Well it’s been a few days since I caught up with you but I’ve been out and about so here it goes.
It has been really good to catch up with some old friends in Hudiksvall and you know who you are just in case I forget to mention everyone I was lucky enough to see. First I’d like to give a very big THANKS to my parents in law who as always have shown such great hospitality and made us feel very welcome and right at home, making sure we have enjoyed basic Swedish food from our extensive list of what we have missed. For myself it’s been ‘real buttermilk’ such a difference from the Aussie version and for Peter it’s probably been different variety of sausages. For this I thank Gunnar and Agneta for accommodating us with our special food wishes it has been truly appreciated.
While Peter was out fishing I was again lucky to get a call from Kerstin asking me if I’d like to go riding again, of course the answer was YES this time on a different horse, so thank you Kia for lending me Briina! Again we went out for hours catching up enjoying the beautiful countryside shared by lots of march flies as the warm weather had arrived and it was definitely very warm even for myself who you’d think am used to hot muggy weather. But it was sure worth it, much better than fishing in my books.
I had time to have lunch, share coffee and so on with numerous friends. It was good to spend some time with Inga-Märta, Anki, Helena,Ann-Kristin and Kerstin. There is so much to get through when you only see each other every 3 years or so.
On Thursday before catching my train Peter and I went shopping for a new phone for my father and as Peter is talking to the sales person I get the feeling that the kid with the gift of the gab is very familiar silently working out who this young man could be. After a while I can’t help myself but ask him what his surname is and YIPPY I was right!! It was the son of some good friends of ours and he is a copy of his father at the same age and I remember him very well as the first newborn baby I ever held just a few months before Louise was born. Small town syndrome I know but this is for me personally is such a good feeling of familiarity.
My train ride is uneventful but fast 270km in 2 hrs on the Express2000 (25 years ago this trip took nearly 4 hrs) from Hudiksvall to Arlanda Airport where I await my mother Salme who is arriving back from Helsinki the capital of Finland. We are picked up by an old friend Ann whom I grew up with and she has also lived in Australia as she is married to an Aussie from Qld.
We quickly share notes of our separate 10 days and it seems Salme has been very well looked after and has enjoyed her stay in Finland thanks to Seppo,Sirkka, Aarne and Paivie.
Salme is dropped off at one of her old girlfriends Bian and Ann and I arrive at another of my favourite people, Marie for dinner. Marie’s husband Lasse has taken off on solo trip to Abisko at the very north of Sweden, this meant the girls were on their own which in a way a pity because Lasse is a very likeable guy. During dinner the girls tell me their plans for the next day. We are going to travel to the island where my family had a summer house of my entire childhood and as long as we lived in Sweden. My memories are of Ann and I being literary dumped on the island when school finished in early June for the summer holidays with supervision and Ann has still got her family cottage there.
Friday morning we leave Ann's house and sorry Tony (Ann’s husband)I never got to have a chat with you, it’ll keep till next time. Quickly we trow some food together and we’re off and it’s hot. With the aircon on full blast we take the 1/2 hr drive to the mainland where Kaisa meets us with the dingy to take us across to the island.
I know this trip off by heart and it seems like it was yesterday I was there, I’ve even swum the channel next to the boat many years ago and once on land I feel I know every nook and corner. Ann and Tony’s little cottage is super with water views and it’s not before long we are parked on the jetty lapping up the sun. It gets so hot I even get encouraged to take a dip being a little paranoid of the cold water but my hot body wins and I decide the only way in is to dive. Surprisingly enough it is actually not to cold a big surprise to me who thought it would be freezing. By 7 pm dinner is served with a bottle or two of wine and the evening is enjoyed by “girltalk”
In the morning we are greeted with more warm weather and as we are enjoying our breakfast we enjoy a spectacular view of sailing boats across the sea and in one of them coming in to dock we see Salme’s eager face as she arrives with her old friends in a very large sailing boat.
Not only has Salme met up with her old girlfriends I get some big surprises and meet a lot of people I know.Like kids I went to school with, neighbours, my sisters friends and so on. Of course these are no longer kids as I remember them but strangely enough they still look the same just a little bit more lived and the same goes for my parents friends still the same faces just a bit more worn.Such a good feeling and a very positive one to talk to them all.
The day went fast and much too quickly it was time to leave to meet up with Peter who had driven the 300 km from his parents. We were somewhat delayed leaving the island of Radön, not on land but on water as the outboard motor decided it had had enough and died, unluckily for me who was sitting by the oars and got enough exercise for at least a week rowing against the wind.
I catch up with Peter and a short drive later we arrive at Peters brother Mats and his wife Åsa, great to catch up and meet a niece and nephew minus one who’s out and about on a swimming competition.
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