Saturday, August 4
Garden, Sundö, 17:45
A few days ago we decided that we would probably go back to Helsinki on Monday, rather than Tuesday or Wednesday, as we had originally planned. Last night we therefore decided that we would finish the small amount of alcohol we still had. We drank a couple of ciders and opened a bottle of Freixenet and made up the rest of the Toovey. This proved somewhat more than we had expected.
We got up late this morning and drove to the market, not to buy anything but to see it for the last time this summer. I did, however, buy two egg and anchovy breads.
At 14:00 we drove to Naa’s friend Aurora’s parents mökki in Tirmo, so they could spend some time together. I had not realised that the little roads off the road to the ferry went on for so long. We drove two kilometres or more before we got to the land. Everyone seemed very nice indeed and we got given a tour of the place, before leaving the young women to walk dow to the sea and talk.
When we got back we went swimming and watched the weekend painting class assembling at the farmhouse. We will hope to see them all over the farm, painting away, but this will not happen. They will all hide somewhere, out of sight.
I spend much of the rest of the afternoon reading Five Roundabouts to Heaven, John Bingham’s second novel.
At 17:25 Irma drives to the ferry to collect Naa, and I go and check the well again, and find it has a depth of 32 centimetres of water: even less than last week. It should contain about two to two and a half metres of water. I peer down to the bottom and think I can see the ground at the bottom. Later I will decide that I saw a reflection instead.
Irma and Naa will arrive back with a bunch of vegetables from Aurora’s parents: chillies of various strengths, paprikas and tomatoes. They apparently live at their summerhouse from March to October and grow all their own vegetables.
Irma will make a fantastic tomato soup, entirely from fresh ingredients, and we will eat big bowls of it.
The weather forecast will predict a sudden drop in temperature, thunder and torrential rain all evening and most of the night. We will go to bed after a completely dry evening, and wake up tomorrow to a warm, dry ground.