Fun in Dalarna

We finally seized the opportunity to visit my distant cousin's home in beautiful Bäsna, located about 1.5 hours north in the Dalarna region.  We took the train early in the morning, and Inga-Lill met us at the station.  The region is much hillier than Uppsala, with the forest-covered mountains surrounding Inga-Lill and Åke's charming home.

Like many older homesteads in Sweden, Inga-Lill and Åke's home actually consists of several buildings, many of which were inhabitable in earlier days.  Their main house has electricity, running water, and all the amenities of modern-day homes, except for central heat.  They use a fire place to heat half the house and the old stove in the kitchen to heat the other half during the winter.  Needless to say, Åke spends time year round cutting down trees in the forest to prepare and use to heat their home during the dark and cold winters.  Their secondary house has running water, and, well, that's about it.  They use this as their summer house, and it's equipped with a bedroom, kitchenette, and living room.  It's quite charming and reminded me a lot of the house we saw when we visited Sätra with my parents two years ago.  The other buildings are a large garage space, an old chicken house, and a few others that they have plans for but aren't utilizing yet. 

We had a lovely day with them, visiting and exploring their homestead.  Like Swedes with any yard space at all, they had a greenhouse (and another bigger one being built) and lots of garden areas.  They shared some tasty rhubarb with us, and we heard stories about where the trees and bushes had come from and ended up in their yard.  Such a lovely day with lovely people!