After the Storm

St John's day, the Finns pet party and barbeque celebration, was cold and stormy in the whole country. The strongest storm was measured in Kaskinen. We even had a short power cut, which is not very common here.

The following Sunday was cool and sunny. We walked the dogs to Camping Marianranta located in a lovely spot in the northern tip of the island close to the beach. We had huge slices of a magnificent cake, made by Marja-Leena Roos, whose family also run the camping in summers.  We heard that the only camper destined to stay overnight during the storm had cancelled and there had been no damage at all. Most cottages had been occupied.

We had a look around the town and saw trees cut down by the storm. A really huge spruce was lying close to the railroad. It must have been one of the oldest trees in town, and as it was located close to a commonly used shortcut over the railroad, it is known to many a town-dweller.  Shame, really!

There has been quite a lot of discussion on trees in Facebook recently, after an old oak was cut when a statue was placed in the town park. Some people would like to see a lot of trees cut down so they would not fall on people in heavy storm.  Others, like me, believe in the stamina of our trees.  There have always been storms and these trees have had to suffer a lot.  Yet, here they stand, most of them totally untouched by the forces of nature.  Also it would be quite impossible to make rational decisions on which trees to cut.  The fallen ones mainly look no different from the ones standing next to them.

Another topic surfacing the public talk every year is the pavements.  I'll tackle that issue in my next blog, because I think it is something extremely interesting and also idiosyncratic.  Nowhere else... But to get a bit started, I took the picture above. where you can see the difference between more or less public areas that are taken care of by two different individuals.  Again, some would claim the the part that has been well cared for is the ideal.  In my eyes the flowery part looks far better.  And yes, I know the flowers are more like weed, they'll grow just anywhere you let them.  Still. they bring colour and a sense of careless charm, which I particularly enjoy.

The storm gave us water, too, and finally everything has really started to grow in my garden.  The well is full as well.  My flower-beds, that have been more or less of a mystery, are starting to gain shape. I'll need to photograph it all to know better next year, as now I'm afraid I have removed some nice plants as weed.    A lot is blooming now.  However, it's starting to feel like the end of summer.  A very strange year!

Tomorrow I'll go and see a really nice garden belonging to two ceramic artists, Raija and James Murray.  The garden in the southern end of Kaskinen is in the national list for garden visits tomorrow, the 1st of July.  Their garden, where hens and other domestic animals run wild, has a strong feel of an English garden, probably because James comes from Ireland.  I have of course seen it before when I have visited their beautiful ceramics shop, but tomorrow I'll concentrate on the garden.

In Search for Garden Inspiration

As I have been away from Finland for the last ten summers I have missed quite a few highlights of the Finnish summer.  One of the events I have always dreamt of participating is Open Gates in our neighbouring town, Kristinestad.  So, this year we started early yesterday and saw almost all the open gardens there were to be seen.  The event will still go on today, so be reminded!

There were plenty of people walking through the places.  The nature of the event, however, came as a surprise to me.  I had assumed there to be gardens to be introduced by their owners.  There were some gardens, yes, but mainly it all seemed a sales event with endless flea markets and coffee shops.  The entrance to one garden marked on the map was blocked by a grill and a man selling sausages.  So I was a bit disappointed.

The most interesting of the gardens in the town itself was a garden in a house from the 1830's with an original stone pavement.  Our house dates back to the same period, at least some parts of it. But no stone pavement, yet... The owner of the house was not present, but had left some written info about their projects, like transforming an old shed into a cosy summer room.

The most interesting places for us were not in the centre.  I had wanted to go to see a farm with their own products and even wine.  We drove to the place but we saw no farm, only a basement with arrows pointing the direction along a winding corridor, the empty walls of which looked like a lousy 1970's  imitation of a log house in Lapland.  At the end of the corridor, there was a room that shone yellow under some special lights that were supposed to keep some exotic plants alive.  Some of the plants looked half dead.  There were two men eating meat soup and a plate on the wall telling that alcoholic beverages are not sold there.  Quite mysterious.

Having driven far out of town we decided to go and see another farm with animals and a pop up restaurant.  We didn't lunch at their restaurant but saw some newly born bunnies, a goat, a lamb that had been bottle-fed, so it was following people all the time, a dog, a cat and also we could smell and hear the cows.  The family was very friendly, too.  Close to this place there was another totally different, a garden that was described a paradise.  In their backyard there was a heated pool, a jacuzzi, a tipi-like hut for grilling as well as luxurious sunbeds where a toddler was asleep.  The lady of the house told us to take photos, so I did.

Last of all we went to see Galleri Gottorp on our way home to Kaskinen.  And that was mind-blowing!  A proper source of inspiration in every respect.  The owner was present and told a bit about all the exhibitions there were in the various buildings.  She is an artist and a writer and we saw the paintings for her latest book.  The garden was just lovely with details that showed creativity and interest in various ways of doing things.  No copying of trendy garden magazines in this garden.  The most interesting part was an exhibition on witchcraft and witch hunt in Kristinestad.  The owner had planned and made the exhibition with her two sisters who live in Kaskinen.  It was an amazing experience.

On the way back, however, we wondered whether it was totally fair to rip 10€/day for a sales event. Or if that is OK, why don't we sell tickets for the flea market day in Kaskinen.  Or charge anyone entering the town for that matter, as our fences are so low that you will see all the gardens anyway.  That should be easy to organise.  Just fence the bridges and sell tickets for any outsider wanting to see our paradise!