These photos were captured using the Kodak EasyShare DX4900.
All images are © TomSettle.Communications.
Monday July 28 2003
Worked on another of my websites while Liisa and the others went to Hamina. They did some shopping, then picked up our friend (and my godmother) Mailis and brought her here for dinner.
Later on, Mailis’ niece Kati stopped by to pick her up and we went to her house. I took some pictures of of Liisa and Kati’s mom, Kati’s cow collection and her dog Helmi.
Afterwards, we stopped at a nearby swimming spot and visited our neighbor Leena, snapping some photos of her flowers and a not-so-scary scarecrow.
Tuesday July 29 2003
Hung out at the cottage while Liisa picked strawberries at a nearby field.
Went to Hamina, where Terttu, Maraike and Alex went swimming. Did some shopping afterwards. The ladies worked on prepping the berries for canning, while I went for a swim down at the beach.
Wednesday July 30 2003
The heatwave continued. I packed my stuff for a road trip, Terttu baked a strawberry cake and we went to Teuvo’s for coffee.
Stopped in Virojoki, then on to visit Harri in Lappeenranta. Had dinner there and got some pictures of Harri’s older son Mikko, younger son Timo (hamming it up with Alex), daughter Minna and Minna’s cat Kirnu.
Left there in early evening and drove on to my cousin Tytti’s house in Juva. This was my first visit here. We had coffee, went to sauna and turned in rather late.
Thursday July 31 2003
Still very hot weather, made for difficult sleeping.
Went swimming several times, the kids really had a good time. Tytti also got in their rowboat and took their racehorse swimming.
Looked at Internet listings for their rental cottages. Had lunch, including moose stew…tried not to think of Bullwinkle!
Tytti’s husband Esko and son Pauli took their dog Niiti to a nearby island to spot moose (they saw 3). Went swimming again and to sauna.
Came back to the house and had some sausage. Took a picture of Tytti’s youngest daughter up a tree. Went to bed earlier as tomorrow is another travel day.
Friday August 1 2003
Took some more pictures: (Esko & Niiti, a farm tractor and the group) before we left Tytti’s place in late morning.
We stopped at a small store, then visited Terttu’s friend from Germany. She comes to Finland every summer and rents a very nice little cottage right on the water.
Later we stopped in Mikkeli to buy groceries. I was starving for some fast food so I ran over to McDonald’s. Liisa asked me to mail a postcard for her and when I did, I ran into Antti and Minna. What a small world!
We arrived at Liisa’s cousin Eva’s house in Kangasniemi by early evening. We went swimming (Eva’s husband Mauri and Alex seen here), ate, drank and played games.
It’s quite a beautiful place, complete with gorgeous sunsets.
Saturday August 2 2003
Slept in late! Went swimming, played games, ate, drank and went to sauna.
Mauri enjoyed an after-sauna beer. Watched The Wedding Singer with Alex.
Sunday August 3 2003
Played some games and left Kangasniemi around 11AM.
Went to Raija and Ville’s cottage in Savitaipale. Swam with Alex, seen here with Ville.
Stayed for dinner, took some pictures of the water and a tasty bottle of Karhu (bear) beer.
My cousin Harri came to pick me up. We had some coffee and pancakes, then we watched a little Formula 1 auto racing…Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen crashed right away.
Stopped at Harri’s cottage for some cider and a swim. Went to Lappeenranta, stopped at the store and then picked up his sons. Grabbed some dinner at McDonald’s and took it to Harri’s wife Mirja at work.
Got back to the house and watched some movies, including the original Dracula. Mirja got home late in the evening, we stayed up drinking and listening to music.
