Again we're waking up in a new place that's like a paradise..............(wonder how many relatives and friends Mom has that live like this?)

They had chickens and a little baby was born while we visited..................

I made great friends with the man of the house. For some reason, it seems like I have better luck with hypnotizing men to go to the fridge and give me treats ? Mom says it's because men go there more often..............but who cares as long as I get what I want....

once again made a drive through the forest which seems to go on forever and ever around here, and the coolest part is that the sun never goes down.

first we saw tracks...................

than poop................

and finally, here's the cow watching us as we're passing by. Her fur is not very nice since it looks like she's trying to take the winter coat off.

this is a flower that eventually will become a cloudberry

and this is a house where the moose hunters live 

mosquitoes and spiders live here.............

a coffee pot like this one seems to be one of the most important equipment used here. It's black of soot

and according to Mom impossible to drink,but a delicacy for people living here 

there's only one river left here in the north that isn't expanded with power stations, and thankfully this is now a nature reserve.

I ended up staying in the car while Mom and her friends took a walk. bridges weren't made for my little paws Mom said. Some of the swinging hanging ones aren't for Mom either. She's a big chicken sometimes. Still the area is gorgeous, if it wasn't so late (11.30 pm) we would have stayed and made a fire because her friends really like that sooty coffee.

Today we'll be going somewhere else, maybe east a few miles ? Mom need to find a city because she thinks the computer has a broken fan since it seems to overheat and crash a lot ? You wouldn't believe the language she uses every time it crashes and my blog is lost. A lot of huffing and puffing starts while she starts all over again..................meanwhile, I take a nap

She finally understands the reason behind saving your stuff now and then...........

I'm sure she'll find a solution and we'll be happy again.

Many Thank Yous and kisses to our friends that have a great full fridge (at least it was when we arrived)

All is well  Buttons

Yesterday morning I was promised help to continue my story, but after my whizz and Moms morning coffee, she turned on the news and heard the news about what had happened so close to my Florida home. The rest of the day became very somber and Mom reading and watching news trying to make sense of it all.

There is no sense to this tragic event, and it's not what my blog is all about, so I'll continue where I left off.

Sunday we were lucky to get a ride from Moms nephew far into the forest to look for moose and to find  a very rare and protected orchid named Norna.

Mom was so impressed that our guide knew exactly where this flower was, and that with no paths or markings.

For some reason it seemed a lot harder to locate a moose ? We saw only one little cow who was standing on the road watching us .

This is a message to my buddy Max in Florida. I did take your advice to hunt down a moose on my own. 

I jumped it from behind, bit his neck and quickly chomped down all I could eat before getting stopped by Mom. ................burp...........true story ..........     

We continued driving on small roads that are made for the people working chopping down trees with their heavy machines which is a shame since not a single tree are saved. They do put down new plants, (Mom has been part of a team doing that years ago) but it takes years and years before it's a forest again. 

We made a stop at a gorgeous summer cabin and there I met some friends and was free to roam.....................what a great life these guys have.

While I was free to roam, Mom and her friends made coffee and sandwiches on open fire.I did get a small taste and it was real good. 

Oh yes, there was another little incident I wasn't planning to tell, but Mom is forcing me............while everybody was walking into the woods to look at the orchid, I was left alone in the car, and lo and behold there was this great tasting bologna left for me. Well, it wasn't for me they said, but nobody was willing to eat the part where my teeth has been, so I got more ( Great thing to know for the future) I'll lick it and it's mine

Mom showed her little fishing rod and tried it out, but it didn't work very well, despite help from guys that knows a lot about fishing.

mosquitoes was getting very aggressive ( according to Mom) so we continued on home.

The moss on the rocks looks like it's painted on 

Wind has died down and the water is like a mirror,

Adrian, Mom did take your advice not to go further north yet but mostly because she found out that this year it wasn't much snow on the wilderness road towards Norway so the novelty and the excitement would have been lost. 

 and we're now at another gorgeous place where relatives live, but I'll tell you more about that tonight.

On Thursday, the weather still stunk, windy and cold,so we mostly relaxed inside Lucy, and Mom painted more lady bugs for my blog

We were ready to continue our trip around lunch (we slept late because of late visiting the night before) and Moms cousin shows up and here goes blablabla again, then she invited Mom for lunch, and according to her it was delicious. A lot of moose, deer and other wild stuff. I'm pouting because nobody thought of bringing me any. Eventually, we continued our trip and Mom quickly got her punishment for forgetting my treat..............gravel road for miles and miles. boohoo to her

Driving very slowly Mom was hoping to see a bear or at least a moose, but all we saw was Santas deer on the loose. 

Mom's Dad has a connection to this church, and the location is very pretty, and in real good shape for the age.

Already in the mid-1800s was the old church too small when the ward 's population grew , and they decided to build a new church . 1867-1869 was the years of crop failure and famine, so construction does not start until the 1880s . All wood was felled in the vicinity of the church parish by the men , who had an obligation to do day labor by cutting timber for construction.

The church was consecrated on August 29 , 1886. At that time the whole building (including organ ) cost a total of 70 000.( $8 500) We passed this church that's located in the small town where Moms dad grew up. The church is the largest wooden church and has space for 2000 people , 1800 seated and 200 standing

We didn't drive very far because we once again went to visit a relative, and this time Mom was treated to more moose meat which she said was delicious, but the icing on the cake was the dessert. Ice cream and cloudberries, Moms absolute favorite, and there is a reason it's called the gold of the forest. Pain in the neck to pick, because they grow in wet mars land full of mosquitoes and no seams. Man of the house said he loved picking them and Mom had no shame she served herself seconds and thirds of this forest gold...........All I have to say is.... One of these days I will get a taste of moose.

We are now parked on a hill in the country, and I got to run around free as a bird and chasing deer, lets move here Mom, I like it here a lot Mom..............sure it's nice in the summer, but you'll freeze your a$$ of in the winter and it'll be dark she says............such a party pooper she is.

Mom made a movie of me, does it not look awesome ?

The view from our windows are amazing, deer grazing, birds singing and..........

This picture is snapped at 1.30 am, still pretty cold here but Lucy is keeping us warm and comfy. Today we're promised a tour into the wild forest and I can't wait to make friends with some bears......HA Mom says, you'll be their supper if we meet any..............such a party pooper she is.

All is well, miss you all

kisses from Buttons

Forgive me for napping while Mom is writing my blog, but it's very late and I'm tired, Mom has to stay up and wait for the washing machine to finish. (her own fault for starting it so late)

We are now at one of my Moms favorite camp sites named Kålgården camping (cabbage house camping ?) and this is the view from our front window.

We could have driven down and parked by the water, but it's so unbelievable windy so Mom made the decision to stay close to this house to get a little cover from the wind.

Before we left Aunt Ruth's house Mom Ruth and another lady are digging down potatoes hoping to get fresh potatoes  for the fermented fish they'll eat later in the year. It's a strange tradition that I experienced last year, and trust me the stench from that can is discusting, I wouldn't go close and defintley don't taste it, but Mom and hr friends seems to enjoy it.

There's a lot of churches in Sweden, but so many aren't used anymore so many are being sold and some people buy them and convert them into a home. Sounds cool to me, but what about the property around it ? That's usually a cemetery with a bunch of dead people. Guess that's not a good place for potatoes, or maybe it  is really good growing dirt there ? 

I got a much-needed bath and a haircut, Moms opinion not mine, although I must admit, when it's done I do feel a lot better.

It has been an extremely windy day, so after we left Ruths house Mom didn't drive more than about 40 miles before we stopped and took a nap. Mom had to stay very alert the whole time because Lucy wanted to follow the wind, which of course wasn't blowing from behind.

It's very cold again, so we are lucky Lucy is keeping us warm.

Here are a few picture from where we are now, and they are taken close to midnight, so as you can see, no darkness, and the best of all, it's too cold and windy for mosquitoes.

Mom thinks she's a cowboy eating directly from the frying pan ????

all is well

Saturday we arrived at Moms Aunts house and they sit around and talk and talk and talk both with their knittings, Aunt making socks that she donates, and what Mom is making I'm not sure.

It's very beautiful here, and yesterday we went for a very long walk, almost 5 miles, and Mom was so surprised I made it all the way. Once I laid down to rest so Mom carried me for a little while, but she says I'm too heavy so I continued on my own.

It was a very nice walk the view was amazing, and I met this herd of sheep that was so curious checking me out. Mom said the fence was electric so she held me back from going to visit.

People here decorate their mailboxes, some very different and fun looking

I'm wondering if this is an Evil Knievel in training place? you have to start early if you're going to be any good Mom says.

We were walking on a trail for training dogs, and here was a bar to jump up on  and balance, easy peasy I say, but it was way to tall for me to jump up on. 

Weather is nice and sunny, but it's freezing with temperatures between 40 and 50. but as long as it isn't raining there's always more sweaters, and in Lucy we have the heater on in the evenings. 

Mom's peppers froze in the fridge, and so did all her veggies. Guess when it's cold outside she better turn it down a tad.

This morning aunt and Mom once again went for a long walk, but I was put on Lucy watch wich I didn't mind at all since my paws still were exhausted from yesterday. Mom thought I was limping a tad, but I was just stiff and are feeling much better now. I am risking getting a bath later on because I've been running around in the woods, and Mom says I'm better than Hoover vacuum to suck up all the branches and dirt there is.

Today is Swedens national day, but you hardly notice, because it's not celebrated as we do it in the USA on July 4th. Swedes have not celebrated this day for very long, so I guess people don't know what to do. Prior to 1983, the day was celebrated as the Swedish flag day. At that time, the day was renamed to the national day by the Riksdag.
The tradition of celebrating this date began 1916 at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, in honor of the election of King Gustav Vasa in 1523, as this was considered the foundation of modern Sweden.

Some question the validity of this as a national holiday, as it was not observed as a holiday until decades later. However this event does signify the end of the Danish-ruled Kalmar Union, so in a sense it is a marking of Swedish independence, though the event occurred so long ago that it does not have as strong of a presence in the social consciousness as does, for example, Norway's 17 May

In 2005 it became an official Swedish public holiday, replacing Whit Monday. This change led to fewer days off from work (more working days) as 6 June will periodically fall on the weekend, unlike Whit Monday, which was always celebrated on a Monday. This has in turn, led to complaints from some Swedish unions.

Wonder if Dad and Lilly knows to haul the Swedish flag today ? 

ALL IS WELL

BUTTONS

Early morning and I really don't feel like getting out of bed, but as usual Mom gets up and make coffee and are always in such a hurry to make the bed, so I have to get up. Good thing I can go back to sleep after my morning whizz. For the first night, we're staying at a campsite so Mom could take care of the laundry and we have free WiFi, that works like a charm despite the fact we're now far into the mountain forests. 

We're in a small town nice and quiet and mountains all around, not like the kind we saw last year in Norway, but still pretty. Amazingly enough, they do have traffic lights here, and people wait for the green light before crossing the streets, despite no cars coming.

This is supposed to look like a bear but not quite sure ? It's all made of planks, but I think the artist made some miss calculations and had to prop up his head after he finished.

Driving along I could tell Mom was happy when she saw the snowcapped mountains like she's really at home. She says this is pretty but under no circumstances would she be smiling if she was here in the cold and dark winter. There was nowhere to pull over for pictures of that, but we did stop at a stream in a place called Noppikoski, a name that sounds funny to Mom so she kept repeating it for me .....ha

This river is about 70 miles long, and in the old times they used to send the logs down to the coast by 
floating them down stream.
 Here at Noppikoski is a narrow passage and a waterfall, so there was a battle in this section and it caused 
some concern about logs getting stuck.There are many stories about the timber getting stuck and forming big stacks here during the 
floating operations . Once, in the early 1900s ther was a hughe stack of more than two hundred thousand 
logs here. A man with the nickname "The Beak", was summoned . He was a specialist in how to 
blow timber stacks apart.
 Just when he was at the bottom of the river channel and loading the dynaminte, the timber began to move.
 All except "the Beak" made it to saftey. He was hit with a large stone and disappeared in the stream.
 He got up again , but a log hit him in the back and everybody thought that it was the end of him. 
A moment later, however, the spectators see how "the Beak" crawled up on the shore, bruised and wet.
 He went to the hut , changed clothes and went back to work as if nothing had happened .Don't know the truth about this story , but it's a little amusing.

   
Driving along in a slow pace taking in all what nature offers, hoping to see a moose or a bear or
or something wild..........but no such luck
Here's a swamp, but no gators here.......

   

This is a spot where you can take a break, fish and cook the catch on the fire. It's so peaceful and the best part
no mosquitos yet. There's plenty of pollen though, makes it a little tough on Mom, but she'll 
have to choke it up.

  
   

    

   

After we set up camp, and Mom loaded the washing machine we went for a walk along the river,
it was a gorgeous evening.

    

   

in this little town, they have a charge station for cars, looks like something from a sience fiction movie
but soon a reality in many parts of Sweden.

        

    
Now I'm caught up in my story, and it all happened while I was taking a nap. Later today
we'll continue the drive north, to visit with Moms aunt.
All is well, miss you all.
Buttons

Once again Mom is giving me the excuse of no WiFi where we have been and yes I know her modem does not work well at Lotta's house. There's a lot of nice little birds at her house.This guy lives where we park Lucy, and it's very difficult to get a picture since they are such quick flyers

We stayed there waiting for the mailman hoping he'll bring the letter from the bank Mom needed and he did, so with the new card in hand we waved goodbye to Lotta and Morre and continued north.

Of course, we had to stop to see if "our"filly was running around outside yet.Hard to tell who is who now

Driving in the country there is a shortage of manned gas station, so you need to use a card with a pin code, so with the new card in hand, there was no anticipation of a problem as we pulled into a pump. There was, pin don't work. Lamp showing low fuel level turned yellow, and we're in the middle of F&^#% woods. Mom waved down a guy on a moped asking him where the closest manned station was, ca.18 miles away was the answer, but not in the direction we were going. Mom expressed her disappointment over and over with words I can't repeat here, it would upset my Buddy Max. We did this detour, Mom driving very gently, and sitting very light in the seat hoping there'll be enough fuel. It was.

Stopped to take a nap at the big horse

Mom's uncle had one of these exactly the same color, so she got a  little nostalgic

Bank issue have to be resolved, so we must head to next big city, which we did. I watched Lucy while Mom went to the bank, and the problem was an easily fixable misunderstanding. Knowing Mom she probably ripped into the bank lady anyway so I'm glad I was put on Lucy watch.
In the evening, we visited a place who had 2 cats, neither interested in making friends so I took a nap while Mom was eating strawberries drinking champagne and chatting with friends. She had forgotten her camera again.

While we were gone somebody forgot the meaning of mine or yours, but Mom didn't notice so we aren't really sure..........but highly suspicious.

Following day, Elvy came with us for a ride in Lucy. I gave her my seat, and we had some nice relaxing time at her summer place.

Mom didn't really cut grass with this thing, it's mostly a pose showing off .....

Elvy digging in the garden

When Mom sees this, she's daydreaming about being a kid again 

All is well

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.