An early, chilly and dewy morning, I met this little bee.
I visited every second minute until he was back doing his business. – Hey, thanks for keeping an eye on me!
Macro Monday – Shaping up
Sweden
Wordless Wednesday
Thursday Thoughts – The Castle Garden, and…
Back at Tjolöholm this Thursday again – for some more treasures. Surely you would want to visit with me again?
Before a walk in the garden, a short overview of the unusual and impressive lamps in the castle. All ordered by the lady of the house, Blanche, and all from Osler in London. My favourite is the first one, looking like underwear laundry…
The garden had the same Swedish architect as the house – but I guess Blanche had her say about things as well –
Plants in every corner, colours and textures – how I envied the people who got the opportunity to work here.
…and little children rambling on their own.
And, finally – I give you: The vacuumcleaner!
Thursday Thoughts – A Swedish Tudor Castle
Tjolöholm Castle is in many respects a fairytale castle. The castle was built 1898-1904 by James Fredrik and Blanche Dickson. In fact it was Blanche who finished it, as her husband died shortly after the plans were ready.
The young architect, Lars Israel Wahlman, combined the Tudor style with modernities from the turn of the century such as showers with circularly flowing water, electricity, central heating, and a vaccuum cleaner (so big and heavy that it had to be drawn by horses). The intention was to create a home that was both comfortable and dignified.
Parts of the castle were being renovated when we visited, which of course made it more difficult to take decent photos.
Some of the most impressive ideas and rooms were the bathrooms with the special showers. All ordered from Liberty in London – the worksmen as well!
I also loved the fashion exhibition, grand royal 19th century, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert depicted from majestic festivities to the family’s private sphere. The Dickson family had moved from England and bought Tjolöholm to build a new home. The style is Arts and Crafts, and the whole interior is intact. A very unusual thing – rather fantastic. The furniture, tapestery and almost everything indoors was bought from Liberty in London – a company that still exists.
The lady’s riding costume certainly makes for the side saddle…
Rooms I really loved seeing were the children’s rooms and the flower arranging room.
Then…rooms with very special things in them or special thoughts guiding their interior decoration.
I especially want you to look at the green carpet room. The entrance to the room was meant to lead the eye along the (very) green broadloom (?) and through the window, out in the green of the garden. To create a feeling of wholeness – indoors and outdoors nature. The player piano or pianola in the last picture, is one of the last existing, working pianolas. The many boxes on top of it contains pieces of music for the instrument. The lady, one of the guides, offered to play the pianola for us. It worked perfectly well!
There is much more to be seen in this charming Tudor castle, so I suggest you visit yourself someday.
There will be one more post from me on the Castle – and the beautiful castle garden. Hope you enjoyed a piece of the cake – I enjoyed your coming along with me!
Thursday Thoughts – Sleep Tight in a B&B
We went for a three day trip to dear friends, and had to stay the first night at a B&B.
We stayed in a grand old house, where the upper apartment with four rooms had been converted into a B&B. Our lovely hostess told us she had finally left her career in Stockholm and started a B&B – an old dream of hers. Originally thought for Spain or Italy, but they had settled for the southern part of Sweden instead. (At least it was in the south…she laughed.)
The house was finally ready in 2019 – then came the pandemic. As so many other small businesses they have had a hard time now – so it felt good we had chosen their place. We will certainly recommend it to our friends.
From here, we visited two famous Swedish castles. Maybe I will post on them later.
Wordless Wednesday – Life in Colour, Blue
For Jude – Life in Colour
Wordless Wednesday
Lens Artists Challenge #154 – One Photo Two Ways
Every truth has two sides; it is as well to look at both, before we commit ourselves to either. – Aesop
This week Tina challenges us to try One Photo Two Ways. When I was biking the other morning, I noticed the different looks of the barley field while I was passing by. One single field showed me many faces.
But when the sun came shining through – I smiled, and the whole field smiled back at me.
I also set the focus on the swaying heads…
and then on the stems below. But it is the same field and the same barley we see.
Thank you all for last week’s great inspiration, It Is a wonderful world we are living in! Now It’s up to you to choose your own approach, including the use of editing tools. We look forward to seeing the results – please link them to Tina’s original post and use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you in the WP Reader.
An important announcement. We are excited to announce a special event for the month of July. Several of our previous Guest Hosts have agreed to lead the Lens-Artists challenge. We’re sharing their themes in advance and hope you’ll join us and them in the coming weeks. They include:
July 3 John Steiner of Journeys With Johnbo will present “On the Water”
July 10 Anne Sandler of Slow Shutter Speed will present “Black and White”
July 17 Rusha Sams of Oh The Places We See will present “Getting Away”
July 24 Beth Smith of Wandering Dawgs will present “Along Back Country Roads”
July 31 Ana Campo of Anvica’s Gallery will present “Postcards”
Please be sure to check out their always-interesting and beautiful blogs, and join us in supporting them as they lead us each Saturday in the coming month. Until then, please remember to stay safe and be kind.
Thursday Thoughts – Ronneby Brunn
Midsummer is here, and we are leaving for the celebration – to stay at our summer house for the weekend. But, on the road…as always, a walk in Ronneby Brunnspark. A must every summer, every week.
It might still be – at least to me …
Wishing you all a Happy Midsummer!
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #153 – It’s a Wonderful World
Amy has found a wonderful challenge for us – because even if we all struggle some days, we can clearly see the world is still Full of Wonders, which is the essense of the word wonderful. Amy beautifully used Louis Armstrong’s world famous lyrics in her post – so please, visit Amy and get inspired!
My choice is some Midsummer Magic in the tiny worlds around us – because they are literally wonders in every sense. They also feel more safe to visit in this chaotic world…
We stayed at our summer house for a couple of days to prepare for the Midsummer celebrations next weekend. As you know, the longest day and the shortest night are very important to us in the Nordic countries. However, because of the heat, I find it difficult to sleep well, so I am usually awake around 4 every morning. This particular morning, I went for a barefoot stroll in the early garden dew.
The world is so full of wonderful things we should all, if we were taught how to apprediate it, be far richer than kings.
Ashley Montagu
This curious world we inhabit is more wonderful than convenient; more beautiful than it is useful; it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used.
Henry David Thoreau
The World is full of wonders, but they become more Wonderful, not less Wonderful when Science looks at them.
Sir David Attenborough
We are the inheritors of a wonderful world, a beautiful world, full of life and mystery, goodness and pain. But likewise are we the children of an indifferent universe. We break our own hearts imposing our moral order on what is, by nature, a wide web of chaos.
Colin Meloy
Thank you all for your creative and fun entries for my Shades and Shadows last week! I learned many new things from you, and was very surprised to find that not many, if any language except English, has got two words for the concept.
Thanks to Amy for her interesting challenge – we look forward to seeing your perspectives – and please remember to use the Lens-Artists Tag and to link to Amy’s original here. Finally, until next week, when Tina will be leading the challenge, please stay safe, be kind, and enjoy this wonderful world.
