their own plans already for them. Soon enough Niklas and Elina made their way towards Helsinki and Mom for Åbo. 

I was left as the only guest and Marko was driving me around his native town showing different highlights in this chicken growing community. In the morning I got dropped off at another chicken farmers estate where Mia was keeping her horse, Doli, and I got to follow Jessica, my niece, taking a Finnish horse for his daily exercise. Later on I also got to take him for a ride (or rather I was taken for a ride) too and boy was he feisty, he just wanted to go. After 10minutes I was already feeling sore in my thighs so I let him get further exercised by Jessica while Mia was exercising Doli at the end of a girdle.

Riding Simo
 
I was also introduced to Ro-Pe racecar builders and before arriving to the yard Marko told me he is an amateur compared to these guys. Once we ot out of the car I thought they got a fairly average workshop with all the necessary implements. It was only later that even my jaw dropped when I saw the field behind the house was littered with about 100+ car wrecks waiting to be made into a race car. 

Marko bought a test bench from the guys and we drove it back to his mansion. Then we manhandled the whole thing onto his workshop floor, 3 guys for some 350kg's or more. Later on Marko's father came by on his tractor to sow the grass field for Mia's horse and so Marko got me to take a spin on the tractor too as Mia had advertised that I had never driven one. Well, now I have.
 
Tractor driving

The evening went quietly doing some grilling on the porch and emptying a few remaining beer cans while warming up the sauna to proper temperatures. Marko turned in early while I was chating with Mia and she also gave up. I sat a few minutes more wondering about the daylight at nearly midnight and also got down for some shuteye.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Laitila

Today was time for my sister to move to her estate in Laitila with 7 hectares of land. I was enlisted to the moving troupe. We left with my Mom and drove through Turku towards St.karins where my sister Mia lived. On the way we picked up my brother Niklas and his girlfriend Elina who were also chipping in the fun. We arrived soon enough and in the yard there was a big truck already, so all was set to go. Inside was Mia and her recalcitrant kids who had difficulties to understand which part of packing she meant. Nevertheless, the show went on the road and big and heavy items went out the window into the truck. Then smaller things followed and finally Jessica got her stuff packed and that was too loaded into the truck. Mias hubby Marko then loaded as the piece-the-resistance an engine, a grasscutting tractor and a moped and then the truck was full. Doors closed and off it went towards Laitila.

The happy new mistress of Sonkkila estate
The kids were left behind with their Grandma to come later which raised a few objections which were quickly downvoted as they did not join in the loading and were not planning to participate in the offloading as well. I went onto Mia's Volvo stationwagon with Niklas and Elina. We stopped enroute at the Laitila city center to get essentials like beer, beer and beer. After the provisioning we headed for the Sonkkila estate that now in effect was going to change name after more than 300 years. The truck had already arrived and Marko said he had burned al the carbon out of the exhaust system. Oh well. doors open and on with the job, it took us abt 30minutes to empty the truck when we had used the best of the morning to fill it up. Mom was thrilled about the enormous rhubarb plants in the garden and was immediately cutting off material for a pie.

Rhubarb
Anyway, Marko still got some surprises up his sleeve and we got to take into pieces a small log playhouse to be transported elsewhere. First we lifted the ceiling and then the walls, I can assure you, it was heavy, with 6 guys and 2 gals pitching in. Finally we got the thing on the trailer and off we went to deliver it. At the destination we had same project ahead of us to lift the thing off and put it together in its former glory. It was worth it as the look of the small kids in the yard were beaming for the new playhouse. Then it was off driving back to the estate and warm up the sauna, feed and refreshments for stretched limbs and ligaments. During the delivery my Mom had prepared all the food for the moving party and upon arrival we manned the sauna. It proved a tight fit to squeeze five grownup men on the benches eventhough I don't know if anyone was using Rexona. Luckily, soon enough the younger generation could not take it anymore and escaped to cool off so the older guys could start throwing some real baths on the stones. Once we had enough it was time for feeding and enjoying the evening.
Mia & Marko (note the vintage redneck cap)

Mia had full job of finding places to sleep as she had 4 kids to put to sleep and furthermore another 4 adults, eventually she managed to piece together 8 cribs and she had her lot done for the time being. In the course of the evening I think Mom got a bit tipsy and the rest got a bit more. Sleep came easily.

Mias horse Doli who eventually will get housed at the estate