Revisiting Familiar Grounds

Last Sunday, while my brother was visiting, we had made an appointment to meet our aunt and uncle for lunch at a place about half an hour’s drive from town. We took a bit of extra time getting there, though, as we wanted to make a couple of short stops in the neighbourhood of where our parents used to live.

First we went down to the beach by the lake close to our former house. It was a very windy day with risk of rain, so the beach lay all empty when we arrived.

(Photo edited as painting in Paint Shop)

We also had a look at our old house (sold two years ago). In the past we would have had to cross the railway and walk up close to the property and peek through a high hedge to see more than a glimpse of the roof… Now the house can be seen from a distance because trees and hedges have been cut down, opening up the views. The house itself still looks much the same - except that we have never really been able to see it from afar like that before. So familiar and strange at the same time! I’m glad the trees and hedges did not have to be taken down while our parents still lived there (the secluded garden was one of the things they loved about the place). But for the new owners and for the future, probably the right thing do – starting afresh, creating the garden they want. And none of our business any more, anyway!

We also stopped at the village church and made a tour around the churchyard to check on the family graves.

New cross added to one of the old graves – in memory of my dad’s cousin, whose funeral I attended earlier this year.

Memorial chapel.

Peaceful countryside surroundings.

Halloween

As some of you might remember from other blog posts of mine in the past, in Sweden at Halloween we tend to focus mostly on remembering the dead by lighting candles and putting winter decorations on the family graves; and less on pumpkins, scary costume-parties, and candy-collecting (even if that tradition is growing more common here too, in the younger generations).

It was never my favourite holiday, even if over the past few years (after the deaths of my own parents) I feel that I have perhaps sort of come to new terms with it.

From this year on, for me, there will also be something else to remember and celebrate about Halloween.

As it happened, Friday 31st October 2014, became the date when The House (originally built and inhabited by my paternal grandparents; and later the home of my parents in their retirement years) was finally signed over to new owners – a young couple who are about the same age now as my grandparents were when they bought the property back in 1930:

I may have posted the above photo before – it’s one of my favourites. Standing together at the well on the site where they are going to build their new home, looking into the camera, they seem to be looking both proudly and happily into the future!

So I printed out a copy of that photo and gave to the new owners when we signed the final papers on Friday.

My own last (very brief) visit to The House took place last Monday in the company of my aunt and uncle. We also visited the graves of my parents and grandparents in the village churchyard and lit candles there. Weatherwise it was a very gloomy day, and for both practical and emotional reasons it felt good to have their company on this occasion, so I’m thankful that happened to fit in with their travel plans.

Yesterday, on All Saints’ Day, I went for a short walk to the cemetery near where I live, and just lit a “one for all” candle on the grave of my maternal great-grandparents there (see the collage photo above). (What I mean is that I lit one candle in that spot, but let my thoughts go briefly to “everyone” in the family tree.)

Walking back, I passed by the remembrance chapel, which on this weekend stands open for visitors. I don’t think I’ve ever taken photos inside before. I’ve been inside once or twice before (also at Halloween time) but then there have been other people there and I’ve not wanted to disturb them by taking photos. But yesterday it happened to be empty, so I took the opportunity.

Sold!

As some of you may remember: At the end of August we finally, officially, put The House up for sale. I’m happy to report that last Friday – four weeks after the first ad – we (my brother & I) signed a contract with new owners, who will be taking possession already around 1st November.

Per & I then spent the rest of that day clearing out the few “personal” items we still had left in the house. A few last pieces of old furniture and kitchenware we have agreed it’s okay if we leave behind (for them to do with as they please).

So not much (if anything) remains to be done in the house itself now before we hand over – perhaps just saying a final goodbye. The rest is just “paperwork”.

The image above is a Picasa overlay collage of two photos: The original house as built by my grandparents in 1930, and the extension added by my parents in 1992.

Empty Rooms (FMTSO)

Downstairs living room, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen

It’s a strange feeling seeing The House all empty (or nearly so). Actually it’s never been all empty since my grandparents built it and moved in, way back in 1930! (While the extension was being added by my parents in 1992, the old rooms were still full of stuff.)

Because the house consists of one old part + one ‘new’, it has got quite a lot of quirks to it and often seems like somewhat of a labyrinth to a new visitor.

On the ground floor the ‘new’ part consists of entrance hall, bathroom, kitchen and living room; and the old part of two rooms (one of them former kitchen) + hall with stairs leading up (and down to the cellar behind a door).

Upstairs rooms + (bottom left) the old hall and glimpse of former kitchen downstairs

Upstairs there is a hall, a bedroom/study with two alcoves, and one room that was once upon a time a kitchen (originally, back in the 1930s, they were two families living in the house), then a bedroom, and now is really just an extension of the hall, leading on to the new part – which consists of one huge room that was my dad’s study (but could easily be turned into two smaller rooms) + one small room which was left undecorated and used for storage (but could be turned into another bedroom), in turn leading out to a balcony overlooking the back garden:

Then there is the old cellar with three old rooms which really can’t be used for much but storage of things not too precious (but my parents certainly managed to fill them, so maybe others will as well!), plus a new garage.

Indoors cleaners will be doing their job this weekend; then a professional photographer will do his/hers on Monday; and after that the estate agent will get on with the advertising etc.

We had every nook and cranny of the house inspected last week by a technical examiner, for insurance purposes and to be able to give proper information to prospective buyers. There are a number of things that should be seen to by the new owner, but nothing so serious that it would be impossible to move in first (especially if they don’t need all the rooms at once!).

So it will be interesting to see who will buy it: Either someone who wants a never-ending DIY project, or someone who can afford (and prefers) to get the house all done up and refurbished in their own style before they move in.

Friday My Town Shoot Out: Rooms

Still Hot

This is just to tell you I’m still “here”. It’s still much too hot to spend any more time than absolutely necessary at the computer, though.

And unfortunately there are more urgent things to do with that time just now than blog – to do with getting ready to put The House on the market. We met with an estate agent last week and now there are questionnaires and inspections and getting the place cleaned etc etc. (No we are not doing it all ourselves but there are still things to do in order to get others to do things!) My brother has gone home but will be back next week.

Saturday and Sunday afternoons we had massive thunder and lightning and rain here to cool things down a little bit, temporarily… but not enough to have lasting effect. Today still hot, and the humidity higher – but no thunder to bring relief. Phew!

Cheerio for now!

Vacation (FMTSO)

Friday My Town Shoot Out - Summer vacations 
“How do you spend your vacation?”

vacation n
- a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation
- the act of departing from or abandoning property, etc

This summer I’m going for the second definition…

The House (my parents’ old place) has at last been emptied – or nearly. We finally hired someone a couple of months ago to do the rest of the job.

My dad’s former study three years ago:

Last week, all that remained in that room was:

And by now, those pieces of heavy furniture should be gone also, and the rest of the house be empty too; apart from a few basic necessities that we decided must remain until the place is finally sold. A kitchen table with two chairs, a bed, a  couple of sunchairs, and a few kitchen utensils – that sort of thing. Just enough for my brother and his dog to “camp” there a few nights (they’ll be coming down next week), and for me to go out there for the day now and then, while we get “the rest” organised – like contact with cleaners, estate agent, prospective buyers, various necessary inspections etc. How long it will all take remains to be seen. Wish us luck!

A Whiff of Nostalgia

When I take the bus out to The House (as I did last Sunday), I can choose between two or three different stops where to get off (to walk the rest of the way).

One is close to this dilapidated old kiosk; which hasn’t served as such for decades. It’s really a bit of a mystery why it has been left standing at all. But seeing it brings back some childhood memories.

Whenever we visited my grandparents (living in The House back then), grandma used to give my brother and me some money to go up to the kiosk and buy ourselves some sweets.

 

The narrow dirt road leading towards my goal looks much the same still – even if the houses along it (including ours) have changed appearance since then. Straight down towards the railway… turning left along the deep ditch that separates the road from the rails… and then just a walk path at the end. Somewhere in the hedge is a narrow opening, leading into our back garden.

 

 

 

Easter Weekend Summary

This Easter weekend, my brother and I got a good start on not just one, but several of the projects we still need to get sorted out before we finally sell The House (=originally the home of our paternal grandparents, and then of our parents in their retirement years).

1. On Good Friday we met with a local antiques/second hand dealer who seemed willing to take on the job of clearing out all the remaining furniture and stuff in the house and outhouse. (We showed him around the place, and he will get back to us with an estimate.) He also cooperates with a cleaning firm.

2. The gardener who used to mow the lawns for us has retired. We asked the antiques guy if he knew of someone else locally who does that sort of thing? He said he can do it for us this summer himself, as he lives nearby and has the equipment needed.

3. The neighbour who started a road project last year, involving some tree-felling between our properties, is getting on with that job. A huge fir tree on our land that was left standing last year is now down too. Per met this guy outside a couple of times this weekend and got to discuss with him what still remains to be done on that front. An additonal decision was made to take down the huge birch tree in our front yard too – as just now there is space to fell in a direction where it will do no damage. This will probably be done next week.

The outhouse with the birch tree still in front. The high fir tree used to be between the mound and the car. (The mound will be removed as well.)

4. The tree-felling guy will also give the facade of our house a pressure-wash in a couple of weeks (he’s in the construction business).

5. Either Per alone or both of us also got to talk to the owners of the other three neighbouring properties this weekend. So everyone is now informed of our plans and no one has to wonder what’s up.

6. Before Per went back home, he also got to show the house to one couple who might be interested in buying (we’ll let them know when we put it up for sale).

Besides all this, we had a gloriously sunny and warm Saturday. We were able sit outside in the garden and eat our lunch (salads conveniently bought in the grocery shop in the village). Before lunch we also visited the graves of our parents and grandparents in the village churchyard; and in the afternoon we went for a walk to the old mill and nature reserve meadow behind it, where the hepaticas and wood anemones were in full bloom.

In the summer when there is cattle grazing in the meadow, there is an electric fence. Just now there is just the gate!

Mornings are still chilly, but in the afternoon sun on Easter Eve it got a bit hot wearing a winter jacket.

Blue Hepaticas and white Wood Anemones.
The wildflower essence of spring!

On Sunday I stayed in town, and went to an Easter church service.

Through the cherry blossom tree in the foreground, you can see a glimpse of the church up on the hill behind.

Sitting in my pew, I just had to sneak my camera up our of my bag, put it discreetly on “silent” and take this shot, with the light coming in through the window and hitting the boquet of daffodils next to the candle holder with all the prayer candels burning.

In the main square, the Easter Tree stood in all its glory against a clear blue sky.

In a grocery shop I bought a lunch salad again, and decided to stop in the park and eat it sitting on a bench overlooking the river. (I did also buy a a plastic knife&fork set, and bottle of sparkling water.) I was far from the only one who had my lunch in the park that day – there were several more picknicks going on.

Panorama view from my park bench.

Collectors’ Quotes

“I collect old portraits. They're all just interesting pictures of people, and you just kind of wonder who they were and what they were. There's a guy - I don't know who he is, but he's wearing a suit. He's got his arms folded, and he looks like he sold insurance or something. I'm just wondering why someone painted him.
”Ellen DeGeneres

 

“I collect records. And cats. I don't have any cats right now. But if I'm taking a walk and I see a cat, I'm happy.”
"Haruki Murakami

 

“I don't collect any memorabilia. I wish I'd have kept everything I had. But who knew you had to keep it. Just gave it away. And we lost so much and we didn't look after a lot of it.”
Ringo Starr

 

“But in truth, should I meet with gold or spices in great quantity, I shall remain till I collect as much as possible, and for this purpose I am proceeding solely in quest of them.”
Christopher Columbus

 

“I collect watches because I'm always late, and I need to know exactly how late I'm going to be - in order to come up with a good excuse.”
Colin Hanks

 

“I've always been an obsessive collector of things. Richard Briers collects stamps. I collect cars and guns, which are much more expensive, and much more difficult to store.”
Michael Gambon

- - -

I spent a weekend out at the House again. Two years we’ve spent rummaging through that house, and there are still surprises hiding… I’ve told you before that I found lots of still valid stamps 1½-2 years ago while going through dad’s study. About three months ago I decided to use those for postcrossing (link to my first post about that back in May).  

This weekend I decided to look through some boxes we found later, also related to dad’s stamp collection. They seemed to contain mostly first-day covers and foreign stamps. The main reason I started looking through them was that I was curious if there might also be some postcards. Very few of those – BUT in among all the envelopes of foreign stamps (mostly from the rest of the Nordic countries) I found more unused Swedish stamps as well. And when I say more, I mean lots. Probably at least as many more as those already found!

I can maybe (sort of) understand the kind of stamp collecting where you put “one of each” into albums in some sort of order. Here, however, we are talking stamps kept in their original little semitransparent envelopes (usually two of each issue/booklet), each stored with the brochure they were ordered from, in the envelope they came in; and the envelopes in boxes; and the boxes stacked in a wardrobe…

I’m not a stamp collector. I may be committing some kind of sacrilege, but what I do with stamps is (re)sort  them according to nominal value, and some perhaps according to topic – so that I know where to find them when I want to use them.

Now please excuse me. I have some postcards to write…

Old Books & Things

Last weekend (as previously mentioned) my brother and I spent some time at The House going through books. Among them were quite a few (four big boxes full!) on local history, which we took to a second-hand bookshop on Monday. It’s the only shop of its kind in town, and with local history as special interest. As far as I know the owner (an old age pensioner himself) has a good reputation. We left the books with him and he phoned me back two days later with his evaluation and I went and collected the money on Thursday. We did not make a fortune but I assume he gave us a fair deal based on his experience. And perhaps more importantly, being sold through the antiquarian bookshop, these books are more likely to end up being bought (and perhaps even read !) by people who know how to appreciate them and might even have been looking specifically for them.

Unfortunately, some books of other kind, in spite of venerable old age, are not considered to be of any monetary value. After thinking about it for a long time now, I ended up taking home one of those, not because of the content of book itself (I’m pretty sure I will never find neither the time nor the energy – nor, to be honest, the proper inspiration! – to read more than snippets from it) but because my great-grandfather used it as “Family Bible” and made notes in it of the birthdays of all of his (11) children. (It’s not a Bible but a collection of sermons by Martin Luther.)

See more photos and read more about this book in my Greetings from the Past post for this week’s Sepia Saturday.

  

Coincidentally, last weekend Ginny had a post on how to use books as furniture… Having scratched my head about where on earth to keep this giant old book (my bookshelves are really full!), I decided to put it “on display”, but discreetly, in a corner next to my grandmother’s old treasure chest (in which I also keep various family history-related stuff), and underneath an old basked that also belonged to her. That basket I took home 20 years ago (or more). Parts of it were miscoloured so I painted the handle and the trimmings and the bottom inside. But the flowers on the sides are the original decorations and probably there when the basket was bought – whenever that was.