To say goodbye is to die a little

At least that is what the French say and I tend to agree. Especially when the sad goodbye is to your daughter returning to Africa after two wonderful weeks here at the cottage in Sweden. The list of dangers that I imagine can befall her is endless, especially if you are going to Africa. Plane crashes, Ebola virus, and malaria, spring to mind, but there are no doubt many, many other catastrophies that can strike you. But the thing is you don't have to go to Africa for bad things to happen to you. Lately there has been several plane crashes in other parts of the world, and you can be attacked in any big city just going about your own business.  On the road where I saw the elk accident (see previous installment), a car drove off the road the day after, in broad daylight. Both the driver and the passenger had to be gotten out of the car by the rescuers sawing off the top of the car. The driver didn't make it and the passenger is in critical condition. And that is on this little road that I take all the time!!

So I am going to try to be reasonable and stay calm until I hear that she got to her destination alright.

On the island of Lyr

We have had a wonderful summer so far and the fact that two of our three kids and a nephew and my mother have been here has been wonderful.  Now they have all gone back but in fact I am sitting here waiting for our French/Swedish friends who are coming for a little visit.

This is NOT the cleaning our crop of marijuana. It is the
oregano that was mistakenly cut down and had to be taken
care of.

I am also hoping that the builders will turn up soon and do the back deck but their notion of time is very fluid. They were supposed to be here two days ago, but not a word from them.  I know they will come but when?

Maybe next time I will have photos of the new deck, or not, until then, take care and enjoy the rest of summer, I know I will!

Road tragedy

Yesterday when I was driving back to the cottage from Henån, our closest small town where we go for shopping, post-office stuff, library, and last but not least wine and beer shopping, I saw something very sad.

I was driving behind a slow-moving car when I saw an elk coming down a slope, ready to cross the road. The people ahead obviously didn't see her (it was a female elk). They collided with her and she flew onto their windscreen,, and then up on top of their car and rolled off, falling down on the side of the road. She was still alive when I jumped out of my car and just lay there so stoic and beautiful even though her two hind legs were clearly broken and pointing any which way. She must have been in so much pain. The elderly couple were fortunately fine though a bit shaken up. They had been driving quite slowly which might have reduced the impact. We had to wait quite a while for a hunter from the hunting team responsible for that specific area to arrive and shoot the elk.

The incident stayed with me all day. I was wondering if she had a young one back in the woods somewhere who was waiting for her.

On to happier things...

There is a heat wave here in Sweden right now. It is almost +30°C in the whole country.

We have been going for dips in the sea, especially to a place called Ellös where there is a ramp to get into the water. It makes it easier for a soon-to-be-ninety-year old to get in. No, I am not talking about myself! It is about my mother who is staying with us for a few weeks.

Last night after dipping we went to an auction at Tofta Gård. It was good fun and you could probably find good bargains. However we don't have space for anything so I held myself back. It was the first auction for elder daughter so I gave her strict warnings not to gesticulate or scratch her face or ear. This can be taken for a sign to raise the bid and you can end up with something very expensive and unwanted, if the auctioneer decides to accept that as the last bid.

A funny detail showing the difference between generations. A teenage girl asked her mother after having spent an hour in the sweltering heat of the barn where the auction was held: "Why don't they just sell the stuff on e-bay"? Yes, indeed, why don't they?

Sing-along

Oh, by the way, they seem to love sing-alongs here in my old home country. I had no idea! It's a revelation!

Three evenings a week they have either sing-along from Gothenburg  (my hometown) or sing-along from Stockholm (the capital), and if that is not enough we can also sing-along with our Norwegian neighbors from across the border (Drammen).
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It's great when you live with a 90-year old, as long as they stick to the old songs from way back. We know the texts then and we can belt them out.  What we don't want, are the new performers, with their new un-singable tunes.

And oh, by the way, today was the anniversary of the birth of my first born, I guess he/she would call it a birthday. It was almost as sunny and pleasant a day, as that day thirty-four years ago, when my life changed forever.

At the time we lived in Scotland but due to, what I perceived to be the dodgy healthcare over there,  I had opted for coming "home" for the birth of my first  born. I won't go into any more details and I think you are happy to hear that but it was a very happy day! Never to be forgotten!

Motherhood rocks!

PS Still no photos, but when I get on to it I will shower you with photos