The place.
The place.
Woke up tired as hell. My wife went out early for a morning walk but I had to snooze a while. At a quarter to nine I decided to fight the fatigue with some physical activity and put on my jogging shoes. I didn’t regret it. The legs felt okay. The lungs as well.
The morning was beautiful and warm.
My childhood’s gravel roads lay empty. The house my friend Anna wanted to buy a couple of years ago was empty. The owner usually visit only a few days per year.
The old road across the ridge has changed through the years. Back in the day the pine trees were much taller.
Me trying to photograph a butterfly.
The lake where I’ve spent so many summer days and nights were as blue and quiet as always. My favourite beach of all times. As a teenager we often went here with our mopeds to hang out. Drink beer, barbecue, go for a night swim.
Finally here. For the first time in 2023. Me and my boys took a train from Stockholm and arrived here at dinner time. My wife came here at noon and had it ready for us.
The nature is beautiful at this time of the year, before everything is in bloom. The fields light green, only small buds on the bushes. The nights are still chilly but during the day you don’t need a jacket anymore. The first thing I noticed when we started the short walk here from the bus stop was the birds singing. Isn’t that the most soothing sound in the world?
Vi fick en timme tillbaka i natt. Jag och Helene gick upp tidig och tog bilen till torpet. Trots uppenbart höst, de sista löven ger snart upp, var det varmt i luften. Jag sprang en sväng i korts, lunchen efteråt intogs på farstubron. Allt var vackert.
I skogen hittade vi tillräckligt mycket trattkantareller för att göra svampmackor och soppa till middag när vi kom hem till stan.
Listening to the 90’s hardcore punk band Insted. Never heard about it before, found the recommendation over at an old friends Instagram. Reminds a bit about Suicial Tendencies earliest stuff. I’m on the train for a Sunday at the cottage. Have some harvesting to do. And some lawn mowing.
The weather couldn’t have been better. The midsommarafton was as good midsommarafton gets. The traditional way of celebration contains dancing around the midsommarstång, pickled herring, boiled potatoes served with fresh dill and snaps. But you don’t have to do that. The most important thing is that you get together with some friends or family and have a good time, outside if possible. We visited a traditional celebration at a place called Julita Gård, an old and beautiful mansion with a great park that is an outdoor museum.
Afterwards we went to a friends house for some barbecue, drinks and a swim in the lake. Good times. Good talks.
The day after (midsommarafton) Midsummer Night’s Eve is Midsummer’s Day (midsommardagen), usually a very lazy day filled with coffee and conversations, boat trips and hanging out in the grass. I had to start it with an hour and a half of biking in the blazing sun. I had to collect the car which we parked at our friends house. In Sweden it’s illegal to have even the smallest glass of wine and then drive back home. But I enjoyed the work out. I brought a cold soft drink I gave myself after half the distance.
The rest of the day was lazy though. We brought lunch to the beach and I swam for a bit and then kept on reading Devil House by John Darnielle.
Recently I found eight nuts laying in a trench out here. They were probably left by a trucker. I picked them up. Yesterday I polished them (well brushed off the dirt) and knocked out the rubber top. Suddenly I’d made a couple of nice candlesticks. DIY for the win!
These types of things are hard to do back home in the city. You need the time and a workshop.
Oh my what a great place this is.
Sitting on the bus from Katrineholm to our cottage. The number on the bus has changed through the years but the route is the same as when I went to school. Back then no one had heard about internet, today you can access wifi on the bus. I write this on my laptop on a steady connection. Fields, paddocks, old villas are passing by. I am a bit tired, but also excited to see my wife and kids again.
In my headphones, The Cure.
Forgot about posting this last night. My wife chasing the moon 🌙.
There’ll be only one photo in this post. I have been too busy to think of photography. The twins have a friend over for the weekend and her dad (very nice guy) stayed for lunch. I made potatoes with matjessill and gräddfil. Summer food! After that I did the dishes, packed a picnic and took all kids down to the lake. We stayed until we had to get back for dinner. The water is 25-26 degrees (Celsius that is). That’s unusual.
The teenage gang in the barn slept to 3 pm. I met them this morning just before they were going to bed. It was 9 am. They had stayed up all night. Tomorrow is Saturday. The day before my wife’s birthday. I have some stuff to do.
Värmen som belägrar torpet suger energin ur våra kroppar. Det som gäller efter husligt fix är badet. Igår tillbringade vi hela eftermiddagen där. Mamma och pappa var också på plats, och tonårsgänget intog klipporna. Jag simmade dit, tog ett hopp och simmade tillbaka. Min crawlteknik kan bli bättre, framförallt bättre det gäller att få kraft i bensparkarna. Men styrkan och orken i axlarna blir långsamt bättre. Och det mörka vattnet utgör ett allt mindre problem för mig. Solen bara stekte och när vi kom tillbaka till torpet för att styra upp hamburgare till tio personer var man rätt mör. Men det blev mat vid utlovad tidpunkt och alla fick äta sig mätta. Jag tog disken. Jag behövde värma vatten tre gånger för att få allt rent.
Sömnen har vart lite sämre senaste dagarna på grund av värmen. Men sedan Helene köpte ett sådant där myggnät som skyddar hela sängen har vi åtminstone blivit kvitt de nattliga betten. Det var ett genidrag.
Idag väntar mer besök. En kompis till tvillingarna ska tillbringa helgen här. Det är bra, då blir det något extra kul även för 12-åringarna.
På bokfronten har jag nu lagt Karl-Ove Knausgårds Morgonstjärnan till arkivet för lästa böcker. Den var fantastisk. Norsk realism möter urtidsmyter i en mycket tät berättelse där läsaren får följa ett stort antal personer i jag-form. Uppmanar alla att läsa, dock kanske ej under mörka kvällar i ensamhet.
När jag skriver det här är det morgon. De övriga sover. Kanske sticker jag ut på en kort löprunda innan allt rullar igång. Vi hörs.
The sun sets in the area of Julita, Sweden. It’s been 🥵 hot today. Thanks goshness we have the lake nearby.
My daughter has started to suggest we go on evening walks, or bike rides. Even if I don’t feel like walking I usually make her company. It’s a good way to get a conversation going. She often asks question she wouldn’t do otherwise. I really like that way of spending time together. When I’m writing this we just came back to the house after a 45 minute walk on the gravel roads around here. We hoped to see a moose or some other animal but nature was calm tonight. It feels it’s going to rain soon. On evenings like this the wild are silent, awaiting, animals searching for shelter. The sky is gray but the temperature is pleasant. Let’s call it a day maybe.
Summer kids doing a late night swim.
I went for a run. Met a french guy down by the lake, camping with his little kid and wife (fiancé or maybe a friend). His name was Laurier. Apparently his working together with our neighbour Carl in the house next door. It’s a small world.
One thing that could improve on MB is writing longer posts on the micro.blog app. I have iA Writer and like that a lot but a good clean in-built editor are the best. Writing long posts here starts to be annoying after you reached 450 letters. The whole screen starts to bounce.
/// I’m writing this on a train heading for Stockholm. Me and the twins are spending the day in the city. We’re going to the amusement park Gröna Lund and we’ll sleep at home in the apartment tonight. Tomorrow we’ll go back to the cottage. 🚝📱🎢
Mom and dad came over.
All coffee drinkers know that certain cups taste much better than others. Even if they’re made on the same machine, with the same water and the same coffee beans. This morning I’m having one of these extra tasty ones. I started today with a 7 kilometres run followed by a short swim in the lake.
Bought these online and managed to get the right size.
If I good start every day that way, all year round, I might be a less stressed person. (Or not. It could be a stressed itself, knowing that I could start every day that way and therefore should).
Back to the coffee. What I’m having is ordinary brew. Made on an almost ancient Philips we inherited with this house.
I think there’s something wrong with it’s heater making the coffee a few degrees hotter than a barista would suggest. Slightly burned you could say. I love it that way. Never milk, never sugar. Just plain black coffee. Today I’m having it in an old Garfield cup. (Or is this a mug in English)?
My breakfast:
Thanks to my wife we got home grown berries and vegetables during summer. I like doing the digging, she’s the one with green fingers.
Yesterday I watched England crush Ukraine in the European Championship in football (soccer for all Americans). Ukraine is the team Sweden lost to a couple of days ago.
Ahead of me is a Sunday without plans.
I’ll be back soon.
Utflykt. Tog bilen till Mariefred och fortsatte med båt till Björkö och världsarvet Birka. Det var första gången. Värt en dagsutflykt, dock ska man inte förvänta sig något massivt vikingaståhej på plats. Low key och vackert.
Båtresan tar en timme och en kvart från Mariefred med Strömma. T/r kostar cirka 350 inklusive biljett till museet.
De gräsbeklädda kullarna, I Love it. Jag blev trackad för mina låga DocMartens men jag har inga andra bra skor som är värdiga att bära utanför torpet. Måste åtgärda detta.
A vid Ansgars kors på berget.
Vi hann inte bada så efter att ha käkat i Eskilstuna på vägen hem stannade vi till vid västra Sörmlands bästa strand och kylde ner oss i sjön. Jag och barnen var ensamma där tills en epa-traktor med tre ynglingar kom och förstörde friden. Nej, det gjorde de inte. De var sin åldersgrupp trogen och gick direkt upp på klipporna.
It was cold but sunny and it was the perfect thing to do today. Me, my wife and the twins drive to our beloved little house to clean it before spring comes hard. Today is what we in Sweden call “vårdagjämning”, the first day of the year when the day is as long as the night. From now on the day is becoming longer and longer all the way to midsummer. It’s not a public holiday or a day you celebrate with friends and family but it’s a day you look forward to. Winter in the Nordics are dark and long.
To get out here for a day, breath the air and spend time with my family outside the apartment makes me feel happy.
How’s your day?
Jag har som ambition att hålla ungarna borta från mobilen och soffan hela dagen. Det är en mycket krävande uppgift men frånsett några korta avsteg från planen ser det ut att gå vägen. Först cykeltur till affären. Sedan laga lunch. Nu bakar vi och efter det hjälpa kompis att flytta. Dessutom körde jag upp dem tidigt i morse för att få lite vuxentid på kvällen (läs tidig natt). Semester är inte alls samma sak som avslappning.
The bench after second painting @maique
The lake Aspen. In swedish it’s the name of a fish and a tree, in defite form. When I googled it I found out it’s the same in english which I didn’t know. Aspen it’s a beautiful place. It’s where me and my friends hung out hot summer days during our teenage years. We jumped off the cliffs into the water and made bonfires. Now I am back there with kids of my own and their friends. It makes me feel a special kind of joy.
Making coffee. The next couple of hours will be spent down by the lake. What a great summer day it is. Sun bursting. Everything in bloom. We are very safe here. Sending thoughts to everyone not feeling safe right now. There’a a lot of bad things going on in the world right now.