Blog vacation!

Sandhamn days!

Cloudberries..

It is well known fact in Sweden that the "Gold of the Forests" -the delicious cloudberries- are to be found mainly in the northern woods of Sweden. Little is known that they can be found on the small islets and skerries far out in the Stockholm archipelago! You will have to travel rather far to the outmost islands to find them in the small, mouldy and humid canyons among the crags.

These canyons are in addition the favourite grounds of rather poisonous vipers. (These islands are known to have the largest population of venomous snakes in Europe.)

Being placed under protection they thrive in abundance among the tasty frogs of the many small island ponds. A protection enactment which no "archipelago aboriginal" really obeys, I can assure you.

So yesterday, donning a good pair of Wellingtons, I set out to search for them - the cloudberries, that is - and alas!

This is the harvest which I prompty poured into a pan and boiled with sugar until almost caramelized and then served with thin pancakes a´ la´galette and devoured on a smooth rock in the sunshine overlooking the glittering Baltic..
The summer Baltic

My cuddling grandchildren:

(photo: Lorena Gonzalez)
Thalia in the US..

(photo: Lina Ehrenpreis)
..and Isabella in Gotland!

Happy First Birthday, Izzy!

Hip hip hurray!
Niki, Isabella, Lily-Lou, my second grandchild, is turning one year old today!
She is celebrating her first birthday in Gotland!
All the love in the world to you from Grandma!

ÅF Offshore Race..

(photo: Anders Eliasson)
..The two-days regatta and the most prestigious race in the Baltic Sea - with an average of around 300 participating sailing boats, starts today from Sandhamn. The larger yachts take off from Stockholm as of this year. The photo above is from the information meeting yesterday that took place on the main jetty in Sandhamn.
Quite an international crowd are now gathered on our small island which kneels under the logistic pressure..

(photo: Anders Eliasson)
One could only wish for better weather and some sunshine!
The winds are OK though for a fair sailing start which is at least something..
We wish them all a great race around Gotland and back here in Sandhamn!
Good luck and have fun!

Now it started to rain..

..alas, and I found a few boxes of oil pastels I didn´t know I had. Still acing for an Isaac Grunewald painting, my copycat tail started to wag and..

..this is a need to satisfy this urge.
Meanwhile, it was rather nice to listen to the summer rain hammering away on the loft and to have a go at oil pastels which I had never tried to work with before. If the rain continues, I will soon do some more in oil pastels. But then, I will do some of my own. Maybe of a delicious turbot? Or some other spikey themes..

Gone fishing..

Moving out into the archipelago, we now started some fishing. Meters of nets go into the Baltic every night carefully positioned on fishing reefs well known to us since childhood.. We are now mainly focused on turbut but catch an occational salmon as well. (I certainly will dillcure these tonight) The turbot is cleaned of head and intestines and put as is in the owen at 100 C for an hour to simmer slowly in its own juice. Nothing added. Just that. And served with new potatoes and horseradish butter.. Mmmm mm
This is me early this morning getting a real muscle ace after pulling some hundred of meters of nets out of the sea.

It almost takes a full day to the clean the nets of sea weed..

But at sunset in a 100-year old fishing lodge (that has been handed down in the same family for generations) in the skerries far out in the archipelago , we enjoy a well deserved meal..

The fishing cabin.

A water color I have made of the cabin at the islet.

A great fishing partner on the go!

Sandhamn´s harbour in a distance
where thay are now preparing for the big event of the year: the Baltic/Gotland Runt Sailing Race/or "ÅF Offshore Race" (previously "Round Gotland Race") is an offshore sailing race in the Baltic Sea, arranged by the Royal Swedish Yacht Club (KSSS) at the turn of the month June/July each year with the starting and finishing lines in Sandhamn in the outskirts of Stockholm archipelago. The two-days regatta is the most prestigious race in the Baltic Sea and have an average of around 300 participating sailing boats.
(Photo: Abcseglarskola.se)
The competition is divided into eight different classes, sailing on five different courses. The longest, 653 M, is sailed by 60-foot trimarans, the shortest 179 M, for classic boats. The overall victor is appointed in the ORC International class. For the less experienced and family sailors there is the SweLYS/SRS class, which provides the holiday sailors a taste of a real sail-race adventure.

Midsummer celebrations..

.. in the beautiful Stockholm archipelago.
Midsummer is big in Sweden. Most people try to get out of the cities and find a place in the countryside to dance traditional folkdanses around the Maypole, eat pickled herring and drink quite a lot of schnaps. And singing a lot of songs. (The longer into the night the dirtier!)
This Maypole was raised at Lökholmen, a small island neighbouring Sandhamn and the archipelago centre of the..
The Royal Swedish Yacht Club

We had splendid midsummer weather, high spirits , good food and sweet strawberries and beautiful yachts decorated for the occation!

Midsummer is Scandinavia's most popular festival
right along with Christmas. A traditional celebration of the Summer solstice.
Midsummer is the longest day of the year. In Sweden, Midsummer is even celebrated as a national holiday . Most Midsummer's Eve celebrations take place on the Saturday between June 20 and June 26.

One of my favourite pictures/ads..

..of all times, is this outstanding photo of a very young Marisa Berenson shot in Maroc back in 1967. Now when summer is becoming serious business I want to.. look like this-like her- to be clad her beautiful sandals, wear this stunning golden kaftan on the beach, the marvellous rings on my fingers, and to be combed in this elaborate empressic hairdo...

But oh..
I guess I will have to settle for that this.
Will just have to do!
Do, do do..In the summertime:

The Day of the Open Gardens in Visby

Saturday, the owners of the old houses..

within the ancient town wall of Visby opened up their private gardens for the public.

It was a great opportunity for us to see these marvels of gardens you didn´t even know existed. So of course we joined in the afternoon excursion..

Each garden owner-all women, sic!- prowdly showed us around and explained and answered our questions on the range of beautiful kinds of roses,(for which Gotland is famous, thanks to its fertile limestone soil) wines, mulberry trees etc

Fireworks of peonies in one garden.

Here is Karin lecturing on her rather large garden close..
..to the old town ringwall.

The smallest garden on the show was owned by a decendant of the well known Swedish gardening family Weibull. Every inch was elaboratelly planned in this miniscule, pretty garden within its limestone washed walls in the middle of the town. (Creating a microclimate of sorts!) She was even growing quite a number of potatoes here!

A garden house like from a Hanzel and Gretchen saga!

A rather large, well kept formal garden that held a well/fountain and the smallest pond of water lillies I have ever seen!
The pond.

This small "garden-oasis" even contained a walnut tree! Lots of plants in terracotta urns here..

"Communis" of the Centifoila- Muscosa group exposed its strange thornclad stems.
I touched them and found that they were actuallt very soft. To scare off insects, anyway??

Pretty group of yellows and blues..

Here I finally found the small bushy, lovely smelling pink carnations my Grandma once had in her garden! I have been looking for them every since, but in vain. So, the nice lady-gardener of course promptly promised me a plant of those upon hearing my lament..Their smell bring back my childhood memories indeed..

A firework of peonies!

A feast for the eye where ever you turn!
The medeval town of Wisby, June 18 2011