A Day at the Family Cabin

Gosh, for not really doing much I seem to be writing a lot! My sleep is still a bit off but it is partially my fault for not putting my phone on silent last night. I was woken up at 3am by two phone calls which were not important but they did wake me up. Ugh. So, I tried falling back asleep which took a bit of time but I eventually did. Next thing I know it is 9:30am and I hear that Linnea is awake. She said she has been awake a while but since she doesn't have a clock in her room, she couldn't tell me when.

We ate breakfast and got ready for the day. Farmor was planning on picking us up after she picked up food and alcohol for midsummer which is on Friday. Also, Erik and his family are planning to arrive tomorrow at the cabin so she wanted to put some food there and prepare for their arrival. We first decide to get lunch at Lill Babs Cafe which is named for a famous singer here in Sweden. She grew up here in Jarvso so she has this cafe and museum. I had a mushroom and cheese "paj" or quiche and Linnea had pancakes with whipped cream. Pancakes are not a breakfast food here in Sweden!



Then we explored the little kids play area where it has all sorts of old dress up clothing, farm things, typewriter, bed, etc. Linnea had lots of fun with the very old typewriter and Farmor decided to look for her old one and give it to her. Linnea also decided to take care of all the animals and become "Farmer Linnea".

Linnea started with the horse. First getting on it to ride and now she is feeding it.

Next up was milking the cow.

Feeding the pig and giving it some water.

Next, we stopped at Maj's work (she is a preschool teacher) to see if we could stop by for dinner today. Of course she said yes! It was fun to also see her work too. She loves kids and she loves her job. Then it was time to head to the family cabin. This has been in the family for a long time and it was built by Fredrik's grandfather. It is a lovely spot by the river and well ... rather rustic too. They have made a lot of improvements over the years but it still doesn't have electricity or a sewer line.

Our house in Bondarv is almost directly across the river from the cabin!

They made a little beach by the water and it is really one of my favorite places to be. Quiet, peaceful, beautiful. 

A selfie of me sitting on the cabin porch and the river is in the background. 

Farmor and Linnea are playing some sort of ball and bat/stick game. The little cabin, shed and outhouse are in the background. 

Farmor decides to head home today and drops us off at our house so we can travel to Maj & Ingvar's to eat. It is the first time I have driven since we arrived from the airport. It is quite a thing to get used to driving with a stick. Also, figuring out reverse was a bit of a problem but I got that worked out too. I remembered you have to lift up on the handle to get it to go into reverse. Then we were off and I think I only stalled the car twice! Maj lives about 10 minutes away from us on just the other side of Jarvso. It is a challenge to find something that Linnea likes to eat as all the food here is different. Maj made some meat patties, potatoes (boiled and pan fried), herring, tomatoes, salami, and crispbread. I made Linnea try everything before she could say she didn't like something. The only things she liked were the bread and salami. At least it was something! Dessert was strawberries and whipped cream (unsweetened) and we brought a watermelon as well. YUM!

Then Maj and Linnea went outside to play croquet and blow bubbles. I can't believe the energy Maj still has after working with kids all day and then to come home and cook and play outside. I stay inside and watch TV. Then it was time to come inside and eat ice cream which Linnea thoroughly enjoyed. Ingvar came home around this time. He has been working a lot this week to prepare for the midsummer festivities in town. Linnea went upstairs to play games on the computer while I watched TV some more upstairs too. Many programs are in English (with Swedish subtitles) but then we settled on watching a movie (Men in Black). I didn't really care what we watched really.

It was almost 9:30pm before we left their house. Linnea did not want to leave! So, that concludes our day here and another novel from me.