weekend cycling&camping

here are quite alot of pictures from our little weekend cycling&camping trip. it was so great to get away, and we had brilliant weather (i even got a bit sunburned, and marcus and i went for the years first swim -we now both have massive colds as a result, but i think it was worth it!)

we set off from Göteborg on Friday evening, and headed along the coast on a cycle path (Sverige-leden) to Kungsbacka.

then we headed East a little ways -let me know if you want directions etc - and (after a big hill) found ourselves by a brilliant little lake, with space for tents, firewood all around, lots of trees to pee behind, perfect. i'm definitely going back there again!

sigfrid, alma, and massoud-in-the-lighter came along, as usual.

Myrra and i rode on a stick to Africa (you can see her sitting there in the above picture). we saw loads of animals, for example a giraffe among the birch trees, a lion in the yellow flowering bush, a shark and three huge whales (they were all friends), and also a zebra. you never know what you're going to find in the Swedish forest, so watch out!

after this, Nadja and Myrra cycled back to Göteborg.

and Marcus, Adrian and i carried on towards south-east. in Fjärås there's a really beautiful ridge, with clean lovely drinking water, that must've got to our heads somehow...

we felt strangely compelled to do forward rolls all over the place. (i forgot how fun that can be!)

there are also bauta stenar, really big, really old stones from the Iron Age, still standing. this one above is around 5m! how did they get it up there? and how is it still standing?

we also cycled past my old community college, it was 9 years ago since i did an art foundation course there, (Helsjöns Folkhögskola). it was really beautiful. we also stopped by in the nearby town called Horred, and found that there is all sorts of exciting entertainment there... if only we could have stayed till the Sunday, then we could have seen what's on this poster...

here come some pictures of a good thing: pinn-bröd, or stick bread. we mixed flour, baking powder and salt in a strong plastic bag before we left, and then just mixed it with water right before using it. then we wound it around the ends of some (bark-less) sticks, and...

baked them over the fire & coals...

and ate fresh, warm bread! i'd for sure do that again.

we saw loads of different birds and animals, i'll find the list and put it up later, but here is for example a huggorm, which i think is viper or adder in english. (makes me think of Black Adder, he he). as you can see, though, this one was no longer living...

unfortunately, on the Sunday, i wasn't feeling very well at all, i guess i had a fever etc, so Marcus and i took the train from Kungsbacka to Mölndal, while Adrian went the last stretch by bike.

anyways, the weekend made me think about how good it is that there are all these beautiful, interesting and fun things to do right close to wherever you are, and that you don't need loads of time or planning or money to get a little holiday.

saturday

today i was at work all day (the shifts are 12 1/2 hours, so not much time for anything else), but yesterday i had a really nice day.

i did some glaze tests in the studio, and also met up with my aunt and her friend. as you can see, the little beans and peas have started to shoot up very enthusiastically out of their little pots! after coffee/tea and chocolate biscuits and hotcrossbuns that my mum made, we went to a little exhibition opening by a silversmith, Gun-Marie Bengtsson and painter which was nice, and then to the Göteborg Konstmuseum to see an exhibition i've been wanting to see for ages, and it was amazing! i felt so inspired afterwards, and somehow hopeful. it's called Annan Konst, or Other Art, you can see it here if you follow the links. it's a collection of a wide variety of work by self-taught artists from Finland, Sweden and Norway. i even bought the catalogue (and 2 back issues of Cabinet magazine that were halfprice, nice one).

Peltonen, utan titel. Foto: Veli Granö

Veijo Rönkkönen, Joogatarha. Foto: Veli Granö
if you're in Göteborg, it's open till may 31st -go see it!
there was also a really good exhibition of photographs by Elin Berge with music by Frida Hyvönen, Drottninglandet, about women who have moved from Thailand to Sweden to live with a Swedish man. well worth a visit.

home+

my mum, making parsnip-soup. yum.

Anna is doing the costumes for a play in Oxford, with an 80's theme. i had the pleasure of trying on some of the clothes. i wonder why i don't always dress this way?

Anna also made this brilliant little friend for Sigfrid, (who some of you may know...). her name is Alma Annasdotter.

we went on a little trip to Jönköping, and stopped by at my greataunts. we'd asked for a glass of water, and this is what we got...!

did you know that safety matches were invented in Jönköping? we went to the little match-musuem, and there are some really lovely little labels.

in the same little museum was an exhibition by Janeric Johansson. i did a pencil-copy one of his drawing/paintings when i was in school in Pakistan, and on a trip to Sweden my mum drove us to visit him in his studio, where he talked to us and showed us his methods&techniques. now he's spent loads of time in China, at the same place a friend of mine has worked. it's a small, circular world...


i also saw my 3 grandparents. they´re not, of course, getting any younger, and every time i see them i wish that they will always be here...
but i'm lucky to have known all 4 of my grandparents. i even met both greatgrandfathers.
i could launch into a whole monologue of how i think elderly people are not well-enough respected in Sweden, compared to eg. Pakistan & Afghanistan. but i won't just now.
i'd like to spend more time with them, i would like to draw pictures of them and write down their stories. before it's too late. there were so many stories, so much experience and knowledge that my grandpa Sven Svensson had, that i didn't hear or write down in order to remember... i don't want the same thing to happen again... it's so crazy how many changes have happened in the world during their lifetimes! imagine seeing it all?

and the vitsippor are in full bloom.

but it's still much too cold to swim...


my parents are kind and generous as usual, and drove Anna & i back to Göteborg, and on the way we stopped and did some shopping at the dreaded Ullared's Gekås. (for those of you who are not from Sweden, it's a huge supermarket that sells things for a cheaper price. people travel from far & wide to jostle and crowd and fill their shoppingtrolleys over the brim -and today we joined in). it's a strange atmosphere in there, and i ended up buying not one, but two packets of clothes-washing-powder and deoderant and toothpaste etc etc. but the best thing was that i bought loads of plastic boxes with lids that i can store my ceramic materials in at the studio. it was a squeeze fitting everything into the car...
tack, mamopap!

sister, seeds & studio

Anna my lovely sister is in Sweden! she spent a couple of days here in Gbg, and i'll see her next week at my parents house. as you can see we are very happy.

today Myrra and Nadja came to visit the studio :-).

and i planted loads of beans & peas in little pots, that will hopefully sprout up soon. Nadja's dad has an allotment close to the studio, so we'll plant them there.