The day after the wedding we got to explore the island of Dalarö a bit.

We stayed at the wonderful old Hotel Dalarö Bellevue.

This was the view from our room.

If you looked right…..

We spent the day with Sven-Eric and Anna & Mats and Lina and wandered around the island.  Good tourist that I am, I had my camera around my neck!

I’m used to seeing the little red houses I so associate with Sweden, but not here!

Houses were every color.

And had charming gingerbread.

Even the garages had gingerbread.

There was lots of lush greenery everywhere.

The Golden Chain trees were at their peak–and they were so big!

The houses took advantage of the beautiful views.

Here’s the church, which is very popular for weddings.

And instead of a steeple, this church had a separate bell tower.

This sign summed it up–Paradise!

And one last photo op before we left.

Then it was back to Stockholm and a chance to see Ulrica and Carl’s new apartment.

Our final customer drives away………..

Sunday was the last day of business at Anna Lena’s, the quilt shop I’ve had for the last eleven years. As many of you know, I’d been planning my retirement for the last five years. I wanted it to coincide with my 55th birthday. Well, that was a couple of months ago, but close enough! We’d been doing the countdown on our reader board for the last ten days.

It’s been bittersweet, closing the shop. Of course I’m looking forward to retirement (such as it may be, since I’ve got my finger in lots more pies!), and it’s always a milestone when you reach a goal, but it’s also the end of an era. I didn’t want the vibe to be a sad one, so we greeted customers all day with sparkling cider and asked them to help “celebrate” our last day.

Even so, there were a few who weren’t ready to let go!

My sister and nephew were still in town, and they stopped by, too. I pressed Cole into service carrying empty bolt boards. I remember when he was just a toddler and how he loved to go through the swinging doors by the quilting machine! 

But, about those doors closing……….
When I think about doors, I think about the wonderful doors in Sweden. I fell in love with the doors there, and when we built our log cabin in the woods, I wanted a Swedish door on it. What’s a Swedish door, you might ask? Well, here are some examples from my trip last summer. Most of them have this cool herring-bone design. 

Even some of the garages have them!

Some are even fancier and have fancy paint jobs!

And one of the castles we visited had a herringbone door-in-a-door!

Here’s one that’s opening for me now!

But what is that old saying? ”When one door closes a window opens.” Here are some beautiful Swedish windows.

This one is taken from inside a building that used to be on Anna Lena’s farm in Dalarna. Now the whole building is at the outdoor museum, Skansen, in Stockholm. It was pretty cool that they let us go inside, ’cause it’s not usually open to the public. 

Perhaps I’ve gotten off subject here, but I’m expecting lots of new doors and windows in my life. Thanks for taking the journey with me! 

I’m Karen Snyder and I approve this message!