Swedish Interiors by Eleish van Breems

Its been a tough re-entry for me this week back at Eleish van Breems after a trip out to bucolic Scandia, Minnesota. Its Wednesday and I've only just noticed that all of my Rogers & Goffigon samples are missing ....

My jazz loving, glider pilot boyfriend runs with a group called the Red Wing Soaring Association. I was enticed out on an early morning trip to their Osceola, WI glider port by promises of a hearty breakfast at my favorite stop - the Scandia Cafe. When you arrive at the cafe you are greeted by a giant Dala Horse...

...venture further throughout this charming town and you begin to see the painted Dala Horses everywhere. I love the sense of humor and the total send up of the CowParade that claims to be the world's largest public art event. ( You must have seen this...since its inception in Chicago in 1999 the CowParade has been held in 66 cities on six continents with artists and architects participating to paint their own cow.) The whimsical Dala Horses of Scandia were conceived by the Gammelgarden Museum for a celebration marking Scandia as the first Swedish settlement in Minnesota.

If you are ever in Minnesota the open air Gammelgarden Museum is worth a visit http://www.gammelgardenmuseum.org/ to see how the early settlers lived. Their midsummer celebration with traditional costumes and dances is a much look forwarded to summer activity and destination.

E.