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Poor Freya is not a happy girl. Some days she spends almost in a coma, hardly moving, sleeping and shivering. When she has these types of days, she tends not to eat. You try to force food down her throat and she expertly manipulates it with her ridiculously adept tongue and shoves it out the side of her mouth. It’s like force-feeding a Suffragette.
Then, to compound her discomfort, some days she eats with great eagerness just to vomit it up ten minutes later. Which was what happened today. But then, later in the day, it was like a switch was flicked and she changed completely with a return to the old puppy days of yore.
It was around 18:30 and I dangled their collars. This usually signals a mad flurry of excitement because it means they are going somewhere. Of course, since Freya’s sickness, she rarely displays anything resembling excitement regardless of what I do but that was not the case today. Maybe she knew we were going to visit Nicoline. I don’t know, but she went mad with excitement. She even ran a bit.
Then, while we settled down in the greenhouse for a delightful midsummer feast, Freya wandered around interested and alert, her tail wagging with eager normality.
She is an anomaly. I think she was just celebrating like everyone else in Trosa appeared to be doing.
And we were too. This was only our second invitation to a midsummer event. The first only half counts because we had no idea what was happening. The celebration is generally spent with family and, of course, we only have extended family status in Sweden. Then add my newly practicing sobriety to the mix and it can turn into a bit of a damp squib.
Of course, over the last few years, we have visited big public events and watched people doing the frog dance, sing with gusto and raise the big vine covered, hoops dangling pole. It’s always been fun. I particularly like when people wear their traditional outfits. It all feels like we’ve stepped into a period movie.
There was none of that tonight. Nicoline had prepared a wonderful spread of various dishes, and we ate and drank and chatted for hours. It was marvellous. And, particularly delightful watching Freya enjoying herself as well.
I was so stunned by how beautiful it all looked that I forgot to take a photo. However, our hostess had already taken one and graciously sent it to me to include.
It was certainly a mycket bra midsommar here in Trosa.
