I'm still trying to recover from the dreadful shock I got today. We had to go to IKEA in the nearby town of Linköping to pick up some things for the flat. While I don't mind some of their range, I'm generally not a lover of the whole IKEA shopping experience. It begins with trying to leave the car in a vast carpark the size of the Gobi desert, with many of the spaces reserved for specific types of vehicles, none of which match your own ordinary car. And I positively loathe the way you get herded through the whole shop like wildebeests migrating through a narrow river crossing in the Serengeti, when generally I know exactly what I want and would prefer to simply head straight to the warehouse section and pick the goods up. Though, perhaps I'm not as averse to it as Bob.....




Anyway, I didn't complain (well, not very much, anyway) and we found most things we wanted, so I was in an upbeat move as we made our way to the checkout with our goodies. What stopped me in my tracks and left me standing there open mouthed was a whole section like this:


Surely not Christmas decorations in September? I shut my eyes, thinking it was a hallucination brought about by having to hike through 59 kilometres of car park and 75 kilometres of furniture showroom without food or drink. But no, when I opened them again, I was still surrounded by glittery decorations and flashing lights. I'm thankful that at least there was no piped version of Jingle Bell Rock pulsing through the PA system. Then I really would have run amok - and noone needs to see me do that.

Am I the only one appalled about the appearance of Christmas decorations in the shops already? Is it my imagination, or does it seem to be getting earlier and earlier every year, even here in Sweden? I remember when I was a kid, one never saw Christmas decorations until the third Saturday in November at the earliest. The sight of Santa Claus bringing up the rear at the Johnnie's Christmas Pageant on his way to The Magic Cave on North Terrace was the signal: It's now officially the Christmas season! Shop till you drop and decorate to your hearts' content. The pageant had barely left West Terrace before I'd broken out the tree and flashing lights and was happily covered in tinsel and fake snow.




Even then, people usually didn't decorate their homes until early December. In some of the more traditional homes, particularly those that observed a fairly strict catholic calendar, the decorated tree didn't appear until Christmas eve and was taken down after the Epiphany. Please don't think that I'm some kind of anti-Christmas Grinch, because I really do love the whole holiday season, trimmings and all. It's probably my favourite holiday. However, Christmas decorations out before the leaves turn? Thats just not right.




I admit to also doing a double take when I saw this stretch limo in the car park. I thought maybe IKEA's founder Ingvar Kamprad was here visiting for the day. But we didn't see anyone around, apart from a few people rubber nacking like us.

And so we sped back to the safety of our little town where Christmas insanity does not hit until late November with a magnificent medieval style Christmas market held in the castle. The article is in Swedish only, but the pictures will give you an idea of what we will see.

Back in Vadstena it was quiet and peaceful, so I could recover my sanity.




Looking at the picture above, taken from the street that crosses ours, you can clearly see the red tower, which is in the middle of town and I think is a great landmark. But not everyone noticed that it existed. When we needed to pick up something that required us to go to the main street, charmingly called "The Big Street" (Storgatan), I suggested we do so on our way out to the boat. Lars-Göran grumbled a bit about where to park the car as the town is so car unfriendly, but I assured him that I knew a spot that would be perfect. So I began my directions there with "Just follow this street to the red tower". He looked at me with a puzzled look and asked "What red tower?" Of course I laughed, thinking he was fooling around, but he wasn't. He had never noticed the red tower before! I'm booking a time for him to have his eyesight tested!




It's a lovely place we live at with its mixture of town and country life existing side by side. On the same corner where you can look towards the red tower, you can turn ninety degrees and look over farmland, where today we saw a deer grazing. And then a short walk into town brings you to the lovely park surrounding the castle, which today is looking glorious as the autumn colours begin to show.




They have managed to hit a good balance with the park. It is stately and grand with many old, well established elm trees, but it is still very much a place for people to enjoy, with lawned areas, plenty of benches to rest your weary feet and a playground for the children, which strangely enough does not look incongruous in this setting. I always feel relaxed and welcome here.




And then there is the peace I feel at home in our cosy apartment. It is so nice not to be on the main street anymore. I thought we might miss some of the passing traffic, but in fact there are so many different birds in the trees outside of my kitchen window that it is always a treat to be there. While they have mostly been crows or ravens, today we had dozens and dozens of chattering and gregarious starlings (starar). While it doesn't show up in the photo we took from the breakfast table, their feathers have the most beautiful a metallic sheen.




And progress on the apartment is ongoing as well. We have finished with the bathroom which now looks so much more civilised with everything attached properly and some new cleancut, plain white IKEA furniture to brighten it up - a double doored mirror cabinet, a high cabinet and cupboards under the basin. We've filled all of the 58 holes in the wall with a special, watertight compound that blends really well with the existing wall covering and we've added towel hooks, shower curtain rail and shower curtain. It has made a huge difference and now I can move on to another room. Slowly but surely, we seem to be getting there.