Blicken, continued

She had to bend over his knees and 'Father was dressed in his school clothes. The grip on her hand was so tight it almost hurt.And his legs were so long, she could hardly keep up,which made her hand hurt more. But worst of all, he was holding his pruning shears in his other hand. Oh, she knew what what meant. She had seen what happened to Ivar, her oldest brother. And to Helena and Alma. All of them talke  d of going to America when they were 17. Would she have to go to America too?

When they got to the end of the school property, Father handed her the shears and told her to cut three pieces of the old bush growing out side the fence. She could just bare;y hold the shears with one hand, while she was holding a straight branch of the bush. And her fingers were too small to cut the branch. Her crying had not stopped and her nose was running and Father's thumb was rubbing th pointing finder. She knew he was getting angrier as he watched her fumbling.

Here, give me the cutters. I will cut them, but instead of three, you will get four. Through her tears she saw that the fourth branch was a lot older than the ones she had chosen.

Come.

And off they walked to the out house designated for the family. There were boys kicking ball in the opposite part of the school yard. There would be twittering tomorrow when they saw her. Thank goodness he closed the the door when they got to the 'dass'

I think you have been told never to leave the school grounds unles you are with your parents or older syskon'

I was afraid my cat was dying. Topsy made such sad noises. Malte told me his father knows how to help animals.

Here Blow your nose. And pull your pants down. And come here.

Pre-Christmas Fun

Luigi was here and my computer works. For the first time since I moved to California I feel just a small bit more secure about using my computer, and my Blog may now grow again.

First I have to tell you that my Christmas Holidays were magnificent.

It all began with  our Santa Lucia breakfast. At 6.30 am all guests were happily waiting for the ‘overnight egg dish’ to be served. We had orange juice  and Lucia rolls and the afore mentioned egg dish. The outside of the house was illuminated by ‘the candle in the bag’ that we used to have on the bridge across the creek in Diablo.

Our tables were rearranged so we could all sit together.

When it came time to sing the Lucia song, Susanne and Marsha sang the song they had managed to translate into English and their harmonizing was impressive.

  It was so beautiful there were tears in more than my eyes.

The nineteenth of December, Martha and I were invited to Jane’s house for her yearly Christmas dinner for four of her best friends. I think the dinners are celebrating other countries and because of my heritage we had a Swedish night. Decorations throughout the house.

And the menu! The meal was spectacular. We had smorgasboard and soup and Swedish meatballs with lingon berries, potatoes and gravy.

We even had a small drop of Aquavit. Jane’s friends had brought many of the dishes.

There were gifts from all the friends of Jane’s. Kathy had made a large pin with an old fashioned g, Pam had bought a whole extra bag of Swedish meatballs at IKEA and Luanne had found wonderful napkins. Beth, who once owned a button store had picked out a clever thing. Such generosity.

Next morning, Martha and I left, with Jane following in her car ‘she had to go to work’ to meet our old, old friends from Diablo. A fine restaurant near the first off ramp for Mill Valley was our destination. And there were the Gordons, Peg and Semmes and daughter Mary with her daughter Kate. We had a long leisurely breakfast. It was wonderful getting caught up on the news of old friends but most of all being with them. Time passed quickly.

Soon Martha and I headed back to Santa Cruz and the Gordons returned to Petaluma. We are trying to convince them to visit us here.

Blick 6

Malte followed her all the way to the large road leading to Helsingborg. When they came to the little road for Alleru, he said ,can you find your way home now. Blick nodded and began running. She knew she should have said, thank you, but she was so scared of what would happen when she got home.

When she neared the school house she slowed down. What would happen when she saw her father. She ran in the kitchen door and there was her mother fixing the evening meal. Where have you been. She sobbed again saying, TFather said if the cat was hurt, we would have to get rid of him for we have no money to have him fixed. He is so sick, mother. Malte told me his father is very good with animals and told me to follow him. He took Topsy to see what he could do for her. He wants you and me to come this evening and he will tell us what he can do.

Where is your apron?

  Maltes father took it for I had topsy wrapped up in it. Ohh, Mother I am so sad that Topsy is hurting. She started crying harder. Her father walked into the kitchen. Blick, come with me. I want to hear how disobedient you have been today. There will be trouble.

Blick 4

Lerberget was a long skinny town running from South to north along the coast.Wh en you approached the village from the south it was a little more than a path, unpaved, through a beech forrest. No houses were visible from the path, but there could be cabins or cottages hidden among the trees, The path was narrow.

Suddenly the path turned into a real road. and after passing a few houses, they had obviously arrived at Maltes house . In the rear was smedjan.

Maltes's father came out the back door. This is my Father and this is Blick. She is Teacher Olsson's daughter. He took the burden  Blick was carrying. He opened the apron and looked at the cat. Oj, oj, how did he get hurt. Do you know. No, Blick whispered. I will look him over and do  what I can to help him. Can you and your mother come back late this afternoon to pick him up. Malte,find a box to  keep him in.

Malte, the horses are coming about an hour from now. I need your help.Can you show Blick how to get back home. Blick would yoou like a glassof water before you leave.

Blick 3

Blick tried hard to keep up with Malte, for his legs were a lot longer than hers. He did not talk to her at all, but checked to see that she wass not lagging too far behind.

She wanted to ask if the water she could see was Oresund and if the land over there was  Denmark. But she knew no words would come out, only long puffing. But the water looked different than the water she saw in Helsingborg where she sometimes got to go with her mother.

The hill down to Lerberget made the puffing stop. She had so many questions to ask, but Malte now was far ahead of her. Suddenly he stopped and when she caught up he said, Blick, let me hold the cat for a moment. Now take a corner of your apron and see if you can clean up your face. She did as she was told but he was not satisfied. Spit on a clean piece and rub around your nose and your mouth. After a while he looked nodded, gave her the cat and said, we are near smedjan and I want my Father to like you.

In no time they came to a place where the yard was full of strange things. There were several plows along the fence and many horse shoes hung on the fence. But she had seen manyof them in farms she passed on her way into Alllerum

Tale Number 2

Blick and Malte hurried up out of the creek bed. Blick could not draw a normal breath until they were out of sight of the school house. Her Father's voice was loud enough to catch them There were several hills between the two villages. Luckily the cat was quiet during his bumpy ride in Blick's apron. She knew he was hurting

When they reached the turnoff to Hitarp Malte said Blick, wipe your face on the corner of your apron. You look aful. She did the best she could. The Apron looked awful. She must be careful so her dress would be unspoiled when she returned home. Blicken could not endure her mother's look of of disappointment if she saw spots on the dress she had just recently grown into. Ida who still loved the dress would hide her glee if Blick got in troble

TROUBLE

She was in so much trouble. She could never go home again,She had run away from home. She was planing to disobey her Father, But she could not even think of having her cat killed.

A tale of a tail

Blink's heart was broken. Her kitten's tail was injured. Father had said the kitten had to go. There was no money for a Vet. The one thing in the world that belonged to her had to die. She said to herself, if the cat has to die, she would die too. With the kitten in her lap, and with tears streaming down her cheeks she looked around for a place to hide, but there were too many people living in this small house. she would have to escape outside somewhere. She wrapped the cat in her apron, hoping there would be no blood stains, and crept silently out the kitchen door. Quickly she ran down toward the creek. running as quickly as she could and there she hid in the alder shoots.  

''

Almost at once she heard footsteps. She peeked out  to see who was coming and groaned silently. There was fat Malte coming. He must have been looking out the window in Father's School room.

Blinken, what are you doing down here, he flustered. When he saw her clearly he flustered louder saying Why are you crying? My cat has hurt her tail and Father says we have to get rid of the cat. My father, who is the horse shoer can help you. Let's go and ask him. Won't my Father get mad at you for ditching school? No, I was excused before I saw you. My father needs my help. Count Greve from Kristinelund is bringing all his stallions to be re-shod. But if we hurry he will have time to look at your cat before the Count arrives.

And so they hurried along the short;cut to Hittarp, the cat carried in Blink's apron.

Treasure Island

It's awful how many friends and I have grown separated from each other. I will tell you how one friendship began. She was very pregnant and I was very pregnant with my second child. Discussing the degree of our pregnancies we discovered that we might very well be room mates at Mills Hospital in San Mateo. We had different doctors who had enrolled us in the same hospital and since both of us were having sections they had guessed on the same week in January. I had asked Sam to forego h is momthly Army meeting at San Foran  (sp) , because I wanted to have this baby on my birthday Jan25).
This was not possible, either because of Sam , or because of the doctor. Anna was born January 21 and my fellow hospital mate's baby was born the same day. Co-incidentally the mother had been a class mate of Sam's in San Mateo High School.

We became good friends and since the father was in a related field of work with Sam, the four of us would hang around for maybe  a monthly dinner out.Baby sitters were a difficult new added expence. We had taken our first baby with us where ever we went. He was now 18 months old and it was time for a baby sitter.

Suddenly our friends discovered that Treasure Island had a Navy club with a fabulous restaurant with very affordable prices. And there was gambling. Slot machines and twenty one tables etc. And so we went there a couple of times. Since I came from Sweden I knew that drinking and driving was taboo I began putting on the breaks. One night after dinner, we said we could gamble for only minuteds and then we would leave. When I went to say good by to them I found our host for the evening at a 25 cent slot machine. He said, please Gertrud, stand guard over this machine while I go to get new quarters. I have put so much money in this machine, I know it is going to pay off soon. It took him ages and i had to pretend I was playing the machine. At last he came back and Sam and I could leave. It was a horrible drive back home to Burlingame. We made it and they made it. The machine never paid off and Sam and I took turns to drive sober.

Why all this? Jane, our youngest cleaned out her Aunt Bunty's house after she died and just recently came across old post cards she had saved. She sent me a picture of Treasure Is;and and the message on thee back of the card was Do you have any memories from here? This blog is Jane's answer.

Parties

Martha's third book came out and a publicity affair was scheduled in Santa Cruz for last night, Aug 28, in a local bookstore. She invited  past and present confederates, many friends and associates, a few local relatives for a party in the garden between our houses. Needless to say the garden was groomed to perfection and the food to be served late in the afternoon ordered to fit for dinner.  7:30 was the bewitching hour for the bookstore.

I was invited to attend both the garden party and the bookstore reading, but decided the day had been too hectic for the reading.

Luckily, some people spent the night in Capitola, and four came over for a late breakfast. And so the celebrations continued.

Now everyone except Jane, Martha's "little" sister and the one who is responsible for getting me back online and using my blog, have left. I sit here thinking about parties I remember from when I was a child.

One party I do not remember because I was a toddler. We had an outdoor afternoon coffee party and I wandered off and fell into a neighbor's sumpump. One pseudo cousin, Linnea, rescued me. From what I heard, it was in the last minute or a critical moment.

The party I do remember was the same type of party -- sunny afternoon coffee party in the garden. "Cousins" were there and many other friends and I remember a wandering musician stopped by with his accordion and played Italian love songs. My grandmother's chickens came out and stuck their necks out and enjoyed the music.

once again

It has taken from May to now to let you know I am still alive.

I've been attempting to create a massive leather art project to fulfill a commission. I find my hands are too wiggly to make the precision cuts necessary and I have finally admitted defeat.

I have knitted four blankets and one Fake-It-In-Fabric masterpiece (future Christmas presents).

Below is a hint of my future endeavor....

The beginning of a new rigid routine

Last Monday Martha  had a few friends here and we all promised to follow a plan of our own. We had to express what was going to be the next week's main creative issues. Next Monday we have we have to admit our lethargy or our successes. My stated work for the coming week was to paint 'Thank you notes, work on my blogging and  to keep both my indoor and outdoor gardens better watered. My computer has been very uncooperative, but with Martha's help is mow behaving. More than half the week is gone and little is done. But there is tomorrow and Friday.

Tomorrow we have to go to two friends new office downtown. It is furnished and running well. But the walls are mostly bare and they want to see if I can create a work of art that both applies to their work and with their building's interior.  Exciting..

Day in my studio

Today I am finally organized enough to be able to blog. It feels so liberating to be able to sit out there and have all my materials at my finger tips. I made two thank you cards for a friend.

I cut out material for a FAKE it in FABRICS for another friend. I searched and found a box containing materials for home made wrist bands for cheap children's watches, done in needle point. Now I feel at home even in my .hytta. I have managed to get my car registered in California and also got a new drivers license.

Summer Is Here

Last night was the first night of summer when I slept on top of the blankets. Iwas sad because the Oaklnd As were about to lose. I'm trying hard to develop an allegience to a local team. It's difficult to forget the Mariners. The other local team is the Giants of SF and that takes me back to the Giants of NY. And thn I remember the first baseball game I ever went to. The NY Giants were playing the Detroit Tigers. I was shocked when I heard the crowd booing DiMaggio. He stuck out a couple of times but I don't they were booing because of the strike outs. I think thy were booing because he married Marilyn Monroe and wasn't spending enough time on the game. That lead me into who took to to the baseball game. Then it took me a long time to go to sleep.

Hi Adrienne, Thank you for alerting me to the painting of the Black Woman and Child. I had forgotten about that painting. must have painted it in a class by Sir Thomas Leighton. In that year it might have been in a class by.Peter Blos. it was a surprise to see it. I like it though and am surprised at the quality of the painting for it was fairly early in my career as a painter. I dont know if you have already read about the reason for starting painting. When our fourth child was born and our oldest was four years and one month old I realized that we would have four children in college at the same time, and money might be tight and I better have some kind of income. This move has been so exciting. I love my wonderful house and the nearness of the two younger people next door. Everything is working so well and at this moment the two people from Bainbridge Island are here and we are having nothing but fun.There is a lot of eating and a lot of surfing.

Birthday

Martha, my number two daughter, has a birthday today. She has wanted a floor lamp for a long time, and today she decided was the day to check into the lamp supply in town. She came back with a lovely lamp. The shade is crystal  and is signed by the artist who created it. She was very happy with her choice.

Later, the three of us went to a fabulous restaurant perched on a cliff above the ocean. The view was breathtaking. Apparently the waves were of poor quality for e saw no surfers there. The menu in the restaurant was not of poor quality. The food was superb. Hope to go back there some day soon.

Tony Lance who lives Saint Croy is coming for a visit next week. She was about ten years old when we moved to Laguna Beach. She lived next door to us. I used to give her art lessons and before we moved away I gave her my Water colors. She has since become a well known, successful water colorist in the Virgin Islands. 

The following week Anna and Steve are supposed to drive here from Bainbridge Island. Looking forward to that too. And to make that weekend even more fun, Jane might come from Mill Valley while the Neffs are here. Three daughters all together is always fun.

A lot of commenters are saying 'please write more about your memories from your childhood'. I am so busy absorbing all the new experiences I am having. Just heard that it will cost me $150 to restore my old Viking sewing machine. It got all shook up during the move. I am torn. will I be able to use it. My eyes are quickly deteriorating. But I have a couple of projects to do. 

New News

First I have to inform all of you that my son.in.law is the photographer in this house.. he took a picture this morning of my cat and their little feral kitty who is blind.

My Edgar who is thirteen years old, is slowly making friends and when I stand, looking out the dutch door four cats gather below looking for a treat. So far no trouble. Shopping in this town is fun. Although I feel fairly secure about finding my way, yesterday I fouled up completely. I decided I wanted to go into Santa Cruz proper and I got more or less lost. I never found the spot I had intended to be the place I honored with my presence. There were more one way streets going the wrong way. I was lucky for I never met a police man for a few times I think I sinned. When I fail I think of it as a new lesson in California living. I have many projects begun but some little detail keep me from plunging along. My sewing machine is in a repair shop and the repairman is on vacation. I had to get a new doctor, who naturally wanted tests on all my functions. Next Wednesday I will be done. Edgar and I love it here. Martha and Bob have been wonderful.

Christmas in March

The title might confuse you. I am living in a house that could have been arranged by Santa himself. However there is no fireplace nor a chimney. Everything else seems as though there is a lot of his spirit surrounding us. I will give you one example of how things happen around here.

The other day I said something about English muffins. Years past when we visited our daughter and son-in-law they knew Sam and I liked an English muffin with our morning coffee. I mentioned the word and within five minutes Bobby had dashed to the store and there were English Muffins in the house. He said he remembered how he always had put some in the larder years ago.

The day progressed and I was looking forward to the morning delicacies. Then I remembered that I did not own a toaster. I could broil them in the oven. But the broiler was so low in my gas stove. I thought about the waste of turning on that big thing. 'I will dash downtown to get a toaster. I said 'Martha, I am going downtown to OSH. (Orchard County Hardware). Martha said can it wait till tomorrow?' I said,' yes of course' And so the evening progressed. I was knitting and watching MSNBC. I had locked the doors. Just about ready to go to bed. The phone rang. Bobby said 'open your back door' I did. there was Santa Bob with a fairly large box. He had been downtown and just as the store was closing had found a toaster oven on sale. We all had a toasted English Muffin. They with cream cheese and honey and I with cream cheese and Fig Spread. What a fun party we had.

My good friend from Carmel visited s on the week end. She found that she liked the FAKE IT IN FABRICS I have hanging here and there. I gave here my MATISSE book and said pick one of his paintings you like and I will make you one. That meant shopping for some supplies I had just given away when I moved. But what fun I had finding them. I have begun. Bobby said he wants to take a photo of each step I take. So you may all find a new hobby.

Time to get dressed and to clean the cat box. Edgar has been a real prince in this move. The trip down in the car seemed easy for him. And now getting used to three almost feral cats that live in our gardens is a trial for him. He has been behaving well and I think in a week or s they will all be good friends.

Creating

So many friends and relatives.

We have been entertaining. Karin from Montana came to spend the night with us. She left an hour ago to drive to Monterey, where she and her friend Paul are spending Spring Break. Paul was not about to leave the friends from his Shark counting days but Karin enjoyed herself with her Aunt Jan Shaw. And Donna was here. She is the ex-wife of Michael Shaw, Sam's half brother. And a couple of others more or less related ones. We sat at the table for hours with the question: Do you remember.

This little house is big enough to seat eight people for lunch. So much fun. Tomorrow Janice is coming with her daughter Kathy and we hope they will bring pictures of Kathy's grand daughter. Janice is coming from Carmel and Kathy will probably drive from Los Gatos to pick her up. I have not seen either of them for many years. Looking forward to another 'do you remember'. Kathy and Martha met when they were younger than four years old.

I feel totally settled in. Bob and I have been to Osh every day since we came. Osh is a hardware store and a garden store and it seemed every morning we discovered that there was one or two things that we needed to be absolutely happy. There is one more thing we have to get. I need the motor to my coffee grinder. I saw one at Bed Breakfast and Beyond. ( I know that is wrong but it got me a good laugh.)

So tomorrow another adventure.

You may wonder

why I take several days between blogs. It is difficult to become settled in a new place. But now I am settled. All I need is a towel that is the right size for winding around my head after a shampoo. Bob and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond. They have millions of towels in hundreds of colors, But not a one in the size I want. So finally Martha found a Swedish terry cloth towel just twice as long as what I needed. (it had belonged to my sister. How she got it will be told in another tale) I cut it in half and hemmed the two thin holey pieces and NOW I am all set.

I have my shed all organized so I can sew on the machine, I can work on my computer, and I can paint flowers on small cards which I will send to friends to announce that I have moved.