Quiet life

Dear Readers,

We are presently enjoying a couple of quiet days in our cottage, catching up on rest and laundry and other things. We came back two days ago from a little roadtrip up to the middle Sweden. It is so completely different to where we are on the west coast of the country. We saw two World Heritage sights (Farmhouses of Hälsingland and the Falu Copper Mine) and many other interesting things, plus, most importantly, we caught up with our old friends from Grenoble. They moved back to Sweden about 12 years ago after a long stint in France and our two sons were very good friends.

Lunch in Stugsund at a place called Månses Cafe.
The food was delicious as was the setting.

Before this trip we had a visit from our old friends from the UK which was good fun. Having visitors makes you go places and see things. Sometimes it is a re-visit but just as often it is a first time visit. Like, for example, Smögen, a gorgeous fishing village about an hour from here. For some reason we had never bothered going there but now we did and it was very beautiful.

We also went for a day's visit to the big craft market in Hjo. That involved an overnight stay at Knistad Herrgård in Skövde where we also had slightly unusual meal. Our waiter had probably not worked in his profession very long and had a very hard time. It wasn't helped by the fact that most of the other guests had booked a package which included golfing, overnight stay and meals with a recommended wine. What we wanted was just a main course and the wine list so that we could pick something ourselves. That really confused the poor lad. There was a clear Faulty Towers feel to the whole experience.

We picked up my nephew in Skövde at the train station and had a day in Hjo at the market and also visiting the town which is very quaint in the old part. My mother and sister lived in Hjo for a few years when my sisters' boys grew up. I used to come and visit with our children in the summer and it is always nice to come back.

This blog entry is completely non-chronological but I would also like to mention that another thing that we did was to visit the locks in Brekke in Norway. It is quite impressive with a 27 meter drop and just as we were there some German children with teachers came through the five gates in canoes.

After having watched that whole procedure we decided to drive to Strömstad back in Sweden for a very late lunch / early dinner since eating in Norway is known for being very expensive.

There are many more things to tell you but I really can't remember them right now. However, one thing that stands out is that on our friends' last day in Sweden they got to be part of putting up an outdoor shower that we had brought with us from Australia!!!

How many scientists does it take to
change a shower head?

Wedding anniversary

G'day everybody,

We are in our cottage in Sweden now and so far so good, aside for the massive lawn mowing that will have to be done.

The trip went well and other than the fact that the rental car company has given us a ridiculously low car that is virtually impossible to get in and out of, all is good.

Before we left Australia we had a great meal with our kids in Cronulla at a restaurant called 1908. It was to celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary, which is ruby, so I got a pretty necklace and earrings in ruby.

That fateful day!

Here is a little tip to the ladies. You go out and buy the jewellery you want and give it to your hubby to give you. It seems to work out the best for everyone. Takes the pressure off hubby and you can pick what you want. It is a win-win situation really. Hubby had actually previously promised me rubies but it turned out that they were artificial rubies used for aligning diffractometers at work. They are also used for the balls of ballpoint pens, and are very cheap.

Unfortunately the other photos with all four of us were very dark.

Our first visitors arrived the second day we were in the cottage and it was our old friends from Grenoble. They had an appointment at the Chinese embassy in Gothenburg for their visas so they came out for a quick overnight stay which was great. Hubby is green with envy because they are actually going on the Trans Siberian Railway in September but unfortunately we can't go. Hubby is still not retired  and has to work then unfortunately.

The quieter end of Smögen.

First breakfast of the summer in the sun

I am going to publish this entry now and get back again shortly with an account of our UK friends' visit. They left last night after a great week's visit with lots of sightseeing, cooking and eating delicious meals and card playing.  So I'll be back shortly.