Today, I have been talking english all day!

Sunne kommun - en kommun som vågar visa framfötterna!

"Sunne doesn’t realise it’s a small town with no real right to be so popular and exciting. The reason it carries it off is because it has an infrastructure created by people with dreams which they transform into realities. This is a place where lots of forward thinking people live, where the nature is so beautiful it takes your breathe away and because Sunne doesn’t know its Sunne, it actually thinks its New York."  David Beattie

Kanske är detta en av anledningarna till att Sunne kommun anordnat Landsbygdsriksdag 2010. Ett gigantiskt projekt med deltagare från 22 länder.

Hela kommunen är engagerad. Hotell och vandrarhem är fullbokade, lokala företag är involverade och hela bygden sjuder av kreativitet och nytänkaranda.

Och Östra Ämtervik, som är en del av kommunen, är ju förstås med och bidrar till att hela evenemanget ska bli lyckat och minnesrikt för alla deltagare.

Idag har vi haft ett hundratal besökare i vår vackra kyrka och företag från Östra Ämtervik har berättat om sina verksamheter för åhörarna.

Vill ni ta del av vad jag berättade om?

Varsågoda! Här kommer min presentation. Bilderna visades på en gigantisk skärm och kyrkan var fylld av tonerna från Vivaldis "Våren" som precis klingat ut...

"18 years ago, my husband and I bought an old house and a dream came true."

Every time we saw old friends that we hadn´t seen for a while, they asked "Are you done with the house yet?"

And every time they asked, I gladely had to answer: "No".

At last, I decided to document the work, so they could see, that even if the house wasn´t finished, we worked and worked and worked.

Three years ago, in May 2007, I started the blog "Granne med Selma" (Neighbour to Selma). A blog about our countrylife in an old house here in Östra Ämtervik. I remember the feeling, when 12 persons had read my blog. I was so happy! Three years later, the visitors are about 450 000. And I´m even more happy now!

The name of the blog is inspired of the one and only, Selma Lagerlöf, who lived at Mårbacka which is close to our home.

The blog is about the work with our house, it´s about dreams and it´s about never ending projects.

My husband and I, love to take care of old traditions and we try to recycle as much as we can. Interior in your homes shoud not depend on if your rich or not.

It doesn´t have to cost a lot of money. Interior is about a feeling. There is no right or wrong. There is so many things you can do by yourself.

Maybe a plastic jar isn´t the nicest thing on earth, but with a newspaper wrapped around it, you have a personal - and may I say - a beautiful decorating item for your home.

The blog has opened a lot of opportunities that I never could dreamt about.

Nowadays, I have a company of my own, I have contact with people all over the world, and together with my husband, I sell forging crowns. We have delivered crowns to Finland, Norway, USA and of course - Sweden.

 
 
Here in Sweden we used to have something called coffee parties. It was common several hundred years ago. Women met and drank a lot of coffee together. Always chatting and always eating a lot of cookies.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I arrange such coffee parties at home in our house in the summer. This summer, you can also stay for the night. We are about to start a luxury bed and breakfast in countrystyle.
 

Selma Lagerlöf... Thanks to you, people in this area are innovative, energetic and maybe a little fearless. There is no limit!

Selma Lagerlöf showed us that everything is possible. She is our leader!

She produced roasted oatmeal - I produce pastries with such oatmeal.

She wrote books to tell her stories all around the world - I use internet to do the same.

18 years ago - we bought our house.

3 years ago - I started the blog "Neighbour to Selma".

And in about two months from now, I start my own café and Bed & Breakfast in old traditional countrystyle, in our recently renovated Stable.

Mostly Welcome!

To me, and to Östra Ämtervik. And thank you Selma! I promise to keep your memory alive!