Midsummer eve full of mystery
Midsummer eve pale night light
Midsummer eve flowers and bees
Midsummer eve family and friends
Midsummer eve herring and snaps
Midsummer eve children dance around
Midsummer eve stay up all night
Midsummer eve family and friends
The midsummer celebration is as special to us Swedes as others countries national day. I described this in last years midsummer blog post. Find it here. Ha de Gött!
Somewhere in the limbo between sleep and awake he heard a loud, thump. The feeling that something was wrong brought him to fully awake. His wife was already out of bed, screaming, “he fell, he fell out of the bunk bed”. He looked to his side of the double bed. There his son laid on the floor, the concrete floor with only a thin, so thin, carpet. The silence sent shivers down his spine.
As his wife now rounded the bed and reached their eight year old son he could hear the boy’s first sobbing.A stone fell from his heart, alive, he was alive. Gently they started to examine him to see if there was any blood. Even if the fall was a two metre drop to the floor he missed the sharp edge of the bedside table, hair short. Now the boy was crying more and louder. A call to the resort emergency service, where no-one spoke anything but the local language.
Taxi to the local emergency room. Two stressed out parents trying to explain what had happened, to hospital staff that didn’t understand. Finally after several hours a nurse came that spoke some English and could translate. As the first pale morning light reached through the windows he was carrying his little boy through long corridors to the MRI machine. Three days in hospital instead of a fun weekend at the famous resort. It took some years before the family dared to go abroad for a holiday again.
True Story, ha de gött!
I promised a while back to share a slide show from Havstenssund in Bohuslän, Sweden. A bit overdue here it is.
Havstenssund is a small community with only 150 inhabitants situated on the north tip of a peninsula, Tanumsnäs. It was first mentioned by the Norwegian King Sverre Sigurdsson in 1196. In the summertime the population tenfold and through the narrow strait a multitude of boats passes. Enjoy and ha de Gött!
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There on the beach lies the shells of, what some call a delicacy. The Oysters, Clams and Lagoon Cockle. The oysters from Skagerack is considered to be the best. I’m not biased, eating a mollusc is over my limit. It is not only food for humans. It is also an important part of the ecosystem as food and to keep the water clean. I think they also make good photo models.
Don’t forget to click the magic button, subscribe and let me know, with a comment, if you like to eat them. Ha de Gött!
Last weekend offered a perfect winter weather for photography. -3°C and and almost no wind. The sun was shining from a clear blue sky. Even if I promised my wife not to climb any mountains I went over the hills. From there overseeing the ocean where I, in the clear sky, could see the Norwegian mountain tops. There was a thin layer of snow on the island cliffs making a perfect contrast to the blue ocean and sky. The high salt content and the currents keeps the water open even if has been cold for several weeks.
I came down on the other side of the hill in the small village Gullbringa. Typical for those small villages where the houses are squeezed between the rocks. Remains of quarrying, read more in a previous post, and fishing. Now taken over by summerhouses making it almost empty during winter. I made a slide show with music composed and performed by my son.
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My wife love to watch Master Chef on TV. I don’t know why because she rarely enters the kitchen. When the kids were small and I had to go away on a business trip the begged me, with tears in their eyes, to make lunch boxes. At one time I had to stay away for two full weeks. My wife then tried to do some cooking. She only managed to set off the fire alarm. From that day my, then nine year old, decided to do the cooking. She is a bit like the Swedish chef in the Muppet Show, if you remember that show. I can’t really understand what she say, and the kitchen is a mess. I suspect it is all an act, she is so much smarter than me.
Back to the Master Chef show. It started already in 1990 on BBC in UK, but has then been sold to over 40 countries. They broadcast some of them on Swedish TV. Master Chef UK, Canada, Australia, USA and Sweden. I sometimes sit down with my wife to watch but I get really stressed. The panicking music and the shouting, should be read with an Aussie accent “fouve minutes to goahh”! Start plating!
One thing that strikes me is the difference in the interaction between the contestants in the different countries. In Sweden it is very polite and tuned down. The critique from the judges is presented wrapped in cotton. I love Australian version, and the accent. The are all friends and “good on you, mate”. Really supportive and crying when somebody has to leave. The judges are still very sharp in their feedback, without putting anyone down. I like the Australian version best.
In the UK version the judges can give their feedback in a more blunt way. The contestants are very polite but the competitiveness shines through even if they keeping up appearances. The US version is really competitive and sometimes you wish they took away the participants knifes. It is much more back talking among the contestants. Much more about winning than developing to be able to become a professional.
They make all this fancy tiny plate dishes with strange names. Presenting them to the judges while the music builds up to a crescendo before the feedback comes. Relief or frustration, then a cut in scene with someone says they don’t want to go home. But, they miss their family! After the last cook down three wannabe chefs stands in a row to get the verdict while the background music is frantic. Builds up, builds up, wait for it, wait for it! Commercial break!
Back in the kitchen I do Swedish meatballs with spaghetti, semi-finished! I will never catch-up!
What about you, are you a Master Chef? Don’t forget to like subscribe and comment. Ha de Gött!
Are you finished, the waiter asked. He looked up with a surprised expression. No, I’m Swedish, he said. The waitress frowned and looked at him like he was a UFO. Turned on her heals, slapped the cloth, and walked away with a grunt. He looked at his dinner date with a face like a question mark. Why did she ask if I’m from Finland, he asked. His dinner date started to laugh. In fact she laugh so loud and intense that the whole restaurant stopped eating and stared at her.
Now people started to feel a bit uncomfortable and he just wanted to sink through the floor. Finally his native English speaking date calm down and could explain the misunderstanding. She signed to the waitress. Also she giggled when the language mistake was cleared and she could clean of the table. With a big smile she asked if they would like some Danish for desert.
Have you any fun story to share when you tried to overcome the language barrier? Please comment, like and subscribe. Ha de Gött!
The wind started to pick up. He looked at the clouds. The sun was breaking through as the clouds sailed past in the sky. Yes, this was going to be a busy day. As he walked up the hill he could see them coming. The carriages with grain filled jute sacks. Some had horses but mostly oxen. Even some carrying a sack on their back. As he approached the windmill there was already a line waiting.
He put in a big portion of snuff* under his lip making him showing his brown colored front teeth. He started to give orders to the farmers waiting in line to set the smock in place. On this windmill the entire top was turned to get the wings in the perfect position to catch the wind. Once in place he anchored it down and let the sail cloth out on the wings.
Now the wind picked up even more so he let the first farmer carry the sacks in to the mill. The mill had two parallel mill wheels so he could grind two types at the same time or just make it faster. After oiling all the shafts he released the breaks and the wings slowly started to turn. Today was good wind so they had to work hard to fill the grinders with grain and replace the filled sacks with ready made flour.
The windmill of Ulseröd is just a few kilometres from my home. It was built in 1900 and was in operation until 1939. During this period new technology made it possible for the farmers to do their own milling. This together with the urbanization made the windmills obsolete.
The windmill of Ulseröd was saved from decay by Tanum Local Folklore Society and Havstenssund Community Association. A major renovation took place in 2013 to 2016. Basically a bunch 70 and 80 year old men were climbing the the wings to replace the wood, windows and paint. Find out more here (in Swedish). In my opinion, heroes saving this piece of history for the future. Well done.
*I think I need to explain as I understand the word can mean something else in English also. I refer to the special Swedish use of fine grind and wet tobacco that some put under the lip. Like chewing tobacco but it just sits there.
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UlleHaddock 