In the last blog we mentioned how time had started to fly and it certainly flew fast! It is therefore high time for another report. From our veranda, in the slowly setting evening sun we can tell you the following.
On the evening of the day that we passed contract we went out for dinner in Wijk with two dear friends of ours. As ever, it was a warm and pleasant encounter and a good time for us all to reflect upon the nature of friendship, relationships and life in general.
On the Saturday the boys played with their respective best friends for the last time whilst we made the final preparations for our departure. We sold Susanna’s bike to the local bicycle shopowner and spent much of the profit on a crate of our favoutite organic cheese from a dairy farmer in the locality. Just imagine having to survive without Dutch cheese!
On Saturday afternoon we visited Susanna’s Mum where her twin sister and nephew also joined us. It was super to see each other again and for the three boys to have the chance to play together, we shared a meal and had some meaningful conversations. Her sister gave each of us specially chosen protective gemstones. It was, of course, emotional to have to say goodbye in the evening but as we were all very aware, it was very much a case of ‘until we meet again’. There were encouraging utterances such as: ‘embrace the fullness of what life has to offer’ and ‘follow your heart’.
On the Sunday morning we visited a family to whom we have become very close. The mother of that young family is Susanna’s best friend. The farewell was accompanied by tears and after a long cuddle her friend said: ‘Gosh, how I shall miss you but I know that you all belong there’. There, too, it was very much, ‘until we meet again’ and we received a beautiful poster with photos of all their family members for which we shall definitely find a special place in our new home.
In the afternoon it was time to pack the car but we couldn’t fit everything in so one or two belongings will have to be brought to us when people from the Netherlands next come to visit us from. On the final evening we spoke to good friends who had really been apprehensive about our leaving but it turned out to be a reassuring conversation.
Then the time to leave had finally arrived: Monday 15th July was the day when we left for good. Mathijs’s parents were, of course, sad to see us go. Two good friends of ours also came to wave us off so they were able to give them a proverbial shoulder to cry on.
After what was really quite a long day in the car with the familiar traffic jams around Bremen and Hamburg we finally arrived at the ferry. After a calm crossing we eventually spotted the first sunny contours of our new homeland from our cabin: the archipelago of Gothenburg.
No sooner had we driven out of Gothenburg than Rune said: “You can immediately see that there is more countryside in Sweden than in the Netherlands”. The rest of the journey to our new home went very well. We were welcomed by the Swedish owners with a Fika, (a kind of afternoon tea) with freshly made waffles, ice cream and their own homemade jam, fabulous! At last Rune, Vidar and Susanna could see their new home for the first time. Rune ran from the car to the house with Vidar at his heels.
Already on the first evening we witnessed from the veranda how a lapwing was chasing a fox away from its young/its nest. Whenever you look for connections you can always find them but it remains special to know that the fox is Vidar’s mascot and how fitting it is that the fox “mascot” given by Vidar’s teacher is also with us!
The whole of our first day in the new home it simply bucketed down. However, that was not a problem as we needed the time indoors to prepare the house for the imminent arrival of our own possessions. We cleared up a lot of the owners’ things, moved around quite a bit of the furniture and went through the house with a vacuum cleaner and cleaning cloth wherever that was necessary. It felt good to make the new place more ‘ours’ and, on reflection, a rainy day was just right for that sort of activity. We ended the day by submitting a digital application to Skatteverket, the Swedish tax office. Next week we shall have to follow that up by going in person to the Karlstad office to confirm the registration application.
The following day it was sunny and warm and so we harvested the first kilo of raspberries. We also managed to do quite a bit of gardening as well. At the instigation of the owners Mathijs also started on the resetting of their robotic lawnmower. Finally, we put our names on the letterbox to avoid any future confusion for the postman.
The highlight of the whole day was when Rune’s best schoolfriend came to play. How proud Rune was to be able to show Jesse around his new home.
On the third day we travelled to Kristinehamn. We went to a hardware store, ate ice creams and did a whole load of grocery shopping. When we got back we ploughed on with all the odd jobs that still needed doing. That demanded a fair amount from the boys but these days they seem perfectly able to entertain themselves. We invited all the new neighbours round for a Fika at our place. That involved baking a whole mountain of raspberry fairy cakes the day before.
On the afternoon of day four we continued with all the jobs around the house in the morning but arranged to meet up with Jesse and his family in the afternoon. Not at our house again but in a national park area instead which, until the early 1900s, was still a working iron ore mine.
The good old Swedish holiday feeling is again setting in: walking, swimming, making outdoor fires and barbecuing sausages.
