Monday morning and we're back at Lotta's house and Morre again. Sunday evening did we stop at a beautiful place under the bridge that leads from the island, planning to stay there, but the traffic noise made it impossible to relax, so Mom called Lotta and 2 hours later Mom was served a great omelet and I got the last of my treats she bought for me.

But now I'm getting ahead of myself again. Saturday Mom started to fix Lucy for the drive, fill water empty toilet and vacuum the carpet. Unfortunately, there's a problem with the potty, she has changed every rubber seal known, but  there's still a leak somehow. ..........crap (oh no there's no crap in there)

Anyway,we continued at a slow pace through the countryside of the island and enjoyed the bright yellow rapeseed fields. We also saw some grazing deer in the distance.

Finally, Mom managed to catch a picture of a swallow that sat down for 2 seconds to rest

There was a bicycle race going on,and I looked real hard to see if my Doctor was in it, but Mom said he couldn't leave all his patients in the USA to fly to the other side of the world to ride his bike. The bikers covered the entire road, so we had to drive real slow behind them, which was ok it gave us more time to look around. 

We drove to the biggest city on the island Borgholm, and spent the night at a cabin and fishing place where you can also park your RV.We were almost alone there, so I did get lots of time to run loose. In the morning, we went to see the ruin and made a visit to the Kings summer house.

The castle is today only a ruin of the fortress that was first built in the second half of the 12th century and rebuilt many times in later centuries. The castle was destroyed in a fire on 14 October 1806.

The construction of the original fortress was built on the Swedish east coast as a defense against enemies from the other side of the Baltic Sea. During the 13th to 15th centuries, additions and changes were made. For example, new towers were built, and a new and thicker wall was constructed. The fortress was damaged on a number of occasions during these centuries, including in 1361, when King of Denmark attacked Borgholm. Many castles and fortresses in Sweden were damaged as a result of the ongoing conflicts between Danes and Swedes. When Gustav Ericsson became Swedish king and the union was dissolved, he, together with the sons that followed him on the throne, invested huge sums of money in repairing these buildings. 

Some decades later, Sweden and Denmark fought each other in the Kalmar war. Borgholm Castle first, in 1611, surrendered to the Danish side but was reconquered by the Swedish side later the same year. The following year, after a siege of two weeks, the commander of the Swedish defense, Peter Michelsen Hammarskiöld, had to surrender. In accordance with the treaty that followed the war,  Borgholm was handed back to the Swedish.

The castle was in a bad shape after the war and it took until 1654 before a restoration and reconstruction would begin. This time, the castle was to be turned into a baroque palace. 

For a hundred years, the palace was left to fall into decay. On 14 October 1806, the castle was turned into a ruin by a fire that started on the roof of the north wing.

We didn't bother to go into the ruins, it's just a bunch of rocks, and the Swedes charge for everything. Money was better spent for a walk in the kings Sollidens garden.

We are too early for the roses to bloom, and almost too late for the tulips, which had almost finished blooming. Still a very beautiful park where we did get a ride behind a tractor to look at the property.

None of the princes or princesses were here because they were busy in Stockholm having a christening for another prince just born, they named him Oskar.

This is the children's playhouse, which has a working stove and running water? It must be hard to grow up as royalty.

Mom is not all that interested in the monarchy but enjoyed the gardens so we went for a long stroll and I loved the nice thick cool grass, which we weren't supposed to walk on, but it didn't say anything about rolling or resting on it.

Looks like Loreena Bobbitt has been here too ? good thing there's clever doctors who can stitch things back together.

This poor baby has lost both an arm and a leg, just like Mom does every time she fills the tank on Lucy. $90.00every time

This looks like one angry lion, so I approached it very carefully from behind.

Cornflowers are together with daisies and buttercups the traditional flowers in the wreath for midsummer celebrations.

This great Pyrenees mountain dog was so nice and calm, a good thing because one swat with his paw would have flattened me out to a rug.

A flower delivery bike full of geraniums named after princess Madeleine

This is the entrance to the guest house, guess they didn't have a lot of concerns about people in wheelchairs back then ?

getting back to Lucy we discovered how she was parked in. I can't wait to see how Mom plan to solve this.............and she did by driving straight into the cow pasture to turn around...........

Cows on the island have a very nice and relaxing life, they're free to roam, and the tags in their ears are some kind of chip that tells the milk machine how often they're coming in to get milked. It's all automatic, cow feels full and in the mood for a treat, so she goes to the machine and it gives her a goodie and empties her on the milk, and when done off she goes. There are grates on the roads so animals with hoofs can't cross, and you have to drive slow and give them the right of way.

They looked quite surprised at us driving by.

The island is known for the many windmills, they aren't used anymore, but it's a nice addition to the countryside.

it's now 3.30 PM and I have no idea what plans Mom has, not sure she does either ..............

The day is almost over so I guess it'll be more relaxing, reading, and crossword puzzling for her, and napping for me.

Maybe tomorrow we'll be on the road again.

All is well.

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