A poor wild-life writer named Hamsteri, who is obsessed with natural disasters, lives in a wooden cottage in the countryside with his only friend, Minnie the mouse. In the village he is considered a bit odd and he is indeed special! When a lottery-winning family moves in next door, Hamsteri gets the hoarding opportunity of his dreams and in the process changes the course of the lives of Rurik, a bookkeeper who has lost his will to live, his wife Tellu and their children. Thus begins hoarding for what Hamsteri imagines will be "the cruellest winter ever".
An comedy set in 1960s Helsinki. The story revolves around Elsa, a resolute hatmaker who is in complete control of her life. Besides running her shop, she sometimes doubles as a fortune teller. When Jan, a Czechoslovakian jazz musician and Elsa's old lover comes to town to perform at a "peace and friendship festival", her well-organised life is jolted out of balance.