The Trip 2009 - Sweden 1

Thursday 2nd July.

Our first day back in Sweden. Its amazing but the weather is hotter than England has been.
We had a lazy day getting to know the apartment, the immediate area and of course putting some washing on. Elin had very kindly pre-booked us a time slot in the laundry. These laundry arrangements are so civilized. I did some ironing and sorting of emails etc. before walking down town with Elin as she caught the train to work.



This is their very nice balcony which has movable glass panels on two sides. A lovely sun trap with Elin's colourful flower boxes.



The view from the balcony.

After walking down to the station with Elin, I had a quick look around. The town is older than where they lived before, in Hammarby, and therefore is a mixture of old and new buildings. There are many new blocks of apartments under construction. Also as it is a town it is quite busy and has a large mix of nationalities. Its always strange and daunting to come to a new area but very exciting finding our way around.
When Jim came home from work, we had a walk down into the town to do some shopping for provisions and we had our first introduction to ICA.



When Elin came home we had dinner and while sitting talking we noticed these hot air balloons sailing along. We were told that it was a regular event when the wind was in a certain direction.



Jim and Elin had a little conversation in Swedish and it became obvious that they were discussing something that we weren't meant to know about. A few minutes later we were presented with a dark blue box which contained a mini bottle of champagne and two very nice champagne flutes. This was a lovely surprise which was further enhanced by also finding an envelope inside containing two tickets for a hot air balloon flight in a weeks time. What a lovely surprise and welcome to Sweden!!

Other things!

Other things that happened in June.

Sunday 6th June.

Other things have been happening to us besides reminiscing over our last holiday.
At the begining of the month we had a very wet footpath at the bottom of the drive. When the Water Board came to check they found that there was a leak in the water main.



Alex was put in charge of operations.




I think the Soccaroos scarf is a little out of place !



That's a very brave bloke in the hole. Actually they took the key out before letting Alex sit in the machine.



At last they found the pipe which was below two phone lines which made the repairs even harder to carry out.



A new section of pipe in place. The old pipe had been corroded from the outside by our very acidic shale ground. That's a submersible pump in the top right hand corner. The electrical cables either end of the new blue pipe are earth cables to prevent the team from getting electrocuted when working in the water. It was a long job but it was finished before the weather took a turn for the worse. Unfortunately the hole was back filled in reverse so we ended up with a hump of very sticky clay of the surface. I hope I can eventually get it sorted and grass to grow again.

Saturday 12th June.

I'm rather proud of myself. As the computer nerds in the family know, I'm a little frightened of the insides. When I started up the computer there was a terrible screeching noise so obviously I had to do something about it. Step by very slow step, I took the computer apart and by a series of elimination found that the bearings on one of the small cooling fans were gone. I tracked down a replacement locally and reinstalled everything. Its amazing the difference, the machine is so quiet. This fan must have been going for some time but because the change was so gradual I didn't really notice it.



Saturday 26th June.

I hear you asking, "Why is Alex dressed as a Mongolian Yak herder".






Here's the answer, we were outside on a very cold night watching an eclipse of the moon.

The Trip 2009 - UK28

Wednesday 1st July.

We were up early and got our packing finished. Said our sad good byes to Louise and Andrew before heading up to Sedgley to see Ray and Audrey. We were just supposed to be calling in at Audrey's on our way to the airport but Audrey had gone to a lot of trouble and cooked us a lovely lunch. We had a good run up to Manchester Airport where we topped up the car with fuel and returned it.

We did some duty free shopping before flying out a few minutes before 1900, heading for Arlanda airport, Stockholm.

A boring flight as all we wanted to do was to see Elin and Jim again. We arrived at 2210 and were met by Elin and Jim and taken by taxi to their new apartment in Sundbyberg. Its lovely to see it at last and the photos didn't do it justice. Another late night.

The Trip 2009 - UK27

Tuesday 30th June.

Another overcast morning but still quite warm.

Our usual slow start to the day. We decided to have a last run around some of our favourite places so drove out to Much Wenlock.


Much Wenlock Guild Hall with Holy Trinity Church in the background.



Number 5 Wilmore Street getting its windows cleaned. Now that is a good way to clean windows!


The nice beer garden at The Talbot Hotel on High Street.


The end of St.Mary's Lane through to High Street.





St.Marys Lane.

We carried on to Ludlow, Tenby Wells and back via Ombersley to Westwood park.

We started to do a bit of packing before going to the Cross Keys in Ombersley for dinner with Mal, Ivor ,Louise and Andrew. A very good night.

The Trip 2009 - UK26

Monday 29th June.

Another beautiful day with the temperature supposed to reach 28C.

Getting towards the end of our stay in the UK so had our usual slow start to the day, late breakfast, lots of talking etc.

We were introduced to Dennis who is the man painting the house although Louise and Andrew haven't really settled on a wall colour yet.



Louise and Andrew with their colour sample pots.



Maybe the house is going to be finished in different coloured squares.

We drove into Worcester to do a bit of last minute present buying and called in at Mal and Ivors on the way back to drop in a present for the new baby. Ivor had been using his electric hedge trimmer and cut through the cable so I was called in to carry out the repairs. It just needed a section of the wire removed and then reconnection to the trimmer handle.

Spent a nice evening with Louise and Andrew and had dinner out on the patio.

Really much start to think about packing!

The Trip 2009 - UK25

Sunday 28th June.

Another beautiful warm and sunny morning.







We are going out for lunch so Andrew washed the car and as the weather was so nice, took the hood down.


Ready to go and meet the family for lunch at Hopton Wafers. Note the nice clean patio paving!



The Crown Inn at Hopton Wafers. Louise, John, Jane , Glynn, Me, Ray and Audrey. Andrew took the photo and unfortunately Emma could not be there.





A lovely mean was had by all and a chance to start saying our goodbyes.



Ray with one of his namesakes.



Andrew took us the long way home, via Worcester with the top still down. Played havoc with my hair! We ended a lovely day with nibbles and champagne, a long walk to try and get some weight off and then watched Top Gear on TV.

The Trip 2009 - UK24

Saturday 27th June.

We awoke to another overcast but warm morning.

Today we are going to have lunch with Richard, Beth and Grace.

From Droitwich we drove up the M5, across on the M42 and then down the M40 before turning off at Thame and heading for great Missenden, and thus Ballinger Common. I don't really like motorways as you don't see much of the countryside but you certainly get from A to B quickly. Our journey only took about 2 hours.

We had heard all about the house extension from Richard but obviously we hadn't seen it. Its looks very nice and balanced. All the building work is complete and now all Richard has to do is to finish off the painting.






The back of the house has been extended out wards and upwards, making full use of the roof space.



A nice alfresco lunch with Richard, Beth and Grace.



Not often I get my photo taken but Grace wanted to try out the camera.



Grace posing in her latest dance dress.




Beth, Richard and Grace. It was lovely to see them and catch up with all their news. Grace has really grown up in the two years since we last saw her.

When we said our goodbyes we headed back to Droitwich across country and were home by 1900 and spent a couple of hours picking fruit with Louise and Andrew.

The Trip 2009 - UK23

Friday 26th June.

Another baby was born today in the Pheasant family. A baby boy, Eddie William was born three weeks premature to Lydia and Andrew. A little brother for Josie. He was 6lbs 10ozs.

Although we lived in Worcester for a number of years I had never been to the Morgan Motor Company in Malvern. I have always admired their sports cars, could never afford one, but at least I can take a guided tour of the factory. I mentioned this to Andrew who said that he would like to go as well, so I phoned and booked us all on to a tour of the factory.

It was a very overcast morning and started to rain on the way to Malvern. Luckily Andrew found us a parking spot close to the entrance so the ladies didn't get too wet.





This is one of the very early three wheelers.



This is the current Roadster model which comes with 1.6 and 2.0 ltr engine. The Roadster Sports is fitted with a 3.0ltr V6 engine, my choice of model.



As it was stil raining heavily, we were loaned Morgan umbrellas, and walked from the Reception area to the factory. These Aero SuperSports were in the car park.



It would be nice to win the lottery!



At the start of the guided tour. All these cars are waiting to be collected by their proud owners.



Part of the tour is an introductory video on the history of Morgan.



A part assembled Roadster. Note the black painted rear axle assembly in the background. They are imported from Australia and are from a Holden Commodore.



A part assembled Aero SuperSports.



Assembly area.


All aluminium Aero frame being bonded and riveted.



The long sweeping guards for the Aero are pressed in one piece.



The woodwork shop where the frames for the Roadster are cut and assembled.



This was to show how many wooden parts there are in the Roadster but these are actually from a very early model as if you look closely you can see that the doors open forwards being hinged off the rear frame.



This is a modern version with the hinges on the front pillar, opening backwards.



More frame assembly area.


Again those Holden rear axle assemblies.



Classic Morgan shaped Roadster. The coming together of wood and aluminium.






Not quiet my choice but you still have to admire the craftsmanship and workmanship of this all aluminium chassis/body.



Louise and Andrew admiring the radical LIFECar2.

The guided tour cost 10UKP each and was the best value for money in a long time. I would highly recommend it to anyone slightly interested in sports cars. Even Di and Louise enjoyed it, so they said.

It was still raining as we left so Andrew took us a ride up on to Malvern Hill, ending up at a spring to collect some water. There are sources of spring water in a number of locations around the Hills, from fountains and spouts, where residents regularly fill containers free of charge. It was a very nice drop.

Late afternoon, we called in to see the new baby before meeting Mal and Ivor, and their friends Margaret and Mike, for dinner at their Golf Club.