Driving North and as we're turning into a very small village I notice a smile on Mom's face, but also sadness?

This place is called Olshammar and is another of Mom's puppy places with 237 inhabitants in 2015 and probably fewer now.

It's located on the west coast of Vättern and was one of the first areas in Sweden where industrial activities such as sawmills were started and is the livelihood of the village.

Olshammar is one of the oldest industrial areas of Sweden. There were brickworks here already in the 13th century. The mansion was situated further down into the garden, towards the south.
The brickworks was in operation up until 1922, an epoch of nearly 700 years. Munksjö AB bought Aspa Bruk in 1917 and started the construction of a sulfate factory, which is still in operation........when the wind is right it doesn't smell so good here 

The adjacent Olshammarsgården is the birthplace of Werner von Heidenstam, a poet and Nobel Prize winner. Here is a small museum in the poet's birthplace. If you walk around with a guide you can visit both and take a look at the boat museum next to the church

here is an eco-park with 250 islands, where canoes and boats can be rented at Aspa Boatclub. You can make a wonderful walk in the nature reserve. Take a dip in the crystal clear water of Vättern something my Mom will not do because she says the water is freezing.

you can also walk the ancient routes through Tiveden's mighty primeval forests, where the monks and the local inhabitants went before us.

Here you will also find great nature along the cliffs of Lake Vättern or in the forests around Lake Fagertärn, the origin of the red water lilies.

As we were walking along I finally understood the sadness on Mom's face. Here are 3 people that have been part of Mom's puppy years that she can't hug or talk to anymore.

In Sweden, it has become customary not having a stone on your grave, instead, their ashes are strewed in a place where you can place a flower, sit on a bench and reminisce about years past.

This place is so well raked it's almost like you don't want to walk on the paths to mess up the gravel

Behind the manor, there are "the twelve apostles", twelve huge lindens.
The lindens were planted in the 1820th in the shape of an arbor. From about 1860 the trees were allowed to grow freely. When it was noted that the arbor then consisted of twelve trees, they were named "the twelve apostles". There will always be just twelve. If any tree goes bad, it will be replaced by a new one.

Many beautiful manors with adjacent stables bear witness to once upon a time bustling commerce here. They are now turned into catering halls for weddings and other big events

As much as Mom hates smoke, she couldn't help wanting to get a whiff of the caretaker's pipe because again it triggered some puppy memories. Pipes tobacco does smell better than cigarettes but is still not very healthy.

In the afternoon Mom and her friend went into town for food shopping while I watched Lucy ( which means napping)

It's only about a 20 min drive and they soon came back with shrimp and a bunch of other stuff that I didn't get to taste much of.

Mom introduced making patty melts and after reading a magazine recipe they made grilled cabbage..............good stuff they said but I got nothing because Mom said my stomach was a little upset????? I haven't noticed ?

This town called Askersund will also get invaded with tourist as soon as it get a little warmer and the vacations start.

Rhododendrons are budding and soon flowers will be huge

The swallows are a sign of spring and and their tweeting is wonderful but very difficult to catch with a camera since they are expert acrobat flyers.

peeking into this old boathouse it was obvious they had taken over the place as their home..............poop everywhere 

Everything is really great we're both loving every second of being in the country and where a dog can roam free............well almost free. Apparently, some wild boars had visited the garbage cans last night, and Mom said I do not want to meet them head-on. 

I'll end today's rant with a translated poem by Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam (6 July 1859 – 20 May 1940) a Swedish poet, novelist, and laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1916. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1912.

He was born in one of the gorgeous manors.

"Ensamhetens tankar" (Thoughts of loneliness)

I long for home since eight long years.
In sleep itself I've felt longing.
I long for home. I long wherever I go
- but not for people! I long for the ground,
I long for the rocks where as child I played.

all is well, wet kisses 

Henry