Text Messaging My African Brothers in Gothenburg

Sending Text Message to the African Brothers in Sweden:

"Greetings, wish you were here"

image: Kevin Franck

Sending greetings to all the folks at Gothenburg Engelska Församling. Seriously, this is real communication. Even a child gets this, take a look below at this cute one minute video of a father and his one year old son.

image: Kevin Franck

The Kumbu Kumbu Market Cyber Cafe. I know, it should be Kumbi Kumbi Cyber Cafe, but the setting is east Africa, not the Congo!

image - uncharted101

This is the WaTuTu village. Notice those familiar Acacia trees ? And notice below some familiar animal friends ? I belong in areas where Acacia and Mesquite thrive. Reminds me of a post I wrote of the African Prosopis tortilis trees of the Savanna.

Acacia tortilis: Poster Image of African Savannas

image: Kevin Franck

Even Mama Bettan says hello among her new friends the Jumping Cholla Cacti.

image: Kevin Franck

Now see what some of you Swedish born African descent kids are missing from living in Sweden and not living down in Africa ?

See you back in Göteborg 😆😉

Traditional Swedish Fences

(The Old versus the New in fences)

NM Gärdesgård (Fence)

http://www.nmgardesgard.se/

I'm not a fan of many things in this part of the Earth. I hate the cold [not even a fan of cold in California when it visits], hate the dense overgrown weedy green everywhere[I'm a Desert Rat @ Heart], the Mosquitos are hideous when you go for walks in the woods[never going blueberry picking again] and I've never seen so much wet in my life.[Desert thingy again] and last but not least, Northern European food[I lean towards Mexican]. But once in a while I warm up so to speak to something that does capture my attention and that is the traditional Swedish fences or Gärdesgård. I like things older and traditional. Though the modern culture here has lost most of it's traditional values when it comes to the traditional artistic styling and architectural design to the modern Socialist influenced generic Soviet Styling of everything having to be equal. But some things never change, like the traditional country fences which can often be seen just outside of the cities in suburbs. Click on the link above under the photo which takes you to the site of N.M. Gärdesgård which is also the Swedish word for fence. They got many beautiful examples of traditional fence photos they have built around the country. Most all the construction materials come from local sources. The actual fence poles are made of local pine (which is actually Pinus sylvestris or Scots Pine) and interestingly, the oldest recorded Scots Pine (700 years old) seems to have been in Sweden. The larger sections are lashed together by what a guy who just installed new windows this morning upstairs on the second story of my house, said is called Gran grenar (Fir branches) soaked to be flexible so that it can be tied as illustrated. I've also seen the fences tied together with long slender Spruce branches which are slightly burned over a fire and water to make them pliable for tying the fence poles together. The resulting natural tie ropes are referenced in Swedish as vidjorna.

SÅGKVARNS GÅRD

Sand Dune coastline beaches at Haverdal

While I like the traditional look and the natural materials used, I've also seen some clever style incorporating the traditional with the modern improvements for stronger longer lasting benefits. This past summer, we went down to a small town north of Halmstad called Haverdal which is very touristy in a Swedish way for the beaches here. I don't think many 'auslanders' know about this area. Mostly it's a native Swede getaway place. Many charming small beach cottages everywhere here. The coastline looks more like something from New England wit rolling sands dunes with bunch grasses everywhere. The only other area I've seen like this is over in Dänemark at the very northern tip of that country called Skagan. Anyway, I took some photos of many examples of modern fence designs around the neighbourhoods there in Haverdal. Here are a few below.

photo: Mine

This house was the home and garden of my wife's ex-inlaws and we came here to pick up both her kids who stayed at grandma & grandpa's place. I actually loved their house and thought about asking to take photos of the beautiful older style of architecture and interior decor, but decided it might be pushy, besides we don't know each other that well. But what impressed me is that their place unlike most Swedish residents is so Un-IKEA [oh yeah, not an IKEA fan either]. But at least I got a couple shots of their own 'DIY' Hornbach [equivalent to Home Depot or Lowes] home improvement project. What you will notice with many outdoor building projects here are the hardware components will be steel as are some of the infrastructural skeleton for the fencing, even if a more rough natural material is added as the finishing exterior decor to the fence. One of the greatest challenges here is to counteract the degrading effects of mold and rot made worse by the continual wet climate. So the steel footings and post caps help. But often times the wood also has to be treated with a Copper-Sulfate which gives it that slight green tint-

photo: Mine

photo: Mine

These next two photos, the one above and to the right, are actually around the block from the kid's grandparent's house. While they show the same traditional Swedish style which is popular here, they incorporate a more modern milled lumber look which was purchased from the local Home Improvement Store as opposed to the tradition of going out into the Forest and gathering all manner of Sapling poles which seem at times to number into the millions everywhere you look or venture out into for a walk. But never the less, it still works for me.

photo: Mine

Back home in Gothenburg we took a day to visit this year's look at the Göteborg Botaniska Trädgård and stumble upon something newer they have done to the older ornamental iron fence of the Botanical gardens. As you can see, they appear to have used long slender willow sapling branches in their fence weave pattern. I've seen quite a bit of this natural wood used and I suspect it is willow much like the pliable willow wood furnishings some create in the U.S. I've also seen what appears to be commercially raised willow orchards when we drive up from Gothenborg to Stockholm for various reason on a visit or holiday. Nevertheless, the wood seems very tough and durable in withstanding this climate.

photo: Mine

Closer back view of the iron structure of the fence and
the weaving pattern of the willow decor used for screen

photo: Mine

This is simply a close up shot of the natural material used
which for me still looks to be Willow. What do you think ?

photos: Mine

This is a close up of the weave pattern they did around the
interior metal poles and the wooden split veneer to hide the
steel post and keep the wooden look even.

photo: Mine

This next series of final photos is going back to Hissingen where we live and the fencing which was built earlier this year to border around what is called in Swedish a Dagis (Child's Daycare Center). This is just east of the major Eketregatan Bus & Trolley Transfer Station. This fencing also had a strong steel infrastructure with the woven overlay of the willow (Vide) branch stems. I've taken several shots to reveal not only the design, but also the interior hardware used if someone out there may be looking for design ideas. As you can see in the photo to the left, the steel or aluminum post framing won't rot inside and the structure will be far more sound as a result. All manner of molds and fungus do a number on things here. Even mosses and lichens will eventually be found on all exterior surfaces no matter how much precaution is taken. I really wish I had stopped when the workers were constructing this and gotten a better perspective on the methods used. I have to assume that the weave around the horizontal poles was done from the top down with the ridge cap being installed last.

photo: Mine

This is the daycare playground fence around where the
children play. I had no idea when I watched them build
this fence that they would train up vines to grow up on it.

photo: Mine

This of course is a close up view of the slender wood pole
strips. The difference here from the view of the botanical
Garden fence is that they have utilized a wood ridge cap.

photo: Mine

This is a close up shot of the corner view of this combination modern metal and natural wooden pole fence structure. Notice the design and hardware they are using which is not over done to detract from the natural aspect of the design they were looking for. I suppose the challenge for folks in the southwestern United States would be to find where you could harvest the willow poles without incurring the displeasure of authorities of eco-activist types. Also, I'm not sure willow would even be the correct material for a drier location, although I see willow garden furniture everywhere. Mostly, like here in Sweden, you'll want some type of steel frame infrastructure to lift your project far above the soil line. Termites are the bigger issue there and it may surprise many to know they don't really have Termites here for the forest recycling program, but rather Wood Ants which build giant wooden pyramid structures with millions of small sticks and twigs the carry back to the Ant mound. Of course the fungus and lichens and other Biological Soil Crusts on steroids here do the rest, but mainly these wood ants are aggressive organic material recyclers.

photo: Mine


Another close up view of the post and the hardware being
 used here for tying the structure all together. These two
poles are actually separate and come together at the same
point, but other poles went straight through.

photo: Mine


Again, just some close up shots of how the aluminum pole was
introduced into the wooden post through a hole bored all the
way through the post to the next post. This had to be precision
accomplished as these poles used appear to be rather long.

Other Visual Artistic or Creative Designs for Fence Weaveing

Images from Pinterest

Reading References for Design and construction:

Swedish Traditional Gärdesgård from an Italian perspective

http://www.nmgardesgard.se/

Video: Building a Gardesgård (Swedish with english subtitles)

http://www.olhermans.com/

This next video is interesting and fun in a sort of comical way. Seriously, tell me this old guy doesn't remind you of the old Lars Norquist character from the John Wayne and Stewart Granger movie "North to Alaska"

HELGE KARLBERG HÄNGNAR GÄRDESGÅRD

Swedish Coastal Seascapes Reminiscent of San Diego California

Photo: Mine

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean from the  Torrey Pines State Reserve Sandstone Cliffs (2008)

Wild Southern California coast

When I tell people I'm from San Diego California, they often ask me if I go down to those wonderful beaches they always hear about. I tell them no or well maybe once in awhile. They next come back with, "Don't you like the beaches there?" I respond by saying, "Sure, if it weren't for all those other 10 godzillion people who like to go there too." Actually I'm not much of a coastal person. I'm a desert rat by nature who likes the peace and quiet of such locales.

Del Mar & other over built cities surround this area

First there is all that traffic congestion and commercial & bedroom district development. I think more importantly I don't like all that fog and low clouds marine layer, never have. You know ? June Gloom - May Gray !!! I not only dislike cold, but I hate it even when there is an annoying chill in the air. Okay I know, why do I live in Svenskland ? Off hand I'd say I got married. But give me Mountains or High/Low Deserts anytime and I'm a happy Kamper. But when I do go to the beach, we head out for Torrey Pines State Beach. It's one of the last wild beaches of sorts that Southern California has. Favourite thing to do is walk for a few miles south towards La Jolla CA to Scripts Pier along some almost wild coastline, short pants and barefoot, exploring tidal pools along the way. Typical windswept appearance of the Torrey pines for which this State Park and the very tree itself is famous for. Constant westward winds from the Pacific Ocean create what most of the experts call twisted Grotesque shapes and picturesque form. 

Photo: Mine

Last time I went to Torrey Pines State Beach it was last year June 2011. I never get tired of that place. I love the wind sculptured trees and chaparral. And as you can see from the above photo, there are still some genuine Coastal Cholla Cactus to be found. Actually this specimen was right close to the bottom of the cliffs near the seashore. It was a bit sheltered from the salty winds behind a sandstone wall of sorts. But it's those windswept trees you see on the hikes that intrigue and give ideas for urban landscape designs. 

Photo: Mine

It's amazing how different the growth habit is away from the Sea. Trees are usually very tall with a wide crown. Trunks are straight and tall after an early life of being adolescent, leggy and awkward.

Swedish town of Mölle

Okay, let's fast forward to this to Svenskland (Sverige - Schweden  Sweden). There is an area along the south & western coast of Sweden which has a Nature Preserve with cliffs and sea influence like that of Torrey Pines. We visited there back in 2005. It is just northwest of a large Swedish city called Helsingborg which itself is across the channel from the Danish island where the capital of Copenhagen Dänemark is located. The closest town is called to this Park or Nature Preserve is Mölle as you can see above. The nature preserve is to the left of the photo. Below is a scene of the town from a Highway Viewpoint overlook.

Highway Scenic View Overlook of Swedish town of Mölle

Windswept Pinus sylvestris and Quercus robur

But it's the wind swept trees that brought back the memories of my Torrey Pines State Reserve. The pines here are however  Scots Pine (Pinus sylvertris). Of course the common name is different in it's numerous locations of it's natural range which I call the Vodka Belt of the world. Norway, Sweden, Dänemark, Finland, Russia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada etc. The other windswept tree is the native Oak (Quercus Robur) which itself is native to most of Europe and parts of North Africa. It's common names are many as you can imagine. But here at the park it is rather stunted looking more like some Chaparral Scrub Oak. This particular Park location is on a rather narrow peninsula in Southern Sweden. 

Photo: Mine

Clearly the stunted windswept & picturesque patterns can be seen in this seacoast habitat.

Photo: Mine

Photo: Mine

Photo: Mine

This is the actual coastline, but you won't find any crashing waves existing here. This inland waterway does not have the energy of the larger oceans. Although it can have it's moments during storms. About the only time you'll see waves here is five minutes after a Stena-Line Ferry passes by offshore and even then they are only knee high. Water is beautiful and crystal clear but frigid. 

Kullen Lighthouse Viewpoint

Kullen Lighthouse

We didn't have much time to explore and walk around, but I'd love to go back and explore deeper inside those stunted tangled forests. I hate the word grotesque as a description of the growth patterns because for me it always has a negative sound about it. Picturesque is more like it. This area is one of the very few places I have liked over here and trust me that has been a huge mental challenge for almost seven years here. Interestingly we saw very few Swedes here. Mostly German Tourists. It had a feeling of Germany which of course is further south from here. Anyways, that's my comparison. I'm sure there are countless other areas around the globe like or similar to Torrey Pines State Reserve. I just happen to find another one. And yet there are some evidences that others in different parts of the globe have had similar pondering and creative ideas from such experiences.

Japanese Black Pine - Bonsai

I can imagine other places like over somewhere over in Japan where the well known Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) of Bonsai fame must have inspired someone there way back when who meditated on things observed in Japan's Natural world. Somewhere a Japanese individual was pondering what he/she saw at a place where these pines grew from a crack in a granite face and the lights came on. Restricted growth could be replicated if one creates the correct habitat conditions. There is an incredible amount of information to be gleaned from such an experience if an intelligent person can focus their mind and have the ability to be able to unlock it's potential practical applications. That is if such  information is not abused or misused in any way, shape or form. A big part of developing such ability for creativity is dumping the television set and at least setting aside once in a while some of your other electronic devises for which you have been sold (conned) into believing life is almost impossible to live without.

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Some Interesting Links:

http://botanyboy.org/pinus-thunbergii-the-japanese-black-pine-tree/

http://www.plantwise.org/?dsid=41732&loadmodule=plantwisedatasheet&page=4270&site=234

Gunnebo House (Castle) & Gardens

Image - dwedishgardens.se

This for me started out as one of those journeys where, "Oh man, not another boring trip to Göteborg and viewing the sites of some ancient historical rich European Aristocrat"  For me, once you've seen one castle you've seen them all and I don't care what country it is located. I learned this the hard way back in 1976 when a friend of mine and I came to Europe and hit almost every famous Castle Landmark to be found on a tourist map. Besides , I hate going to town (Göteborg) or any other city on the planet for that matter. So I would have prefered staying home, but the reality is I'm glad I went. Besides we were going with some good friends we haven't seen in a long while.

For a further read on the actual estate, when built, who built it and so forth, please visit this website. I won't be going into those particulars much here.

http://gunneboslott.se/english/the-house/history-of-the-estate 

Okay, let's get through some of the formal gardens and buildings settings first. This first picture is of an Oak Tree native to Sweden called Quercus robur. It's the most common found all over Europe and goes by many common names. What intrigued me most about this particular tree was the many wildlife features like holes and other cavities for various birds and small animals to live. Something that I find rather lacking in most Swedish woodlands that I've seen since forst moving here. This oak was on the pathway walking up to the Estate. Incredible oak and one that under the right circumstances makes a straight tall trunk which is perfect for lumber, unlike the numerous species of Oak I grew up with throughout California which are always tristed and contorted.

Image - Mine

Then just below this tree was this nature sign explaining a bit of what I already figured out by just looking at the tree.

Image - Mine

Translation: Ek (Oak)

"For a few thousand years, the oak was the most common tree in the western Swedish deciduous forest. An oak can be very old, at least 1,000 years."

"In the dense oak forests oak tree growth habit is a straight trunk and narrow crown. Stand alone out in the open oaks, have a short, rough trunk and very broad crown, with a typical large round appearance."

"The oak harbors very rich insect life. In England it has about 600 species of insects associated with this oak. There are many endangered insects in Sweden, especially beetles living on these ancient oaks. Several common insects are also available in oak, such as 'Ekvecklaren' (oak folding holder = don't ask, just name of insect). It is a small moth whose larvae can almost overwhelm the  trees in some years. The oak trees survives them though to form new leaves anyway."

Okay, now for more of the main estate building and formal gardens.

Image - Mine

Yeah, yeah yeah, that's me. Let's move this along and get it over with. This first shot is of our friends and their young boy below.

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

Image Mine

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

The vegetable & Spice/herb garden above is where I was roped into an interview questionaire by a young girl there whose job it was to find out what visitor impression are of the Estate Park. She asked what I thought about these gardens and I replied that I would still have to wait a bit to provide an opinion because most of these gardens, landscapes and woodlands were just beginning to emerge from their winter slumber. Believe it or not total Spring bloom was still beginning for many things. Where I come from Spring starts in February and peaks in March.

Below you can see where they actually cut down and utilized some of the Estate's woodland trees and milled their own lumber from those trees for some of their building projects like this shelter in the photo below.

Image - Mine

Image Mine

Image - Mine

Well, they've got to have something for the kids. Modern kids will only take so much of the hiking trails. This wooden cow was located just behind the horse barn. (BTW, Barn is the Swedish word for Child - don't ask, it just is)

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

Now let's take that walk in the woods. What excited me about this part of the adventure, was that it was like going back in time to what Swedish forests use to look like. Most of southern, central and western Swedish forests were historically mainly dominated by old growth Oak and other broadleaf deciduous Forests with a widely varied mixture of other old growth Alder, Aspen, European Mountain Ash, Norway Maple, Willows, etc. But oak was the most prominent.

With this type of biodiverse forest like we visted on this day, you can see first hand how the forest is alive with the sounds of animals and multiple species of birdlife, something saldy lacking in most all Swedish forests which are industrially managed with failed out-dated science-based technology which replaces the already perfect balance of the wild program. Most Swedish forests have been horribly clear cut and replaced by tree planting with monoculture of straight trunked tall pines or firs for lumber or mostly pulp wood production for paper. This will be discussed in a link at the end of this post.

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

The picture above is an example of what a closed forest environment will do to any tree in shaping it throughout it's life for later usage by humans. Unlike the oak found in or on the edge of a meadow which will have a stout truck and multibranched round large crown pattern.

Take a look at these Norway Maple trees. Here's the parent tree followed by hundreds of seedling trees most likely to never make it through the canopy unless they get lucky by various environmental circumstances. Trees like these need a nurse tree. Maples won't amount to much out in the open. Mostly I've seen them stunted and shrubby looking, same with oaks trees. Very rarely do you find them volunteering out in the open. But the excess of seedlings on the forest floor does provide a food source for grazing and browsing animals.

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

Okay this photo above is an Oak tree with a tiny hole in it where there was once a branch at one time but now has since rotted out and been bored out to create a nest hole cavity. This tiny hole provides nesting for a slender dainty little forest bird which is called a Nuthatch. In fact I watched it fly in and out. I actually saw this same small birds utilizing small crevices in a rock wall up by the main buildings in a pond feature they had there with slender sandstone rocks in a dry wall design. Here is a post I've done about Nuthatches and attracting them into your landscape.

Nuthatches and Brick Porthole Habitats

These following shots are of a train that past over head, and I love trains, so had to take this shot. Also some shots of my wife and our friends walking through the meadow and some shots of forest floor thinning and then finally the old growth oak forests view at the end in all it's wild glory as we left.

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

Image Mine

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

More nature explanations about the local birdlife and while they are not so visable in the pictures, there is a rather large Swedish forest pigeon which is similar to the ones up in the forests of Idyllwild California where I use to live. Like the California pigeons, these are extremely shy as well and hard to get near for taking a photograph, unless you have the right powerful lense to capture from a distance. These birds are nothing like their pesky nusiance domestic city dewelling cousins. They group together scratching around on the ground looking for food and look very much like a large covey of quail foraging the ground with one male as lookout. And finally the old growth Oak Woodland beauty at the end of our hike.

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

Now down below all that old growth Oak Woodland habitat is an area around the parking lot down in a river valley with a lake where there are a lot of natural boggy conditions. This environment for the most part is where the pure stands of Björk (Birch) and other wet habitat loving plants also prefer to reside.

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

Image - Mine

This concludes my visit, but at least you folks know what much of Europe was like long before industrialization took over and changed things for good in the late 1800s in all Europe and not just Scandinavia. 

Enjoy! 😸