The mistress of Rikala is from Halikko, western Finland. She lives in the 12th century. For a summer feast she is dressed in her best, mostly woollen dress despite the warm weather. It has taken a lot of time to weave the fabric for her dress. The woll is from her own sheep. The jewels tell about the wealth of her husband's freehold estate: she is wearing shoulder buckles, a horseshoe buckle on her breast and bracelets. The fabric of her dress is decorated with bronze spirals.

Feasts, weddings and funerals interrupted every now and then the otherwise so heavy and monotonous life. Usually the mistress woke up at about four or five in the morning, had bread and salted fish for breakfast and started the day's work. Spinning and churning took most of the womens' time. There was an endless need of thread, because peasants made everything themselves. Animal husbandry was womens' work, and also ploughing whenever the master was away trading, hunting or clearing woodland for cultivation. Milk was drunk only by small children, mostly it was churned to butter or made into cheese which was easier to preserve.

A fire had to be lit for meals. Window and door openings were as small as possible to keep the warmth inside. The mistresse's eyes were often infected and smarting because of the smoke. The first warm meal of the day was at about nine or ten o'clock. Porridge formed the base of the daily food; it was completed with turnip, peas and bread. At noon there was a light meal consisting of bread, and dinner was at four or five in the afternoon. Rikala was such a wealthy house that there was an additional cold meal before going to sleep. Beer was drunk - it was also nourishment.

The mistress of Rikala is 28 years old, and she has got five children, three of which, luckily, are sons. Daughters were not of big help in household works, and marrying them off was expensive with the dowry and all. There was a saying: " a girl was born, nothing was born".

Two children had died soon after the birth. It was usual; death often took its share.

When the mistress was thirteen, the father had married her off to the master of Rikala, who was eighteen years older than his bride. The wedding lasted for three days, from Saturday till Monday. Beer and food played as important a role in the wedding as the bride and groom. The couple hadn't even seen each other before the wedding. According to the law marriage was a civil agreement with the purpose of producing children. It was also a contract between two families. In the long run, the master and mistress of Rikala had learned to respect each other and to live together on good terms. The master did not beat his wife, and the mistress did not have an evil tongue.

At Rikala, there was enough to eat even during the years of famine. This was not the case at less wealthy houses. Hunger, diseases such as plague, frequent childbirths and many evil spirits lurking especially for women were continuous distresses.