(journal entry from August 29, 2019)
Last night, I didn’t get the best sleep. There was a big thunderstorm that lasted several hours. A lot of thunder and lightning. And even though I had my earplugs in, I could still hear it and it kept waking me up. But at some point I finally fell asleep and slept the rest of the night.
Jershon and I woke up a little bit early and decided to go for a walk before we needed to pack up and leave.
It was a beautiful morning, after the storm last night. There was a cornfield right behind our windmill and it was so golden and pretty since its the end of the season.
After our walk, we ate a quick breakfast of Swedish pancakes (which we had bought at the grocery store the night before) and then packed up and left for our next destination.
We drove about 2 hours up the east coast to Edsbruk to a sheep farm. We had originally planned to stay at the Airbnb which is on this sheep farm, but when Jershon found out about kayaking and tree tents, we decided to cancel the sheep farm Airbnb.
I really wanted to still go to the sheep farm though so we arranged with the owners for us to still come and see the farm (and have Fika with them) instead of staying the night (and of course we paid them for this experience).
When we first got to the farm, we met Eva Lis and her husband, Krister. We went over to the barn and got to watch Eva Lis work with her sheep. She was separating out the boy lambs (which are big now) and weighing them… getting ready to have them turned into meat and skins.
It was so fun to watch her work. I loved that she even had a red stocking cap on her head. Made her look so Scandinavian to me. … because most people here just dress normal and modern. 🙂
She told us about how her grandparents had purchased this farm and she had lived there ever since she was a little girl since her parents had built a house on the land as well.
She had been raising sheep her entire life and loved it. 🙂
After she was done with the sheep in the barn, Jershon and I helped to herd the sheep so they could go out and graze. … we weren’t very successful though and they ran off into the forest. haha. She said it was fine though and that they do that a lot and would come back in a few hours.
After the sheep, Eva Lis and her husband invited us to have Fika with them. Fika is when you take a break in the afternoon and just slow down and sit down and have something to drink (usually coffee or tea for them) and something to eat (pastries, little sandwiches, etc.)
Eva Lis went inside her house to get changed out of her work clothes and when she came back, she was looking even more Swedish! She had a on a skirt, top, apron, and white head wrap/scarf. I loved it. 🙂
She was also carrying a tray with table settings (tea cups, little plates, little cups) and a cake platter with different baked goods and pastries that she had made. Set set it all down on the table (outside, that had a table cloth and centerpiece) and we sat down and had Fika. She brought elderflower juice for us (because we had mentioned that we don’t drink coffee or tea) and we all sat there and ate the baked goods and drank juice (well, Eva Lis and her husband had coffee and tea) while we chatted.
It was such a lovely moment… just sitting there in the countryside, under a shady tree, warm air, but with a light, cool breeze, getting some refreshment, and making new friends.
Eva Lis and her husband told us all about their farm and the amazing things that they do to bring the community together. Eva Lis told us about this children’s theater that she does one evening a week in the summers. She helps the children to act out the story of Pelle’s New Suit (or Pelle’s Nya Kläder in Swedish), which is apparently a very popular and well known children’s book in Sweden.
She helps the children to act out the different scenes in the book which include carding wool, spinning yarn, weaving, gathering wood, etc.
I thought this was such a fun idea. 🙂
After thanking Eva Lis and her husband for a great afternoon, we got back in the car and drove another hour north to Gryt.
