Pieksamaki.fi - Pieksämäen seudun tapahtumat, uutiset ja palvelut yhdestä osoitteesta

Lomatrio Oy
Tel. +35820 741 5510
Kangasniementie 18
FIN-76850 Naarajärvi
lomatrio-koskelo.com
The Lomatrio camping ground is about 5 km from the centre of Pieksämäki. 6 motel rooms and 50 caravan slots. The 110 km long Naarajärvi river paddling route begins here. Additionally, the area has a 170 seat café-restaurant, a sauna for rent, cooking facilities and a swimming beach. Congress facilities: the service station's 240 seat downstairs restaurant with full alcohol license. Sauna to rent with two saunas and a fireplace room for about 20 people. Catering for meetings on request.
At summer domestic animals (pigs, hens, sheeps).

Tarukivi Laitinen
Tel. +35815 622 134, +358400 676 159
Rajakankaantie 419
FIN-77330 Virtasalmi
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Genuine handmade stone jewellery and wooden handicrafts products. We present stone jewellery polished by hand as well as woodwork, stones and fossils. Opportunities to try stone polishing by appointment. We also offer chicken's eggs, dried flowers, woollen yarn, sheep fleeces and stuffed toys. Additionally guidance to the sights of the region, fishing license sales for Hällinmäki, canoe rental, a forest path for children and a lean-to.
Tarukivi tells the stories of stones (Text Mr Kauko Hirvonen)
Tarukivi Laitinen is a farmhouse on the edges of Pieksämäki, in the village of Hällinmäki in Virtasalmi, at the border to Juva. There, a large number of various stones are on display and jewellery made from them is on sale. The exhibition is open throughout the year.
Next to the hard stones there are soft products made of lamb wool, wooden objects and other handicrafts as well as edible farm products for sale.
Tarukivi is a multifaceted business that Mrs Tarja and Mr Ahti Laitinen have built to supplement their basic farming income. Children will appreciate the abundance of animals: A horse, a pony, a donkey, goats, sheep, chickens and a cockerel. In addition to the dogs, cats, rabbits and the miniature pig there are even smaller animals on show.
The idea was to give those children who can't keep pets at home a chance to see and pet animals. They are particularly easy to meet in summer, when they are out in the pastures and yard enclosures.
The latest addition has been Scottish highland cattle, which enjoy the outdoor life even in winter.
The place is frequented by groups from daycare centres and schools. Although it is well off the main roads, it has received visitors from far off, as well. Tarukivi is 42 km from the centre of Pieksämäki ja 30 km from the church of Juva.
The farm organises various events and hobbyist days or weekends by arrangement and offers an introduction to stone polishing.
The annual Shrovetide event has already turned into a tradition, with 2008 bringing the tenth recurrence. The programme includes sleigh rides, bob sledding, all-terrain vehicle rides and other kinds of fun and the appropriate delicacies of the season.
The region's rich soil
Tarja Laitinen chuckles that she has been called mad about stones for a long while now. She enjoys theirr ich variety.
“When you split a stone, you never know what you will find in there, but it's always something interesting. Each stone has its own story to tell.”
The manufacturing of stone jewellery stems from 1992, when a stone polishing course was offered in Hällinmäki. Tarja Laitinen attended and found herself carried away by excitement. In 1997, the trademark Tarukivi was developed to represent her stone products.
The ground beneath their home region yields many kinds of interesting material, so that one does not need to travel far, but some of the rocks in her workshop have accrued from a long way off.
“There used to be mountains here and an ocean. Volcano eruptions have also left their mark in the local rock layers. Virtasalmi has a tradition of mining. Hällinmäki used to have a copper mine and next door, in Ankele, they still quarry limestone.”
The stones cover a wide spectrum from black ignaceous rock to white limestone. Laitinen often creates objects from stones brought by customers and will gladly show them how to examine their finds.
The region offers several variations of the national stone, granite, with greenish and reddish tinges, and marble as well, which can be seen in the church of Virtasalmi and the former municipal office.
Stone hobbyists use a lot of green serpentine, but epidote, with its birch leaf shade, and the frequently red and green shimmer of unakite are also well suited for jewellery.