Glad Midsommar!

Hej Chums!

So I am a little behind with the well wishes, but yesterday was Midsummer in Sweden (it's always the Saturday closest to the shortest night of the year). Here though the eves tend to be celebrated more than the day itself. Apparently it's the same with Christmas Eve (which means on Christmas Day you just get to chill out and play with your presents). So on Friday most people left Stockholm for the countryside and the archipelago, and no-one went to work, and I cycled off in the morning to Eve's house and midsummer with her family, and the next door family.

We were really lucky with the sun, it's been raining for weeks, but Friday was unbelievably perfect (apparently unusual for Midsummer!). Spent the entire day outside, drinking wine and eating herring.

Herring with mustard, and herring with mayo.

Table set for lunch.

After lunch we walked up to a hill in the middle of some amazing allotments. There are lots of allotments about in Stockholm, and they are all beautifully colourful at the moment, but these ones had actual houses on them. Little perfect houses surrounded by flowers and orchards and hammocks. I would have lived there in a moment, but apparently they are not for actually living in, booo. We followed crowds of people (like the Quidditch world cup) to the hill, where there was a Midsummer pole, and lots of dancing in circles and singing mad Swedish songs (the frog has no ears and no tail?). I loved it a lot.

Midsummer pole.

After some dancing we went back for more wine, lots of strawberries and grilled fish. Nom nom nom! I also had a good game of hide and seek with Eva's two-year old daughter, who told me where to hide and then was SO DELIGHTED when she found me. It was great. (That sounds sarcastic, but it's not meant to be. It was properly a great game!)

This was about half the strawberries we had!

Just trying to get some work done and waiting for Sally to arrive. Fingers crossed it stops raining!

Hejdå!
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