Friday was the summer solstice – the longest day of the year —
And also Midsummer’s Eve: a major holiday here in Sweden.
It’s a time for weaving flowers around the maypole
And then lifting it up into place as a team effort.
Midsummer is an ancient pagan tradition —
And, as you can see, it’s a celebration of fertility
And light and the burst of growth that occurs during the short Swedish summer.
It’s a time for having fun and dancing around the maypole
Like a little frog in time-honoured tradition —
(Yes, this is me being silly…)
Although for some, a short nap in the green summer grass
Is more than welcome.
For more traditions, please visit: Our World.
love the flowers! nice to see you, too! and always a treat to see oscar. 🙂
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Nice action shot of you! Love the maypole and Oscar napping in the grass. 🙂
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I always enjoy the solstice celebration despite being an atheist. There’s a beautiful and marvellous sensation about honouring earth, nature and the elements. Great shots. Many thanks.
Greetings from London.
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Looks like so much fun!
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What fun indeed!! Love the May Pole! And I love the picture of you and Oscar, of course!! A great look at your world today! Enjoy your week!!
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Beautiful flowers on the May Pole! Nice to see you and Oscar and your part of the world!
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We had dinner at a country club in Malmo when we were at the Rotary Convention in Copenhagen. During the evening festivities we were entertained with a Maypole dance and Midsummer’s eve celebration! It was quite fun!
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Those flowers are so pretty! What a fun tradition 🙂
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I like the May pole and flowers! A nice celebration! It is also nice to see you and Oscar is always a favorite of mine! Have a happy week!
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You look like a high priestess in that photo! I love it! What lovely photos all of them. Oscar has the right idea, doesn’t he. But then if anyone was ever meant to dance around a maypole, it is you! Gorgeous!
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Hello Lady Fi!
Great party .. And Oscar napping in the grass is the greatest.
Yours 🙂
Lucia
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Midsummer is a great time to be silly.
We had half a gale and stayed inside!
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smiles…pretty cool…i went to a solstice festival over the weekend and it was a very merry time…cool shot of the maypole too…think i might go in search of that nap now…smiles.
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Lovely you! You should feature yourself more often. 🙂
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Fantastic shots. Looks like a fun time.
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Thanks for sharing the fun and celebration 🙂
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Oscar’s got the right idea.
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What a nice tradition. I wonder how many years it goes back…thousands, maybe? I’m referring to dog naps in summer, of course.
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Hello to you – is this the first photo of you I’ve seen in all these years? Oscar may have the right idea – it IS a long day after all.
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What a marvellous tradition.
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Love the sunshine and noticed you had your phone in your hand. Where’s the camera?
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My daughter took my photo with my camera! I had my phone in order to snap some quick shots.
Lady Fi wrote: > New comment on your post “Of flowers and frogs” > Author : Sonia Marsh/GutsyLiving (IP: 68.4.162.62 , ip68-4-162-62.oc.oc.cox.net) > E-mail : sonia@soniamarsh.com > URL : http://soniamarsh.com > Whois : http://whois.arin.net/rest/ip/68.4.162.62
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What beautiful flowers and a beautiful you! 🙂
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What a beautiful tradition to celebrate! Great shots.
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Lovely flowers. Happy Spring and Summer.
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Yes Fi …. A time to have fun …. pretty garlands happy faces.
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Gorgeous. And I love your earrings too.
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You and Oscar are in SWEDEN??!!!
I always just assumed you lived in some specially beautiful zone in rural North America.
BTW, I blog from Hawaii LOL 🙂
ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
~ >
>
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Yes, I’m an ex-pat Brit living in Sweden!
Lady Fi wrote: > New comment on your post “Of flowers and frogs” > Author : cloudia (IP: 76.93.219.186 , cpe-76-93-219-186.hawaii.res.rr.com) > E-mail : zuzitzu@gmail.com > URL : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZ62OXU > Whois : http://whois.arin.net/rest/ip/76.93.219.186
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That looks like great fun! What a grand tradition!! Cheers, Danette
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Wonderful shots from the event. People are having great time.
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beautiful photos
thanks
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The Maypole is so pretty. I’m with Oscar…a nap is the grass sounds delightful!
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oh the gift of being able to be “a bit silly” and not being afraid to share it! Wonderful. And what a glorious tradition this seems to be in Sweden. Wondeful! I wish I was there being a bit silly too!
Have a great week, and thank you for stopping by my blog this today.
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Beautiful pics!
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Beautiful flowers and lovely summer photos.
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I always thought that the maypole dance was reserved for May 1st. How wonderful that it is used on the solstice!
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And also, how wonderful to see a picture of you! 🙂
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Yes, precious pictures, beautiful floral wreath! Best regards!
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Ah, midsummer, you can’t beat it, Fi.
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Beautiful photos from the celebration! Your expression says it all is well.
Btw. Glad to see you lady fi 🙂
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Lovely captures! Great to see you in your element and Oscar chilling!
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Nice! It is a lot of fun being silly sometimes 🙂
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Midsummer’s day – I can’t think of a better day to celebrate. You seem to be having a really fun time.
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It is a magical time after all!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
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What a wonderful tradition of celebration! Love the “silly you”! Nothing is better than to have that moment of fun 🙂
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Beautiful Maypole! Maypole soaring into the blue sky looks singing a song in praise of sunshine, and you, too, ladyfi.
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wow beautiful…
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Methinks midsummer madness is more than acceptable Fiona, love Oscar’s idea of a nap in the sun 🙂 gorgeous Maypole..
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Your pictures have added Sweden to my bucket list! Beautiful.
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Det må ha vært en fantastisk feiring av midtsommer!
Jeg elsker bildet av den søte hund som hviler.
Nydelig Maypole under en nesten skyfri himmel.
Takk for besøk på mitt siste innlegg!
Jorunn
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How pretty! I love the photo of the dog. 🙂
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This looks like it was such a fun time!! You look happy 🙂 and Oscar looks tired LOL.
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The midsummer celebrations sure look a lot of fun. I hope you had a good time.
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What a lovely way to celebrate the day…the maypole is so pretty. Thank you for sharing the fun event with us. 🙂
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What a GORGEOUS tradition…now why don’t we do this in the states? Just love this!
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New to me. Nice shots of celebrations.
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Hi! Nice summer solistice day. Your photos are very fantastic and very beautiful. Wishing you a wonderful day.
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You are lucky ! we sit in the rain and cold and I had to put the heating on. I am not talking about the north pole but about Belgium !
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I’m enjoying learning more about these festivities! I think they’re wonderful.
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So beautiful, happy midsummer 🙂
I spent the late evening in the woods near my home, and nature shared all sorts of treats with me, including otters and bats. It’s such a magical time of year!
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Sounds like a great tradition and glad to get a glimpse about it through your blog. Lovely pictures.
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What fun this must be, and the maypole is so beautiful!
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Lovely flowers! And I agree with Hilary, you should show yourself more often here, great pic!
And if you don’t mind me asking, could you visit my blog and see what I posted in English? I started it a few days ago and I could use some helpful hints or just thoughts on it.
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Beautiful tradition! Summer is flowers!
Oscar is wondering what all the fuss is about!
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Happy Midsummer’s Eve, a little late. That looks like a fun celebration!
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So nice to see the blogger finally, you seldom put pics of yourself in. We had the May Pole in our village here on Vancouver Island and I
was the Queen of the May, do they have the May Queen? Sweden looks wonderful in the summer. cheers.
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It’s so nice to see the pretty face behind the pretty photos!
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Looks like a beautiful celebration! You and Oscar look good too..:)
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You are adorable and almost float in happy silliness! May you never outgrow that love of life. Love the festival and seeing how it is celebrated in your country.
Bises,
Genie
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intéressante cette composition florale
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Lovely traditions! I love the vines wound around the poles.
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Wow, what a treat this week, sure shots and excitement all around,,,rven Lady Fi in the flesh,lol. to nice to meet you my friend.
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What a beautiful tradition…and as beautiful as those flowers are…I think I would love a nap on the greens as well. 😛
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its exhausting overseeing all that fun
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loved this post.
oh, you look great my friend!
gorgeous shots as ever.
happy summer!
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Look how beautiful you are! And so are your flower poles. It looks like you had a perfect day for it.
xo jj
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Nice to see you. I didn’t realize they still have may pole dancing in some places. That’s great.
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That’s a wonderful tradition and thanks for sharing it with lovely pictures.
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I love that Midsummer’s Eve is an official holiday there! It’s so Shakespearian and pagan and romantic! 🙂 That May Pole is just beautiful! And how fun to finally see the talented woman behind the camera – great photo of you! Though you and Oscar were engaged in completely opposite activities, you both have the right idea about how to spend a lovely summer day. 🙂
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PS – It has long bothered me that the avatar assigned to me by Word Press wears such a scowl, expressing a mood that never matches my comments! But now at least I know what to call it! LOL! (And yes, I know I could join WP and have an avatar of my choosing, but joining one more social networking site and having to remember one more password would make my head explode.) 🙂
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LOL – did Word Press hear me griping and take pity? All the avatars are different now! No more BRFs! 🙂
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Ha ha! I changed them for you! 🙂
Lady Fi wrote: > New comment on your post “Of flowers and frogs” > Author : Laloofah (IP: 184.167.88.168 , host-184-167-88-168.shr-wy.client.bresnan.net) > E-mail : laloofah@mac.com > URL : http://laloofah.blogspot.com > Whois : http://whois.arin.net/rest/ip/184.167.88.168
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Ahhh, I LOVE that photo of you, Lady Fi. So CUTE & Free….and of course, Oscar is abundantly Fabulous xx
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I love being silly, too! Great post for OWT. Thanks for playing along.
Cheers from Cottage Country!
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Happy holiday! And I enjoyed looking at your celebration pics. I have read about this holiday in Swedish fiction – one of my obsessions;)
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Love those decorations on maypoles. So typical of your corner of the world.
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Great shots of a wonderful tradition!
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