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S =Stockholm D =The province Dalarna (the dales)
S Christmas motif by Carl Larsson who once lived in the village of Sundborn where Kerstin and I also lived when you, Murdo, visited us.
Click here for another Larsson painting.
Click here for another Larsson painting.
S Mother Cayenne and daughter Jasiri in the Cow house field, Januari 2019
S Oh yes, Jasiri actually knows how to push the green light button. (Cayennes daughter)
S Ludvig 25
S A pale february sun lights up our home street
S Just outside the far end of this tunnel, the prime minister of Sweden was murdered 1986
S A wan March day at Ropsten bus station heading for the gym.
S Evening atmosphere in the lights of the street.
S Why must all new buildings be ugly?
S Spring at last
S Wiew from the Vanadis grove
S Cayenne on her climbing tree
S Only one beatiful old brick house was left between these ugly concrete blocks
S Table jumping on command
S Table jumping on command
D Ghost dinner. First a starter
D Starter and snaps taken standing as usual
D Fortunately, the Tidomaten (time clock) remained when club champion Herbert filled with horror found that he forgot to clock out when he went to Kashmir 24 years ago. Now he has clocked out. Pity there is no one who cares.
D Cheers dear brothers
D Long evening. A lot of talk. Absolutely no mendacious stories. Cheerful laughter, and sad, when we remember lost comrades.
D Breakfast for us who stayed overnight
D Bread, milk, yogurt, muesli, jam, juice, eggs, cheese. A breakfast for men.
D View from the balcony of the mess
S I call the image "Two ridgebacks". You yourself have to figure out why.
S Cherry blossoms in Kungsträdgården (King's garden)
S More obedience training
S I bought a new camera and this is the first image, shot from the hip on the way home from the store
S Saturday in the Lill-Jan forest
S Saturday in the Lill-Jan forest
S Once upon a time this was a hay market. It is still called The Haymarket. The blue house is the Stockholm Concert Hall
S On the way to my gym I pass the Stockholm gasworks. The beautiful old brick buildings are now made into conference rooms and offices etcetera
S Still on the way to my gym I now and then bike over the old train-, bike- and pedestrian bridge to the island of Lidingö
D Exciting barbecueing on April 30 with Lars and Karin i Falun
D Out of the smoke eventually came a tasty lunch
D Karin prepareing starters before dinner
D The big red house once was ours, we left 25 years ago for Stockholm.
D May Day Fair. We call it "Valborg Fair" and celebrate it with big fires on April 30 in the evening. This bonfire is next to the copper mine in Falun.
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Sorry. No image here.
S Female Great Crested Grebe on the nest
D Murdo, do you remember the sauce you got for the moose roast? You slurped it all without knowing it could be just a little toxic.
Morel sauce is sauce for Nimrods.
Morel sauce is sauce for Nimrods.
S Left arrow: my gym. Right arrow: I discovered that there lives an old friend, colleague and cadet fellow that I haven't met for 45 years. Now we have met.
S I like the perspective of railroad tracks
S Stockholm harbor and oil terminal. View along the bridge between Stockholm and the island of Lidingö
D Dog show in Leksand
D View from the exhibition site over a bay of Lake Siljan towards the village of Grytnäs
D Our skilled breeder Pernilla shows Cayenne in the ring
D Cayenne and Pernilla captured a bow. Reserve Certificate.
D Tanning toes
D Last winter, there was a lot of heavy and wet snow that destroyed many young trees
D Finally midsummer. Karin and Lars are with us at our summer place as usual. 47 years! They have missed only once because of Middle Eastern service.
D Traditional leaf portal
D Midsummer outdoor lunch (and later on dinner) requires several types of snaps.
D Several types of herring, egg halves with caviar, cheese, butter and bread, beer, snaps,"Jansson's Temptation" and melon. Sometimes life is fair.
D Afternoon coffee with strawberry topped cream cake. Maybe a small glass of punch.
D Lars in his standard position for scrubbing potatoes for dinner
D Just like last year it was so windy that we couldn't grill in our fixed outdoor grill. So we set up the portable grill in the gate just outside the privy door.
And no, I didn't have a gallon bottle of Bushmills but with a little help from Photoshop it was easily arranged. I still favour Bushmills.
And no, I didn't have a gallon bottle of Bushmills but with a little help from Photoshop it was easily arranged. I still favour Bushmills.
D An amusing evening in the gazebo
D A lone lantern on the other side of the lake
D A man and his ridgeback on the ridge
D Scanning the shore
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D Homeless Romanian and other beggars without a residence permit can be found also in the countryside
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D Not jumping this time but wading over the crayfish creek
D There is always one more stone to break out of the earth
D "Viking raid" by the famous artist Carl Larsson (1853-1919)
I shot the picture at a wonderful exhibition of Zorn's and Larsson's paintings.
Click here for the Larsson painting above
I shot the picture at a wonderful exhibition of Zorn's and Larsson's paintings.
Click here for the Larsson painting above
D At the mountain Gesundaberget slalom hill. Why all these skis remained there I do not know.
D View from mountain Gesundaberget over Lake Siljan towards the island of Sollerön.
D An old transformer house. There are not many left because they often burned down after lightning strike. They are called "Daldockor" (Dalarna dolls).
D Lars brought his son and grandson for a couple of days fishing.
D Gone fishing
D And fish he got
D Lars & Karin 1971 and 2019
S Tilda turned 21 so I invited my three girls to lunch in the Observatory grove.
S Posing for grandpa's camera
Sorry, no image here
D Rough and rugged going. This is where Cayenne and I take our daily promenade. The inland ice lost its temper here.
D Again. Evening by the lake. I just love those sunsets.
D Loons
D More than 50 years ago, the orienteering club made a training map. Crosses were painted on a couple of hundred stones in the forests.
Apparently, quality paint was used. I have such a map.
Apparently, quality paint was used. I have such a map.
D This time jumping, not wading, over the crayfish creek.
D Here we are on a high ridge at Fisklösen (No Fish Lake). The eastern edge of the ridge is very high and vertical.
D You can't find any good photography site that really shows how high and steep the ridge is. But from an aeroplane it is possible.
D Now and then I go to the airdrome in my native place for a tour around the coutryside.
D I can see my boat
D In the lake next to ours is a long and narrow cape. More about it further down or click here.
D And here we are again at the steep ridge.
D Red arrow in this and next picture show my childhood home.
D One morning in 1978, my mother woke up and pulled up the blinds. The church that she had seen every morning for more than 35 years was burnt down! The fire brigade did not need sirens during the nightly call. The church was rebuilt.
D And there is the airdrome again
D Touch down
D No, I was not the pilot. His place is in the back seat.
We flew without side window and door to facilitate photography
We flew without side window and door to facilitate photography
D The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light 60 hp aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. It has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. Many of them are still flying.
D Cranes
D When we don't walk we bike
D Report
D If you don't own land, build your house on water
D We call them farmer pupas (chrysalises).
From each of them a new farmer emerges in the spring.
From each of them a new farmer emerges in the spring.
D Rural bus stop
D Sundborn. This old laundry house on the Sundborn river was once owned by Kerstin's parents. Now pottery is sold here.
D This plastic swan once belonged to an old lieutenant-colonel. Two young officers (my friends) were driving him mad when they shot at the swan with a .22 caliber rifle.Oh lovely, crazy youth years.
D Still in Sundborn. Here, a hundred years ago, an unmarried lieutenant-colonel lived with his sisters. Nothing was thrown away, everything was saved. Today the house is a museum including a well-preserved and beautiful 19th century garden.
D A power station can be quite beautiful. This one was built in 1905 in Sundborn.
D Kerstin's sister's birthday is celebrated
D At the groomer
D Here I drag home a new flagpole from the forest. Parts of the old one can be seen in this picture.
D A floating bridge in Gagnef in the heart of Dalarna
D This mill by the Västerdal River was built in 1869
D Kerstin and Cayenne at the mill
D A log circular saw and a DC generator were eventually added to the mill. The generator supplied luminous power to the neighboring village until 1940
D You could probably let in the water again and start grinding
D 150 years old machinery
D Hydropower to the mill came from this 300 meter long canal upstream the river, built in the river by hand, stone by stone
D Summer evening by the lake
D 92 years ago, my father left his native place on this railroad and in that particular direction to emigrate to the United States.
About 50 years later, I did as well; to join the regiment in Falun.
About 50 years later, I did as well; to join the regiment in Falun.
D In the lake Gensen, next to our lake, is a long and narrow cape. We go there at least once a year.
D At the tip of the cape
D Just outside the tip of the cape
D Hey Mistress! Wait for me !
D A quiet summer evening, for once without mosquitoes
D This snow plow used to rest here over the summers but now it rests here forever
D Here was once unusable marshland. Some today unknown person dug out the morass and cultivated it. Today the forest has conquered the painstakingly conquered earth, but the ditches can still be discerned
D Another gazebo and another lake
S The Kaknäs tower (erected 1967) by the Cow house field (where dogs may run loose) is the center for TV and radio broadcasting in Sweden.
S Kerstin and her birthday cake
S Kerstins opens birthday presents
S My training buddy Anders. Twice a week we struggle in the gym.
S Another morning at busstation Ropsten on the way to the gym
S 50 years ago we became officers. Here we pose on the castle stair at the Military Academy.
S We celebrate every five years and always start by watching our lousy but oh so funny course film. Here we can see my friend Lars swill a Whiskey in 1969.
S We gather in the castle chapel for an oration to the memory of lost comrades.
S A military band plays happy music while we old warhorses sip on a beer (or three).
S The weather was good so the afternoon beer could be taken in the inner courtyard.
S Dinner in one of our old classrooms
S Long evening in elegant rooms. A lot of talk. Absolutely no mendacious stories. Cheerful laughter, and sad, when we remember lost comrades.
S The next day we gathered on the Ship's Islet (Skeppsholmen) where one of the comrades gave us a guided tour of the navy's old domains.
S Our guide and friend Claes. In the background we see that as early as the 18th century, ugly concrete blocks were built. (the Royal Palace).
S The Navy left the area many years ago and the three-tailed war flag was hauled down. The locals protested so nowadays the military symbol sways there around the clock (floodlit at night)
S Our anniversary meeting ends with a lunch at an outdoor restaurant. The sun always shines on us when we celebrate.
D Back to the serenity by the lake. The bright summer nights are gone, but you can still hear the occasional ghostly scream of a lone loon over dark water.
D The morning mist clears
D I like to photograph spider webs with dew drops.
D The lake is smooth. The weather is crisp but the sun warms nicely on your back.
S Back in town. We visit Bistro Ellen where the young ridgeback Roffe spends his days. A cup of coffee and then a walk with two dogs.
S A walk in the Haga park. 200 years ago a beatiful english park, today more of a natural park, perfect for dog walks.
S Selfie. I saw myself in a reflecting window. I blame Cayenne for what lies there between her and me.
D Me and my forest companion puff after a steep climb.
D Our beloved house in the wilderness
Yes, I know. I'm a nerd.
D Dog show in Sundsvall. Breeders class, all four dogs from our breeder's kennel.
S What is this?
S It is one of many beautiful brick buildings of the former veterinarian university. This building, of course, was the dog department.
D Autumn is attacking. Time for ghost lunch in Falun.
D Ghost lunch in the mess in Falun is arranged once a month and I can rarely attend. 250 km one-way is a little too long for a lunch (but not for dinner twice a year).
S Panorama from the Haga Park (four merged photographs). Click on the image for full screen view.
The copper tents (blue) were built for a mad king to resemble a Roman war camp.
The copper tents (blue) were built for a mad king to resemble a Roman war camp.
S When Mistress has disappeared in the forest edge over there
S One more
S
I pass the Lidingö Bridge twice a week on my way to the gym. There used to be a raft bridge and from 1913 a pontoon bridge that both could take light car traffic.
S In 1925, a bridge was built for local trains, bicycle- and pedestrian traffic.
In 1971, a new steel and concrete bridge was built with three files in each direction.
In 1971, a new steel and concrete bridge was built with three files in each direction.
S Old ticket kiosk between the railroad and the bycykle part. Until lately you could pump your tyres here, see the hose on the wall.
S Bicycle- and pedestrian part
S Now the 1925 bridge will be replaced with a new one with approximately the same capacity.
S I follow the bridge creation with interest.
S Police strike outside our living room window and search a car for drugs and weapons
S Not much of a winter but it was a lovely morning.
Fellow hunters take a break to drink coffee and burn sausages
One elk
Two elks
Thre elks
My old friend and colleague Per-Arne and his two sons
D "Little Christmas" in our officers' mess, which still exists 20 years after the disbanding of our regiment.
D Main course is a classic Swedish Christmas smorgasbord
D The dessert consists of rice porridge with milk, sugar and cinnamon. Wormwood snaps and Christmas brew fit well.
D No snaps without a song
D Emotional duet without any self-criticism ......
D ......while December darkness lowers over the city and the water
S A few days later it is time for Christmas lunch with one of my friends in the Tuesday club
S The Tuesday club usually lunches at the Military Society, a private officers' mess in Stockholm
S The members of the Tuesday club are former officers, active, reserve or conscript officers, of my old regiment. We are all of respectable age.
