Hej Hej - Hej Då

This is sort of a miscellaneous post....just sharing bits and pieces of my days in Ljusne.  

I have learned a little Swedish...

          Hej Hej - informal hello (pronounced Hey Hey)

          Hur mår du - how are you? 

          God morgon - Good morning 

          God kväll - Good evening

          Hej då - Goodbye  

          Skål! - Cheers! 

          Ha en trevlig dag! - Have a nice day!

          Smaklig måltid-Bon appetit

          Ja - Yes

          Nej - No

          Förlåt - Sorry

          Tack-Thanks

          Tack så mycket - Thanks very much
         

When I read signs or magazines, I can pretty well figure out what the gist is, but trying to speak it, is a different story.  My hosts daughter Alisha, made place cards one day for dinner and for my name she put Kej!  Makes sense, it Hej is Hey, then Kaye must be Kej....very sharp.

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As I said in a previous blog, we have guests from so many countries.  Most of the people bring their dogs with them!  Today, was an unusual dog.  She was HUGE, I haven't seen a dog that big in my life.  I have seen a Great Pyrenees, but this dog was bigger.  It was a Dogo Canario, also called a Perro de Presa Canario from the Canary Islands originally bred for working livestock.  

Can you tell how big she is, her back comes up to the dining table!  The picture doesn't really do her justice...she had the biggest face.   Ambra was not a happy camper to have this dog in her space.  Oh and she weighs 55 kg, 121 pounds😬.  The female owner looks like she is water skiing when she is walking her!

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I was going back to my room one night and I saw these critters.  At first it looked like a sea shell, it was that big.....escargot....hmmm.

I asked my host, Martin, if there were wild animals around, it they had experienced any sightings.  He said there are moose, deer, foxes, bears, etc., but mostly deep in the woods.  He said my snails were my wild animal 

sighting😋

There was a fishing contest for three nights in a row on the Ljusnan River by Ljusnefors Camping.  A boat drops a big net and then fisherman drag it in and see what the biggest fish is!  Marion and I walked down to see what it was all about....they did it twice with no luck....nary a fish.  We could see fish jumping out of water behind them, but they didn't catch any!!  We know that they also didn't catch anything the first night....we do not know about the 3rd.

Dropping the net 

Pulling in the net 

Crowd watching!


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One evening Marion and Liva took a run to a nearby Village, Valvik, and took this beautiful picture.

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Heike made me some Swedish meatballs!

Martin made us individual pizzas and we picked out our toppings!

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Yari likes watermelon so much, he eats it down to the rind....this is how many he ate!!

Yari likes Nutella on bread with salami😬

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Martin's son Luca has been here for a week.  Here is a picture of them on the morning he left!  He lives in Switzerland.

Hej Hej - Hej Då

Today is my last full day in Ljusne.  Tomorrow I leave for Stockholm.  I have had a wonderful time and I will miss everyone here.  I am ready to see my family and my dogs!  I travel to Stockholm by high speed train and I am staying at a B&B in the center of the city.  I can't wait to do all the things I have on my list; Archipelago Tour, Stockholm Food Tour, the Royal Palace and changing of the guard, the Vasa Museum, the ABBA Museum and the ICEBAR in the ICEHOTEL!

There will be 3 new Workaways after I leave.  One is brand new and the other two are a couple that met here.  This is their 3rd year back.  One is from Germany and one is from Switzerland. The new one is from Italy.  She will come after Marta leaves.  I will definitely miss Marion, Marta and Liva.  They have been a lot of fun with which to work.  They are all hard workers and we all got along well.

I will miss the Hoffman family, especially Martin and Heike. I am so glad they took a chance on the "older" lady from the US.  Workaway is awesome, probably not for everyone.  If you check out the website, there are many opportunities.  There is some physical work and many other types of work, all with the opportunity to see, live and learn about another country.  I am so blessed that I am retired and unencumbered (for the most part).  Thank you Janie, Marcelo, Mary and Paolo Muñoz for keeping my old girls.

Goodbye pics:

Erik, Enno, Yari, KK and Alisha

 Ambra and KK

 Ambra

 KK, Marta, Liva and Marion

 And Ambra

KK, Martin and Heike

They made me a going away card...Liva and Alisha drew the pictures and everyone signed it!  These are Swedish wildflowers and they are so beautiful.  Liva drew them beautifully....she is very talented

See you in Stockholm!  Se dig i Stockholm!

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