The 6th of June encore..

The Swedish flag in focus everywhere today.
This is the farm at Lugnet. My neighbour and sister´s farm! 
(below in her beautiful national costume)

Strawberries are a traditional dessert this day.The sun was shining and the day was quite hot. This, mind you, is not always a tradition in Sweden!

The day called for a dip in the pool,indeed! Mats is clowning a hilarious dive!

And a picture of all the wild flowers close to my house..

A visit is paid to the farm of Vale, Gotland. This old mansion sits today on the ground of a 1000-year old farm. Speaking of history!
Studded with sagas, tales, history significant to the island´s development into Christianity of and of course, of gosts and spirits of people who lived here long ago that made a difference. The couple who now owns the beautiful Vale homestead are people I know from my former days living on the mainland. And they invite the general public to explore their historical, biotropical grounds.

The June 6th excursion to Vale to explore its rare biptope. Butterflies, insects, plants - and Iron Age grave sites..

This is the still visible ground work of three old buildings from the Iron Age around year 500 to be found at Vale..

This is what the area used to look.

 The landscape at Vale, Stenkyrka, Gotland.

A dip in my sister´s pool before June 6 is coming to an end. Now is the time when the sun does not set until 9PM! The long light nights of June in Scandinavia makes it hard to sleep..

It´s the Swedish National Day!

Summer is here! The lilacs are in bloom.

 Legs are getting tanned!

The hunt is on for a new bikini!

 So why not boogie! And it is the Swedish National Day and the blue and yellow flags are flying! People are occationally dressing up in the Swedish national costume - blue and yellow - of course!

Like the one my sister is wearing below. Polly is wearing her Dalmatiner National dotted dress flagging her tail quite often on this very day!

Picture by Mats Gyhlenius

June in my garden..

Words fail me this morning..

Days of ravishment..

Love is in the air. Back in Gotland dressed in all its beauty (how astonishing after this harsh winter!) the cherry trees are in heavy bloom and the horses are frolicking in the green pastures..Here my sister and pretty Pastel are kissing in front of the apple trees in my Gotland garden..

Sweet Pastel happily free grazing in the garden. What a pleasant, quiet way to have your lawn mowed!

The cherry tree in the Gotland sunset. Picture taken from my bedroom window. How priviledged I am to lay eyes on this first thing in the mornings and last in the long, bright Scandinavian nights! Now I am eagerly waiting for all the cherries! Will they be good and sweet? I totally missed out on them last summer since I was away during the fruit bearing period and have no idea..

 Maybe..

After the long flight across the Atlantic..

..It was high time to check out the good ol´Baltic and the situation in the Swedish archipelago after the long harsh winter..

So I went almost directly to Sandhamn to check if my summer house was intact!  And it was! All the roses had died though. But I guess it a fair price one had to pay.. A lot of people found their roofs leaking and pipes destroyed..

   A few days after arrival we went with old friend Anders to empty his huge fish trap elaboratey set a nautical mile or so southwest of the island. The archipelago presented itself in its greatest splendour this Whitsun weekend..Warm, sunny and with little wind.

The huge trap is slowly raised hydraulically.

And floating!

Huge traps like this are scarce in the archipelago as are the professional fishermen in this areas. Thus expensive traps like this are partially financed by the state to help improve the poor fishing industry of the Baltic.

            About 60 whitefish (sik in Swedish) was the catch of the day.

                   ..of which I got a few as present! Great! I am now off to Gotland          toprepare dillcured whitefish in time for the Sunday brunch!To dill cure fish - especially  salmon - is a very old way to prepare and keep fish in Scandinavia. It is decicious and was once a way to conserve fish for a few days in the past times-of-no-fridges! 

Recipe here.

Exciting stuff..

..to be encountered in Granma's suitecase..Thalia climbs up and quickly embarks on the journey of female indulgence..

"Oh, a jar of Clinique face cream! How great it smells! I think I am worth it!"

"I think I need a little bit more..What do you think?"

"The month feels a bit dry.."

"Mmmmm..and let's not forget the throat.."

"And I forgot the hairstyle! Just a little bit more..How do I look? I am sooo happy Mum and Dad are at work and can't see this!"

"And the best of all - Granma did not look very angry.. "

"Beautiful as never before I went to the Washington Zoo and I rode this great bear! The Clinique cure worked wonders, I must say!!"

Saturday night..

..with neighbours and colleagues in Washington..

..at Susans's lovely house. She lived for many years in Pakistan and her house just across from where we live is furnished with a distinct Pakistani touch. 

The cook preparing chapatis while Thalia looks on. She was just going to travel across the street that night.

The dining room all set..

A lavish meal in the making..

Malcolm dashing back home across the street to get the teddy that Thalia left behind. 

The gorgeous mirror in the dining room was brought all the way from Pakistan.

The hostess was off in the following morning on a five week mission to Zimbabwe. Liz was off to the Sudan and Peter to the far East. Cool travelling cats they are, these World Bank people! 

A great Saturday night with great food that totally absorbed me to a point that I forgot to snap a picture of it! Shame on me! 
Anyway, i am so happy that Hinda and Malcolm are not travelling to far away places for a long time!

Drill, drill drill..

(Photo: AP)
I got the following from the BBC today - confirming my esteem for Arnold as a quite visionary Governor of California: (In comparison, I happened to live in California during the years of the "not-quite-so-visionary" Governor Ronald Reagan.)

"The full environmental impact of the oil spill deep under water in the Gulf of Mexico has yet to emerge. But there has already been a sizeable political fallout:

Two Republican governors, in California and Florida, have withdrawn their support for the idea of expanded offshore drilling and a number of Democrats in Congress have warned that they can no longer support energy reform legislation if it includes such provisions.

"You turn on television and you see this enormous disaster," said California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, "and you say to yourself, why would we want to take that risk?"

The governor promptly announced that he was no longer in favour of expanded drilling off the California coast, despite that fact that the state's empty coffers could badly use some extra cash."
However, it just might have been even more courageous if the Governor of California had spoken up during the last election campaign when candidate Sarah Palin stated her well known: "Drill, drill, drill."
 Remember the days ?

More news on the oil spill in New York Times today