Grandfather

My maternal grandfather Elo passed away a few weeks ago. He was 90 going on 91 and a stellar guy.

 Dairy engineer at work.

Elo was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1921. He studied to become dairy engineer in an occupied Denmark during WW2 and was a member of the underground resistance. He was stopped at checkpoints in the city with his bag full of underground newspaper Frit Danmark on at least two occasions but was never searched. Possession of the illegal newspaper meant that you were shot right then and there.

Elo's father, the chief of police for Fredriksberg, Copenhagen, was taken as a prisoner of war in 1944* and lost his life in a camp near Dresden.

After the war Elo got a job in Malmö, Sweden where he met my grandmother. They married in 1948 and had two daughters. He travelled the world a few times, won a silver medal for his cumin cheese, was elected president of two Rotary clubs, was involved in local politics and wrote several textbooks.

He was a prankster, musician, athletic and he loved cheese. The desk in his study was full of cows in various forms so that "he'd remember who his actual employer was".

The funeral was held in the same church where he and my grandmother married. The last hymn sung was the one he requested; Altid frejdig, a Danish hymn that was sung by the resistance during WW2.

Rest in peace Morfar.
Mennesker kommer og går, men du vil altid være midt i mit liv.

* Police officers were considered a potential threat since they could handle weapons. German authorities rounded them up and sent them to POW camps in Germany to prevent them from joining up with the resistance.

Grandma's Bike

Went for a ride on my grandmother's old bicycle today. The weather was perfect for biking around my old neighbourhood by the sea. This area is beautiful in the summer and in many ways I was lucky to grow up here.

Bike on the road.

View from the bike.

I'm not big on the colour orange, but Grandma's old bike can get away with it.

I feel like baking

My grandparents are moving and they are donating a lot of their things to us grandchildren. I found these lovely cookbooks in the kitchen. They were all published by various cocoa and chocolate manufacturers in the 1930s and 1940s.

Doesn't it look delicious?

New

Hello world. Meet Ella, the latest branch on my family tree. She's seven weeks old and lives in a house by the sea. She likes to take short naps, eat and keep and eye on what's going on around her.

I've known Ella's mother and her two aunts for decades. We're cousins you see. I was more or less the same age as Ella is now when I first met her mother.

Ella and her mother.

From An Old Photo Album

I spent a lovely Sunday morning at my mother's house, enjoying a family brunch. Sunshine, daffodils, fresh air and a happy dog. Yup, spring is definitely in the air.

We looked thru an old photo album too. Lots of pictures of my mother as a baby and the family's first apartment in Vellinge. This first photo is from Dalagården, where my grandmother grew up.

"Gunvors favourite place on Dalagården."
My grandmother, my mother and Zenta the dog.

Grandma holding Mom in her christening gown.
Still from an educational movie on dairy production, featuring my grandfather.

My great-uncle Lasse, Mom and Möller.
This photo is 60 years old and mom and Lasse are still really close.

I've posted some photos from my father's side of the family here.

At the beach

Had a great afternoon at the beach with Mom, my sister and Pax. It's too cold to go swimming but the beach is beautiful at this time of year. I grew up by the sea and I know my way around a lot of places here, which comes in very handy when it gets dark early.

Maria and Pax

Mom and Pax.

And because it's Halloween - it's time to watch Nightmare Before Christmas and eat candy.

Gizmo

Remember the little wild kitten that my sister and her fiancé brought home? He - we're now sure it's a boy - is called Gizmo and is becoming more and more relaxed in his new home. We've even been able to pet him a few times.

Gizmo doesn't really trust stuff that makes weird sounds, like cell phone cameras.

My sister found a good vet who does house calls and has a lot of experience with rescued cats. Gizmo needs some eye drops and antibiotics for the next few days, other than that he's in good shape.

Gizmo. Master of the living room.

The vet also said that he's probably part Siamese or some other "oriental" breed. Gizmo has a really long tail, big ears and his eyes are a little different from the other cats that we've had.

I hope you're ordering more cat food.

He's active, curious and complains if his food isn't fresh enough. Oh, and he's completely taken over the living room. Did I mention he's cute as a button?

Tradition

Malmöfestivalen - the Malmö festival - has started. There are some decent bands playing free shows, food stands, contemporary art installations and vendors selling overpriced knicknacks.

I try to avoid the crowds and the chaos if I can, but there is one tradition that my sister and I always make sure to uphold. Deep fried bananas with ice cream from Bananapågarna (The Banana Boys). You find this place...

and listen to songs like "Yes we have no bananas" and "Banankontakt" while they make you one of these.

Mmm... tradition.

My Grandparents' Garden

My maternal grandparents have decided to sell their lovely old house. There is simply too much to do and they aren't up for it anymore. The house was built around 1910 and originally belonged to builder Anders Hansson, known as "the King of Höllviken" in the early 1900s.

The house has a large garden, like most older houses along the main road. Sadly, one old house after another has been demolished and one garden after another has been turned into apartments or terraced houses.

This is the bottom half of the garden.

My sister and I drove down there yesterday to help our grandmother Gunvor go through some boxes. The sun was shining so we had tea in the garden.

Gunvor

One of my grandmother's favorite things in the garden is a statue we call Tractor Girl. Gunvor bought this statue with money she earned by driving a tractor on her parents farm, hence this sculpture is known as Tractor Girl.
She was discovered at a small shop in the countryside where my grandparents had to stop because they ran out of gas, and she's been keeping an eye on the garden ever since.

Tractor Girl

It's been a while since the swing was in use too. I remember when us grandchildren used it so much that my grandfather had to put some planks on the ground underneath the swings because five pairs of shoes kept digging into the lawn to start and stop.

Not in use, but oddly beautiful.

They don't make houses like this one anymore. I've spent so much time here growing up, and I even remember what Höllviken was like before they built the new road that cut off the path from the bottom of the garden to Hanssons brygga (Hansson's jetty*) where we used to go swimming.

*Anders Hansson who built the house also built a public jetty, a restaurant and a few shops in Höllviken.