Mass wedding at Skansen on a rainy Saturday..

Newlyweds!!

In view of the forthcoming Royal wedding in Stockholm - the Swedes are living in a veritable wedding daze! In Skansen , (the first open air museum (1833-1901) to show the way of life in the and zoo in Sweden located on the island Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden.) launched a mass wedding day on Saturday!

About 350 couples showed up waiting for hours in long lines to get married. Among those my niece Stephanie who choose this way to marry her long time fiancee, Roger.
The civil ceremony was estimated to 10 minutes whereas the religious church ceremony took a bit longer! Skanen personel was on their knees because " No one here expected the enormous interest.." And the priests and civil clerks looked a bit tired towards the end of the day - to say the least!

The long lines for registration..

Stephanie and Roger toasting in champagne..

One of the 350 couple who got married at Skanen on Saturady in one of the small wedding tents erected for the occation.

A number of attending people were decked out in their beautiful national costumes.

Long waits for the big step!

And champagne! Mot people brought picknic bakets and a few brought layer cakes to set on the green lawns!

Rain and heavy wind did the waiting a bit teadious for many brides-to-be!

And waiting cold be quite long for a 9-month pregnant young woman too! Here is my daughter Lina resting in waiting for her cousin to get married!

We all congratulate Stephanie and Roger and welcome him into the family! May the sun shine on their marriage forever!

In a quite foggy ..

.. peasoup state of mind I am right now ready to embark the Gotland ferry destined for the mainland. The visibility is about 20 meters right this moment and wow! am I happy they have a radar onboard!
It´s a 3,5 hours cruise to reach the port in Nynäshamn but the cruise can be quite agreeable. (As long as the sea is not rocking too much!) There is a resto and small shop onboard and they always show a film during the trip. And you can close your eyes and take a nap in the comfy reclining chairs. I sure will settle for the latter! Fog make one quite snoooozzzzy!

A kiss is a kiss is a kiss..

"What´s in a name? That which we call a kiss by any other name would still taste as sweet.."
Thalia and Daddy in Washington in May.

In and out of the garden..

Not yet being  quite acquainted with my garden after living here 1,5 years, I was surprised one morning to find the garden brimming with this old fashioned modest tulip with its pretty yellow petals with their red edges. They bear a striking resemblance to the yellow wild tulips in the nearby fields.

Wild strawberries or rather Woodland strawberries carry such pretty flowers!

Fragaria Vesca (Love these old fashioned school charts!)

Butterfly catching ..

..for studying and releasing.

The abundance of orchids on Gotland! They are of course protected species all over Sweden.

Cowslips and wood cranebills are found everywhere.

Wood cranebills and cow parsley in Nature´s own astonishing flower arrangement! This meadow is a true traffic stopper as a road runs nearby..

I have tried to make an account of all the different varieties of lilacs there are in the garden and lost track! Here are two kinds I picked yesterday whose sweet smell fill the entire house! I wish I could send a bouquet like this to all and everyone of you!

A mouthwatering vegetarian..

Lasanga!

Just as I am working my butt off in the presummer garden and forgot everything about shopping for food in distant Visby, my old, dear friend Helmut sends med these photos from his kitchen on the island of Sardinia..

..where he lives.

A mouthwatering Italian vegetarian lasagne is in the making in his cosy kitchen.
Makes me soo hungry! No recipes needed here. Just a few glances will do for anyone who know a little more about cooking than the egg boil!

I just wish I could get my hands on some fresh mozarella to add on top, when I see this. There is a far cry from the fresh Italian stuff Helmut uses and the plastic wrapped versions you get here in Sweden with according taste!

Mmmmm.....can you smell it?
Strange however - this somewhat joyful feeling about the prognoses of rain today on the weather report from Gotland! No work in the graden is possible! Plenty of time to dash off to Visby to buy stuff to make Helmuth´s Sardinian vegetarian lasagne!
Guess what is coming for dinner?

Thank you and keep ´em coming, Helmut!
And this recipe is posted mostly for the music to get into the right Italian cooking mood. 

PS. Speking of boiling eggs, I tried Youtube to see if Julia Child ever had made a flick on egg boiling. Nooo. But found this instead:

You are never too old or experienced to learn new angles! (If you can speak of angles in this context!) I just learned! And I just had to share. Love, DS

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..