Hiking in Tiveden National Park

This summer was a different kind of summer, with not much space or time to do my own things, I was home to be with my parents. But one day, I borrowed the car and drove a couple of hours north to meet up with my good friend Linda. 
We met halfway between her and I, in the Tiveden National Park.

She brought her dog Bull, and we decided to go on the longest of the trails. It turned out not to be too long anyway, so we did two loops!

Such a great, sunny day, perfect weather for a hike!

We found a small lake, where we decided to have the picnic Linda had brought along:

 

Great views!

This pine tree was apparently believed to have magical powers. In the past people would pass their children through this hole, and thought that this protected them from evils and sickness. So couldn't hurt to do the same!

What a lovely day! 

Departure

End of his leave, and it was time for Nathan to go back home. Linnea decided to go with him for a short while, as I stayed behind with Mormor and Morfar to help out.

They took the rental car back down to Malmö, and had brought Nathan's old road bike with them, to bring across on the train to Copenhagen. Lucas seems to think that he wants to start biking!

So glad you came, thank you for these weeks!

Onsala Parish Church

Also included in our Onsala visit this time, or at least in mine, was a little bit of sightseeing. Petra had told me some stories about the rather special history of their local church, so we went to see if it was open to visit.

Luckily it was! Such a beautiful and unique church!

The original church that stood here was built already during the Middle Ages, and stones from that church later got built into the walls when it was later rebuilt. The pulpit is positioned on the right side of the church, which is a trace of the Danish era during the 1500s when Halland was still part of Denmark.

There are two votive ships hanging from the ceiling, donated to the church during the 1800s. One is an East Indiaman and the other a full-rigged ship. Really showing how this is a maritime area.

But, down in the crypt is where you find something really intriguing. Two marble coffins, with pirate decorations on them! They contain the remains of Lars and Ingela Gathenhielm. 

Lars Gathenhielm was a sea captain, merchant and privateer who became really wealthy and influential during the Great Northern War. He received a commission from the king that granted him permission to seize ships from enemy nations. He was later enobled for his efforts on behalf of Swedish navigation. Despite this royal protection, he was accused of pure piracy against Swedish ships as well, but he was never convicted.

Very unusual, interesting and cool!

Continous Onsala adventures

Just like last time, we also had time for some volleyball playing:

 

We got spoiled with nice dinners:

Valle bartendered:

And we got introduced to the game Hitster. So much fun, even though the Watson family sadly got beaten hard, booo. Still it was so much fun that I later bought my own to bring it home to Abu Dhabi for Game Night.

Boat hats on!

Nathan, Linnea and I also spent a few days on the West Coast, as we were invited back down to our friends in Onsala, the Nordins. Last time we were there was two years ago, and since then they had bought a boat and made a plan to take us out for some boating.

We stopped in at the big Kungsbacka Outlet on the way, and amongst many other things, we had to buy ourselves some boat hats, of course!

 

Beautiful day for some boating.

They had planned to take us out towards Nidingen, but as I am not a very relaxed boat person, they changed plans and we ended up just cruising around the small islands in the fjord outside Onsala instead. 

We anchored up at one of the islands to enjoy a picnic Petra had prepared; some sunbathing, swimming from the rocks and a few short walks:

Three men in 'umarell'-position, ha ha. They were following the rescue mission of a boat that had gotten loose:

Even I was swimming! Well, at least once..!

After our island hopping we continued to Gottskär for some ice cream.

A great day out!

Family time in Skara

Next up it was time to go up to Skara. It had been a really long time since Nathan was able to stay for more than just a few days. This time we were there for a while, and even Lucas came with us for the first few days, so that the whole family could enjoy some special time together:

Mormor needed some help with the garden. We moved lawns, shaped bushes, cleaned the fish look-out, cut back overgrown branches, vacuumed the pond and much more:

Linnea was in charge of killing of the weeds on the yard:

Morfar was supervising from the doorway:

 

Mormor bought a new trimmer, that we used a lot:

 

Of course there was time for daily fika:

Their outdoor room really is my favourite space. The best place to sit and enjoy the garden, whether is sunny or rainy:

We also went on a few excursions, to have fika. To Falköping for example, where we stopped in at Morfar's favourite, Mössebergsgården:

We went to Skarabadet, to meet up with Emma, Sixten and Elicia:

Morfar kept Linnea company while she was doing some ironing:

I had my yearly soft ice, from Biltema of course, as they have the best sprinkles - raspberry-liquorice, mmm!

 

And Linnea and I got our hair done with Beatrice:

We also went for fika in Varnhem:

So glad to have all been there for this family time. ❤️ Special memories from a special summer.