Life in Motala

Put the tent up in the garden one day so Ingrid and her friends could sleep outdoors. They had an enjoyable, noisy night.

Birthday ice-cream at Två Små Hus

Getting ready to make another sticky chocolate cake

Vacation at last! Spent the last night of July housewatching a big pile of kids, that all ended up coming back to our place to sleep.

Next day we went to Göteborg and then on to an island outside the city, to stay with old friends. It was a great trip!

Visingsö i an island in Lake Vättern, home of Kings of old. To get there you have to take a ferry from Gränna. Here you can see how close the island is to the mainland.

Ingrid on the ferry eating a lollipop.

We cycled 12 kilometres on wonky old rentals to see Sweden’s oldest castle ruin. Lucky ran beside the bikes, and then rode in a rucksack back. 

Back in Gränna we watched them make polkagrisar, the striped candy Gränna is famous for.

Tired after the cycling Ingrid decided she deserved another, really big lollipop. Two days later every sweet tastebud in her tongue was so over-worked they were inflamed and sore. She could hardly eat for a week. Keeping your tongue stuck to a stick of sugar for several days will do that. A lesson many learn after a visit to Gränna.

Enjoying a ride

I bought a wetsuit and had to wear it 15 mins every day to stretch it. Good thing there was a paddling pool.

Tricky standing still for a long time… British scouts being inspected by the RAF

Midsummer weekend we cycled from Motala (left dot) to Bergs slussar (right dot), slept over and then cycled back.

The first 25 kilometers to Borensberg, we cycled south of lake Boren, through pretty farmland tinged with blue from all the flax flowering

From Borensberg we followed the canal, which runs parallel to a river and a series of lakes. Ingrid taking photos of sheep the canal company uses to keep grass short

Getting tired now, almost at Berg (45 km from Motala)

The lower locks, complete with boys daring each other to jump in. I swam in lake Roxen instead, the big blue beyond.

Cycling back the next morning, 8am and absolutely beautiful and peaceful

The canal boat that takes passengers from Borensberg to Berg

Me about to have a morning swim in lake Norrby, after 15 km from Berg.

Back home in Motala, pretty tired, but not too tired for a swim at Varamon (Ingrid chatting on her mobile)

Göta Hotel, famous from a funny movie about Göta Canal.
I ate lunch there today with my colleagues:

Tourists on their way up the canal towards Motala

The passenger boat from Motala in the lock at Borensberg.

Near the start folds on Friday night

At the Finish on Saturday, 300 k later

over 17.000 showed up for the event despite the cold weather

walking up towards the town square after the ride

Getting ready for the events… signs go up everywhere diverting/warning traffic

building the Expo on the town square

Resting in the city park after the half-distance event (150 k)

Taking an afternoon off work and swimming with visiting friends

June started with some really nice warm weather and an ice-cream at Tvåsmåhus.

Everything is bursting with life and the air is thick with the smell of lilacs. In the evenings me and Lucky like to take a walk along the Path of Happiness. 

The path between the houses is so pretty

My favourite is the lupine, but the horse chestnut is gorgeous too

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Here we are on the train up to Stockholm. It only takes about 2 hours. I think we would go more often if it wasn’t so expensive.

Ingrid among the cherry trees in Kungsträdgården.

Most of the time we spent at the house of a long lost cousin of mine. It was really great to see her. She lives about 20 minutes from the center of town, in an old summer cottage area that is still wonderfully underdeveloped.

One evening we had a sauna and swam in the sea. The water was cold, but so nice.

The dock outside the sauna

My cousin cooling off

Stefan came by and we celebrated his birthday with a fondue. Real 70’s feeling.

Lying around in a pile laughing - classic fun

Friends eating some (dodgy?) fries at Örebro Adventure Swim, a great day out. We love going there!

They brought Tinky with them and all of a sudden Lucky was a pretty big dog. 

Playing our current favourite game Mystery at the Abbey

More downhill skiing, I really enjoyed it. Here we are having a fika break, watching the other skiers.

Ingrid had her first work experience at a café. No longer a career option in her book, though she is still thinking of applying for a summer job at our favourite ice-cream café.

A long winter is nearing its end. I am going to miss all the snow. I tried down-hill skiing for the first time and I loved it! It was almost as great as swimming. Here are more snow pictures:

Over 50 cm of snow has fallen! Walking to work in the morning is so nice.

Ingrid is getting bigger. In an aboriginal setting the great learning by observing period in life is over. Now at her age a human being would have assimilated most of the knowledge necessary to sustain his/her life and culture. We live in more complicated times, so I am content that she knows how to cook, do her own laundry and be kind to small children. She stills loves to take photos: