We arrived at our campground apartment. I unloaded my stuff, grabbed my fiddle and backpack and headed back toward the reception. Martha was waiting for me and we had a special treat coming our way.
First we walked to Vicki's cousin's apartment. Ester is very kindly letting Martha stay there for the weekend. We drank some water and lay on the floor, trying to cool off. At a quarter past nine, Martha called Mats Andersson. He had a meeting in town and he and his wife, Karin, were on their way to pick us up. We had been invited to spend the evening and the next day at their house!
We met them around the corner from Ester's apartment. Somehow, we managed to fit our instruments and overnight bags into the vehicle. We piled in and headed North to Föllinge.
The Anderssons live in a house that is just large enough for a family of seven. The five children range in age from almost 6 to 14. The two girls are the oldest. They have several chickens and a few rabbits. Right now. There was a horse for a while. One of the chickens is sitting on 13 eggs. Elise and Carolina tell us that they should hatch any day now. Mats is not so sure.
When we arrived, all of the children were still awake. We had some food and beer. I met the children (Elise, Caroline, Pär, Anders, and Olle). We talked for a while. When it was approaching midnight we were directed to the beds we would be using. I haven't sleep that soundly in a long time.
After breakfast, the fiddles came out. Something just feels right about sitting around an established fiddler's kitchen table, playing a few tunes, while his wonderful children dart in and out of the picture. We couldn't play too long though, we had a lunch date with the children. At the lake!
Again, everyone (except Karin and Olle) piled into the car. Martha says we headed east to the lake; I'll take her word for it. It took two trips in the row boat (motor powered) out to the sandbar to get everyone and everything there, but we made it. The weather was perfect. Hardly a cloud in the sky with a good breeze moving through.
Everybody swam. The water ranged from quite cold to just a little cold depending on where you went in, but it all felt great! Anders taught me how to skip rocks. Martha got a fishing lesson from Mats, no fish though. Mats used Scandinavia's greatest invention, the Engångsgrill (single use bbq grill that is perfect for just about anything), to cook us a delicious lunch of hamburgers and chicken sausages.
We managed to tear ourselves away from the beach before we got too fried. Two boat trips and a car ride later we were back at the house. I got a tour of the animals from Elise. I snuck up to the sewing room for a quick look at the dräkt Karin is working on right now. Then, back into the car and back to Östersund.
I am extremely grateful that I was included in the trip to Föllinge. I can't imagine a nicer way to have spent today! The whole Andersson family is great. I hope that I get to see them again some day, somewhere.
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