Other things missed

It was only when I got up close I realised he wasn't whole,
but he was still beautiful.

Miss T. spotted this hedgehog whilst looking from our balcony in town last night.
I ran down to try and get some pictures, but he was a lot faster than I was.

Stolen and restored

Six years ago these 400 year old statues were stolen from Ragunda Old Church. Last year they were discovered apparently taking an un-official break in Spain. On Midsummer's Day they were returned to the church in Ragunda to the relief of many locals. But they only stayed for the weekend, then they were off again, this time for some more official restoration. I hope it doesn't take too long, we do miss them so, when they are away.

A Swedish mid summer

Helping with the party drinks.

Pole makers hard at work.

Miss T. making a floral crown.



The finished products.

Dancing around the maypole

It is called a "maj stang" in Swedish, which translates as maypole in English,
but here it is always danced around in June not May.
Not always to this tune:

But often to this tune:

Mid summer

Today we'll be celebrating Mid summer.
If tomorrow's weather is anything to go by, it's going to be wet.
It poured all day long.
These are from our local paper:

I was at work, so I missed this.
We had problems too.
Our puddles were inside and not quite as big as this.
Off to celebrate now out in the wilds.
Back after the weekend.

Mummy, I'm stuck!

A pantheistical post

Playing around with sticks and stones,
or drifting with driftwood,
near one of our local hydroelectric power stations,
while sprogs party on at American friend's house.
Hopefully that's what they were invited to do.
We have a problem hearing the difference
between their "party" and their "potty".

Phew!

The summer holidays have started, but we're not quite there yet.
I have four more days of work, and then the Midsummer celebration to prepare for.
End of term is always hectic, and this one has been no exception.

It's kind of difficult getting the horse and kitten to pose together, but here's the horse for you Pat.
Her name is Eloise and the rider is Strawberry learning to do a rising trot and preparing to dismount, taken this afternoon, during her last lesson until next term starts at the end of August.

Killer kitten

This cute little bundle of fluff
caught, killed and ate a mouse today
in front of Miss T,
before falling asleep in her hands.
And no, you still can't take him home.

June 6th, 20 years on

Today is a special day.
It is The Swedish Flag Day, which means we all get the day off school,
but it is also exactly 20 years since the M.O.T.H. and I met.
How and where will have to wait for another time as I have over 120 final grades to set in Art by tomorrow,
plus another 30 or so in English. I am nearly there, but I still have a bit more pondering to do.
Not easy, with the temperature pushing 30 C (somewhere between 80 and 90 F, I think) even at 8.30 p.m., sunshine and clear blue skies.
It's been like this for the last five days.

Summer's here

Just two weeks left before our summer holidays start
and we already have the weather for it.
This is Sweden's northern most ruin stone.
The inscription is about 1000 years old.
It reads:
Ostman Gudfast's son
had this stone raised,
the bridge built
and allowed Jemtland to become Christian.

Happy Birthday Sis

Wanted to say it, even if you can't read it yet.

Many Happy Returns
Love and hugs from all of us here.

I took this picture just over a year ago.
Somebody had disfigured the zebra crossing signs here in town.
All the "male" walking figures turned into "female" walking figures overnight.
There was a terrible fuss about it.
It's a against the law to deface public property.
To do it to road signs was particularly irresponsible as it could distract drivers.
The signs were restored to thier original "male" form as fast as possible.
I hadn't even seen the original sign as "masculine". To me it was just a human form.
All this in Sweden where equality between the sexes is seen almost as a part of the national heritage.
Sometimes it seems to me that things are as equally unequal here as in many other places.

Even this one has been defaced/beautified.
She doesn't usually carry flowers.
Long live diversity.

Through Hell and back

A tough day at work today.
We had to take a train to foreign parts.
Shop.
Eat lunch.
And take the train home again.
Here are a few different angles and views from the day:

Crossing the border

In Hell

The other side of Hell

Foreign parts

Waiting for the bus, Thursday

I usually make them walk or bike, but on Thursdays we don't have time.
Waiting for the bus is always entertaining.
Teddy takes flight and Strawberry does her Ola Salo impression:

Miss T's Play

The scene is set.
On Wednesday evening Miss T and her drama group gave a well prepared performance of a play that they had written themselves based on different playground jokes, most of them very silly, as all good playground jokes should be.

Here she is on the right giving an excellent performance as Maiken, Mountain-Biken.
She also played the part of a parrot so well we didn't recognise her and her line:
"The old lady's leaking, the old lady's leaking"
kept the kids on the row next to me giggling for the rest of the performance.

and the knife and dolly

Sorry about the poor light.

Happy Birthday Crowbard

Here's a big Jussi present for you:

I well up every time I hear it. Enjoy.

Friday fishing

Her first fish ever and it's a
75cm long pike.
It fed us all for three days.
Another 50cm and she'll beat my record.
For those of you who can view youtube here is the conversation that followed the catch...
and they're both right.

It is brain-dead, but its heart was still beating long after it was gutted and decapitated. I've got the film to prove it, but it's a bit too gruesome, even for me.

Spade handle

We have 4 days off, Ascension Day , Friday the day after and then the weekend. So we will be out in the countryside trying to sort the "garden" out. I did manage to de-moss my strawberry patch last weekend and dig over the herb garden using my favourite spade. The handle's cracked and worn but it still feels right.

And as an alternative to last weekend's European song contest,
which I try and avoid,
here is a little treat from
the Ukulele Orchestra of GB

Spring madness

Hail and rain forces the sprogs out in their slippers to test the elements.
Off topic, the housemartins arrived back today.