Just got back from a two week Panama Canal cruise.  Sunny skies everyday–and several ports to shop in.  Here are my treasures.

At the top you can see that we bought the obligatory cruise photos from the formal nights–and a straw hat to keep off the tropical sun.

In Mexico I bought vanilla and chocolate.

I think the photo on the box looks suspiciously like Alex Trebek.

When we arrived in port in Guatemala, we were given these darling necklaces.

I love the Guatemalan textiles.  I bought a beautiful table runner with the quetzal, the national bird, woven into it.

And I bought woven bookmarks for the members of a club I belong to.

And these adorable pouches for my MG friends–shhh, don’t tell them.  I haven’t seen them since I got back.

I bought myself a journal from locally made paper.

And two of these adorable necklaces.

In Panama I had to buy a mola.  I think these are turtles–and the colors are perfect for displaying in my studio!

We took a bus tour un Cartagena, Columbia.  In the old town, where there were fabulous handcraft stalls, they only gave us 15 minutes to shop.  Argh!

I did manage to buy a few things, like this lovely watercolor.

I also bought this understated T-shirt for myself.

And don’t feel bad for Bob, he got three new T-shirts–one from Panama and two from Antigua.

I also got him two ties in Panama.  The one on the left is a graphic of the Bridge of the Americas and the one on the right is the locks in the canal.  I think they’re really cool, and since he wears a tie about twice a year, he’s set for all of 2011!

I have many happy memories of strawberries on my trips to Sweden.  I’ve eaten strawberry whipped cream cake at relatives houses, on midsummer day, even in a fabod.  This year was no different.

Berit is a wonderful cook, and you never pass up an invitation to eat with her and Gunnar!

May made a wonderful dessert with strawberries and meringue.

When we were in Upsalla, Sven-Eric took us to a farm stand with fresh picked berries.

As you can see, we weren’t the only ones with a strawberry craving.

Anna served them lightly sugared with ice cream.

Another of Berit’s creations.

And I have to end with this plate of strawberry scones made by my friend Melinda recently for Redwork!  Check out her vintage spoon!

….Is a Joy Forever.  Keats

I often wonder why it is that humans are inclined to decorate–and always have been.  From primitive times forward, people embellished everyday items just for the joy it brings to the eye.  No matter how harsh or primitive living conditions were, this need to surround oneself with beauty seems universal.

I love visiting the old farm museums in Sweden.  In Tällberg we went to one I hadn’t been to before called Holen.  In 1910 an artist from southern Sweden, Gustaf Ankarcrona, fell in love with Dalarna and embraced the culture of the area.  He began collecting all kinds of old things–buildings, clothing, sleighs, household items–and bringing them together at his home.  In the 1930′s, his home and all the wonderful things he’d collected became a museum.

I love the little detail here above a porch.  It’s so subtle, but shows someone cared.

Inside his home was this wonderful corner hearth.

Above it hung a very, very old candelabra.  The beautiful metal work didn’t make it give any better light, but it was lovely to look at.

There was the typical built-in bed.  People slept in a sitting position, thinking it was better for their internal organs!

I’m in love with the Swedish kakelugn–a wonderful ceramic stove used for heating.

Here’s a shelf of useful items–many made to be beautiful as well as useful.

Corner cupboards are also very near to my heart.

We went into the barns with our guide.  Notice how high the thresholds are on the doors–and how low the doors are!  You have to step up and over at the same time you’re bending down!

Mangles like these were often betrothal gifts from a man to a woman.  I suppose it’s too late to tell Bob that I’d like him to carve me one!

How gorgeous is the cabbage chopper?

There was a whole collection of locks.

And hinges.

And these fancy things sat on the back of the horses neck to guide the reins.

The hinges on this door are from the fourteenth century!  Can you imagine?  Some artist/craftsman in the 1300′s made this functional thing beautiful.

John Keats was right.  A thing of beauty IS a joy forever!

Everyday that I’m in Sweden is a very special day, but here’s one that especially special!  But first I have to tell you what a fäbod is and it’s significance to the Anna Lena story.

In the 19th century, farming was a way of life for most people in Sweden.  During the summers, they needed to let the grass in their fields grow up for hay that they could use to feed their livestock during the winter.  Therefore, they couldn’t let the livestock graze in the fields around the farm.  So, the animals were taken into the woods to forage during the summer.  Every farm in the village had grazing rights to certain areas in the surrounding forests.  Small cabins and barns were built and the area was called a fäbod.  There might be from five to fifteen families together at one fäbod.  It was the responsibility of the young women in the family (and sometimes the old grandmothers) to take care of cows during this time.  Their duties included milking twice a day, making cheese and butter, turning the cows out in the morning and bringing them back in the evening.

When I was a girl and asked my grandma why her mother (Anna Lena) left Sweden, the answer I always got was, “She didn’t like taking care of the cows!”  It wasn’t until my first trip to Sweden that I learned about the fäbod and that was probably what she was referring to.  It was a lonely place for young girls.  It was also hard work.  And Swedish people had a lot of superstitions about things that lived in the forest!  I always wished I knew more about Anna Lena and the fäbod.

Only last summer did I learn that my cousin Torsten knew where our family fäbod was!  In fact, he and his cousin still own the property!  This summer he was kind enough to take a day off from work to take Sally and me into the forest to see the area where Anna Lena would have spent her summers caring for the cows!

There was a lovely meadow.  Torsten explained to me that the cabin that belonged to our family had been torn down many years ago.  Now there are just two people who still have cabins at the former fäbod.  This is one of the cabins.

This one was built in 1885, just one year before Anna Lena came to America.

Torsten and me.  His grandfather and Anna Lena were brother and sister.

We peeked in the window.  I took a photo through the window, and while not a great picture, I was delighted that it turned out at all!  Inside was the typical built in bed from that era and the corner fireplace.  I imagine the inside of the cabin Anna Lena stayed in looked much the same.

I love the square logs.  Can you imagine hewing them by hand?

In the wonderful, traditional Swedish style, Torsten brought coffee and pastries for us to enjoy midmorning!

And to top off our day, I got to see the old fashioned method of haying.  I had seen this on my first few trips to Sweden, but I didn’t see it anywhere the last two times.  I thought perhaps no one did it this way anymore.

It used to be that you would see lots and lots of poles like this in the middle of all the fields.  This is how they were “stored” for most of the year, as they were only used after the hay was cut and it needed to dry.

Here you see what they look like when they’ve been put together in an A-frame configuration and the hay pitched over the rails to dry!

Did I mention I love it in Anna Lena Land?

All the doors at the Green Hotel had something special painted on them.  We loved the long, skinny ones.  Remember that we’re in Dalarna, where they hold onto the folk traditions–and the paintings reflected that.  Gee, right up my alley.  I love life in Anna Lena Land!

This was Sally’s favorite.

Sometimes you had to look twice to realize what it was–like a man’s leg in his suede knee pants.

This one is a belt.

Here’s the floral fabric that is used for a lot of the scarves that are part of the folk costumes.

And the tassels that are also a part of the folk dress.

Of course I loved all of the different Dala horses.

And, since we started with the woman and her daughter, we’ll end with the man and his son!

I loved to walk around the little village in the evenings.  There are many things I’m drawn to–the fences, the houses, the flag poles, the windows and doors.  But in Tallberg, it was the chimneys that really caught my eye.  There must have been a very special, very talented man in the village whose specialty was chimneys.  Here’s a functional item that was made beautiful at the hands of a craftsman.  I enjoyed his work and I hope you do, too.

I  wonder if this craftsman wondered if people would notice the special care he used in making these chimneys.  I’m sure he thought no one outside the village would ever see them.  But now I can share them with people everywhere. How cool!

While city shopping may be fun, I love country shopping the best.  Here are our favorite signs!

Hemslöjd means Hand Made Crafts and Öppet means Open.

Berit and Gunnar spent the day with us and we hit every shop we could!

By far my favorite was this one, Knäppasken, the basket maker.

This is  Björn.  He makes everything in the shop.

And there was a lot!

I really wanted a couple of big baskets, but how to get them home?  Luckily, Gunnar said he would mail them for me.

We found lots more places to shop that day.

It was another wonderful day in Anna Lena Land.

In the heart of Dalarna is Lake Siljan.  The lake is surrounded by many charming towns, but one of our favorites is Tällberg, so we decided to stay there on this trip.  We stayed at the Green Hotel.

This wonderful old hotel sits high on a hill, so the views of the lake are amazing.

There are lots of small buildings with guest rooms.

This was the door handle on one of the above buildings.

I love how the late evening sun makes everything glow.

When we walked into the lobby, we were struck by the key cubby behind the desk!

Every room key was attached to a little green Dala horse!

There were wonderful painted doors.

And corner cupboards to die for.  I need one of these in my cabin!

And, of course, the traditional Mora clock.

We were in the main building, which is made of logs.  Our room was most comfortable.  Check out the artwork above the bed–a very close close-up photo of a woman’s necklace!

We had an ultra-modern bathroom.

And a rustic deck with two chairs hanging on the wall.

And amazing views!  It was great to be in Anna Lena Land once again.

Whenever my Grandma Kennedy spoke of her mother, Anna Lena, coming from Sweden, she always said she came from Dalarna–the prettiest part of Sweden.  I never hear “Dalarna” that it wasn’t followed by that phrase, “the prettiest part of Sweden.”  And I must tell you, she was absolutely right!

It’s the part of Sweden that is known for it’s red houses–the paint is a byproduct of the copper mining that has gone on there since Viking times.

It’s where they make the Dala horses.

Including this one–the world’s largest!

And where lupine grows abundantly wild along the roadsides.

It’s the place where people still wear their folk costumes for special occasions.

There are charming villages.

There are beautiful lakes.

Old fashioned customs live on.  Can you guess what it means when you have two trees like this placed in front of your door?

My Great-grandmother was right–it is the prettiest part of Sweden–and I love it here.

Sally and I didn’t have much time for shopping while we were in Stockholm, but we did manage a couple of stops, like the NK Department Store, where we found some fun things.

Our Airstream, Lola, needs dishes, and I thought there were some great things to choose from here!

I even got new flatware for her.

And a couple of serving trays.

But the real reason for this post is Sally’s obsession with the “take a number” thing that is everywhere in Sweden.

It doesn’t matter if you’re at a department store, bakery or bank, you take a number!

As she took out her camera to take a picture at the money exchange called Forex, I jokingly said, “You’re going to get us arrested.”  Sure enough, just as she snapped her shot, a very angry clerk shouted, “NO PHOTOS!”

Sally even “helped herself” to piles of the discarded numbers!

Personally, I don’t see the fascination with this that Sally does, but she sure had fun.  Number please!