Here is the inside of Sven's main stuga. Yes, heavily 70s decor. I found out that this was a fairly common ailment of many modern stugas. See, people that built them in the 70s never redecorated them, and now the new generation has to deal with 30-year old design nightmares. The fireplace has this funky green glass-impregnated sparkly bricks outlining it (I didn't photograph that). But this house is even older than that. Sven has a picture of some former occupants from the early 1910s on his wall (mouseover to see my attempt to extract it from the original photo like a bad spy movie; well, I tried...). The house easily goes back into the 1800s, and used to be owned by poor farming hands. Obviously, it's in much better shape now. :)
Sven has a creek, too. That old oxcart on the right is not for decoration, that's a real oxcart that was just left there probably 50-100 years ago by a former occupant. Swedish history is less about decorating effect as it is about true timelessness. I know people in America who would pay for a pre-broken oxcart made by someone in Mexico just to look "authentic." This is the real thing.
I crawled across some rocks to get this view of down the creek. The creek is pretty shallow, but really peaceful.
Sven's neighbor is a dairy farmer. Apparently he's the kind of dairy farmer that loves what he does, and treats the cows and bulls really well. So the cows are pretty sociable, and will come right up to you for no other reason than to be with you. Too bad they have stinging flies around them, because once you get close, the flies bite you! Ouch! They even draw blood, I found. The cows are kept at bay by a high voltage stip of wire around their field. I had to touch it. Luckily, it had low amperage, or I (and some cows) would have been cooked. Funny to see cows avoid a thin wire a foot off the ground.
Here I am at a forge! I made a hook, and it didn't come out bad for a first try. Sven is so casual about what Americans would consider "antiques." The forge is an old travelling forge, probably 100-200 years old, used by calvary to make horseshoes. He doesn't like it because it doesn't stay in place when you fire up the coals. The rusty anvil there is really, really old, he's not sure how old, but it looks like it was taken from an ancient shipwreck. Did I mention he makes his own charcoal? The Swedes put US crafters to shame...
Sven's property is 100% silent. I am not making this up, no sounds of cars, planes, the creek, birds, or anything. It's like being in a soundproof booth, but you are outside. 100% silence. You can hear when a cow is walking across the field (makes a "kthumpa kthumpa kathumpa" sound). My tinitus was the only thing I ever heard, and often I made my own noise just so I wouldn't think I went 100% deaf.
Downtown Örnskölsvik (Övik for short). The name is pronounced "awn shol SVEEK," ("EW vik" for short) which makes it sound French, but it's not. It's named after a famous mayor some several hundred years ago. It's a city of culture and dignity, and it's pretty cool.
Here's the docks downtown. The even the docks are pretty clean. This was taken from inside an office building with a library that was amazing. It had artwork by some famous guy who worked with giant ceramic fruits and things. The building was all modern glass and silver, and I bet it looks even more spectacular in the winter. Too bad I ran out of film. :(
