I wouldn´t know a better way..

..to spend Easter Day than to attend the great auction at Tofta Smagarde in Gotland! This easter Ulf, the popular auctioneer, has collected a number of great items like this old wicker pram, for example. People are now starting gushing in from the mainland eager to be on this beautiful island now decking up for spring..
So I guess the auction will be crowded and prices will raise.Well..

The items at this auction are collected..

..from Gotland´s old farms and homesteads..

I have decided to place a bid or two on the small writing desk above..

And maybe on this old drop-leaf table that would fit in well in my old farmhouse. Or getting carried away on some other spontaneous bids to cheer the soul after this long, dark Scandinavian winter months..
Anyway, it is a great opportunity to do a bit of "island mingling" and meet great people and to enjoy the homebaked cakes in the little homely cafeteria!

(Pictures: Smågårde auctions)

Following a day of fog and rain..

..came the soothing sun of the late afternoon. A time of drying the feathers..

"Oh how this spring of love resembleth,
the uncertain glory of an April day!
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,
and by and by a cloud takes all away..!

(Two gents of Verona, Shakespeare)

(Pics from my sister´s farm on Holy Thursday)

At night, there was a breathtaking full moon..

Sorry for..

..keeping repeating myself! But I never seen such an abundance of the blue spring Anemons called Blåsippa in Sweden! In the center, the lovely little Blåsippa Stella - the10-year old grandaughter of my sister - picking a nice bouquet. This is just behind my garden in the woods..
The area where I live is an interesting wetland with the famous Lummelunda caves underneath some miles away. This little pond can be found in the rather inpenetrable woodlands behind my house. I wounder if it contains any crayfish? The brya - as a pond is called in the Gotland lingo -should be ideal for this delicate shellfish.. Hmmm..

The very first Anemone Nemorosa - "vitsippa" in Swedish - was sighted today. Gotland is well ahead of the rest of Sweden (along the very southern part of Skåne) when it comes to the advancement of spring in Sweden.Soon the woods and meadows will turn from blue to a compact white..

Pontus!

He has now turned 35! My beloved son-in-law! Whom I have actually known since he was 9 months old and came to visit us with his parents in Arusha, Tanzania where we lived for a year. . I still have a Super 8 movie I shot of my daughter Lina and Pontus in the Ngorongoro Crater way back when they were toddlers among the lions, buffaloes, elephants and giraffes. Those were the days in the 70s when wildlife was still abundant in these areas.. Lina and Pontus celebrated his 35th birthday in lovely, springlike Mallorca at Deja on a veritable culinary spree..Well done! And bienvenue to Gotland on Thursday! And we will do "hip, hip hurray" for you!
Majorcain treats for a 35-year old....
La Residencia, Deja
A view of a calm and blue Mediterrainean sea - like custom made for a romantic birthday..

Getting the blues..

..and spring came to Gotland and my garden on Friday! This is a rather rare color of the anemone hepatica nobilis found in the back of the garden this sunny afternoon. Pretty isn´t she?

And the more common color of this lovely small flower put in a tiny glass vase I bought in the fleemarket yesterday for eqv. to 2 dollars - for this very purpose! In many parts of Sweden the anemone hepatica nobilis is protected by law - but not in Gotland where they grow like weed!

Another sign of spring:
The laundry line with clothes swaying in the south/westerly winds so common on this island.
The carpenter´s shed as backdrop..

The woods are full of them and all the meadows are getting bluer by the minute!

Not the anemone hepatica but a sweet yellow flower - one of the earliest to defy the Swedish winter! In Swedish she is actually called: "Winter mock!" In English she would be called : "Winter Aconite or Wolf's Bane" which belongs to the family Ranunculaceae. Eranthis hyemalis is its latin name and she is a flower found only in Europe..

Suddenly..

..there he was! A huge moose grazing in my garden! This is quite sensational since mooses are usually not found in the island of Gotland! This huge bull first turned up in the morning on my sister´s neighbouring farm and after calling me,(my sister, not the moose) I was prepared with my camera in case it would move on to my garden! And this is the best shot I got - a bit blurred - but nevertheless a huge moose grazing on last years apple remains on the ground!
Enjoy my moose!
And check out my friend Paivi´s blog today! I didn´t know my book from Zimbabwe was presented on the net! But she found it! How lovely! The title of the book is :"All My Hopes were to go Home One Day". Pictures by: Maarten Woud and layout: Maria Lilliecreutz. Produced by UNHCR/SIDA 1986

San Michele and magic of an island..

Last night, one of my close friends called me and asked me where to stay in Capri. If I know of any good hotels. She knew I had spent some time in this magic place and she would love to visit this complex and beautiful island in April.

I could not give her any hints on hotels since I was there on a scholarship staying at the San Michele high up in the Capri mountains in Anacapri.

After the Grotta Azzurra, the Museum-House of Villa San Michele is Anacapri's most visited tourist attraction. The villa dates back to the late 19th century, when the Swedish physician, writer and recreational archaeologist, Axel Munthe, adjudicated the site, previously occupied by an ancient roman construction, the perfect place where to build a house in which to display his collection of relics and classical artefacts. His book (above), still makes marvellous readings..
However, I was there in February which was not a good time. I was the only guest at San Michele (lonesome) and the powercuts caused me to sleep with mittens and a wolley cap. There was ice in the washbasin in the mornings and I am sure Axel Munte´s friendly ghost kept visiting me at night clad in a black swagger coat and a wide brimmed hat. He was just sort of checking up on me to see that I - his guest- was well under the circumstances, I am sure!
I actually met and old, wrinkeld sales lady that claimed she had met Munthe when she was very young.Axel Munthe - a good looker and true ladies´ man - in the early 1930s

Capri indeed is a facinating, beautiful and magic place with a rather frightful and decadent past commencing with some of the Roman emperors and their parties in the deep caves still there.. ..from which the young boys were made to jump to their death - after "use". Emperor Tiberius partying in Capri

The Barbarossa..Oscar Wilde and his tragic love story on this island..
I quite felt the vibes Capri´s complex history being there alone in cold February. But April is another story. It will be filling up with people, Maria will enjoy a limonchello at the piazettas, the almond trees in bloom, it will be warm and cosy and she will be able to enter the Blue Grotto - which was closed when I was there.
Anyway, I was able to make my report on Zambia´s hard currency auctions down there in San Michele - inspite of ten frozen fingers tapping away on the small typewriter in candellight at San Michele once on a very cold month of February quite hard to forget..
View from San Michele

Once in a while..

..on life´s long path you bump into a "kindered spirit." Man, woman or child..It suddenly klicks, you talk the same language, and you feel instant sympathy. This happened when I met Curt. He was the guy that sold me the farm on Gotland and he instantly incorported me into his big warm family. He was in charge of the sale of the estate of the deceased uncle - and he really wanted me to have the farm which had been in this lovely family for over 100 years. So, he did not put the estate on the market."This is ment for you" he said and backed me in this sale. And later helped me all kinds of matters in landing here and settling down on this family estate..
I was dreaming of fixing it up so nicely and then inviting him and his family for dinner here to see his estonished face when he saw the improvments I had done on the house he so very much wanted me to have..
Today, when I was working in the garden someone came by and told me that Curt died at his kitchen table yesterday. Quite unexpectedly.
I am now walking around int the house as a zombie - in a state of chock.
It right now feels like it it not worth getting on with it anymore..
Curt will not come by for dinner.. I will not lay eyes on his naughty brown eyes ever again and enjoy his dimpled laugh ever again.
As Astrid Lindgren so aptly put it: "Han fattas mig!" (His presence will fail me!)

Thalia..

..sweet Thalia, my grandchild now seven months old! I miss her so and just have to go to Washington soon to se her, hold her and get close as we once were..

Oh, Blessed Inspiring Creativity!

Elsa Mora is an outstanding artist using every possible material and means to explore her endless creativity. Thanks god she has a homepage so one can follow her works. I recently fell in love with her Frida Kahlo dollhouse she made
for her daughter..

Every item is a treat! Check her out! Here is the link to her web page: Elsita typepad