Last day in Stockholm

It's Friday. Birgitta and I are spending the day together. First we visit mum. She's been given a shower and had her hair washed.

She is alert (well, relatively) and participates in the conversation. She's having a good day.

I have removed the rollers from her hair and combed it. She looks in the mirror that Birgitta holds up for her.

After bidding good bye to mum we continued to Ulriksdals Garden Centre. What a wonderful place to slowly wonder around in amongst all the flowers, known and unknown. I was a bit disappointed though that the special greenhouse smell was absent. But the food was good. We had soup and a tasty, brown bread that reminded me of mum's christmas loaf.

A little later we drove out to Mia's to collect a few things borrowed for the hike as usual.

Adam comes up from the basement where he's got his computer games.

Birgittas new flat is nice. Smaller than the old one, but with enough room still for Putte in the corner.

Our breakfast before I leave for Dalecarlia on the morning train. It's grey outside and it's raining, so it feels natural to light candles. Merry Christmas, anybody?

In Stockholm

Here I am in Sweden. I visited mum yesterday and her condition was more or less as usual. I'm not completely certain that she recognized me, but I choose to think she did. I had brought the camera but actually forgot to use it. Well, I'll have to remedy that today when Birgitta and I go there again.
Had dinner with Kristina and Sune in the evening. Absolutely first class as usual when the talented Sune is in the kitchen.

Here he is in amongst the pots and pans

with a little help from Kristina

while the rest of us relaxed on the balcony with various goodies.

Birgitta's waiting for a cup of tea after dinner.

A little walk on a Saturday

Gunnar's little walk today revealed that there are orchids in Dalecarlia too.

And chanterelles en masse!

All cleaned and put out to dry before their journey to Cyprus in September.

Sommarland

Today was a day spent at the waterpark. Conny and Carina wanted to treat Adam and granddad because of all the help they get from Gunnar when he's in Darlecarlia. That's nice of them.

If you look closely you can see Adam at the top of this tower. He's waving.

The view from up here's fantastic. The bridge in the distance is the bridge we cross when going home to Forsen.

Here's Adam come down from the tower via the long water slide. He's a brave lad!

Off to try an inflatable, but where's Adam?

Wow, that looks cool!

One must try everything, naturally.

Do they have go-cart too?

Could this be an ordinary pool, or what...............

All this activity is hard work, and Adam needs to top up the energy with a little ice cream.

And a well earned siesta for granddad.

A day in Forsen

Life in the country is not only work, work. There's also time for an outing or two.

Like a trip to the metropolis, Leksand.

But this is more the order of the day - relaxing on top of the newly mown hay. Wouldn't it be fun if there was a horse before this cart........

And eventually the sun sets, bathing the treetops opposite in vibrant gold.

The holiday makers have arrived

It's been a long winter but at last summer's arrived and with it the Cypriots. I imagine the house thinking along those lines.

Wild Nature! It's lucky Adam has grown so at least he has his head above the vegetation :)

It must have been quite difficult to get into the root cellar.

It's best to start cutting straight away.

And might as well cut a little fire wood while I'm at it.

It's clear to see that others have had the same idea. It's lovely to see the beaver back in our woods and water again.

The garden furniture back where they belong - in the garden.

I think the place will soon be nice and tidy again.

The summer of 2010

Welcome to Buffils in Forsen, Dalecarlia. Our neighbor, Conny, calls us Buffils as that's the name of the old family who once owned this place. There's an inscription over the door of the old house that says "Buffils Erik 1884", so one can assume that was the year it was built. Looking at official documentation we learn that it was used for summer pasture as late as 1920.

As you pass through the gates, this is what first meets your eye. There's a Lilac growing at the corner of the small house to the right. Behind the garden furniture you can see the root cellar. That's where the water tanks are stored, and the diesel engine that runs the water pump and supplies extra electricity when needed.

Last summer when Gunnar arrived, the stream was flooded. The water level was almost half a meter higher than normal, and you couldn't see the flat boulder so useful as a stepping stone when getting in for a swim. The flooding is due  in part to the beaver hut constructed upstreams during the winter. When we first moved in there were beavers in the stream, but I suppose they didn't like the new neighbors or something and disappeared after a few years. We're very happy that they have returned.

This is the view when you come up from your swim. The big house stands to the left and the original straight ahead.