Skywatch Friday

 

Wednesday, 10 June, 2026 (21:25)

Thursday, 11 June, 2026 (22:40)

Linking to Skywatch Friday

The Gentle Approach

or "When you feel like quitting"...

Here is an example of a YouTube video by the "PT guy" I mentioned at the end of my post yesterday. I think in this video he pretty much sums up his general "attitude", which is what has made me also try to practice some of his advice in other videos about gentle movements and exercises etc. 

- Gentle Approach
- Aiming Low
- Remember Your "Why"

 

 

I Walk in Beauty

 

A rhododendron tree of unusual colour - in the old cemetery.

 

"Now I walk in beauty. Beauty is before me. Beauty is behind me. Above me and below me. Around me and within me."
- Traditional Navajo. 

 

Some of the purple rhododendrons that were first in bloom are already fading and dropping a lot of petals to the ground; after a rather windy and rainy week. Others are still in their prime, though:

 

Because of frequent downpours, I haven't been straying far from home this week. Yesterday I had the laundry room booked in the afternoon and did not go out. Today was delivery day (from the supermarket), but they came an hour earlier than usual, and after lunch I braved a half hour walk around the cemetery and managed to get back dry...  

 

I'm still using my walking stick when I go out, but in the cemetery I sometimes practice keeping it "off ground" for a while now and then, when walking on smooth paths without too much debris. In certain situations, like on uneven ground, walking downhill, or crossing streets, I still feel need of it, though. - And when crossing streets etc, I also kind of feel that it serves to tell drivers and other pedestrians not to expect me to be able to hurry! 

 

A couple of months ago, a friend whom I haven't seen in person since last summer, ended a text message with hoping that I have "a good physiotherapist"... I didn't find the mental energy just then to explain that I don't "have" a PT in the sense of meeting one at my health care center. However, that's not the same as lacking advice about useful exercises. These days, you really only have to google "knee problems" or "knee bandages" once, and if you're also using Facebook, they will immediately start feeding you not only daily commercials for knee sleeves etc (how many do they think one person needs?!), but also physiotherapist videos. Some of those just annoy me, but some have actually proved helpful. Besides the exercises as such, I find that it's very much a question of the PT's "attitude"... My favourite so far is one British guy whom I'm actually following now (while others still just keep turning up anyway). If anyone is curious, you can also find this guy on YouTube: his name is Josh Trevorrow. (I might try to share some video here another day, but just now I'm too tired for the technicalities.)   

The First Week of June

 

The first week of June offered rather "mixed" weather, with high risk of showers most days - so I've mostly been keeping to short walks. On Wednesday 3rd June, I managed a walk into town for a few errands and back again without getting wet, though. 

 

On my way  home, I passed by this really massive hedge of purple rhododendron in the park (photos above and below):

 

Besides stocking up on tea from my favourite tea shop, and a few minor things from the pharmacy - all of which I managed to fit into my small backpack - I also visited a flower shop to buy two flowering pelargoniums. Maneuvering a walking stick with one hand these days, one extra bag is as much as much as I can manage!

As I'm not (at least not yet) sitting on the balcony much, I placed the pelargoniums indoors for now. One in the living room (above) and the other one in the kitchen (below).

 

 

 

This time of year, I have a very green view from the spot at the kitchen table where I always sit - for example at breakfast. 

 

I bought a new black tea blend with strawberries, mango and lemon in it to try out. (I like it!) (A direct translation of the Swedish name to English would be "strawberry straw"...) 

 

Thursday afternoon was laundry day for me and I don't think I went outdoors at all - but from the laundry room down in the basement I could enjoy this "different" view of the rhododendrons outside (through a small window high up on the wall):

 

 

Friday the 5th was rather rainy, but dressed in a raincoat I managed my usual "recycling walk" + a visit to a small shop on the way back to buy some fruit & veg. (Fresh strawberries included! I think probably Dutch rather than Swedish, though.)

 

6th June is Sweden's National Day and a public holiday with  traditions attached. There are usually celebrations in the city park in the afternoon and I assume that was probably the case this year as well. The weather that afternoon also turned out rather good. But personally I didn't quite feel up for a walk into town just to mix with crowds of people this year. So I just went for a quiet stroll on my own in the cemetery, where the azaleas were still in full bloom:

 

 

 

 

And in the evening I watched parts of the national celebrations in Stockholm on TV. Below is an official photo I copied from the royal family's website, of them traditionally joining the crowds at the open air museum Skansen in Stockholm:

Princess Madeleine and her husband Chris O'Neill; Prince Carl Philip with his wife Princess Sofia; King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia; MrAndreas Norlén (Speaker of the Parliament), Crown Princess Victoria with son Prince Oscar and husband Prince Daniel. The queen and the princesses all wearing a national folk costume in yellow and blue (the colours of the Swedish flag).

Busy times for the royal family just now, as the King and Queen will also be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next weekend. (They got married 19th June 1976, but as in 2026 that date happens to be Midsummer Eve, the official celebration will be held the weekend before.) 

 

Here We Go Again...

 Troubleshooting, part XWZ (...sorry, I lost count...)

 

 

(Re-using an AI-created image from 2024.)

I'm back in communication with my printer/scanner. 

Since my last round of trying to fix it, I've been suspecting that the problem must have something to do with an old unfinished printing job mysteriously stuck in queue, and refusing all attempts to just remove it the usual way (via the printer app).

 

Today, I first tried uninstalling and re-installing the printer; but that didn't fix it either. So... then I let AI guide me into mysterious chambers I wouldn't have a clue where to look for on my own; and eventually, having emptied one such folder of four files that I had no idea what any of them was - "abracadabra", the printer was immediately willing to both print a test document, and to scan a postcard... Phew! 

Unfortunately, having finished that job, I discovered that in the process, I had instead managed to lose contact with my File Explorer. It had decided to follow the example of my Firefox browser recently, and shrink to a size so small that it's useless (as I can't see what to click on). I suspect it did that in revenge, to punish me from consorting with AI and getting encouraged to fiddle with files and settings a normal non-tech user isn't supposed to dare muck about with... 

While the Firefox window problem could be fixed by uninstalling and reinstalling that browser, I'm not sure that procedure can be applied to File Explorer. (?) However, my new chum AI assures me that there are alternatives to File Explorer to be found. I think I'll have to read up a bit more on that before I try it, though.

Meanwhile, I think I have at least figured out how I can reach my documents and photos in other ways. So for the moment, I'll take the Scarlet O'Hara (Gone With the Wind) approach to further troubleshooting: "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow." 

 

Postcards from a Stranger - (Audio) Book Review

 

Postcards from a Stranger by Imogen Clark
Audio book narrated by Henrietta Meire
(10 hrs and 11 min) (2018)

Cara grew up with her father and brother, and doesn't have any proper memories of her mother, who died when she was just around 2 years old. As an adult, she's still living with her father, who now has Alzheimer's; while her older brother, Michael, lives in London and has a family of his own. Cara has a skill for dressmaking, and runs her own business from home, designing wedding dresses; which also allows her to keep an eye on and be at hand for her father. In the long run that all gets a bit too much for Cara, tough; but then she manages to employ a qualified nurse to help her father in the daytime.

One day, Cara happens to find a stash of old postcards in the attic. The cards, from various corners of the world, are addressed to Cara and Michael, sent regularly every year until Cara's 18th birthday, always with the same message. The sender is anonymous, but Cara starts thinking that it feels like the cards could be from her mum - if not for the fact that the cards are all from after her mum died...

Cara's father is too deeply lost in his disease to be of any help, so Cara tries talking to her brother about it. But Michael says he does not know anything about the cards - and obviously they can't be from their mum, as she was already dead when they were sent.

Cara can't let go of the mystery though. She finds out that her mother had a sister, now living in America, and actually flies over there to try and get in touch with her aunt.

Even this does not seem to unravel the mysteries involved, though.

Somewhere half way into the story I began to have some suspicions of my own about the outcome in the end... But as it turned out, I too was on the wrong track.

I'm not going to reveal any more, but I got quite wrapped up in this book while listening to it. (It was another one included to listen to for free in my Audible membership. Seems to be the only one of hers included there for free, though.)

The author's page on Audible says:

Multi-million copy bestselling author Imogen Clark writes contemporary book club fiction about the hidden truths within families—and the consequences of uncovering them. Her novels have topped the Amazon Kindle charts eight times and are now translated into twelve languages, reaching readers worldwide. Originally a lawyer, Imogen left her legal career to raise her four children before returning to her first love—books. She studied English Literature part-time at university and soon began writing stories of her own. When she’s not writing, Imogen is usually planning her next adventure. A passionate traveller, she finds inspiration for her novels everywhere from Yorkshire, where she lives with her husband, to the far corners of the globe.

When I tried looking her up in Wikipedia, I just found an author with the same name who lived 1858-1936, though!

Books I Read/Listened to in May 2026

 

The Saint Mary's Cipher by Anna Elliott and Charles Veley
No 9 in The Homefront Sleuths Cozy Mystery series
Release date 2026-04-27
Audio book narrated by Iona Campbell (9:50 hrs)

Introduction from the Audible website: 

Palm Sunday brings spring to Crofter’s Green and a deadly secret. When a postal van crashes outside the Cozy Cup, Dorothy agrees to hold a registered parcel for the shaken driver. Minutes later, the parcel vanishes and the postman is found murdered. The only clues are an address in London and a faint cipher that points back to St Mary’s Church.

As Alice, Blake, Harry, and Evie follow the trail, the Homefront Sleuths uncover a chilling wartime plot that could leave the village in ruins. With blackout-darkened church bells, a father’s fate hanging in the balance, and a wedding at risk, they must stop a ruthless local ring before the first bombs fall.

My opinion: I've listened to all 9 books (so far) in this series, in order, in four months, becauseI found them included in my Audible membership for free - but am not sure how long that will last... I wouldn't be able to re-tell the plot in each individual book/mystery, but the characters are likeable, and the books have been entertaining enough to listen to. The setting is an English village in the early 1940s, during the war. (The events in the first seven books all took place during 1941, while with No 8 we moved into 1942 - and as you can see in the introduction for No 9, that one starts at Easter 1942.) 

I assume the series will continue... Whether I'll also continue to listen, probably depends on if it will also continue to be included among my "free" titles!

 

In the time of Five Pumpkins by Alexander McCall Smith
No 26 (!) in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series
Release date 2025-09-04 
6 hrs 54 min

Introduction from the Audible website:

The rains are coming, but not just yet. When they do, there will be green shoots of growth throughout Botswana. Pumpkins will flourish – particularly those of Mma Potokwani, matron of a children’s home and old friend of Precious Ramotswe. Mma Potokwani and Mma Ramotswe have many other things to talk about, including a new friendship that Mr J.L.B. Matekoni has struck up with Mr Freddie Mogorosi, a prominent figure in the motor trade.

In the meantime, Mma Ramotswe looks into what seems to be a straightforward matter involving a husband who thinks his wife may be having affair. But there is a surprise in store: she, it transpires, suspects that he himself has a lover. This is obviously a case that will require tact – which of course is a quality Mma Ramotswe has in abundance. Along with kindness.

In this latest visit to The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency we are reassured that no matter how unhappy the world may be, there is always an oasis of courtesy and peace in that special place in southern Africa. To which you are now invited.

My opinion: I repeat what I said about the previous one in this series (in April): I'm  impressed that Alexander McCall Smith still manages to keep this long series enjoyable. The "concept" is pretty much the same as it has been all along, but at the same time the main characters do keep developing and maturing - giving the sense that time does pass in their lives as well as it does for us who have kept following the series from start (1998). (It's only the last few that I've bought with Audible credits, in the past I borrwed them from the library.) 

 

The Man with a Load of Mischief by Martha Grimes
Book 1 in the Richard Jury series (first published in 1981)
Audio book 9 hrs 32 min; narrated by Steve West

Introduction from the Audible website: 

At the pub The Man with a Load of Mischief, they found the dead body stuck in a keg of beer. At The Jack and Hammer, another body was stuck out on the beam of the pub’s sign, replacing the mechanical man who kept the time. Two pubs. Two murders. One Scotland Yard inspector called in to help. Detective Chief Inspector Richard Jury arrives in Long Piddleton and finds everyone in the postcard village looking outside of town for the killer. Except for one Melrose Plant. A keen observer of human nature, he points Jury in the right direction: into the darkest parts of his neighbors’ hearts…

My opinion: This is the first book in another very long series of detective novels. From Wikipedia I learn that Martha Grimes too by now has written 26 books about DCI Richard Jury. I have read a couple in the past, a long time ago (and not in order); and now decided to go back to the first one in the series to see where it all started. Besides the detective Richard Jury, and I think also the character Melrose Plant, another thing that links all books in this series is that their titles are all names of English pubs.

Murder on the Rocks by T.E. Kinsey

A Lady Hardcastle Mystery, Book 13
Release date 26 May, 2026
Audiobook 8 hrs 11 min
Narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden

Introduction from the Audible website:

February 1913. Lady Hardcastle and her diminutive but brave lady’s maid, Flo, have been invited by their friend JB McIntyre to spend the weekend at his recently renovated Tudor fort on a remote island off the Devonshire coast. But the holiday quickly turns sinister when first a number of valuable jewels go missing—and then a fellow guest is murdered with a most unusual weapon.

Asked by JB to investigate, the stakes are raised for the sleuthing duo when a violent storm traps the group on the island and cuts them off from help. Is the murderer in their midst? With everyone claiming to have an alibi—but each also having a skeleton in their closet—can Lady Hardcastle and Flo unravel this complex web of secrets and deception before the killer strikes again?

My opinion: This is one of my favourite mystery series in later years, told from the point of view of Florence, lady's maid (but really more like companion/friend) to Lady Hardcastle - both of them with a rather adventurous background from travels in foreign countries, but in the first book coming back to England to "settle down" in an English village. ... Well - as all of us who enjoy this genre of British literature, the idea of a peaceful and mystery-free life in the English countryside is really a contradiction in itself... 

This 13th book is a little bit different in that they leave their own house and village to go and stay with a limited number of guests in an isolated big house on an island. So their usual set of friends in their own village are not involved in this story.

I enjoy this series as I like the characters, the setting, and the witty repartee between Lady H and her maid. (Originally I fell for the series because one of my paternal grandmother's older sisters was a travelling lady's maid more or less in the same era. To my knowledge she didn't solve any murders, but she still led a more adventurous life than most girls/women of her time.)  

 

Entering June

For the month of June in my 2026 photo calendar, I chose this garden gate. It's from my visit last summer (in August) to the childhood home of the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren (at Näs, Vimmberby, in the province of Småland). If you'd like to (re)visit that post and look at more photos from there, you can do so here. 

. . .

A lot of my "computer time" is currently spent trouble shooting again. This time it's my printer that's being uncooperative (since a week or two). It still works as copier (showing that it's not "dead") but refuses to print documents from the computer - or scan images. I've tried the "automatic" trouble shooting routines without success, so I'll probably have to get into the more time consuming process of uninstalling and reinstalling etc... Or perhaps even wait for a new app which the old app says is going to be released soon... Just hoping no urgent printing jobs will turn up in the meantime!

Mother's Day Traditions, and Rhododendron

 

Rhododendron are now also in full bloom. The photos below are from the cemetery today; the ones below from around the housing estate where I live, 2-3 days ago.

The last Sunday in May is Mother's Day in Sweden. 

The tradition was imported here from America, and introduced here in 1919. The somewhat later date for it here is said to be because they wanted spring to be a bit further along, so that there would be more flowers about.

In 1920, a leaflet was printed and distributed, giving some suggestions how to celebrate:

1. If you have a flagpole in your yard, the Swedish flag should be raised in the morning.

2. Mother should be greeted with a song by the children in the morning.

3. While still in bed, she should be served coffee and buns, prepared by the children, and given flowers and a present.

4. If possible, Mother should not have to do any housework that day. The children should make the beds, sweep the floors, cook the meals, and wash up.

5. In the afternoon or evening the family should hold a small celebration in which Father also participates.

6. Children not living at home should send Mother a letter or telegram or postcard, especially made for the day, and sent in time for Mother's Day.

(From a Swedish museum website, translated by me.)

From my own childhood, in the 1950/60's, I recall it as a day when it was my Dad who tried to perform (some of) those tasks rather than Mum (who was a stay-at-home mum and wife ever since I was born, just over a year into their marriage). This primarily meant that on Mother's Day, she was served burned toast in bed in the morning, even though she did not like eating in bed. Later on, she managed to persuade us (dad) to at least let her eat her burned toast at the kitchen table... As for the rest of the day, I suspect she was probably allowed (for all our sakes) to do the cooking herself; but forced to let dad (or later on, me and my brother) do the washing up. 

AI generated image

Not having children of my own, I haven't really kept up with the development of the Mother's Day traditions in later years! I usually burn my own toast all year round - and like my mum, I don't like eating in bed, but prefer to have breakfast at the kitchen table. (Lunch, on the other hand, I often eat in front of the TV.)

Do you have any special Mother's Day traditions?

Azaleas

The azaleas in the old cemetery are at their very best just now. I've been going to check on them at least every other day or so, and just can't resist taking new photos every time...

May 24, 2026

May 24, 2026

May 27, 2026

 

May 27, 2026

May 27, 2026

 

May 28, 2026

May 28, 2026

May 30, 2026

Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron. Azaleas bloom in the spring; their flowers often lasting several weeks. Shade tolerant, they prefer living near or under trees. Plant enthusiasts have selectively bred azaleas for hundreds of years. This human selection has produced thousands of different cultivars which are propagated by cuttings. Azalea seeds can also be collected and germinated. 

What I did not know about azaleas until I looked it up just now is that this lovely flowering shrub is also highly toxic, and dangerous to pets - if consumed.

As I'm not in the habit of eating them, but just taking photos, I think I'm safe enough to just walk by and enjoy the abundance of colour they offer this time of year!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azalea

Lilacs (Syringa) / SkyWatch Friday

 

Intense blue sky today (Thursday 28 May). I went for a walk in the afternoon to post a birthday card. Along a side street I passed, I noticed this house surrounded by an incredible "hedge" of lilacs (syringa) in bloom. (In Swedish we call them syrén.) In the background you can see that there are lilacs all along the opposite side of the garden as well. 

Yesterday, I also took the photos below of a "cluster" of lilacs in the old cemetery. Standing there, it did look to me like branches with two different colours of flowers are actually coming from the same trunk down at the bottom. Not all easy to tell! - but googling it now, AI informs me that lilacs can indeed be grafted:

Yes, lilac trees can be grafted. In fact, many commercial "tree form" lilacs (where a shrub is grafted high onto a single trunk) and unique multicolored varieties are produced this way. Grafting is done to change the plant's growth habit, control its size, or combine multiple flower colors onto a single base.

A bit more about Syringa (Lilacs), from Wikipedia:

Lilacs are small trees, ranging in size from 2 to 10 metres (6+1⁄2 to 33 ft) tall, with stems up to 20 to 30 centimetres (8 to 12 in) diameter.

The usual flower colour is a shade of purple (often a light purple or "lilac"), but white, pale yellow and pink, and even a dark burgundy color are also found.

The genus Syringa was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus and the description was published in Species Plantarum. 

 The genus name Syringa is derived from Ancient Greek word syrinx meaning "pipe" or "tube" and refers to the hollow branches of one species. - The English common name "lilac" comes from the French lilac. 

Linking to Skywatch Friday

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Swedish Whitebeam trees in bloom now in my neighbourhood. (Lots of them!)

Lately, every time I sit down to do something at the computer, it seems that some problem or other pops up. 

The other day (I've already forgotten why or how), I managed to get logged into the wrong Blogger account on the Google browser on my computer, and never got round to blogging whatever it was I then indented to write about. There seems to be so many layers of extra security and pincodes and cross-references and back-up accounts everywhere these days that my aging brain is (evidently!) finding it hard to cope with it all...

So when I started the computer again tonight, I first had to try and sort out the mess it seems I unknowingly created last time. (I seem to have succeeded, for now, but alas I'd not be able to retrieve my steps this time either...) 

That (+ more) reminded me of the Dylan song - but when looking that up on YouTube, I also discovered (or rather, re-discovered) that YouTube has removed Blogger from the symbols of places to easily share to. So I had to get into the mysteries of using "embedding" and HTML view instead. (If I was successful, the video will appear at the bottom of this post when I eventually get round to posting...)

The Times They Are A-Changin' also kind of sums up that the past week or so has been rather full of information about other things about to change. 

Last week I mentioned having been to listen to info about the plans for an old football field in my immediate neighbourhood to be turned into a public park. 

Yesterday I attended another info meeting; this time about plans to install "entrance phones" in the buildings on the housing estate where I live. Last summer, problems in some buildings caused the (municipal) housing company to suddenly, around midsummer, lock the entrances 24/7 - and keep it that way until... February, I think it was, when it suddenly got back to normal again (i.e. only locked at night). 

For me the main problem with the doors locked around the clock was my regular food deliveries. I had to go down (and because of my knee, use the lift rather than walk) to open the entrance door for the delivery guys - but still needed them to help me carry everything all the way up and into the hall of my own flat. So personally, when the doors suddenly were unlocked again some 7-8 months later, I felt only relief. So much easier when no explanations needed every time! 

Now (a few months after the doors were unlocked again) a notice was put up inviting us (I think probably a few buildings at a time) to information about plans to install an entrance phone system. The meeting was held in the basement of a neighbouring building, and I guess we were around 20-30 people. I had looked up some info beforehand about modern such systems, so didn't find it too hard to follow. Apparently nowadays they connect the entrance phone with one's own phone number. So in the future, when visitors push a button with my name on it at the entrance, the call comes in on my cellphone, and after verifying that it's someone I want to see, I can just push a button on my own cellphone to let them in.  Sounds easier than having to go down in person to open the entrance, at least! 

However, the installation of this system will also add an extra fee to our monthly rent. (Which might be considered a problem by tenants already struggling as it is.) So what they're doing now is trying to get the info out to everyone and make sure we understand; and they're also collecting our consent - or not. And it seems they have decided to go democratic on this for each individual building. If 51% of the tenants in a specific building wants the system, it will be installed. But if 51% of the tenants in a specific building do not want the system, it will not be installed there (and the entrance left open in the daytime, locked at night). So in the area as a whole, we may end up with some buildings having the entrance phone system, and others not.

I signed a form giving my personal consent already at the meeting - also weighing in the info I took part of last week, about the transformation about the nearby field to a park, which is likely to bring more "visitors" (not least teens) to this neighbourhood. 

What will become of it all in the end, still remains to be seen - but I'm thinking that either way, The Times They Are A-Changin' ...

I  might add that as far as I can recall, this is the first "info meeting" of this kind that has occurred during the 18 years I've been living here. (Inviting anyone interested instead of just discussion between landlord and representatives of a tenants' association.)

For me, the meeting made it a bit clearer to me what kind of problems started the whole discussion in the first place. It seems that it's people living near the playground in the middle of the estate who have been having the most problems with youngsters not actually living here hanging around there in the evenings, and also entering nearby buildings. 

After the meeting, outside, I got talking to a woman of around my own age who turned out to be my current wall-to-wall neighbour (next entrance). I think it was last autumn that she moved in. (I've never seen her properly, as there's frosted glass between our balconies and neither of us is so tall that we see over it). She's been a much quieter neighbour than the one who lived there before her, so when I understood where she was living, I introduced myself. Someone else had mentioned earlier incidents in our close neighbourhood (including the entrance where she lives) and I felt a bit of time perspective might be in place... I have lived here 18 years, and while there have undeniably been a few scary incidents - seen in the longer perspective, I still consider  it a good neighborhood "on the whole". 

Sepia Saturday 827 - Men At Work

 

The Sepia Saturday prompt for this weekend shows photo from an old shoe factory, and the host Alan Burnett asks us to "search out your old photographs of factories, workplaces, shoes, boots, benches, leather belts .... or whatever" ... 

At first I thought I have no photos like that... But then a summer holiday trip from the past popped to mind - made with two friends nearly 50 years ago (49, to be exact), to the Swedish provinces Halland, Skåne and Småland. The colour photos in my album from 1977 have faded - but since this is Sepia Saturday, never mind! ;)  I managed to copy some with my phone camera, and edit them a bit.

The friends I was with on this trip were Gunilla and Lena. Gunilla sadly passed away three years ago. (She's the short one in the photos - she stopped growing when she was around 8 to do with health problems and medication with that side-effect.) Lena is the same age as me and since her official retirement (from teaching) is still keeping busy more or less "full time" as a water-colour artist, living on the west coast (where she was also born), and having several exhibitions there every summer.

Back in the mid 1970s, all three of us were living/studying in Karlstad; and that summer we went on a car trip together to the southern Swedish provinces of Halland, Skåne and Småland - where we visited several places do with different kinds of handicraft.

 In Halland, we visited the workshop of an old shoemaker, still making wooden clogs by hand. (Wooden soles, leather tops.) I think this was someone Lena knew since before.

From Halland we went on to Skåne, where we visited a ceramics workshop or two in Höganäs - a village well known for several workshops and factories of that kind.

Here are my friends posing near one such place; and then going in...

The photo below is not my own but a postcard (glued into my album).

The province of Småland is best known for its many glassworks. We visited at least two of them, Boda and Kosta. I'm not sure at which of them the two photos below were taken.

Linking to Sepia Saturday 827