Not that it matters what day it is, since every day are the same here. We're still at the same little village, and I'm wondering if we're moving here ? It's fine with me, just want to know 

Wednesday there was a fair in the closest town ASKERSUND, a small town with population of about 4000.  I got to ride around in my stroller. It's amazing how much attention I get sitting there...........people take a second look surprised I'm not a baby..............( Mom calls me her baby sometimes) and when I get real cocky and bark at dogs walking by, people look around trying to figure out where it comes from ................I think it's hilarious, Mom get annoyed.........

This is how Swedes makes American donuts, if possible even sweeter and even more gunk than we can think of, but at least they haven't put bacon on them yet....................what's wrong with bacon I say ?? ALL donuts should have bacon..

Mom and Birgitte tried these balls, I can't say anything about the taste, since I didn't get as much as a little crumb.........

This is Askersunds town hall

The town Askersund traces its origin from the 14th century. Despite its small size, Askersund is for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city, although Sweden nowadays defines a city as a locality with more than 10,000 inhabitants. To me it looks like every single person in this town is out and about today.

It amazes me how these guys from South America have found this small quaint town, but it looked like they really liked it, smiling as they entertained with their music

Actually, this is Moms favorite city, second to her puppy town up North..........the cobblestone town square, the harbor, the lake, the old wooden buildings makes it a very nice relaxing city in the summer. In the winter ? not so much ............

This building has an  history from 1784, and it started as a drugstore, than a shoestore, and now it's a place for "fika". Very quaint and rustic, with old furniture and a nice garden in the back to sit and enjoy a great cup of coffee..................and pastries to die for ...........

Great looking florescent green bike..........but riding on these cobblestones ............................lalalalallalalalaaaaaa

a 

yesterday it was raining hard almost all day, but in the afteernoon Mom and Birgitte went out to the forest looking for cantarellens............(not sure why I was left at home ?) ..............

this is what they came home with, and for what I heard it was AMAZINGLY  delicious............again, I didn't get a taste ??? ................the red stuff is lingonberries

Sarah didn't get a taste either, even though she tried to look this cute..............I sat on the chair and tried my hypnotizing look................which didn't work on these coldharted woman................I miss Ove

Not sure what will happen today, I sure hope we'll do something..............Mom is getting lazy, reading, knitting ............just sitting around............not even getting dressed before noon ...........

oh well..........what can I do ?

Now we're in a place I've been to several times before, I jumped out of Lucy and ran the fastest I could, hoping the door be open, and yes it was......................so here I come and straight to the fridge..........I didn't even have to use my hypnotizing powers.............Mom was so surprised and shaky she couldn't even hold the camera still.............

YES.....we are in the smallest village that smells a little funky, and that's because of a factory that employs 170 people and produce  bleached and unbleached kraft pulp. Town is  ASPA BRUK, and the pulp production started here in 1927

Mom spent a lot of time here as a puppy, and this time we were lucky to invite ourselves straight to a 70ies birthday party..............they served a sandwich cake, a typical Swedish tradition. It's the birthday boys daughter that's cutting the cake. Mom didn't give me anything to eat, but I was handed goodies when she wasn't looking, lucky for me, I could have starved to death........

Another Swedish tradition this time of the year is having crayfish parties , a tradition that started because crayfish harvesting in Sweden was, for most of the 20th century, legally limited to late summer. Today, the premier date in early August has no legal significance. Dining is traditionally outdoors, but in practice the party is often driven indoors by bad weather or aggressive mosquitoes. Customary party accessories are comical paper hats, paper tablecloths, paper lanterns (often depicting the Man in the Moon), and bibs. A rowdy atmosphere prevails amid noisy eating and traditional drinking songs . The alcohol consumption is often high, especially when compared to the amount of food actually eaten. It is considered customary to suck the juice out of the crayfish before shelling it.

Here Birgitte is showing some of their catch before cooking

Following day we came along to harvest the traps they had put out, and Lennart was the captain of the boat............

I nominated myself to the " First mate", and I heard no objections................not that I would care...

Here is a Beaver nest, and I looked and looked, but nobody home...............maybe they too were out looking for crayfish...........

A rowdy Beaver crayfish party would be fun to attend..........

There weren't many in the traps, and some were too small to keep, they had to be a minimum of 10 cm. 

about 4 inches

Since I was first mate, I had to keep an eye on everything, to make sure it was done correctly............

Mom didn't do one iota to help out, she just sat there and sunned herself ..............and sometimes restricted me from doing my work...........

back to the marina, and I tink Mom was relieved, since she get seasick in a bathtub

It was a gorgeous sunny day with not a cloud on the sky, but poff, all of the sudden water all over the car and a rainbow ??? ..........................Birgitte had driven through some strange kind of carwash that was put up for the people in the village....

Backat the house I finally got to say hello to the house cat.................she's Ok, but no Lilly

Sun is somewhere else today, so I suppose it'll be a "read a book in bed day"

later alligator

Believe it or not, we're still staying at the same place as yesterday, and te day before, and the day before...............I like it, it's relaxing .

I did hear something about moving today, but not too far, only a few miles North of here...........and that's fine too. I get new places to mark as my own..........

The Swedish west coast is famous for it's tasty fresh shrimp, so my people had a shrimp feast. I used to like them, but now when I saw them with the head and everything, I felt grossed out and didn't eat .................and that's coming from someone that eats shit, Mom says.............Don't knock it if you haven't tasted it, I SAY

we didn't do much yesterday, walked around town, and looked at some cliffs, and saw more funny pictures in the granite..................finally Ove is also inspired and start to see things ..........

Mom and Elvy did a little shopping

so many great looking boats in the harbour

Dinner is served..............

Salmon, potatoes,cauliflower, and a salad...............yummi

gorgeous roses every where

not much to tell this morning, don't think anybody besides me and Mom are up yet.................actually I'm not really up,up..............I just went out for a quick morning wizz............now Im back in bed

see you tomorrow.....

It's the beginning of another beautiful sunny day, Mom is sitting with her morning coffee, and I'm dictating this blog from my bed..............I'm not getting up yet.  Our company showed up on Sunday afternoon, and boy was I surprised................it was my buddy that I know how to hypnotize and his lady. ...............Yees they do have pretty good stuff in their fridge.

We had a great time Sunday, but Monday morning things didn't turn out too well............I was left to watch Lucy .........they went to a place called  "The Ark of the North", and it's like a zoo where dogs aren't allowed.

It's a place where they work actively with several population-strengthening measures by reintroducing animals to the wild. But for this to happen, the environments where they live have to be suitable. Therefore they're are also working to improve their natural habitats. One reason many species are endangered is simply that their habitats have been altered by man. For Nordens Ark Foundation, the conservation projects form the backbone of the important work they do.

This is how chipper the ladies were when they started the long walk through this huge place...

This is a great foundation, and their main goals are .

To contribute to work on saving animal species/breeds threatened with extinction through breeding and rearing, as well as by releasing animals into their natural habitats whenever feasible

To conduct research and studies into animal species/breeds at Nordens Ark, thereby fostering a greater understanding of them and improving their chances of survival.

The first animal they looked at was Red pandas. They live in temperate bamboo forests in the foothills of the Himalayas. Although actually a predator, the red panda has long since become adapted to a vegetarian diet and feeds mostly on bamboo. It is totally dependent on the bamboo forests where it lives. Today, large areas of forest are being felled, leading to the species becoming endangered.

There was a wetland area, with poisonous dart forgs, and they are wery colorful to warn others not to play with them...........that's cool , they're not like our Bufo toads that almost killed me as a puppy

This is an Amazon Milk Frog, and he spends almost his entire life in the trees. It even lays the eggs in small puddles of water up in the trees.  The "milk" in the common name comes from the milky fluid these frogs excrete when stressed.

The species are native to Eastern Surinam, Guyana, Colombia, Equador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.

Moms favorite color............

Here's a White Naped Crane, which look very similar to the noisy guys living in my hood...........except, these guys seem to wear headphones ??

These cranes live in wetlands and humid woodland. In April, the birds arrive at the breeding site and seek out the same partner as in previous years. They are vulnerable for extinction

The nest is constructed on damp ground at the wetlands’ edge and is built from dry sedges and other common grasses. The female lays one or two eggs. During the 30-day incubation period, the cranes aggressively defend the area surrounding the nest.

Their diet comprises insects, small invertebrates, sedge grass roots and other wetland plants.

The most exciting animal by far was The Pallas Cat, who lives in the cold and arid steppes of central Asia, where winter temperatures can drop to 50 degrees below zero. What threatens the species, however, is not the freezing cold, but human activities.

Its pray, mainly small rodents, are being killed by man, and its habitats are damaged by grazing and cultivation. The Pallas´s cat lives at altitudes between 1 000 and 4　000 metres above sea level. In areas where the winter snow cover exceeds 10-15 cm in depth the cat cannot move and hunt, due to its short legs. Thus, snow conditions limit the distribution range of the species. They were being fed dead rats and they looked  very ferocious...............not even close to Lillys sweet face.......these are cute in  different way Mom says

These kitties was so short and stocky, with very fat tails.  If they had been orange, they would have looked like Garfield

There were many more animals, leopard,lynx,wolf,reindeer, otters, owls just to name a few.......

and this is how the ladies looked at the end of their walk ...............time to come back and relieve me from my Lucy watch ..................

When they came back, Mom and Elvy put on bathing suits ???? That's NOT like my MOm ?? now what ?

I know if it's the beach they're going to I'll be back on Lucy watch..............NOT FAIR...............

Oh wow, I was allowed to come along to this beach ...................nice...........Elvy went in to the water. Mom didn't even dip her toes.....................too cold she says...I can't tell, I was never allowed to find out .....

Mom gave me a bath before our buddies came, and she like to keep me clean she says...............this campsite she didn't have to smuggle me into the shower in the middle of the night. They had a great dog bathroom..............  

I hate those dryers ............but they are very effective Mom says

Ove have ants in his pants ....................( not sure what that means, I've never noticed ) so he came to the beach with his fishing pole..............but no matter how much he tried..............there was no catch

It was pretty windy, a perfect day for sailing I thought, but maybe not this close to the cliffs ? This guy came in full speed, and everybody at the beach thought this can't go well......................but it did .....luckily....................one guy rushed to take down the biggest sail, so it went fine..........all other sailboats we saw came in by motor...................we all admired the sailing guy who was either crazy or a real expert captain.

the cliffs are so interesting to look at, and Mom and Elvy sees all kind of formations and pictures, and Ove just shakes his head ...............woman and their fantasies ? ..............I tend to agree with him..........

all I see is rocks to climb on or pee on.

In the evening Mom made choclate covered strawberries, and they were devoured in a second. I didn't get to taste them at all.....................Ove didn't even look at me, so I had no chance of using my hypnotizing power on him............

Well, all in all I had a good day, being left to watch Lucy, (take a nap) once in a while isn't all that bad.................

It's a new day, sky is blue, sun is up.............and time for my peeeee

see you later

and we are om top of the woooooorrld

well, kind of, we are right outside a small west coast town called SMÖGEN, and we're parked on top of the ciffs. Tonight will be our second night here...........it's a little windy up here, but the wiev is awesome...........

Mom says I'm jumping and climbing on these cliffs like a goat ............I think she means it as a good thing..................because I'm having a greeeeat time

I'm taking a break to lay down and to admire the  sun  down...................

This morning we were to explore two towns KUNGSHAMN and SMÖGEN, and off we went on the bike........ I totally enjoy these excursions we make on the bike. To relax laying in the basket, the sun, the wind in my hair, and all the smells............life is good......................and I think Mom likes them too, 

This is Kungshamn........

This place is gorgeous, but with one little problem.....................HILLS, and big ones.................Mom's huffing and puffing is not pretty................good thing she isn't smoking, she would be weezing too.....I try my best to ignore it and listen to all the beautiful sounds of nature instead.....

Still I'm a little proud of Mom to make it over this bridge, twice............it was a gorgoues wiev, not sure Mom looked that much..................she was just mumbling to herself as she carefully pedaled looking straight ahead.............I say it's no big deal, bridge is strong enough for both of us ..............ooh, That wasn't the problem was it ? right .......heights ......

Smögen  with 1,329 inhabitants, It is one of the liveliest "summer towns" of the Swedish West Coast, so the town population is much greater during summer month.

The community actually straddled several islands that lay so close together that the space in between has since been filled, and is now considered as a single island. The town is connected to the neighbouring town Kungshamn by Smögenbron.................the height of the season is now over, but it was still pretty crowded.

a very nice town to explore, there's fresh shrimp,and many, many seafood restaurants ............and they where ok with dogs, so surprisingly we didn't sit down for lunch ? Mom says she want's to wait for company.............oh ? who's coming ?.....................surprise Mom says

They seem to like dogs very much here, there's a lot of them ............and I bet they're all jealous of me for having a first class ride...

Kungshamn, was the town on the mainland side, and is famous for its fishing industry.   It is in Kungshamn where all products for Abba seafood are being manufactured and it has been that way all since around year 1920.

Tomorrow we're moving to a different place not far from here, and prepare for friends to come by.....................who is it ?  who is it? who is it ? ......................you'll see tomorrow...

Yesterday we got company from the RVclub, a lady who weren't that far from us came by, and that was cool.

We stayed 2 nights at this marina in HÖGANÄS, which was very nice and according to Mom just the right price. One of the walls was decorated with tiles made by visitors, and Mom absolutlely LOVED it........

maybe a future idea to decorate something in Florida.................it's a little like the quilt she once made where her friends was drawing a square each.

This was my favorite tile, it says happiness is a warm puppy....................well, I'm not a puppy, but I'm warm and make Mom happy every day.............right ?  

this was a gorgeous boat, but was parked so there was  noway to get a good picture

early morning picture of a fishing boat, water was like a mirror..............I didn't see it, I

snoooozed...........

As we were leaving Mom noticed this funny looking giraffe, so she had to turn around to get pictures..............

and what statue is complete without a pigeon on the top ?

Next stop was in a town named VARBERG, and since Mom knew this place pretty good, we went straight for the harbour, but there was only 4 spots for Rvs, and they were already taken, so we parked and went for a walk on the fortress.

Varberg Fortress was built in 1287-1300 by Count Jacob Nielsen as protection against his Danish king,who had declared him an outlaw after the murder of King Eric V .Jacob had close connections with King Eric of Norway and as a result got substantial Norweigan assistance with the construction. The fortress, as well as half the county, became Norwegian in 1305.

King Erik's grand daughter, Ingeborg, inherited the area from her father, King Haakon of Norway. She and her husband, established a semi-independent state out of their Norweigan, Swedish and Danish counties until the death of Erik. They spent considerable time at the fortress. 

The fortress was augmented during the late 16th and early 17th century on order by King Christian IV of Denmark. However, after the Treaty of Brömsebro in 1645 the fortress became Swedish. It was used as a military installation until 1830 and as a prison from the end of the 17th Century until 1931.

It is currently used as a museum and B&B as well as private homes. The moat of the fortress is said to be inhabited by a small lake monster. In August 2006, a couple of witnesses claimed to have seen the monster emerge from the dark water and devour a duck. The creature is described as brown, furless and with a 40 cm long tail...........

I'm pleased to walk on my own instead of being in my wagon on these cobble stones

For being a neutral country, Sweden sure have a ot of canons all over on their shorelines ???

They haven't been used for over 100 years Mom says............so why are there bodies still laying

around ? they don't look old ?

This must be the dinner bell ?

and this is the old bath house that was built in 1823,and it's cold water and a place where you swim naked, men and woman separate.

VARBERG has a tradition of many health spas, and this is the oldest. 

The wiev from the fort is awsome..............somewhere behind the horizon is America.............

Down there is Lucy waiting.................and it's lika a sauna inside ...........finally nice warm weather woohooo says Mom 

After exploringg this town, we kept on going North, staying in a place near KUNGSBACKA.We got closer to Gothenburg, but this morning we found out there's no showing at the Volvo factory on Fridays, so I suppose will just pass, since we're both sick of big cities.

all is well, miss you all

So we are parked at a marina again, this time in a small town called HÖGANÄS located on the west coast south of Gothenburg. Yesterday morning I woke up in a parking lot by a gas station. A horrrible rainstorm, thunder and lightning startd around 3 am. I was terrified, so Mom and I stayed in bed until 1 pm when the sun came out again.

Now we continued to a city named LUND, mom wanted to check out a church that had scared her so as a puppy. (Her parents took her to a lot of churches as a puppy ) and something very traumatic happened here, not in the church tough..................Mom lost Lucy !!!.........I was lucky to be in my wagon, but I heard Moms hartbeat and huffing as she anxiously walked the streeets looking for Lucy, thinking about the parking ticket she'll surley have since now we're way over the time limit. More than an hour later, there she was .............and no ticket...........puuhh

So the Lund cathedral is a huge "clump" overtowering everything in a town with no other tall buildings...........

As most of the Swedish churches, this one is also built a long time ago.....1085 is one date, but it's not exact...........

In 1234 the church suffered an extensive fire. When the church was rebuilt a lecture wall, new vaults and a new facade to the west were added. Many valuable artistic additions were done to the church in mediaeval times. In the 1370s, magnificent gothic choir stalls where installed in the church, and in 1398 a gothic, cupboard-shaped wooden altarpiece was placed in the main chapel. An astronomical clock was installed in the navee around 1424 and renovated many times.

The clock is quite interesting, it was was constructed c. 1380. After having been in storage since 1837, it was restored and put back in place in 1923.

On top of the clock there are two knights that mark the hours. The upper board of the clock is the astronomical clock. It shows, among other things, the different phases of the Moon and where the Sun sets.

The lower board of the clock is a calendar. With the help of it one can, among other things, calculate when different mobile religious holidays will fall, and on which weekday a certain date will fall. In the middle of the calendar stands Saint Lawrence, the Patron saint of the Cathedral, and by his side the Symbols of the four evangelists. The present board of the clock goes from 1923 to 2123, after which a new one will be needed so that the clock can still be used.

The cathedral's towers stand 55 meters high and are, with their pyramidical roofs, a landmark on the skyline of Lund and clearly visible from the surrounding wide plain. The towers are not open to the general public. The oldest church bell was made in 1513.

This is how I'm incongnito when I need to get into places I'm not allowed, I keep quiet and can still see what's going on to the sides  

under th church was the crypt, The crypt has remained largely untouched , and this was a scary place Mom thought as a pup.

The crypt's main altar is the oldest altar in the church and was consecrated on 30 June 1123 by archbishop Asser, it contain many sarcophagi, chests and grave slabs..............which could be spooky when you're little............

According to the Swedish tradition, when the man (a monk) returned and said the name, Jätten Finn became angry and wrapped his arms around a pillar in order to pull it out and destroy the cathedral. But at that moment he was turned into stone, and that is why there is a stone man hugging a pillar in this day. Another theory is that the carving represents the biblical figure Samson, who sacrificed himself by toppling the pillars of a Philistine temple.

not sure what gruesome story it is behind this statue 

The choir area is occupied by some finely carved and decorated wooden seats known as choir stalls, where the clergy sit, stand or kneel during services. The armrests to these chairs are carved wooden figures bending over crawling.................. and the purpose ???

Enough of these dark gloomy church buildings, out on the streets it's warm and sunny..........well, maybe not for all.............this has become a very common sight in Sweden. It's mostly poor Romanians begging for money. Most of them don't play an instrument, they just sit. Many Swedes claims it's organized criminals forcing them to, but so far there's no proof of that..........

At the The town square there was chantarellen,(yummi  says Mom ) vegetables and flowers to buy

When Mom finally found Lucy, we left town driving North, and ended up sitting in traffic for hours, (accident ) some drivers shouted out for Mom to put on coffee, since we weren't going anywhere.........

we could have...............but she didn't......

the country side is all farmland, and it's pretty .........

This marina is so close to the city we can walk,and there's a pub, andrestaurants here, so we might stay  for another night.............

Mom has a book she wants to finish, and I .................well, there's always time for a nap......