everyday life

last weekend

Another busy week is over. This spring has been crazy at work. And at the moment I can't see the work load to get easier. This week I have been in both Visby & Uppsala. Visby for work and Uppsala for pleasure.

Uppsala on Saturday (March 31), was cold but sunny. In fact when I left Stockholm by train, I left a hefty snowfall. When I arrived Uppsala the sun was shining and it was snow everywhere.As usual, the first stop in Uppsala is the yarn store Yll & Tyll.

I came out with a hank of Malabrigo sock in pink and 2 hanks of Manos Serena in purple. Both intend for future shawl projects.

My main goal with the trips to Uppsala this time, was to meet up with ACE who was in town to have a seminar at the Art museum. So on my way up to the Castle,  I visited the Cathedral and Carolina Rediviva - the university library.

It was so nice to meet ACE again, we hadn't seen each other since december. Lots of chatting and laughter over dinner and hockey at O'Leary's, before I had to go back to Stockholm.

the view from the art museum (as well as the castle)

Had a lovely day evening in Uppsala.

uppsala

Spent yesterday afternoon in Uppsala, an hour by train north of Stockholm. Met up with a friend for some (yarn) shopping, coffee and a visit to Upplands  museum and their exhibition (O)mänskligt.

First stop was at the yarn store Yll & Tyll, close to the train station. Yarn heaven! Had trouble to choose what to buy but I finally came out with som Noro silk garden and Drops Nepal for a new pair of mittens.

After the yarn hunt, we set out on a mission to find my friend, M, a new winter coat. We went in and out in all stores (it felt so anyway) to look and try. But our mission failed, M didn't like a single one. Or if she found one she liked there where no one in her size or in a colour she liked. She will contiune her chase for a winter coat in Stockholm.

It's always fun to shop in another town, than the usual one. Uppsala is close to Stockholm and I go there a couple of times of the year. Looking forward to next trip.

linnaeus garden and museum

view from Linnaeus bedroom, originally uploaded by catsfalk.

Our first stop in Uppsala on Tuesday (well, after the coffee break we had on Cafe Capuccino) was the Linnaeus Garden and the Linnaeus Museum.

The Linnaeus Museum was the home of Linnaeus and his family. In 1937 the house opened to the public as a museum to illustrate the private life of the Linnaeus family as well as Linnaeus' scientific work.

Furniture, household goods, textiles, and paintings once belonging to Linnaeus and his family are on view in the museum. Of particular interest are Linnaeus' medicine chest, his secretaire, writing table, insect cabinet, and herbarium cabinet.

The museum is also showing some letters and books belonging to "my" archive - so the main reason for our visit was to see how they display these letters in the exhibition. And yes, it looks really good!

The Linnaeus Garden is a reconstruction of Uppsala University Botanical Garden the way it looked during Linnaeus´ days.

As I wrote yesterday, Uppsala University Botanical Garden was the first botanical garden in Sweden founded in 1655 by Olof Rudbeck the elder. It is laid out in the French Style and restored following Linnaeus' and Carl Hårleman's design from 1745. Today approximately 1 300 species are grown here. All known to have been cultivated by Linnaeus and arranged according to his own system.

The Linnaeus Garden is located close to the river Fyrisån. In Linnaeus' days the area was swampy and not very well suited for a garden. In addition, by the end of the 17th century the garden had become to small for its purpose. In 1787, Carl Peter Thunberg, Linnaeus' disciple and successor, persuaded King Gustaf III to donate the Uppsala castle garden to the university so that it could be used as a botanical garden. In 1807, all plants and animals had been moved to the new location and the new botanical garden was inaugurated on May 21th, 100 years after the birth of Linnaeus.

The old garden was in a state of neglect for more than 100 years, until 1917, when the Swedish Linnaeus Society began reconstructing Linnaeus' garden. You can visit the garden, stroll around and look on the fantastic flower and herb beds. It's a really nice garden in the middle of the city of Uppsala.

This is my last report on our visit to Uppsala, and there will be no more talk about Linnaeus on this blog! (For now, anyway.)

And I have now sent some photo's to the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh for the exhibition! So if you are in Edinburgh, Scotland, check it out in July! (please tell me if you do)

/ C

uppsala botanical garden

änglatrumpet, originally uploaded by catsfalk.

Our second stop on our Uppsala visit on Tuesday was at the Uppsala Botanical Garden. And it was so lovely just to stroll around and smell all those beautiful flowers. Roses, Peonies and others I don't know the name of. Exotic trees (for us in Scandinavia) all over the place. Cork oaks (picture left), Mandarin orange trees, Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis), Palm Trees and others.

The Uppsala University Botanical Garden is the oldest botanical garden in Sweden.They have successfully combined botany and horticulture for 350 years. It was founded in 1655 by Olof Rudbeck the elder, professor of medicine. Rudbecks´ botanical garden was largely destroyed by a fire in 1702. The university could not afford to restore it, and it was left unattended for a period of 40 years.

In 1741, Carl Linnaeus became professor of medicine at Uppsala University and responsible for the neglected garden. Under his supervision, it turned into one of the foremost gardens of its time. Through contacts with fellow scientists all over the world, Linnaeus was able to gather thousands of foreign plants in cultivation.

By the end of the 18th century the expanding garden needed more space. In 1787, Carl Peter Thunberg, Linnaeus´ disciple and successor, persuaded King Gustaf III to donate the Uppsala castle garden to the university, so that it could be turned into a new botanical garden. The castle garden was a baroque garden designed in 1750 by the architect Carl Hårlemann. The Baroque Garden has been restored according to the plan from the 1750s.

Today, after being enlarged several times, the Botanical Garden extends over 34 acres. Some 11 000 species and cultivars from all over the world are under cultivation.

The big photo is showing a Angel's trumpet (Brugmansia suaveolens) in the botanic garden.

/ C

linnés hammarby

linnés hammarby, originally uploaded by catsfalk.

Before we could visit that yarn store in Uppsala yesterday, we had a day filled with sun, happiness and joy. To be able to have a workday with with your colleauges outside the office is really great.

I will start to tell you about our last thing on our program. It was to visit the small estate Hammarby, 15 km SE of Uppsala. It was bought by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. He wanted a farm on the countryside where he could spend the summers together with his family, away from the unhealthy quarters of Uppsala.

Today, few Swedish manor-houses preserve such an authentic milieu. It reflects the private life of Linnaeus as well as his scientific work.

The Hammarby estate is really beautiful. But it's the Linnaeus jubilee so it was packed with people of all ages. I have been here once before, in September of 1996, so it was nice to see it again in early summer. If you are near Uppsala, take a chance to see Hammarby.

/ C

EDIT: I just got an e-mail from a woman at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. An she asked if they could use some of my photo's from Hammarby in an exhibition about Linnaeus later this summer. How wierd is that?

yll & tyll

yarn, yarn, yarn, originally uploaded by catsfalk.

We were in Uppsala today, and before we headed home we had an hour to do what ever you wanted. So Inga-Britt and I walked to the great yarn store of Yll & Tyll. And I didn't buy a thing - gasp - but Inga-Britt did. She fell in love with a top in linen and just had to buy some yarn and the pattern. She also bought some sock yarn. I just walked around touching the yarn.

We had a great day and I have lots of picture to show. But I'm a bit tired so you have to come back another day for those. Perhaps tomorrow.

Good Night!

/ C