Roots In Sweden

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 =

One Successful Trip

or:

You win a few, you lose WIN them all!

(Part III)

As we were driving away from the tractor experience, the farm wife asked us if we were interested in weaving?  We said we were and she invited us to stop at her weaving shop in the village on our way out of town.  Remember the "Transition" post a few back?  This was happening during that time period when the traditional season for all the handwork and weaving was just coming to an end. 

It was already late afternoon, we were under a time crunch to get back home to the farm, but we said "Yes" anyway.  And were we glad we did!

She had EVERYTHING there! 

Looms for wide rugs, looms for narrow rugs, looms for table runners, looms for shaggy projects, looms for smooth projects.

Her shop was full and it was obvious that she loved this creative work.

And she was so good at it!

We were interested to see the things she made and the scope of it all.  We especially loved her concept of preserving the skill, the handicraft of weaving, serving customers from far and wide through her

"Joy of Weaving" 
Workroom and Shoppe
(see the sign at the beginning of the post)

It was an unexpected bonus that afternoon.

Onward, ever onward....

I used to consider myself kind of an intrepid motorist.  I would often drive alone in the dead of winter from Logan, Utah to Lethbridge, Alberta, over three mountain ranges, through ice and snow in 10 or 11 hour stretches,  stopping only for gas breaks.

Those days are officially over.

After leaving the weaving shop, we started driving with Hans and I in one car pulling the tractor and Manny in the other pulling the moped.   Several hours later I went over to Manny's car to spell him off and he fell asleep exhausted.  I was confident I could just keep going with no problem, and I did for about an hour or so,

but when I started to see jungle animals on the road in front of me, it was a good sign that we had better stop.

Hans (Mr. Endurance, who could have gone on for hours more), sent Manny on ahead to scout out a place where we could sleep for the night.  He found a Bed and Breakfast called "Lilla Hotellet" (the little hotel) in a small village called Sveg (Svay-ig), and after parking both vehicles safely in the back lot, we went in, climbed the stairs in the old renovated home, and found our room.

The entire area for sleeping a family of six was a little larger than one of our closets in the main house on the farm.

 Boasting a king bed for Hans and I which went almost wall to wall, and then four other single beds on the other side of the room, it was fascinating to see how they could all fit.  There was a small toilet room with a sink, and a shower stall that would have been perfect for Skinny Minnie.  But we were thrilled to have it, got washed and hopped into bed at the speed of light.

      Nothing could have felt better!

Early the next morning we were the first ones down to the Swedish breakfast that was included with the cost of the room.  Filmjölk (a cultured milk about the consistency of unwhipped cream), served with muesli or cornflakes - I actually like it the very common way with sugar and ground ginger sprinkled on top - sliced meats and cheeses, soft and crisp breads, hard boiled eggs,  juices and coffee.  It was fun and just enough to send us on our way for the next five or six hours until we could be

Home again...

You can see from where the winter sun is in the sky that it was early afternoon when we finally pulled into Eden 121.  That's what it looks like at about 1:30 or 2:00 P.M. at this time of year.

We were SO HAPPY to see Gustav!

Hans and the boys uncovered the moped and unloaded it off the trailer while I worked on unloading the back of the car.  Later the trailers were unhooked and put away and the tractor unloaded and put under roof.

We had been gone four days. 

It was a lot to accomplish in that relatively short time period.

And now for the equation:

(we've already had people contacting us with their guesses of what the numerals mean)

1 good young man

+

2 loving parents

+

a  3 wheeled moped

+

a  4 wheeled trailer

+

a  4 wheeled tractor

+

a  4 wheeled car

=

One VERY Successful Trip!