honey and sting

Today I arrived in Copenhagen and took an 11 minute train ride into Malmo across a 6 mile bridge. My friend H. picked me up and took me back to the farm-house he and his wife J. live in -- set amid fields, with horses, a windmill... just gorgeous. We swam in the pool for a while (it was in the 80's), then had delicious fish dinner. Then J. went to a meeting, and H. drove me around to see the 2 local 'castles' -- they are more like large manor houses, but both still occupied by aristocracy. The farm-house they live in used to be an out-building of the estate. All the architecture has steep roofs (practical in winter with the snow), and a lot of it has interesting brickwork sectioned by large wooden beams into squares or other shapes.

I have seen rabbits, pheasants, other birds I couldn't identify, and some beautiful trees. Poppies by the side of the road. We picked small, sweet cherries off a tree in one of the castle gardens before we saw the sign that says something like furbidden plucken fruten! ( well that's not really it but it was Swedish in what was recognizably Don't eat the fruit! Oh well...

We came back, walked to the windmill, and fed long grasses to the horses who came up to the fence. 2 black, 2 brown, and one white....