kareina

Last week Tuesday I had an adventure that I haven't posted about. As I was about to hop on my trike to leave work I was passed by a long, low, enclosed vehicle that caught my interest, so I hurried to catch up with it. It turns out to be a velomobile. It is pedal powered and has three-wheel, but the driver is quite instant that it is not a trike like mine is.

We chatted a bit and he let me try it. I rather liked it, and think it would be fantastic in rainy weather, but it can also be quite noisy in there. He was about to pedal to Kiruna (four hours away by car, driving the speed limit, so I suspect rather longer by the velomobile, even though it is WAY faster than I normally pedal. However, he wanted some coffee for the road, so I brought him back to our place where he entertained me, mom, and lord_kjar (who was home on lunch) with interesting conversation before he continued on his way.

He was nice enough to share some photos...

one of me, mom, and his velomobiel, with a bonus view of our new lada in the background:


and one of me on my beautiful commute home from work:



(He pedaled on the road as he doesn't like the noise of pedaling on a dirt/gravel bike, which gave him a nice vantage point for the photo. Thankfully, they have paved the path this week, so now it is so sweet to pedal on.)

I blame not making time to type up what I am up to on being busy and lots of small-scale travel.

When last I posted I was spending a week down in Boliden collecting rock samples from the drill core stored there. It is fun, but tiring, and while they generally provide a decent room with access to a kitchen, it is *Not Home*, and I would rather be at home, since I rather like it there.

That weekend instead of going home I met lord_kjar at his brother's house, which is located in Bureå, 15 min south of the city of Skellefteå (Boliden is 30 min inland from Skellefteå, so it wouldn't have made sense to do the 2.5 hour drive home, only to turn around and then do the 2.25 hour drive to the brother's house.) That was our third weekend in a row at the brother's house working on projects. Their place is starting to feel like home to me. It helps that when we are in project mode they let me do the cooking.

During those three weeks we managed to complete a linen underdress for her, a linen under tunic for him, and mostly complete a wool over dress (both in the fitted gothic gown 13th century style) (the over dress still needs lacing holes). Meanwhile, while I focused on helping with the sewing projects lord_kjar was useful out in the Bus/motor home. I am told that he re-did much of the electric wiring and installed lights where they want them. They also ripped out the old ceiling cover (of fuzzy carpet) and replaced it (with a heavy duty-smooth vinyl paper designed to be used in boats, so it is water resistant and fire retardant), re-did the bathroom, replaced the kitchen sink, counter, stove, and installed a new stove hood. I think they accomplished lots of other needed tasks, too. It is looking good to have everything done before we need it for the road trip to Double Wars in May.

The following weekend we didn't do the 2.25 hour drive south to the brother's house, but instead we drove to Umeå, which is fully 3 hours drive south. Why? Because our friend L, who lives in Umeå, invited us to come participate in a Kontaktimprovisation and Clown workshop. I had never heard of Contact Improv before she mentioned it to me, and I want to know why not! Imagine combining massage and dance, two of my favourite activities! I don't know how much that weekend's workshop, which ran from Thursday evening through to Sunday evening of Easter Weekend was typical for Contact Improv, and how much was only there as part of the Clown workshop, but I will try to remember enough to sort of describe it.

The warm up sessions generally involved breaking into groups of three people (since there were 15 of us total). One of each group would lay on the floor, and the other two would start to massage them. after working over the whole body once the massage movements would become longer strokes along the limbs of the one getting massaged, and they would start to move, in part in response to the touches, and in part the touches would follow the dancer's movements, accentuating them and encouraging them. Gradually the dancer (who had been getting the massage) would move more and more of their body, first rolling around on the floor, and gradually working towards upright too, and the touches would become briefer and less contact. Once all the dancers from all the groups were moving on their own we would stop, another person from each group would lay down to be massaged, gradually moving into dance, and then finally the third person would get their turn at massage/dance. It often happened that I was sleepy at the time we started this process, so I always volunteered to be the first dancer, as I could sort of nap during the first part of the massage, and then doing the movement woke me up enough to do the massages for the other two.

We did most of our dancing without music, other than whatever noises the dancers were inspired to make. Since a number of us like music the noises we made was often very musical, and sometimes were songs with words (both made up on the spot, or a few times songs that a bunch of us happened to know). The Clown workshop was a bit odder. I haven't had any particular interest in being a clown, or any sort of performance, but that was the other focus of the weekend, and it was the weekend we happened to be available to go play and do something different, so when she suggested it we said yes. Besides, while I don't particularly want to perform, neither am I easily embarrassed, so when faced with an assignment to think of an emotion I happen to be feeling and then come up with a way to express that emotion through dance I can do so. Perhaps not as well as someone who lives to perform for others, but I did participate. And if a certain percentage of my clown dance involved climbing on the bars on the wall no one who knows me is surprised to hear it...

After the weekend we brought L home with us for a visit since she had a chunk of time with no classes she needed to attend, and it has been nice to have the company--especially as she joins me for my daily yoga session. I haven't had a consistent yoga partner since clovis_t quit doing yoga with me, and I miss it.

She is still there the first half of this week, too, but I, sadly, am not at home. However, I am at a delightful home this time. I am, once again, in Boliden. Yesterday and today was a geochemistry course taught by the guy whose PhD thesis I was given when I started this job with the words "your project will be something like this, but in 3D". It has been quite a useful and entertaining class. I will stay here the rest of the week and collect more rock samples before heading home on Friday.

Unlike my other trips to Boliden, this time I am not staying in the company owned apartment room that I usually stay at. That was fully booked this week, so instead I am doing an experiment. A couple of the geologists here own a house in a village about 30 minutes drive inland from Boliden, and they are kindly letting me stay with them. I asked them in part to see how I go with a 30 minute commute, since lord_kjar and I plan to start house-hunting next winter (once we have saved up a down payment we are happy with). We both want land (enough to host a medieval camping event "in the back yard" and a shop. Such things are best found out of town, but how far are we willing to go to get what we want?

So I am staying with this lovely family, in the village of Svansele, in their beautiful large house which was built in the 1880's. If we can find someplace half so nice I will be happy--the house has ceilings which must be nine feet tall, large, spacious rooms, and fabulous view down to the Skellefteå River. They have 4 hectacers, and own all of the land down to the river, and some of the land across the road, too. The house came with a large barn, and in one of the rooms in the barn they have a huge trampoline, which they are able to use year round, since it is under cover and not being snowed on. They only moved her in October, so they don't yet have the horses and sheep they plan to get, but they have a very sweet cuddly cat, a friendly rabbit who also cuddled with me at first meeting, and a bunch of hens who are paying rent in yummy eggs.

I have had "shop" on my wish-list for a while, but now that I have seen the trampoline in a barn idea I think that "barn" might just have been added to the "would be nice" list. They are also thinking of converting part of the barn to a climbing wall. I want a climbing wall!

So far I have had only two work days of commuting here, and Monday only sort of counts, since I woke up in my own bed in Luleå at 04:30 and then did the 2.5 hour drive to Boliden, leaving home at 05:45 to be certain I could get there on time for class at 08:30, and then did the drive out to their place (stopping a couple of times to look at the map on my phone to see how far the little blue dot had moved since last I looked, to be certain I didn't miss my turn (they had left class a little early to go pick up their daughter from day care)). But so far I don't mind the commute, since the drive is quite pretty. I do have to be certain that I bring both lunch and dinner with me though--by the time I get into the car in the evenings after class I am starving again (never mind that I had nibbled on more food during the afternoon coffee break), so I eat a little before starting driving, and eat a bit more while driving, and am well fed for the day by the time I get home at 17:30.

I can't say I liked the evening sun in my eyes during the drive home on Monday, and at first thought that I should take care not to look for houses located to the west of the uni for that reason. And then I remembered that we live in the north. Sun in the eyes will only be an issue for a short time each year, and there is no direction that will never have sun low in the horizon at one time or another. So I am free to pick any direction I want (though, to be fair, it is less often low enough in the north as to be in one's eyes when driving that way).

That sort of catches you up with what I have been doing, though I haven't reported on the progress in embroidery, nålbinding, or looking at rock thin-sections at work, you can be assured that they are all doing well. I have been enjoying reading other people's posts, even though I haven't been making time to type, and I encourage you all to post whenever you have the time to spare.

After I get home on Friday I actually get to stay there for two full weeks before I depart for a week in Cyprus, immediately followed by a week at Double Wars.