I come from Sundsvall. It's just half-way north along the eastern cost of Sweden. Officially it belongs to Northern Sweden (Norrland) and many Swedes from Southern Sweden consider it very northern. Not so the people of the "real" Norrland. They see it as some kind of suburb of Stockholm (400 kms away, but who cares...) So I decided to take the train up north to my friend Marie in Ångermanland, and as the train left I realised this is the first time in my life I travel north of Sundsvall all by myself and by free will. And for sure I did not regret it! |
Marie is a VERY gifted musician, singer and songwriter and we had a very enriching jam session last night playing, singing and recording our own songs! How lovely! This is true vacation for me! Ångermanland is a very pious place with a lot of Evangelical and Pentecostal churches with a GREAT and deeply rooted musical tradition which produces great musicians (classical, gospel, pop...) of which Marie is one! Last Sunday evening we enjoyed a classical concert at the Lutheran church of Själevad where Marie serves as a church musician. Yesterday we spent the whole day with her sister, brother-in-law and very cute nephew! I enjoyed very non-Belgian activities as blue-berry picking and swimming in a lake. WONDERFUL! And the slow tempo of the Norrlanders was also very restful. The cat of Marie also gave me a very warm reception keeping me company in bed and also granting me a very catty farewell gift: a dead mouse on the floor of my room this morning (no pictures of that one for reasons of decency - but I must say it was rather neat and with no blood on it. I even hesitated first to think that it was some kind of very realistic cat-toy but no... it was the real thing...) Coming back to Alnö I continued enjoying music at a house concert of the music teacher Peter Tjärnberg! Below some photo's from the concert and also from Alnö in general.
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Here I'm sitting with my mum on the balcony of our house in Alnö! My Dad I arrived a nap and a lunch ago and it feels good to be here. Katharina, Luc, Heleen and I performed at Damiaancentrum in Leuven at the 5th of July and for me it was an EUFORIC experience to perform together with so beautiful and talented co-musicians in front of an audience of so many loved ones including my parents, friends visiting from China, friends soon moving over seas, old friends, new friends... But it was a little bit exciting just before: Belgium played against Argentina right before the concert and the day before we decided to postpone the concert with 30 minutes to allow people to watch the match on the big screens at the Oude Markt just before climbing the Sint Antoniusberg to attend the concert. The fact that Belgium failed was sad but not totally unexpected and we were of course happy that the match finished on time... I hope to share some links to the youtube as soon as my Dad has put together film and sound! The day after that my parents went to Sweden to visit my aunt and other relatives in Göteborg! Below are some pictures from our stay! It was so nice to come there after 9 years. The whole family of my Dad comes from the neighbourhood of Göteborg, so I have a lot of family there. But as I mostly travel to Sweden by airplane I haven't had the occasion of passing by. Now we came by car which made it possible. I was so glad to see everyone again! Yesterday evening a friend of mine was visiting me and she kindly informed me that the peculiar sound coming from outside my window is NOT the one of ducks but the very βρεκεκεκεξ κοαξ κοαξ of FROGS! How very fitting! So the lovely flat I found is not only luminous and of a perfect size - it also happens to be situated in frog country! However, when I cross my Styx (not by boat but via the little bridge) I don't come to Hades but only to the Lidl x - less exciting but far more useful and probably nicer! : ) I have added another level of pallets underneath. I have used my saw as you see, to create some space for vacuuming under the sofa. I also used the saw to make some storage space in the sofa for shoes and other stuff. I'm so glad for this idea! I have thought about it before but it wasn't until my Dad was here (he does NOT like my pallet sofa) I got the idea. Let's see if this will change his mind.
... down to these fellows! Well, I'm glad I also had some friends who wanted to come for a visit in my land of low mood this weekend and bring some brighter thoughts into my head. I've had tea sent to me, I've had hugs and encouragements and listening ears. THANK YOU ALL for that. You made me want to carry on for yet another period.
+++ Look what a nice pallet sofa - just some pallets (from my job! Thanks dear Lut and Els for helping me getting them!)
and a mattress. Still 4 pallets and some paint to go and then we have a corner sofa. Yippee!!!! |
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