Två Svenska Slottar (Two Swedish Castles)

Know me even just a little bit and you know I like to follow the Royals. (Remember April 29, 2011?)
And what dwellings do Royals live in?  Yes...castles!  While here in Sweden, we have visited two castles.

 Slott #1: Örebro Castle
When Elin suggested we meet in Örebro and we could walk to the castle nearby, I was in!


Here are some of the facts I learned about this castle:

1. The oldest part of the castle (the defense tower) was built in the 13th century. Another tower was added in the 14th century.

2. It was really expanded during the reign of the Royal Family Vasa (1523 - 1634).  This was their home in the 14th and 15th centuries.   By the 16th century, most of the castle was completed.

3. Not only has this castle been used as a home for the Royals, but it has also been a prison for inmates, a military compound and a place for the Swedish parliament to gather.  In the summertime, there is an outdoor eating area that is most popular.  Alas, it is now closed for the season.

4. The castle really is on an island on the River Svartan. That means the moat is automatic without a dig-out.

5. For the past 200 years, the county governor(s) have resided in the castle. Nice, huh? "Blajo"
would've liked this place!

6. Students from the Karolina Skolan use some of the rooms as classrooms presently.  Take that, Hogwarts!

Now that we are in Uppsala, we are within walking distance of the second castle.  It is difficult to photograph in its entirety.

Slott #2: Uppsala Castle

King Gustav Vasa, in 1549, ordered the construction of this castle to commence.  Future Kings Erik XIV, John III and Charles IX all expanded and remodeled during their reigns. 

This was the castle from which the abdication of Queen Kristina was announced in 1654.

In 1702 a fire destroyed most of the castle and for many, many years it was left in ruins.  Eventually, it was repaired and remodeled once again.

Dag Hammarskjold lived in this castle as a boy when his father was the governor of Uppsala County.

And now it is the home of the Uppsala Art Museum  (Uppsala Konstmuseum) which we toured and visited!  The special exhibit of ceramics by Taisto Kaasinen and artists from the Upsala-Ekebyfactory was most inspiring.

Once again, the Swedish sense of design comes through.  As do their Royals and Castles!

Summer "Bucket List" Check Off

Just a few days are left of summer, and the mental "Bucket List" of things to do is about to expire with the coming of Labor Day. We have had such a great summer going to concerts at Millennium Park, walking to get frozen treats at Yogurt Square, eating al fresco when possible, going to the beach, going to lovely weddings, getting to our cabin. The last on the list was getting Miss E on the train to have a downtown experience with her Papa and MeMo.
And, happily, that has now been accomplished!

We took her on the Brown Line to the Madison Wabash stop. Far more than the stops on the
train were her why questions...

Why was the train stopping? Why are the doors closing?  Why is the woman holding a bag?
Why, why, why?  She loved seeing the people get on and off and the doors opening and closing and the ding dong of the bell announcing the closing of the doors.

Once off the train, we walked over to Millennium park for a picnic by the Bean. (Otherwise know as Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor). She asked if she could eat the Bean. No, we explained, it is only shaped like a bean and is made out of shiny material one would certainly not want to eat!

Then we ate our picnic supper on a table near the Bean. Food finished! Off to the Bean, with a stop to change into her bathing suit and cover-up.

Then, at last, to the "Face Fountain" (Crown Fountain byJaume Plensa) for some splashing fun!
(Miss E is the running pink dot to the right of the mouth of the face.)

c

We simply had the best time! Nothing like summer in the city with our grand-daughter - check and double check!!

The Old Church (*P*S*C #50)

Somehow it seems quite appropriate to write today (Sunday) about an old church next
to the one room schoolhouse I wrote about in the last blog.

Bethany Lutheran Church, located in Beechwood, Michigan is no longer in use. We
walked around the building and I imagined how it looked back in 1913 freshly constructed.
In 1911, the co-owner of the Beechwood Store, Albert Sandgren, drew up the plans. 
The cornerstone reads 1912; my research indicates the church was actually finished in 1913.

The church construction was primarily carried out by volunteers - most likely Swedish
Lutherans in the small community.

The front of the church houses a square-shaped belfry tower.

The church "footprint" is rectangular with a gable roof structure.  Clapboard sides
sit upon a rough-cut rock foundation.  Knowing this is a rocky terrain, this indicates the
rocks are from local soil.  Farmers coped with this soil with limited success.  Wes
reports that his relatives tried various crops, including potatoes, thinking that it would be
a longer growing season like back in Sweden.  Eventually, it was realised that logging was
the best "crop" and Wes's grandfather and his three brothers owned a logging company
near Beechwood. 

But back to the church....really back to the back of the church.   It has an apse (love that
word!) hexagonal in shape with a small leaded window. 

Probably my favorite feature of the church exterior is the use of Gothic windows.  (How is it
that I can never look at a Gothic shaped-window without thinking of the couple depicted in the
painting American Gothic by Grant Wood? I think that as we age, Wes and I are going to
look more and more like this couple.)

Again I digress...back to the church. 

Though we couldn't go inside the vacant church, we were told that the sanctuary
was very typical of a Swedish Lutheran church back in the old country.  The curved
oak communion rail and altar were altered a bit after another congregation moved in
years ago, but the pieces were retained.  Perhaps someday, the Historical Society can
refurbish this building as well and restore it to its former simple glory.

It has been said (written) that this church is "significant" due to its unaltered
condition in a rural environment.  For me, it was a significant experience to walk around
the building and imagine the sounds of a congregation singing hymns with the
accompaniment of a pump organ wafting through the windows on a hot day of summer:

Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee

or from The Church's One Foundation

O happy ones and holy! 
Lord give us grace that we
Like them the meek and lowly,
On high might dwell with thee.


Coming next in this series of UP Oldies:  the cookbooks.

Now About that Dala... (P*S*C* #48)

Chances are good that if you come from Swedish "stock" you will know what a Dala Horse is.

These wooden horses have a long history.  Around 400 years ago in the Dalerna Province in 

Sweden, woodcarvers fashioned these horses as toys for their children.  In January this year,

Luther College students gathered to take a class in Scandinavian arts and learn the craft of

carving.  Their horses have been on dispay in the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis,

ending their "run" shortly.  (As in today!)  Joining in the exhibit were others who had carved
horses independently or with their fellow woodcarvers --- not sure how that worked exactly.

Here you can see some of the carved horses.  Note the THING ONE and THING TWO

on the top left.

Grade schoolers also got into the Dala decorating!  The yellow one (left) done by Cindy used

a lot of trimmings and rick rack - a girl after my heart for sure!

Humor was apparent in many of the Dala renditions.  There was an Elvis Presley-ish horse that was titled "You Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dala" and a Dala Llama. Here we see the Dala Parton horse

complete with ample "bosombas."  Yes, they were carved right into the Dala!

Wes and his Dad enjoyed the exhibit.  Perhaps they, too, should take up the craft of woodcarving?  Some of our friends have:  Bill, Don and Kass and Mary to name a few.

Together they stand behind the huge carved Dala horse that was meant to be signed by names of visitors to the exhibit, as well as those who contributed their carvings to the show.

There was no room left for us to pen our names here.
Surely that means this exhibit has been a smashing success?

In all, there were well over 100 entries from all over --- near and far. Young artists, college students, grandparents, famous and not-so-famous, all had something to say with their pieces.

I especially liked this yellow Dala in an original carving rendition called "Nobel

Peace Prize Horse" and personally signed by former president

Jimmy Carter.

Let's hear it for the Dala Horse and the universal language of art!

Butterfly Whisperers

Apparently the two of us have something that makes butterflies happy.

Something that makes them slow down from the all the fluttering.

Maybe we smell good? Maybe we are sweet like nectar?

Or maybe we are just old and not running around in their sanctuary like the younger ones is more like it!

Whatever.

We like being able to give respite to a butterfly now and then.

This weekend found us out and about at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

with Miss E. We had a wonderful time.

I love the modern art that butterflies give us on their gossamer wings.

Apron Art

Hearing that an art exhibit by Women's Journeys in Fiber presenting

"Aprons: Myth & Fantasy" meant only one thing:

I had to go!

Not only did I have to get there, but I had the treat of being taken by my adventurous friend, Marti.

We drove to Kenosha, Wisconsin yesterday to the

Anderson Arts Center right along the shoreline of

a very beautiful, frozen Lake Michigan coast.

The show included quilts by several talented quilters,

a 3D gallery of The Three (Dis)Graces: Poverty, Neglect & Indifference and works on display by Central High School (Kenosha) students all set inside a glorious older mansion formally inhabited by the Simmons (as in mattress) family and now turned into an art gallery.

Might I highly recommend this show currently on display through March 25, 2012? It's that good!

As much as we enjoyed the quilts, our favorites were the

30 aprons on display and the stories behind their creation by their makers. Whimsical, nostalgic, poignant, sad, clever, creative, innovative....the list goes on.

These women are true artists in my way of thinking.

Let the pictures speak for themselves:

I loved seeing an apron that Marie Antoinette might have worn shouldst she ever appear in a kitchen.

Seeing a rendition of a combined Julie & Julia apron tickled me due to my former

Copycat Challenge in which I sewed my way through a whole book of projects.

Reading about a Granddaughter's memories of summers spent with her Grandma

at a Wisconsin lake cabin and interpreted into an apron tugged at my heartstrings.

Seeing a woman's work who is an expert gardener (and seamstress) and lover of flowers translated into a gorgeous apron was a feast for the eyes of one who has had enough of winter, mild as it might be presently.

I just might have to think about making a "statement" apron myself one of these days!

(Thanks, dear Marti, for a wonderful day!!)

ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, MI (Pink Suitcase Chronicles #43)

We have just returned home from a very art-filled weekend! Here you can see all of us - including Pink - reading the maps and newspaper articles describing the ArtPrize venues, artists and details before we set out to explore the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

A few years back, a philanthropist in the area decided to offer big cash rewards to artists from around the world to enter this art contest to compete for large sums of cash prizes. The winners were to be voted upon by the people visiting the show.

The show uses city buildings, restaurants,parks, bridges, museums, churches, etc. to display the works of art. This contest has attracted more and more artists each year, and people are coming to the city from all over as well.

There are now some 1500 pieces of artwork on display from now

until October 9, 2011.

Wes and I were "hosted" by our dear friends, Marny and Tracy.

The art pieces were tiny (think a Mona Lisa jigsaw puzzle with some 80 pieces that could fit inside an Altoid box) to large (think in terms of a waterfall/fountain containing life-sized wood-carved grizzly bears). Think wood, glass, metal, steel, fibers, photographs, mosaics, clay, paper,

frying pans, glue, filaments, resin, plastic. You name it, basically, and there was an art piece featuring it!

This eye was a project two brothers created together by taking daily photographs for two years

and making a mosaic that had a picture within their pictures.

Here we see scaffolding with a sculpture. We were surprised to find the guy on the left was a real man who gave us a 'thumb's up' gesture as we checked him out!

Do you see Barbie in the shark composition?

These yellow sunflowers covered a large expanse of grass by the Gerald Ford Presidential Library. The flowers are all made out of recycled water bottles. Marny and I had a mini tutorial on the process by the artist herself.

This large sculpture dog was called "Rusty" and was made out of recycled metal parts.

I predict right here right now that this will be one of the Top 10 winners.

I was happy to see that a quilt was accepted into the competition at ArtPrize.

Imelda would have been happy, too.

If you feel that you are caught up in details at work, this wooden sculpture man can

certainly relate to your pain. Perhaps he's a modern-day Jonah.

How fun is it to be in Grand Rapids and see our very own CTA Brown Line? We take the Kimball train quite often - and never even noticed it is made out of duct tape! The artist did, however. This piece is close to actual size of a train, so we are talking a lot of duct tape here!

I hope you can get just a little idea of the big enjoyment we had this weekend. Let's hear it for

Marny and Tracy

and

A r t P r i z e!