Strömsborg Mill

"Then there was place named Stenstugan. There lived a lady named Almeda Turnvall. I’ll talk about her later when I talk about our Sunday School.

This is a current picture of the Strömsborg Mill. According to a Kinda tourist website, the interior remains intact from the late 19th Century and you can call ahead to book a guided tour! http://www.kindaturism.se

Then down by the crick there was a mill called Strömsborg, and there were three siblings living there. Gustav i Strömsborg was the miller. He milled flour for home use, so the flour that we used in our household, and the other farmers around there was from grain taken to Gustav.

There was a sister named Sandra. She was a good cook. When they had special parties, they’d all call Sandra i Strömsborg to come and help cook. She knew how to make ice cream.  I remember when she was at our house once, and she made some Ice Cream. It was so wonderful. One time when Lennart was little they were going to cook for some party. Lennart had been put down for a nap in Mom and Dad’s room and Mama had said to us kids, “Now you don’t go in there. Lennart is sleeping.” But Sandra needed something from the skafferi so she flew in there. When she turned around and was coming back, she realized that Lennart was sleeping in there and hollered, “Oh då! I forgot about the boy sleeping!” Of course, Lennart popped up crying. Us kids thought that was pretty funny because she could have just crept out quietly.

Then there was a brother named Johan. He had been in America. He had gone there as a young man, and he had been home to visit twice, and then when he retired he came home and stayed. He must’ve had a good job because most people who went to America could never afford to come back and visit. Johan brought back the first bicycle that was seen there in that area. I don’t know what year that was, before I was born sometime. When I was a kid, we all had bikes and Papa and Midi and Ragnar had bicycles. Well, the Sunday before I left for America, this Johan i Strömsborg, he came walking. He walked up

Mom always missed blåsippor. When I was a kid, the only

fake flowers that she had in the house were some silk

blåsippor and vitsippor, the white equivalent.

through Hagen, as we called it, from the schoolhouse and up. He had picked some blåsippor – that’s those blue anemones, the first wild flower we see in Sweden – he had picked a bouquet down there in Hagen where they were plentiful. Those were the first blåsippor that I saw that year and the only ones I would see for years and years after that. He sat there all afternoon and told us about his trips to America. The first time he went to America, it sounded like he was going on a ship like they describe in the Immigrant books. They ate dry moldy bread at the end and salt sill. The last time he came home and retired, he had come on a steamship. He thought about how much it had changed in his time.

Then there was another house up there named Anebo. I think I mentioned the girls who lived up there, Anna and Astrid who used to come and help Mom wash and Lång Anders was our hired man at times. Then next you came to Skogsbohylta. We always said “Skobyhyte.” There they had a couple of kids. I mostly remember Linnea."