It worked

If you read the blog entry before this one you might remember that I spoke nostalgically about the good old days when you might even receive a post card in your mailbox while staying in your summer cottage. Well, guess what! A reader took me up on it and I received this card a few days ago. Thank you so much!

Copyright Wildcard Company

The reference to IKEA is especially suitable since I have been there give or take 10 times since arriving here in Sweden this time. It is on my way to go and visit my mother so it is very easy just to slip in and get a kitchen utensil or a storage box or have lunch. 

On one of my latest visits I saw a big family of new Swedes having lunch together. There were children, teenager's, parents, grandparents, in-laws, they took up about three tables. So I thought that it would be a really nice gesture if IKEA changed some of the silly names in their catalogue and used some names that these new Swedes could identify with. So instead of having the book case Billy we could have the book case Rashid. And instead of the sofa Stockholm we could have the sofa Casablanca and so on. I am sure you get my drift. It would also make my task easier. I frequently have to explain/translate names of IKEA products to my friends in Australia. Let me give you some examples, we have the table JOKKMOKK, they don't know what or where this is in Australia. Or the bed TUFFING; where is that or what is it,? Or the parasol LÅNGHOLMEN, named after a prison where the last execution in Sweden took place.

Hubby is leaving in two days and I will be on my own here with my son-in-law until our daughter comes back from Oxford where she is working. Then we will do some sightseeing and hopefully the weather will stay nice. We don't have to do any painting, gardening or other chores since hubby and son-in-law have been working flat out the last two weeks.

Have to go now and plan dinner.  We are taking turns teaching our son-in-law to cook. but I think he would like us to follow recipes more. Both hubby and me cook with what's in the house. This way we discover novel flavors, while at the same time using up left-overs.  All you have to do is call it "nouvelle cuisine".

My mother always thinks that it is the serving
plate that is put in front of her, when in fact it
is just the new fashion of serving your portion
 in a very big individual plate.

Longing for simpler times

I just got off the phone with Viasat. We have no image and no sound on our TV for no special reason. It has worked fine since our arrival up to now, but all of a sudden it gave up. After being told that there would be a wait of 56 minutes and answering a whole bunch of inane questions with 'Yes' and 'No', I decided to still go through with it. I fell asleep twice. When it was finally my turn I got to speak to an over-friendly, totally incompetent young man who gave me absolutely no help whatsoever. All he could say was that he could send someone out and that it would cost 950 SKr. He could book him for the end of next week.

This came on top of all the other technical problems you have in today's modern society. I am thinking of buying chargers for your mobile  phones (we have four going at the moment from different countries) and charging them up and also charging your dongle (I know, it sounds yucky but it is a little gadget we need for internet here in the cottage).

Furthermore we have had an ongoing saga trying to get our daughter's husband over here for a visit from Senegal. He was refused his initial visa so they couldn't arrive together but he finally turned up three days ago. This had involved many visits to the tax office and phone calls to a certain Madame F in Dakar who was in charge of the Swedish visas even though she worked at the Spanish embassy. We thought it would be easier to have our own printer here so we bought one and that is the start of another fresh technical nightmare ... and  it goes on.

So, yes I long for the times when you arrived at a summer cottage and there was blissful silence and no mobile phones and Fb and Instagram and Messenger and all that stuff. You might receive a post card from someone during the summer and you would speak to your neighbour. If someone went shopping they might buy the newspaper and you could sit and read it in the sun. Good times!

On the bright side we have seen and done so much in a relatively short time. My sister-in-law and I went to Hjo for a big craft market that is held every year. It is more than a market; I would call it a craft fair. It rained a little bit for the first time in weeks but all the stands were covered and they seemed to do a roaring trade.

We met up with my nephews and great-nephew and accompanied them back to the older nephew's cottage on the lake Vattern.

The day before we got there we visited Lacko Slott which is very beautiful.

We also went to Warnhem Abbey and to Skara Cathedral. We had a night in a very nice hotel with a nice breakfast buffet the next day.

Yesterday was spent in Gothenburg visiting my sister's grave on the 12th anniversary of her death and having lunch in town and sightseeing etc. Today I am having a home day and hubby is taking the visitors to Nordens Ark which is a zoo with Nordic animals and some endangered species and they are hoping to see a wolverine.

Have to go now and tidy and prepare meals for later. Oh, by the way, the TV works now. All you had to do was pull out the plug and card and put it back again. The old usual "have you tried turning it off and on again" applied here as usual.

There will be more soon. Have a nice day!