Memories of Summer
Minnen
Thursday Thoughts – Friends
We had our yearly outing at Wanås castle, Viveka and I. Finally. This is something we look forward to every year – and even this ”lost” year, 2020, we made it happen.
Much of the art work and installations are the same, but each year there are new interesting artists and art on display. The forest linen and the mirror barn 2020.
These days the importance of friends is even more highlighted. What would our distanced lives be without them? And we can still visit exhibitions that are mostly outdoors.
Viveka (of Myguiltypleasures) is an inspirational and avid photographer, and her Oscar is always going warm when we are out. So, what is she photographing now?
Laetiporus sulphureus – or sulphur shelf. A very beautiful species of fungus growing on tree trunks and branches.
You can easily lose sight of Viveka as she often gets lost in her photography – but there is one unmistakable sign that helps me finding her again…her bag. Her striped bag. Whose bowels contain anything needed for a day out…including Oscar.
https://www.wanaskonst.se/sv-se/ Artist: Kimsooja, South Korea
A friend to go on adventures with, a friend to chat with, and to share your thoughts with, a friend to hold your hand when you need it. Even virtually.
Thank you, Viveka, for being my friend – and Cheers – for future adventures together!
Thursday Thoughts – Happy Birthday Sweet Mum!
Photo from last year’s birthday, when you turned 84.
Today you turn 85, and you two have been married for 55 years! The sun is shining, and we will make it a memorable day for you – despite the difficult times we are living in.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #95 – All Wet
Tina’s challenge this week is a wet one. See her fantastic bear shots at Travels and Trifles!
My first thought for All Wet, was of Galapagos and its many water living animals. So, two of them are playing in the opener.
These are some of my favorite ”wets” – all from the archives.
A wet forest in Sweden
A hot hot day (42 degrees C) in Bilbao, Spain
A disappearing building in Barcelona
Autumn rain in my garden
I like girls who like the countryside, put on walking boots and can bend with the wind a bit. If you’re going to live with me, you need to be able to embrace the countryside and wet dogs.
And I will end this short, wet story with my favorite dog, my first lagotto romagnolo – the legendary Mille. Why ”legendary”? Well, for eleven summers in a row, he was standing, running or walking in the sea, at our summer house, from early morning until late evening. Chasing bubbles. This was his kingdom. (From the beginning these dogs were water dogs in Romagna, Italy, but the area was drained and the dogs were taught to dig for truffles instead.) Every man and woman in our little village knew him, every tourist, every child patted him and played with him.
We lost Mille in 2014, but people out there still (2019) remember him, and tell their own memories of him. My children planned to make a statue to sit on ”his” beach, so he would forever be watching the sea. But that dream was not realized. I have had many dogs and cats in my life – but nothing and no one compares to him. Also, he was always All Wet.
Thank you for last week’s peeks at Amy’s At home – a challenged I think more than I enjoyed very much. Hope to see you next week again, for Patti’s Challenge #96.
Saturday Colours
Amidst all the grey – remembering the lost old garden
Lewisia
Silent beauties will never be forgotten…
Travel theme: Cream
CFFC: Summer – Fire
Hiking and then sitting by the fire – summer is a happy time of the year! Go to Cee for more interpretations!
On Exhibition: Carl Larsson, Our National Painter
Our little town is right now the lucky host of the only exhibition of Carl Larsson’s art outside Dalarna and Sundborn. A visit to this tiny, but exquisite, exhibition was on the menue today. Our 39th wedding anniversary.
Carl Larsson (28 May 1853 – 22 January 1919) was a Swedish painter representative of the Arts and Crafts Movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolours, and frescoes. But, when we think of Carl Larsson – we first of all think of his watercolours of his wife, children and home at Little Hyttnäs, Dalarna.
He considered his finest work to be Midvinterblot (Midwinter Sacrifice), a large (6-by-14-metre oil painting completed in 1915) painting now displayed inside the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts.However, this great work was at first rejected by the board of the museum, and later sold to Japan. The fresco depicts the blót of King Domalde at the Temple of Uppsala. Decades later, the painting was purchased and placed in the National Museum, on the wall it once was intended for.
Carl Larsson was born on 28 May 1853 in the old town of Stockholm, at 78 Prästgatan. His parents were extremely poor, and his childhood was not happy. His father told the young boy that he ”cursed the day he was born”. A younger brother of Carls´ was the much loved son, but he died at an early age. Throughout his life, CL could never forget his father’s words…and…
…with him was forever the wish for being loved. Much loved.
For some years he and Strinberg were great friends…
…but Strindberg misunderstood the painters wish for love and recognition..
…and terribly let him down
And he found his great love in another young artist, Karin Bergöö, whom he soon married. Together they worked in perfect harmony – he painting and she designing and working mostly with textiles. She bore him 8 children.
Carl and Karin
Self portraits…
…were popular with CL
A beautifully written Love for Japan and Japanese Art
My favourite CL painting. This window is what I dreamt of having in my own home when I grew up!
Through their paintings and books, Little Hyttnäs has become one of the most famous artist’s homes in the world. The artistic taste and harmony of its creators made it a major line in Swedish interior design. Despite its controversialness to the style of the time. The descendants of Carl and Karin Larsson now keep the house open for tourists each summer from May until October.
WPC: Atop
From Cheri this week’s challenge – Atop
…I really felt I was, and my daughter too – in New Zealand and in Norway
.
WPC: Against All Odds
Against the odds – my very special and wonderful friend, Mille, survived his severe illness and lived his last two years thanks to my daughter’s loving care. He was so close to death several times, but she managed to save him through natural medicine from the Japanese sea, and through loving care. No veterinary has managed to explain how this really worked – but it did. He was strong and lively throughout his life. And we are so very grateful to have known him. I have had some dogs in my life, but no one like him. I called him Iron Man.
Mille died in May 2014. This is the last picture of him, standing in his beloved water, the sea at our summer house. He had just turned 12.
