Live local

 This trip my focus has been  to live like a local.  I have stayed with Rich and Jenn in Sweden, then with Rhonda and Robert in France, and am now with Franz and Inge in Vaihingen.  In each place I have wandered around to see the sights and played in the dirt.

Gardening has always been something very satisfying for me.  My kids used to say that Mom plays in the dirt, which is absolutely true. I had my own garden at the farm growing up and was given the freedom to try different plants.  The vegetable garden was part of chores, so my garden was always flowers.  I loved the smell and freshness of spring bulbs, the wonderful opulence of peonies, the stateliness of lupins and foxgloves.  How delightful that plants don't go out of style!

But each garden is unique, not only as they reflect the different personalities of the people who created them, but, of course, the different climates that they inhabit.

Jennie's garden is much later to develop, being so far north.  She has a ground elder (weed) which has to be battled all the time.  Luckily, the hens love the stuff, so they work it over every time I drop a bucket of it their way.  Jenn mixes flowers and fruit, so the currant bush is beside the climbing hydrangea and behind the daffodils.  Grass is always trying to invade also and the spirea hedge has to be controlled with the hedge clippers.  She has the most amazing rhubarb I have ever seen, the stalks are as big as my arm.  We managed to dig over the area she uses for controlled beds, and provide lots of worms for the hens.

Rhonda's garden is in the Rhine valley, in the Alsace region of France.  There is a microclimate which allows some of the hardier palm trees to thrive.  Rhonda grows a huge variety of flowers and Robert take care of the vegetables and fruit trees.  Both have scientific and agricultural backgrounds, so the retirement property had to have a big garden.  In the three years they have been there, it has already changed immensely and it is still expanding.  And the 'in soil' portion is supplemented by pots of all sizes holding plants.  It is a delight of colours and textures -- including the buttercups which are weeds and must be dug out -- nasty root system.  

Here in Vaihingen, I have been in two gardens, about 100 meters away from each other.  Cousins Franz and Johanna live on opposite sides of the same street.  Both gardens feature flowers as well as fruits and veg.  Thistles and grass are the predominant weeds to be pulled.  Both households has fabulous orchids which rebloom.  Also, in Johanna's garden, was the first spreading red Japanese maple that I remember -- that was in 1987.  It was a lovely, little tree by the front door -- look at it now!

So I have gardened, shopped, eaten, walked and relaxed like the locals in each of the three places I have visited.  It's how to get to know each of the families better.  That's the reason to travel.

Signs of (Swedish) Spring

 Not being a big fan of winter, spring is very welcome in my world and I mark all the signs with delight.  Being Canadian, that means melting ice, flowers and trees coming into bloom, lots of mud, birds returning and nesting, and generally people coming out of their house cocoons again.  Sweden has these and some extras that I have noted.

The daffodils are later here than at home, but there is a cute little blue flower that seems to be everywhere, they are stjarnkloka.  But growing right behind, very vigorously in Jennie and Rich's garden is the ground elder -- a truly nasty weed propagating by underground runners.  Now that's what should be declared an invasive species.

Instead of salt, little granite gravel is spread on sidewalks and roads in the winter for traction.  At this time of year when the snow piles in the parking lots are melting, they all are encased in the gravel.  Also, homeowners are expected to rake the gravel out of their lawns onto the sidewalk or roadway where a crew with sweepers will come and retrieve it for next year. They have been clearing the roads, bike paths and sidewalks since I got here.

New life is also seen in the restart of laying eggs from the hens.  R and J have about 9 hens and get about 5 eggs per day.  Not bad! And today a guy came and gave them 3 more chickens.  How kind!

The city is planting flowers, and, take note all you other places, not a pansy to be seen.

Tomorrow is the worker's holiday here -- essentially like our Labour Day.  The kids are off school and most businesses are closed.  Tonight is bonfire night.  All the brush that has been collected and pruned is burned and there are parties out on lawns and in some village squares. Nice to have a day off (even if the kids did get 10 days vacation at Easter just a few weeks ago).

And one more sign.  Being fairly far north, Sweden is racing towards that time when the sun hardly sets.  Already, the amount of daylight is significantly greater than at home.  How I most experience that is in sunsets that last and last.  

Happy Spring to you all!

Be Prepared

Yes, that is the Boy Scout's motto and a good one it is, for it teaches the kids to think ahead, evaluate and act.  For many years, I had a grown-up version of it as my motto -- with good planning, anything is possible.  

Even now, I book my flights well in advance and choose the best dates to suit my and the people I am visiting's schedule.  I take out insurance (yearly makes it easy).  I have researched hotels and trains and restaurants and activities.  I collected some photo albums to bring along with me.  I like to get to the airport early so if there is an issue, I can better deal with it.

I usually bring some sort of activity for the girls here.  This time it is a miniature flower shop model.  All three of us are working on it in stages.  There are many elements and the little fingers are especially good with the building.   

Planning and preparedness also go along with "the problems that money can solve are not the big problems".  There, the situations have cash as the solution and having that available, means that one has thought ahead.

But then there are the unforeseen  challenges: (A Balrog! and I am already spent. -- have been rereading The Lord of the Rings),  the health crisis that money cannot prevent or cure,  a pandemic that changes all the rules,  a relationship that changes, an accident.  Do we feel punished for such things happening to us when we have tried to do everything right? . How we deal with the bad stuff is at least an equal assessment for our character as how we deal with the good stuff.  

I try to remind myself that I have been and still am extremely blessed.  I know I will not avoid all the troubles that can come, but I will remember that storms end.  And if I can help someone else in their storm, then being here is important. I will take every opportunity to be in relationships!

Travelling again

It has been more than a year since I wrote a blog.  What has happened -- house!  The new place in Chippawa has, for more than a year, soaked up all our extra time and energy.  But all that is another story (very happy ending).

I'm back in Sweden.  Richard's health has been a challenge for the last several months and so to ensure he has the flexibility of being downstairs at night, I am in a studio apartment in a residential neighbourhood just a 6 minute walk from their house.  I have a full kitchen, bathroom and sitting area all for myself.  It's small but very comfortable, so that works out great.  Same IKEA linens I have at home.

I learned that the girls take themselves to school in the morning -- a change even from September when I was here and cycled with them each day.  They grow up so fast.  They finish early in the afternoon and so come home, sometimes at different times, but they are responsible and so there are no worries.  Today they helped make the lasagna for supper and then we played and did crafts.  What fun!! Tonight was Pickleball.  They had a blast there.

I'm here just when the sidewalks and roadways are being swept for the pea gravel that is spread for the ice and snow.   People rake it out of their lawns onto the sidewalk or roadway and then the big sweeper comes and picks it up.  Like the weather in Niagara, there have been enough warm days to bring out the daffodils and the lovely little blue flowers which are everywhere, but now it is cool again, so the blooms are lasting a good long time.

Did some grocery shopping (as usual) and discovered that they have renovated my favourite store, not for the better.  The aisles may be wider, but the product selection is significantly less.  Makes one wonder about the idea of too much choice being bad for business.  Rode back on the bike, after realizing that I had put my purchases on the wrong bike and being frustrated for the key not working.  ICA Maxi even has 2 kennels outside indicated for Dog Parking. Most of the people who are out walking, are walking dogs.  Just like home.

Challenging Yourself

 Some people thrive on competition with other -- faster, higher marks, longer endurance, better opportunities,  more applause, etc.  At times I admit I have bought into that, but age makes me realize that I am no longer as fast, or as smart, or as talented as I was, but I still get some of that thrill in challenging myself.

This trip has had some of those moments -- spend 4 hours on the bike, ride up the hill without stopping, walk to the fort each night, get a section of stitching done.  Well today, I added a significant one:  do the long cave tour.

I first visited the lava tubes that run down from the mountains to the sea, last year.  They are 10,000 years old and formed when one of the later sections of this island welled out of the ocean.  Over the years, there were actually 2 tubes created on top of each other.  When the highway from the airport to the city was being built, the construction crossed one of the major tubes and destroyed a section of it.  But the foresight of the government enabled that section to be repaired in such a way that there was an access to the tubes going both north and south of the highway.  From this access point, there are 2 tours available:  the short and the long.

Last year the short tour was reinstated after the pandemic, but not the long tour.  When we were close to coming back here, I emailed the Cave people and asked if the long tour was being done this year -- yes!  There was one scheduled for March 4.  It required one to crawl through narrow passages and over rocks -- how old was I.  When I wrote back '71', the answer was that it was not recommended that I do the tour.  That irked me and on Thursday this week, I cycled to the caves and checked if the tour was still happening.  Yes!  I would like to join.  Did I have any physical condition like heart problems?  Did I have comfortable shoes and could crawl.  I spoke truthfully and they took my name -- I was in!

This morning there was rain on the walk to the caves.  I can handle that.  We were outfitted with gloves, a helmet with a light, and knee pads.  All three were necessary as for two hours we made our way north of the highway to the section of the tubes that is accessible at this point.  Sometimes we were in the lower tube, sometimes in the upper and sometimes climbing up or down.  Sections of the tube walls can break off in almost an onion ring way and the rocks are lying in the passage and need to be climbed around or over.  The bottom of the tube is very rough as the last flows of lava cooled in chunks.  The sides and ceiling are 'glazed' with a silver gray layer of molten rock hanging in small stalactites that never change as there is no limestone in the water which drips down.  The only colour change is the algae which is growing on the stone -- sometimes yellow, sometimes orange.  The rocks with more iron content have turned brown, but black basalt forms the basis of everything.

It was a challenge.  I had to be very careful with my feet, especially on the rough base of the tube.  Would I do it again?  Probably not as I was worried about footing.  Would I recommend it to my kids or grandkids?  Absolutely.  It was a unique experience which challenges you both physically and mentally --crawling into a narrow passage goes against a lot of survival instincts.  But sometimes, you just have to see what you can do.

Worth the revisit

 It promised to be a nice day, but I got rained on in the 20% POP during my morning walk.  So, instead of riding today, we decided to go and visit Lagoa, specifically  the Volcanic exhibition that we had seen a number of years ago.  

We had found a nice restaurant behind a youth hostel on that initial trip, and it did not disappoint today.  Special of the day -- (fish or meat) plus a beer and a coffee -- 12 euros.  

The  restaurant and the exhibition are both just a few steps away from the shore and so with time on our hands before lunch and before the exhibit opened, we sat and watched the ocean.  What an amazing show!

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPl2_K7PbHVpmcHr6v_-bduDBrwQzXFWKS8glkS

(select the above link, left click and then select 'go to')

The exhibition had organized itself much better since our last visit and the videos, explanation and samples of rocks and minerals were fascinating.

Top off the visit with my favourite galao (latte), and it makes for a great day!

A perfect day?

 Back in 2005, I was part of a group that did summer English conversational school in China.  One of the questions I used to spark discussion was:  If you had a day to do whatever you want, what would you do?  I remember one answer specifically, from a lovely little girl called Smile.  She said she would eat.

So what constitutes a perfect day.  I'm not sure about a definitive description, but I know today was close.

The weather was ideal -- mid teens and very little wind.  The ocean, however was amazingly active, not on the surface at it appeared flat with no waves, but the swells from under the surface were breaking onto the rocks and throwing spray up over the breakwalls.  My glasses had salt on them.

I was on the bike for 4.5 hours total, did only 63 km, but climbed a total of 656 m.  (What great statistics I get from the free Under Armour Map My Ride app.  Thanks Steve for putting me on to that.)  I am planning to do the Ride to Conquer Cancer (again) on the second weekend in June.  It is 100 km each day of the Saturday and the Sunday.  Simone and I will be riding Niagara to Hamilton the first day, and then back to Niagara on the second day.  My main concern is not whether my legs are up to the task, but can I sit on the bicycle seat for 5+ hours each day.  That's why the most important statistic for today was the seat time.

I arrived in Ribiera Grande in time for a fresh almond pretzel -- my pastry of choice this trip. I watched the waves on the north shore.   I picked some 'snowdrops' and some more calla lilies on the way back over the mountain.  I stopped at my favourite 'farm' store.  

We had soup and bread and cheese for supper.  I spoke with my friend in France and emailed with my granddaughter and other relatives.  We walked to the Fort as the sun was setting and the German Cruise ship was leaving.  I plan to do some stitching on my tapestry project.  

I'm not holding out for perfection (whatever that may be), I am totally enjoying a great day like this one.