Toiska is the summer home of the Mustajoki family, situated by the Petääjärvi lake in Juupajoki.

History

The great Mustajoki parents, Lauri (1907-1987) and Tellervo (1914-1998), bought the six hectare Kylmälahti-farm in 1966. The farm then consisted of only the1923-built main house and the appropriate outhouses. The name ‘Toiska’ was chosen through a vote, originally meaning the other end of a semidetached house in the West coast Finland. Electricity was connected 1973 and phone 1974. In the beginning all seven children slept and lived in the main house. During 1969-1981 each child built their own summer cottage on the property. Today, including all the outhouses, Toiska has a housing stock of 29. Tennis court was built 1971.

People

Today there are over 100 Toiskadwellers i.e. offspring and their partners of Lauri and Tellervo. Most of them spend at least part of their summer in Toiska and some even live there from May till September. In July, Toiska beams with 20-30 residents almost without an exception and during the recent years, midsummer has been celebrated by over 50.

Activities

The hub of Toiska is the old main house and its surrounding buildings. The house has an (almost) fully equipped kitchen, dining rooms and a library for spending the rainy days in. Some Toiskadwellers take part in daily communal lunches and dinners, where everyone takes turns in cooking and doing the dishes, while some live & dine independently in their own houses. Usually everyone gathers at the main house for 3pm coffee, which is the undisputed highlight of the day.

Children are spoilt for choice for things to do in Toiska, and have an abundance of friends to play with. If you are keen to play sport, you can choose from tennis, soccer, volleyball, basketball, javelin, shot-put, darts and swimming, just to mention a few. The smallest have a sandpit and swings right next to the main house. Before bird flu threat children were keen to take part in looking after chicken. But you might still see some lambs in Toiska.

Most of the adults look forward to a relaxing holiday. Still, there are countless small jobs in fixing and maintaining the property, both within the individual houses and the communal area. There is a work party every Saturday morning to clean the main house, mow the lawn, and fix things around the place. And everyone to their taste can also make rugs with the handloom, tend to the kitchen garden, play games or darts, read books, or just enjoy the sun.

Toiska championships

A variety of sporting competitions have been organised in Toiska from as early as 1978. There has been 21 different events over the years, from diving to orienteering, usually with 10 different events every summer. A handicap system has been developed for most events, where your score is adjusted according to age (both young and old are benefited) and sex, with a tailored scoring system for each event. This system allows all from grandpas to toddlers to compete on a level playing field. Even though there is always a winner, the prize is the same for everyone – a SukuLaku (chocolate filled liquorice, named aptly ‘family liquorice’) .