Just A Little South of Stockholm

After a few days of rain and less than summery weather, a feeling of panic and dread began to sweep over those of us who live in Stockholm. It was only early August...could "summer" really be over? The prayers of the faithful went up: "Please God, not yet." Thankfully, God answered in the affirmative! The sun and the warmth shone forth once again on Thursday and Friday and we took advantage of it on Friday afternoon and evening. We hadn't been out on the boat in really good weather for at least a couple of weeks so we were anxious to get out in the bright sunshine and hopefully even have a chance to swim once again.We decided to go south through some narrow canal passages and we were not disappointed. Good thing we have a trusty navigator to guide our ways. Ha. We're lucky if we can keep him from jumping into the water at any given moment!

It is just so lovely when you get out in the wonderful waterways of Stockholm. Some of the canals are so narrow it's a wonder boats can glide through. There are many, many homes that would be a wonderful place to stay a few days or weeks.

This one is for sale. All it take is a little pengar...that's Swedish for money.

There were many, many boats out yesterday, a sign that all of us who treasure life on the water are hanging onto every second the Swedish summer sun will give us!

We found this great little spot, pulled in, anchored the boat, and spent the next little while perched on the rock, like so many other Swedes were doing on this sunny Friday afternoon.

Nice view for an afternoon fika.

Tanner was fast in the water and enjoyed getting in and out, chasing sticks, running free, and generally enjoying being in the "wild." I too decided that I had to swim and was surprised to find the water reasonably comfortable, perhaps the warmest water I've been in all summer. Doug wasn't feeling 100% so he was content to study the maps and figure out where in the archipelago we had landed.

On the way back in we spotted this old wheel house. Beautiful place. Would love to see the interior.

Tanner gave us a bit of excitement when we stopped to buy gas. He kind of freaks out when we stop the boat...he starts to bark and gets all excited about either going swimming or running on land so when we are going to make a stop, we hook him up to his leash which is tied to the boat in order to keep him from jumping ship. Well, something misfired yesterday and when we pulled into the gas station, he thought he could just jump off so he tried to...but the leash was hooked to his life jacket (thankfully not his collar or he would've choked) and so there he was, all 42 kilos of giant dog, hanging between the side of the boat and the dock. Stupid dog. At least the guys at the gas station were super nice and not afraid of the beast so they helped us get him unhooked and he scrambled to safety. Photo op was lost in my panicked state!Here he is, resting mode, with order re-stored, ready for a snooze after a very busy and action packed day!

We took our time getting home and enjoyed the only slightly lower August sun. I worked hard to keep the sadness of the waning Stockholm summer from overriding the enjoyment I was experiencing on this particular beautiful summer day.
I'm hopeful for a few more warm outings even though today the clouds and rain have returned. I am definitely not ready to be done wearing shorts, going barefoot, swimming in the Baltic and feeling the bright sunshine on my face.This bench seemed like the perfect spot to enjoy the waning Stockholm sunshine. Perhaps I'll find myself there on another beautiful day.