Back in Sandhamn..

End of October. Gray days in the Stockholm archipelago

We light candles and make delicious soup. And there are log fires..

Dinner at my friend´s house and a game of Carcassone afterwards. The distance is not very far from her house to my mine.

Soup, champagne, wine in the dark Scandinavian night by the sea.

Rosehips from the beach are supposed to be extraordinarily healthy to eat..

A rather cosy season now starts in this outpost in the Baltic..I am now closing the water pipes for the season and stacking up with bottled fresh water in the fridge. Just in case I will be back for New Years..

Sometimes..

I when don´t really feel like bringing out all my paintbrushes and all the colors and stuff, but still feel like painting - I use the "Virtual Painter" on the computer. I use my own photographs like these and have a go! These I made with the pastel crayon. You can add any canvases you like, rough or smooth. It is so much fun - and guaranteed not messy!

 

October sentiments..

 Yesterday´s collection of winter apples..
I will wrap them in paper and keep them in the cold barn and hope to be able to enjoy them for Christmas..

The marple trees are dressing in their pretty golden frocks.

And if you look really closely, you can see the maple fairy dancing..

 The "Naked Virgin" in full bloom..

 A mighty and omnipotent Asagod Thor rumbling forward in the October sky?

October evening skies sparks the imagination

 They drop my rooftop - and they go BOM BOM and wakes you up at night.
"And he opened his eye slowly in October and focused on the items on the ground below. Or the neighbouring rooftops where the sound effects were just marvellous. He could focus for days until "Pop!!!" he found his chosen targets. And off he took! And his sisters and brothers joined him promptly. And towards the end of October one can barely tread on the chestnut cobbled grounds below the giant tree in the garden.."

 

 The autumn rasberries still carry a taste of summer..

Rasberry Spooning: "Do you want to sleep with me?" asked the rasberry the silver spoon in a soft jucy voice.The silver spoon blushed and sparkled. He was only used to stir in a hot tea cup now and then - with an occational touch of sweet honey added.
So this was quite new to him. His life in the dark drawer had been so extraordinarily dull up til now. He pondered for a while about the swift changes of his spooning life:
"Yes," he then responded shyly. "Yes! And we will cover us with a sweet sheet of whipped cream. The two of us! That´s what we will do!"

The lovely pears dropped all over the lawn during the past weeks heavy winds..

 

Cinnabar, cinnabar - the beauty of the color cinnabar ..

Sailing summer in Sweden (Sandhamn) 1955

I found this little gem in the archives of Sveriges Radio today about the sailing summer in Sweden in1955. Including the start of Gotland Runt (the Baltic Race) from Visby ending up in Sandhamn. If you like a bit of sailing- and Sandhamn nostalgica along with the beautifully shaped sailing boats of those days, this film is surely worth a minute or two! (Speaker in Swedish only) And yes! I was there, in Sandhamn too. Too young to sail anything though..

Preparations for winter..

 A new air/water pump is installed that will keep me warm..

(Top) Pears in dark rum and chantarells.

My basement some days ago: The installation of the pump by jolly craftsmen..

 The joy of a hot radiator!

Time to read feel-good-books like Sara Midda´s "In and out of the garden"..

..or get into the cosy slippers.. 

(Watercolors from her "Sketchbookfrom Southern France")

Or to sneak up on a cosy warm windowsill an look at the clear autumn night sky..
(Ilon Wikland painting)

Happy birthday Lina!

 My daughter Lina is celebrating her first birthday as a married woman today and I and everybody around her is wishing her all the best and many happy returns of a wonderful 18th of October!

Now one year old..

Thalia is growing up..

 

Today I (the proud grandmother) received these updated photos of darling Thalia from Washington! No one can blame me for immediately starting looking at the travel agency ads on how to get there as soon as possible!
I miss her so!

Time for Privet planting..

With Swedish as my mother tongue I wonder about the English word "Privet" for the hedge plant we call "liguster"  (Ligustrum Vulgare) over here. Does it have to do with Privacy??

Anyway, a few days ago it was high time to plant this  Privet hedge as a first step in trying to create a room within my rather exposed garden. I am a complete novice at this (having only had a garden at Sandhamn before - the island known for all its fine sand and pine trees!!) so my long time friend Paivi came over from the mainland to help me out.

 

Here she is working and digging
and it all looks very professional!

This is the view from my bedroom during the planting process. From here you can clearly see the need to create a secluded room within my garden!! This is a great first step!

In the process, I tried to get as much information as possible from the Privet knowledge bank on the internet and found -Inspirera - a great gardening blog  (unfortunately in Swedish only) but with a number of inspirational photos on how to make all kinds of developments in your garden! The picture above is from that blog. These are planted by a professional gardener, the blog says. Mine is not far off, however!
Happiness is a good friend with a number of skills!

The first frost..

..tumbled quite unceremonially upon us last night..

..and it is nice to sneek into a varm bistro like we did on Friday, by the roaring sea for a warming fish soup and a creme brulee..

This  bistro with its spectacular view is situated close to Visby at Snäckgärdsbaden  and open Friday-Sundays during off season..

Interior decorations to enjoy ..

A neighbour of mine! And the father of my sisters sheep, Signe and Hildur.
A handsome guy he is and a real Gutelamm! Not Gotlandslamm! The Gute breed is the original stock on the island and has a great personality they say..

The lady up front is a Gotlandlamm. (Lamm on Swedish/Gotlandish is of course "sheep")

Following a lovely lunch with friends in Ireviken today, I was driving back home though a landscape of mist and watched the coulors of  Nature changing by the hour. The trees are taking on the sparkling colors of a Scandinavian autumn.. Will we have another frosty night tonight?

Sardinia in October..

 My long time friend Helmut keeps sending me great pictures from his island, Sardinia, where he has been living for many years. I have never been to Sardinia, so it is with great enjoyment I find his beautiful photos from his island in the Mediterrainean. We keep a island photo swapping relationship!
(Not island hopping, so far..)

 

Helmut and I met in 1960 in Landshut, Bavaria, Germany, where I was studying German for the summer. I got to know his warm, big family and subsequently returned for X-mas to celebrate a real Bavarian X-mas with his family travelling through the snowy, pineclad Black Forest.

 

 Helmut and friends from Landshut later came to visit me at Sandhamn the following summer..and then we lost track for so many years..

 

Until we found each other on the web again!
These are some of the photos he sent recently from his Sardinia.

And this is a photo he took of me in Germany in those days and recently mailed to Sweden..

And this is Helmut in the Landshut days when we used to listen to his great records in his cosy crash pad..It is truly great to be in touch again thanks to the i-net! And please Helmut, keep you great pics from Sardinia coming! One day I might even do some island hopping and go to see you and your great island in the great, green Med!

 

 Photos: Helmut Binder, Sardinia