Weekend Coffee Share – Perhaps the best week of the year?

Posted byMariaPosted inDalarna, Intentional Living, Sustainable options, SwedenTags:, , , , , , , , ,

Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share! What can I get you? The coffee is strong, and the tea is ice cold. So there’s been many great weeks so far this year, but I believe this week takes the prize!

The week started with my daughter’s birthday on Monday. We celebrated with family, and she was so happy. There was gifts and cake.

On Tuesday she had a birthday celebration with her best friend, my daughter is not a fan of big parties, but love to celebrate with the ones that means something to her. The girls had so much fun! They played, had lunch and cake, and played some more. There was a ”fishing pond” (the kids gets to fish small gifts with a fishing rod, and an adult is behind a curtain and attach gifts to their fishing rod.) One of my friends came over to style their hair. It was perfect. After playing intensely for five hours my daughter fell asleep at 8pm and slept for more than 12hours!

On Wednesday we went to Mora, where one of my brothers live. We had dinner at a really nice restaurant with my brother, my sister in law, and my nephew. Mora is a picturesque little town and there’s many wonderful places to enjoy a meal there. We spent the night in Mora.

Super-excited on the bus taking us to Fulufjället National Park.

Early Thursday morning my daughter and I took a bus up to the mountains. It was a three hour ride up to Fulufjället National Park. It was a very pleasant ride (clean and comfortable bus, great air-condition,) through beautiful landscapes. I could easily see myself living almost anywhere along that drive. Hiking at Fulufjället National Park is something I’ve been wanting to do for several years, and I am so grateful that it finally happened. I had really high expectation but the reality was a hundred times better than any of the photos, or films I’ve seen about the park. The weather was perfect, 35F in the morning and around 75F later in the day. The air was cool and crisp, and the sky very blue. 

We had planned a shorter hike to a famous waterfall, Njupeskär (less than 3US miles back and forth.) 

After hiking to the fall, which we enjoyed tremendously, we had lunch at the restaurant near the entrance. The food was excellent!! I had a vegan burger with homemade spicy avocado cream, and sweet potato fries. My daughter had waffles with cream, and cloudberry jam. 

After enjoying the meal we decided to look at the nature learning center next doors. It was beautiful, and very informative about the local plants, animals, history, and geology. I purchased a beautiful coffee table book about the park there. 

Perisoreus infaustus is the symbol of this park, in Swedish Lavskrika. We learned that they are very curious and bold. When I was trying to zoom in for a better picture of one of them (impossible since they danced around all the time,) the bird I was trying to photograph landed on my left little finger for a few seconds.

After some coffee we decided to go for another short hike before heading back to Mora. The landscape didn’t disappoint this time either. It was a very long, and totally magical day! We spent another night in Mora.

Yesterday we packed our bags and took the bus home to Falun in the morning. This trip proved to me once again that I can manage without a car, and live a rich, full life. This month it’s exactly three years ago I decided to sell my car and see if I can manage without one. I definitely can. The bus ride between Mora and Falun only takes 1,5 hour, and most of the day was spent quietly, relaxing at home (read:watering plants, and reading books.)

Today I rode my bike up to the gardening plot early, early, to beat the heat of the day. I watered my plants and bushes, mowed the lawn, trimmed some edges, and picked several gallons of berries. There’s an abundance of raspberries, and blackcurrants at the moment. There was also some ripe redcurrant and gooseberries, but not as much. 

I am so grateful for the love of family and friends, great health, vacation, gorgeous nature, clean air, good food, an abundant harvest, and life itself! This summer really is one of the best summers. I hope your week is fabulous! Thank you Natalie for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share. 

Are you enjoying summer? Or perhaps it’s winter where you are? Tell me what’s going on in your neck of the woods! I am off to the beach 🙂

Love,

Maria  

Published by Maria

It’s all about experiences, and the healing power of nature. Life is about choosing happiness. My gypsy soul have taken me to many different countries, and definitely taught me to be more humble. I enjoy growing my own food, and spending time outdoors. I now reside in the region where I was born: Dalarna, Sweden. I am a mom, a kindergarten teacher, a minimalist and a gardener. Love, Maria

21 thoughts on “Weekend Coffee Share – Perhaps the best week of the year?”

  1. Wow, Maria, that park is incredibly beautiful! You look great on the bus, so pretty! I am glad that your life is in such a good place now, enjoy it! ❤️🇸🇪

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  3. Wow, what a great week you had, totally packed with epic adventures! HB belatedly to H! The national park looks like a beautiful place. And you’ve harvested lots of berries! Will you freeze some?
    It has been summery hot here with scant rain. I’ve had to water the annual garden twice a week. The perennials are pretty much on their own, unless they look in dire straits, when I’ll put the hose on them. The waterfall and stream have dried up and the river is low. The ground under trees is cracked and dry, the grass brown. I guess the leaves drink in the few showers we’ve had. I think this is the new normal, alas. Sounds a bit like CA, eh?

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    1. Ooo, that doesn’t sound good at all with the weather being so dry. We could use some more water (with our measures, to keep the reservoirs topped off) but it’s nothing like that. It rains every now and then. I’ve been watering all the new plants. The garden is above a little lake and we have free use of lake water for our gardens. I have been making lots of smoothies and frozen a lot of berries as well. Next year I’m going to invest in a dehydrator, it’s on my wish list. Have a wonderful rest of your weekend my friend ❤

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  5. Hi Maria, Thank you for your weekend coffee share and pictures. What a beautiful week you’ve had. Happy belated birthday to your daughter Hayley! I’ve lived without a car all my adult life so yes, you can do it. I hope you have a great time at the beach and another great summer week ahead.

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    1. Thank you so much Natalie!! I am so happy to learn that you also choose to not have a car. Even though you’ve never said that before I kind of had a feeling that it might be like that, you are always writing about great walks and bike rides, just like I do 🙂 Have a wonderful rest of your weekend, and a great new week.

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  6. Hi Maria!
    What a wonderful summer vacation there for you and family. Happy Birthday to your beautiful daughter. Your photos you’ve shared are all so very beautiful and I feel like I was there visiting the park with you! I’m so happy you were able to meet up with your brother and family. You said it best as it truly is a wonderful summer for you there! I’m still enjoying the summer breeze and we are reaching in the 90’s(F) most days here in CA. Take care my sweet friend and enjoy your weekend and week ahead!! 💞💞💞

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    1. Thank you Diana! This summer has more than met my expectations. I am so happy and grateful at the moment. It was fun that you wanted to tag along to the national park. Well worthy of a visit, don’t you think?
      90F sounds pretty nice too, just a little warm, but nothing like three digits 🙂 Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and a wonderful new week! ❤

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  8. I agree with you… an amazing week!! The Birthday party looked like fun. Happy Birthday 5o your beautiful daughter.
    And then the beauty at the Park was never ending! Wow! Those falls!
    Enjoy your week to come!

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