Washington minutes after..

..the earthquake yesterday - 5.8 o in the Richter scale. People leaving buildings on Pennsylvania avenue - shaken but not stirred.
(Photo: Malcolm Ehrenpreis)

The spires of Washington National Cathedral snapped and broke in the quake. Thanks God no one was hurt or injured yesterday - according to preliminary reports..
(Photo: AP)

Young Obama..

I found these lovely photos of a very young Obama on the net.
But have no idea who snapped them on a happy day on Waikiki, Hawaii a long time ago. His grandma, perhaps?

Embrazing life and the whole world.. I sincerely hope and keep my fingers crossed that he will make it through these rocky times of global financial distress and he´ll be able to lead his huge country away from dreary, repulsive tea parties for another presidential round of global common sense.

Sitting by the dock of the bay..

Mid august morning on the Trouville jetty at Sandhamn, watching (as I have been doing ever since childhood) the clear water ripples..

..playing giddily over the sandy sea floor.
Same spot long ago - other ripples, primitive jetty, young, non-rippled sisters breakfasting on that same beach in their nighties ..

Summer pictures..

Full moon. The harbour.
Mid August in Sandhamn, the Stockholm archipelago.
The Club house jetty, Friday.
(Photo: Nena G)

Dansberget, Sandhamn Friday night.

My hammock- brought home in the handluggage from Nicaragua.

Sunday on the main jetty- popular Swedish artist Plura of Eldkvarn, entertains.

Sun filtering through the shrubs in my archipelago garden.

Beautiful rocks at Kniphalsen.

Tasty beauties on the veranda..

Water reflections

Brandskär - one of the outmost skerries in this part of the Baltic..

Paraphernalia Nostalgica..

I recently visited a small neighbouring cottage in Gotland where the local historic parish society has been collecting a number of everyday use objects and touching countryside memorabilia over the years.

The little historic cottage is situated in Stenkyrka in northern Gotland, Sweden.
An intricate knitting machine of anno dazumal caught my eye here, for a long time. (Thinking about the warming socks, mittens and pulls that had been produced here on snowy winter nights in the light of a kerosene lamp.)

Good stuff and useful farm utensils..

.. in the kitchens of the old days ..

An old anchor I found in a small fishing village in Boviken, Gotland. No museum here!
It was just sitting there on the ground!I just love is simple construction!

Stenkyrka parish cottage.

Mouse trap of the old days -so called clump trap.
(The times of flat dead, departed and deseased mouses?!)

Cashier´s receipt board in the old - still thriving- Sandhamn bakery in the Stockholm archipelago
The pretty bakery in the Sandhamn village.

"Farmer´s pride"- old marine print, Gotland

Traditional cupboard, Swedish country style, (Gotland) today very much in demand at auctions. How I would love to have one of those!

Here it starts!

Great pix of my grandchild Isabella ( 1 year old) reading the Sports pages!
(Photo: Lina E)

Gone fishing..

Sture, Sherry & Pricken docking in the Sandhamn harbour yesterday.

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!