An old storage building by the waterfront at Kalvö. The technique for the foundation stones are not uncommon in this area. Scrap stone that didn’t split the way they should found use in the houses built. You got to be impressed by the craftsmanship to make it work. This is built directly on the flat rock so one can clearly see the foundation stones.
Even the odd can fit in, ha de Gött!
Rings on the water, a brief moment alone Expanding rings connect, overflow and gone Tossed in to the world, flat stone slightly curved Flying elegantly with a bounce, one, two, three, four, five Then sink to be sunk, stone bound to take a dive
Sometimes on a Monday evening those moments just appears, ha de Gött!
I promised in a comment to write about the three additional letters we have in the Swedish alphabet, so here it is. Yes it’s true we have three more letters after A to Z as in the English alphabet. Åå, Ää and Öö. Not to be show off’s, they have these with a different spelling, and pronunciation, in Danish and Norwegian also. Let’s just say it’s a Scandinavian thing.
Lets start with Å. A friend of mine tried to explain this in a London pub when we were young backpackers. “It’s an a with a prick on”, he said. Took a while to figure out why the men laughed and the girls blushed. Dot is in Swedish “prick”. It is pronounced as ooh. Even for native Swedish it’s sometimes difficult to know when to use O or Å.
Moving on to the A with two pricks on, Ä. Pronounced eah. If you have sheep close by listen to them, they go bäää. Use Google translate to listen. Just copy from this text and paste in Google translate. Very common use and a real struggle for all English speakers moving to Sweden.
So the last letter the O with two pricks on, Ö. This is actually also an entire word that translates to island. You just have to listen to this on Google. There is nothing even close in English that I can think of. I think this is a happy little letter. Used to drive my teacher crazy when I made a smiley of it.
Just remember that sometimes less is more, ha de Gött!
Adam the adventures ant Left with a bold chant Walked out the anthill Fearlessly into the evening chill Strongest of animals I am Six times my size, god damn He ran out of luck Six legs was stuck Had to succum' To a chewing gum
You never know what to ant-icipate, ha de Gött!
Sometimes Forestry Ulle dress in civilian clothes and walk the city streets like a normal person. Last Friday was such an occasion. The city was Göteborg a two hour drive from the meadows of home.
You see “Stora Hamnkanalen” or “Main Harbor Canal” in the photo. City hall with the German Church behind on the right side. If some of my Dutch readers feel at home you’re probably not mistaken. City planners and engineers was hired to build the city and gave it the nickname “Little Amsterdam”. Later during the industrial revolution many British entrepreneurs found their luck here, so the nickname changed to “Little London” and that remains still today.
The city was founded in 1621 by the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf. With its strategic position as a wedge to the west and the North Sea between Norway and Denmark, it was built as a fortress. Surrounded by high walls and canals in a marshland with the river Göta Älv on one side. From there ships could unload goods to smaller boats that then was rowed in to the Hamnkanal.
You can often hear my catch phrase “ha de gött” in Göteborg when people leave a shop or a tram. Stay tuned for more pictures, ha de Gött!
In the garden by the pond we have a variant of a clematis with small yellow flowers in the summer. Now in the late summer sum they turn into small hairballs. Makes me think of Chewbacca the Wookie from Star Wars.
May the force be with you, ha de Gött!
Travelling just 30 kilometres east from my home is a large lake named Bullaresjön. To be precise it is two lakes North and South Bullaresjön. The north point of these narrow but long lakes, in total 28 kilometres, ends at the Norwegian border. As a child, up to seven years old, I spent my summers in a small cabin by the shore of the north lake. This weekend I went there to take some pictures. I shot this picture from the small beach I used to play at as a toddler.
Sometimes you have to walk down memory forest, ha de Gött!
Oat (Avena sativa) is a widely cultivated grain where the seeds are used for both human and livestock food. The Swedish name is “Havre”. The oat fields are now turning yellow as the plant matures in the late summer sun. In just a few weeks it is time for harvest. This annual plant grows best in the temperate zones.
I have a condition called “Celiac disease”, commonly referred to as “gluten intolerance”. I cannot eat anything made from grains like rye, wheat or barley with oat being the exception. Oat meal does not contain any of the gluten protein that triggers the disease. So you can understand that I like oat. NOTE! For it to be safe for a coeliac to eat any product based on oats it needs to be produced with special care and be marked gluten free. It’s NOT safe to eat regular oat products!!
Don’t worry there are some gluten free beer available, ha de Gött!
Song lyrics to the music of Queen’s “The great pretender”. Inspired by Hobbo and Out-of-the-cave blogs, click on the names to see their excellent blogs.
Oh yes, I'm the great procrastinator (ooh no-o) pretending that I get things done (ooh no-o) my need is such I postpone to much I'm slow start that no-one can help Oh yes, I'm the great procrastinator (ooh no-o) adrift with a list of to-do's (ooh no-o) I make the plan but to my real shame I just can't get things to move on Too real is the scene kicking cans down the road Too real is my tactics delaying stuff Oh, yes I'm the great procrastinator (ooh no-o) just keep's putting things on hold (ooh no-o) I seem to be stuck, sat on my butt stalling my actions like a fine statuette Pretending that I can get things done Too real is the scene kicking cans down the road Oh yes, I'm the great procrastinator (ooh no-o) just sitting around on my ass (ooh no-o) in my head you see a magical spree but I'm just wearing my sofa down procrastinating to see the truth Pretending I that can get things done
I hope I don’t offend any fans to the fantastic band Queen and the singer Freddie Mercury. As a band aid I also put up the official Freddie Mercury video from Youtube. The song is originally written by Buck Ram (1907 – 1991). Buck Ram was from Chicago, Illinois. Composer, band leader and also the Platters manager. Also the Platters recorded the Great Pretender. Ha de Gött!
A rainy day I will sort things postponed and neglected A rainy day I will get down to it long awaited A rainy day I will sort it all out structure and shape A rainy day I will let it all flow symphony of keys A rainy day I will bloody well will write that novel
But today sun is shining, ha de Gött!
UlleHaddock 