My arrival in Sweden was very easy and early also! Anders was there to collect me, also Emma and Michael and we drove off towards the sun to Rockhammar. A wonderful welcome from Agnete made the beginning of my trip to Sweden special, so the next few hours were spent talking and catching up. Anna & Magnus were here, so food - including a big sponge cake with strawberries and cream - even before midsummer.
The next morning after breakfast, while still sitting at the table on the porch I saw my first woodpecker plus the pied flycatcher and pied wagtail (now birdos, please forgive me, but I don't have the field guide handy, I shall do a proper bird report later!) I am learning the Swedish names of the birds as well as the English names! already my list is growing with every bird I see! we headed off the for the Traditional walk through the forest of Rockhammar. Moss covered boulders, pine trees, birch and heaps of wild flowers, lupins: pink clover, buttercups, dog biscuits and heaps more, just growing wild in amongst the rocks and grass. Unfortunately there was some hot weather last week and all the lily of the valley flowers have died!! but there are tiny wild strawberries that are so sweet and strong, like the best strawberries you can buy but only the size of a pea! we went down to the lake and there were two black-throated divers (birds!) with one tiny chick. they are so beautiful and so like a study in tapestry weaving techniques just learnt at the last workshop with Archie & Susan, they will be a feature of one of my next tapestries!!
After lunch we decide to go for a drive and just down the road in a field of grain (possibly rye) there were 2 cranes. Anders stopped the car and we were able to get fairly close to zoom in to photograph them! they eventually got sick of us and flew off making sounds like Brolgas with a Swedish accent. what more is there to see now!!
We then went onto to see an old rune stone from the 1100, erected by a mother in memorial of her son. the dragon-like design was very interesting, I'll post a photo later.
We then drove onto Örebro to visit the Swampen - that is the water tower that dominates the skyline of the city. Up the lift to the observation area to get a perspective of the city. The 'gingerbread' houses look toy-like from the top of the tower, even more so than on ground level. the Castle stands firmly in the middle - a visit for a closer look at another time.
Then out to the wetlands to see what birds we might see there. I was very thankful for the jacket Agnete has lent me as the wind was quite cold - yes I am a whimp!! Grey Geese with heaps of grey fluffy goslings were muttering on the edge of the lake, Mallards, Starlings, Blackbirds and a Black headed gull, plus a little Yellowhammar start to make my list grow and grow. A Great Crested Grebe bobbing around on the lake was a gentle reminder on how widespread some birds of the world are.
Saturday morning saw Agnete and I heading off to the Red Cross shop - an op shop with a difference - more like an antique shop. There was an old floor inkle loom (just as well it was too big for my suitcase) but an old but still in great condition rag rug (twill woven) for only $3 was too hard to pass, yes it Will fit in my case! and curtains woven with rosepath, they don't take up much room. there are really some lovely old stuff in these shops and Agnete and I discovered that we both love poking around in these Op Shops - stay tuned for further bargains!
Before lunch, Anders took me to a small creek where he had seen a dipper earlier in the spring, but the water level had gone right down and there was now no sign of it. never mind, can't see everything! However, I did glimpse a reb robin - creaking away in pine trees.
After lunch we hopped into the car and drove into Kumla, collected Anna and off to find some more rune stones. however, the map let us down. but we did find a very old burial mound supposedly 3,000 years old, and much younger - maybe 10th or 11th century!! stone circle of nine stones about 5 - 6 feet high. so hard to get one's head around the ancient history of these places!!
then onto a slag heap - which now looks like a mountain topped with recent sculptures. the largest is the name 'Johannson' in the same style as the Hollywood. We could see it from Swampen with my binocs. there were other very interesting sculptures, I might find time one day to give a run down with photos. Might!! but the site of Noah's Ark has been solved! there has been a fire raging inside this mountain for many years and the smell of burnt oil still dominates the area.
