Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The Sole of the Plain People
I traveled to Lancaster PA via Rte. 896 again this week. It was a gorgeous sunny Saturday and the Amish were out in full force. Now is the season when tobacco is harvested and some of the barns are starting to look full. I'm always amazed to see the Amish parents, and their young children, standing on a horse drawn platform, cutting tobacco. It's not just that they have gathered the whole family for this project but that they haven't bothe
red to put on shoes...they're barefoot! I can barely cross the lawn shoeless at Klaradal without "ooching and ouching" at every little prickly plant so I 'm amazed that someone would plow a field with unshod feet! Or ride a scooter up a hot road without donning shoes! All I can say is "pass the shoe fly pie" and give that girl a pedicure!Labels: Swedish Antiques
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Ghostly Gift
I love animals but find I spend a lot of time cursing their existence in my yard. The deer that frequent the back field of Klaradal recently discoverd my hanging geraniums which now resemble hanging sticks. One year the squirrels chewed all of the pumpkins I had on the front porch. Birds seem to know when I put out a freshly cleaned cloth on the table in front of Klaradal. (They're usually floral and not bullseye design but...) This year, however, I have to thank one of these creatures for naturally planting a ghost
(tiny white) pumpkin seed in my front yard. The vine showed up a few weeks ago and now has over a dozen small white pumpkins! Now, I just need to protect them from Greta (the resident ground hog) whose figure attests to her love of EVERYTHING.
Labels: Swedish Antiques
Monday, August 25, 2008
New York Gift Show
I would love to have every item in Klaradal come directly from Sweden BUT the economy and weakened dollar make it impossible to fill my Swedish country house with affordable gifts using Sweden as my exclusive supplier. So...I usually venture to the major gift shows to see what is new and fun! I recently attended the New York Gift Show. I found some new sources for reproduction Gustavian (Swedish) furniture. Previously I only represented reproduction furniture that was made in Sweden. These pieces, although beautiful, proved to be more expensive than the actual antiques. The new vendors I found sell pieces made in Spain, Italy, and (you guessed it) China. I don't plan on filling the shop with them but it's great to know there is a source for pieces (such as tabourets [Benches shown above priced from $900]) which are difficult to find in Sweden at an affordable price. If you'd like more details just e-mail me. 
I also purchased items from some Scandinavian companies that were Swedish or Danish design but made in Nepal or China. These items should be in the shop by next month. Especially fun are some felted wool gnomes, pigs, and mushrooms for the Christmas tree. More on mushrooms later.
Labels: Swedish Antiques
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Water For Horses
The other week I went to visit my father who lives in Lancaster County PA. I needed to visit a shop off a Rt. 896 which is heavily traveled by the Amish. I passed a general store that had, on their permanent sign, "Water for Horses". Having just read the book Water for Elephants I was trying (waytoo hard) to decipher the meaning. A special energy water, a supplement for water, tanks of water? I then passed a small Amish house with the same sign...only hand made...and realized it was for those Amish horses (many once fine race horses) who, in the heat of summer, often needed to stop for water! I didn't stop for water but did quickly park to pick up a bunch of rainbow color zinnias and to deposit my $2.50 in the honor box! Ahhh...the simple life!
Labels: Swedish Antiques
Cape Horn...or the Top of the World!
Above is a view of Cape Horn from our cruise ship. We were lucky enough to be there on a sunny clear day...the first they had had all summer! We walked around the visitor center inside and then roamed the grounds. Everywhere we walked we saw these pile of rocks....My explanation...Reindeer games!
Labels: Swedish Antiques
Monday, August 4, 2008
Sami, Scandinavia, and the Midnight Sun
David, A Sami Gentleman, and Rudolph!In June we cruised through the Norwegian Fjords and went as far north as Cape Horn. It was in this area that I saw my first "Sami" people, also referred to as LapLanders. I knew a little bit about them from our travels to Finland and Sweden. Over the years, as I traveled Sweden buying Antiques and furniture for the shop I would pick up some paintings, or carvings, or dishes featuring Sami. For those who aren't familiar with Sami they look (to me, at least) like our Native Americans or Inuit people. They are, generally, reindeer herders. They live in collapsible tents in arctic areas and follow the reindeer. We first saw herds of reindeer (Pure white! They are selectively bred to be white since it is the more popular fur color) and then saw the Sami people. These were "tourist" Sami's....I'm sure....because they were set up to sell crafts, show their tents, and let you pet the reindeer. That said, they still wore the traditional costume and offered for sale reindeer fur (I didn't buy any...I'm not a fur person!) wonderful woolen hats and tassel crafts. The landscape was amazing for what you did not see.....TREES! The permafrost is such that nothing grows other than reindeer moss. (Gray curly stuff that Swedes use around candles at Christmas time)
Labels: Swedish Antiques
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