Sweden

This enclosure is at "Skansa" the garlands are dummies/pacifiers, parents bring their children here where they want them to give their dummies up and they "spit" them for the last time. There were heaps of them, hanging from trees etc.

Walter riding a "Swedish Horse" There was quite a line of children waiting for him to get off.

An early swedish farm house
A much earlier swedish farm house. All the above were at Skansa.
The buildings in Stockholm were so lovely, and in very good condition. Of course Sweden hasn't had a war for centuries, so no bombing damage like so many other places in Europe.

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Sweden, is a very beautiful place too, we stayed with our friend Morna's sister Kajsa and her husband Tommi, great people. Tommi is an armed guard at the Treasury ??, not sure if that is it's correct name, but it is where all the money comes from.

We took another cruise, this time from Stockholm overnight to Mariehamn, and back the next day, through one of the most beautiful and spectacular archipelligos in the world, islands everywhere, 23,000 of them, all different sizes. Some with a single tree, some with a little fishing hut, some with a single house and others with a whole village. We travelled back all day, the weather was perfect, the water like a mill-pond, it was truly breath taking.

Kajsa cooked us some fantastic Swedish meals, I wish I could re-create them here, but some ingredients are simply not available. I have however, with Morna's help learned to make swedish meatballs, a lovely sauce, served with Linginberry sauce and red cabbage. Yummy!!
We took a walk through old Stockholm, which was another great day, such a beautiful city, and of course the ever present water, which makes it quite special.

Spent another day with Kajsa and Tommi, at a place called "Skansa", it is right close in to the city of Stockholm, it is like a living history book, on farming and living in sweden through the ages. Saw my first reindeer there, they are lovely animals, quite different from the sterotype ones we see on christmas cards etc.

After four great days with Kajsa and Tommi, it was time to move on again, so we headed for the USA, Washington DC, to be precise.

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I have actually spent the day with my friends, Morna and Gillian, on a shopping spree in Bunbury, our closest town, it's about an hour away. We had a great time, leaving home at 8am and not returning home till 6pm. We plan to do it again in the not too distant future. It was wonderful not having our husbands, hovering, looking surreptitiously at their watches, or saying "What do you need that for". It seems most menfolk are like that, although I know a couple exceptions.

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The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.