Shari Bikes to Bohmgarden

DAY 15 - Bohmgarden...400 years of Family History in Sweden

Sept 17 -  3 Nights in a Stable

A year ago I came here with my husband as we couch surfed through Europe.  This time, I came because my 3rd cousin from Iowa wanted me to accompany him and his only brother from Kansas to England.  We were there 10 days together visiting the home of our English ancestors on my grandmother's side.  I decided that since the airfare was so inexpensive to Sweden from London, I would go again to the land of my grandfather's heritage.  After all, I was so close!

What a wonderful thing it was when Paul and Susanne invited me to stay at the old homestead!!  They have lived on it for about 8 years now and are the first ones since about the 1600's who was NOT related to the Olson (Olafsson) family.  BUT...they know so much about the area and the home.

See my blog posts from my last visit to this area:


http://sharichcouillard.blogspot.com/2013/10/day-141-finding-olson-homestead-in.html

http://sharichcouillard.blogspot.com/2013/10/day-143-touring-olson-home-in-gardebyn.html 

 Ingalil drove me there last night and as I got there around 9:30, I went straight to my quarters - the stable....more about that later.

I woke up to the sound of "cock-a-doodle-dooing".  Susanne was enjoying raising chickens and they were having fun roaming around for a feast everywhere they wandered.

The sunshine helps with depression.

 After a lazy morning talking in Susanne's kitchen, we went to the local grocery store and picked up a couple of yummy salads and had a picnic on the boardwalk by Lake Siljan.  Such a beautiful day!











Susanne dropped me off at my couch surfing hosts from last year - Kristopher and Sasa.  They had moved in town and had said I could borrow their bicycle.  Yeah!

Their daughter was there, too, so we all had tea and cake together.

  Then I took off for the day with their bike.  I LOVED exploring.  I went to a 2nd hand store and found some nice treasures.

Some fancy mushrooms at the grocery store.

Then I went shopping for some food and wandered around the downtown of Rattvik.

Crossing by the residential section...lots of falun red colors.

My ancestors most likely went to school here

 I biked up the hill to Gardebyn - about a 30 minute bike ride from Rattvik.  I saw a beautiful sunset.  Then Susanne had a nice dinner for us all.  (I didn't get a photo :(  )   Sorry to say I don't remember what it was, but it was very good!

Time to go to bed little chickies!

She has to make sure they are in their right places and feed them.

 Paul has a tailor shoppe next to their house and here are two items displayed in the foyer.

From our farm - if they could talk!

This is the corridor entryway to the very short door.

And now to my sleeping quarters....
This used to a stable for the farm animals.  It has been remodeled so that it can be used as a guest house. 

Let's go on in!

When the renovation was done a few years back, they used original wood from the farm, original beams, and whatever they could to salvage history.  Check back on my posts last year.  Susanne's violin was even made from the scrap pieces.  Paul also gave me pieces of 100+ year old from what may be apple trees  Someday, I will have something special made from them.

Note the beams from the original house.

Woven rugs are everywhere in the room.  It makes me want to find one to take back to the States even more.  I have my own microwave, fridge, and  hot burner, if I want to use them.












It's Mid-September and Sweden is already cooling down, especially in the evenings.   The stove is not on yet, so I really have to wear my flannels and snuggle in the blankets - VERY comfy bed.

Showing some of my souvenir "loot" & the 2nd hand Swedish box.

Having a cup of hot chocolate and berry yogurt.  What a treat!

DAY 14 - Välkommen till Rättvik

Sept 16 - Tribute to Sven and Family

 This is my 2nd visit to Sweden to meet my 3rd cousin and his family.  This time, however, Sven wasn't there.  He had passed away last year, so it felt empty without him.  His great-grandfather and my great-grandfather were brothers.  My great-grandpa Olson left Sweden with 4 other brothers...3 of them settled in Kansas.  The 6th brother - Daniel, stayed on the Sweden homestead and that was where I was headed today.  What a treat it was to meet Sven, his wife, Ingalil, and their daughter and her family.

Ingalil in her younger days as she was an amazing gymnast

 I loved staying at their beautiful home north of Stockholm for a couple of days.

A very nice sauna

My sleeping quarters and guess what?  I was born in 1951, the year they were married.

 I went for a walk in the morning mist. I couldn't see very far ahead of me, so I did end up getting lost, but what's new?

LOVE the fall colors!

Isn't this just such a cute little play house?

 Sven was so very proud of his oldest grandson, Christopher, who works for the airlines in Stockholm.

 A famous symbol of the province is the Dalecarlian horse, a painted and decorated wooden horse. In the old days the Dala horse was mostly used as a toy for children; in modern times it has become a symbol of Dalarna, as well as Sweden, in general.

The world's largest Dala horse, made of concrete and located in Avesta Municipality.

 When we got to Rättvik, we went right to the place where Sven's ashes are...it's a beautiful garden in the local cemetery.  It was such a peaceful area where Ingalil loves to visit.

The Memory Garden in the Rattvik Cemetery

I had to take a picture of this gorgeous flower.

A remnant rock from the large meteor from MANY years ago.  It is in the front yard of Ingalil's daughter, Annette's house.

 We went to Annette's house (Ingalil and Sven's oldest daughter).  Her dog and a large special rock were there to greet us right off.  Siljan lake is nearby and around the southwestern perimeter is the Siljan Ring, a circular geological formation which was formed 377 million years ago by a major meteorite impact. The original crater, now mostly eroded, is estimated to have been about 52 km (32 mi) in diameter and is the largest known impact crater in Europe.

Annette's daughter, Carolina, takes care of these beautiful horses.

 Ingalil will be staying here for a few days.  She stays in the cute little guesthouse that was built in 1967.

The bedroom has bunks in it

Such a sweet living area, including several Dala horses.

A kitchen which has everything you need.

We all celebrate the day after Annette becomes mayor for her 2nd term.

I really want to get a woven Swedish rug similar to this one

While we were there, some workers were putting in a new barn door for the young horse who needed to be in a separate room than the other horses.  They did such a good job in only a few hours.

All four of us girls went to visit a neighbor friend for tea.  Her front yard had some beautiful mushrooms growing that I just had to take some photos of.

Monica was so gracious to have us over and such a beautiful home and gorgeous day!

Quite an array of treats to go with our tea.

Her Knadde Chocolate Cake was 'to die for'.  Her recipe is as follows:
200 grams 70% chocolate
200 grams butter
        Melt cocoa and butter together
1 deciliter sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
        Beat these three ingredients together hard.  Then add both ingredients together.

Put cake mix into a round spring form pan. ( 26 centimeters)  Butter the pan and its edge first and dust with powdered sugar.  Bake for only 6-8 minutes.   Temperature??  oops (didn't get this detail)

Her back yard is simply breath taking with floral and fauna.

This is Annette's front door.

Ingalil and I went for a walk and took in all the history in the area.   Sven grew up at this old farm, so he knew many neighbors and were related to quite a few of them.

Falun red in Swedish is the name of a Swedish deep red paint well known for its use on wooden cottages and barns. The paint originated from the copper mine at Falun in Dalarna.The traditional color remains popular today due to its effectiveness in preserving wood.
The earliest evidence of its use dates from the 16th century.

The farm houses are fined if they don't keep their paint up...it must look good all the time.

Sven in his younger days - mischievous high school boy.

Beautiful Ingalil 50 years ago.

Annette is their first born, but son, Peter, would be coming soon.

The four of us had a lovely dinner together...Annette, Ingalil, Annette, and I. 

Baked chicken with young potatoes in topped with a white sauce.  Spinach and baby tomatoes garnish the tasty dish.

Thank-you for a memorable day with some lovely ladies!

3-generation photo of my sweet Swedish cousins.