Jagorstrand´s enchanted garden

JY´s terrace design above the roofs of Cham

My wife and I are enthusiastic gardeners. As we lived in an apartment our own gardening was limited to our balcony that was filled up with plants of all kinds. There was hardly any place for chairs and a table, but we enjoyed being surrounded by nature. Our dream for the future is our own garden divided in three parts: one part for JY, one for me and a blended part. You wonder why there is no dog section? We decided that each of the sections has to be dog friendly and gives space for rolling around.

Enchanted forest gnome.

JY follows the weekly episodes of the BBC “Gardeners’ World” whenever possible. They often show small backyards that have been transformed into hidden gems with limited resources and abundant fantasy. Unfortunately, BBC has stopped broadcasting via satellite so we are cut off during our trip. Therefore, we focus on the real gardening world during our trips, enjoying public parks or botanical gardens whenever we find one.

Standard camp site garden arrangement,

On campsites gardening is typically not a big topic. However, some of the permanent guests are gardening on their little property. Potted plants or bushes with colourful flowers are not unusual. One of the campsites with special focus for families with children had set up an ‘enchanted forest’ adjacent to the tent and motorhome pits. Paths lead into dark and hidden areas where gnomes and trolls are waiting to be discovered or to scare small kids.

Minimalistic approach with zen elements.

A real artwork came to our attention when we visited our Swedish neighbours from Cham and spent a lovely evening on the terrace of their summer house on the coast. As Jagorstrands know our passion for gardening Joakim suggested visiting his father´s garden which has developed into an exhibition for garden furniture and decor items.

Entrance to Jagorstrand's garden world

The next day we arrive at the end of a residential road like you know it from everywhere. One-family houses left and right with front lawns and hedges. Our destiny is the last property on the right with two buildings hidden behind a hedge. An open entrance area connects a residential building on one side and a shop on the other. Both buildings look different from the other houses in the street. It is obvious that the owners love art and design.

Sculpture or flower pot?

Next to the shop a small path between the building and a hedge leads into the garden area. It is a warm and sunny day. After a few steps around the corner it is shady, green and humid from the watering of the plants. The narrow path is made out of natural rocks and cut flagstones. Small plants, scrubs, hanging wines and ivy are everywhere. The trail widens to a small place. A table with chairs invites one to rest and savour a drink. The garden is set up in small sections like a house with many small rooms. Each section has a different atmosphere and design, charming the visitor again and again. Sculptures of different sizes are hanging and standing among the plants. Some are easy to detect, others require a close look to discover their beauty.

A glass of wine would be perfect.

Like in an enchanted garden we stroll around admiring the art around us and soaking in inspiration for our own garden fantasies. A wonderful small garden densely filled with décor and design. Many thanks to the Jagorstrand family for sharing their garden with us.

If you’d like to see more of the garden with many photos, have a look at

Jagorstrand. Inspiration ∙ Konst ∙ Design.

Inspiration, art and design.

Road to Nowhere

Ronda in the Nowhere. GPS refusing to work.

We are driving on scenic roads northwest of Norrköping searching for our next camp site. The roads are small, winding through golden wheat fields, going up and down, and shaking Ronda and her passengers from left to right. It takes us nearly two hours and to cover just 80km.

In one of the blogs you have heard about the difficulties of finding the right camp site. Sometimes we know which the right one is, but actually finding the place is another challenge. We use modern equipment like Google Maps or Ronda´s navigator. The ZIP code of the address in the Swedish guidebooks can be found and marks an area 20km wide. Any farther detailed location is unknown. We decided to go to the centre of this area and hope to find signboards for the camp site.

Golden wheat fields accompany us for hours.

I like modern navigation assistants. For many years and in many countries they have helped me to stay on track. But sometimes technology is a real pain in the cockpit. My GPS navigator accepts postal addresses like ‘Schmiedstrasse 8 in 6330 Cham, Switzerland’ or GPS coordinates in the modern decimal notation like N 58.35321°, E 16.40882°. The official guidebook, of course, prefers the sexagesimal notation like N 58°26’47.24”, E 16°35’50.14”. And the poor driver is lost in translation.

This was two hours ago. My wife who is the DJ on duty has chosen Brit Pop hits of the 80s and 90s which we like a lot. JY played songs by Travis when she picked me up from the KL airport for our first date a few years ago. Now I am listening to Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere” which is inspiring to find our way. The navigator tunes into this scenario and displays the mystical phrase “Road with no name” (Strasse ohne Name). And we drive through fields and small forests with sporadic houses far off the road. But no signboard for a campsite, and nobody to ask.

Human navigator preparing the route of the day.

We decide to select another campsite close by and type in the name of the closest village. The navigator starts calculating. The result is not too bad: 24km distance, arrival time in 1hr 33min. OK, that´s is a bit faster than walking, but the road is not too good and we probably have to slow down. We continue meandering through the crops.

Suddenly the female voice in the black box says “please, take the ferry ahead“. We turn the corner and in front of us the sea appears with the campsite on the left that was lost in translation. There’s also a reassuring triangular traffic sign warning of a car slipping from land into the sea.

After this adventure I decide to build an EXCEL® based converter for the GPS coordinates to reduce the amount of adventure on our tour. Happy testing during the next trip.

Stegeborg's ferry indicating the end of today's tour.

Brown Cheese = Chocolate + Cheese

Light and dark brown cheese - a delicious starter

After two months in a caravan I slowly start to understand my wife’s cravings. The first one is not uncommon among Asians: she loves chocolate. The second one is surprising because my wife doesn’t like durians: she loves cheese. Probably this is the result of training her taste buds for seven long years in Switzerland.

Our trip to Norway found its culinary highlight when we met JY’s old friend Jeannie in Raudeberg, a small but lovely village on the west coast between Bergen and Trondheim i.e. in the nowhere. JY had read about ‘brown cheese’ which is a kind of cheese that tastes sweet. As our Danish ‘red sausage’ experiment was disappointing JY was careful in buying unknown food in large quantities without expert guidance.

Practicing the art of cheese slicing.

Jeannie was our perfect expert: her Asian heritage guaranteed the right taste. Living in Norway for many years gave her the right market overview. And the most important fact: in her fridge was brown cheese in various strengths ready for tasting.

Brown cheese is cheese that is fermented or cooked in a special manner that makes it light brown with a savoury and sweet caramelised taste. When JY tasted the first thin slice of brown cheese her eyes started glowing and a subtle smile was on her face. In this moment I knew (a) we needed massive storage space for brown cheese in the fridge, and (b) the beer cans had to be kicked out. A perfect opportunity to make my wife happy.

Yes, I love it!

An important requirement is that the cheese is cut in very thin slices. As our space for kitchen tools is also limited we cannot buy a cheese cutter. We have to reuse an existing tool. The choice was clear: it is the potato peeler.

I wouldn´t eat brown cheese with my strong flavoured German bread for lunch or dinner. But for tea time with a light cracker or crisp bread it is a perfect combination. From now on my wife brings the potato peeler, crackers and the collection of brown cheeses for tea and starts the cheese ceremony. Brown slices of sweet cheese melt on our tongues, make us dream and convert each camp site into a perfect place for happiness.

Relaxed connoisseur.

 Before we left Norway we stocked up our brown cheese. JY promised that it will last until we come back to Switzerland to share it with all her friends.

Tea time at a marina. What else is needed for happiness?