I am not much of a story writer. This is my first story so I shall do my best.

I am a student studying full time to become a gilder (förgyllare) and restorer of gildings. My studies have recently taken me to Södra Dalarna where I have been working with my teacher restoring Silvbergs Kyrka.

 

Silvbergs Kyrka is situated in the small village of Grängshamar. The church is very special as it is an octagonal church one of only a few in Sweden. It was built around 1834 and is also unusual because all the grave stones face the church. The church is in a very beautiful location situated on the shores of lake Grängen.

 This week I laid 7 books of gold which is in total 175 sheets of gold on the altar of the church, its been a busy week! We have just finished polishing the gold and it looks fantastic.

This week at the church we have seen 6 wild pigs who seem to be regular visitors, however I did not manage to get a photo of them. Its far too risky to get close especially as it was a mum with her babies.

I also saw a few cranes near the lake and a really lovely pair of black woodpeckers in the churchyard busy pecking and building a nest.

On Thursday my boyfriend drove to Dalarna to come and collect me in time for Påsk (Easter). 

On Friday we drove around the area on the Silverringen (Silver ring) . Östra Silvberg, Ulfshyttan, Grängshammar and Bispbergs gruva were at one time well known for mining silver. Metals had been mined in the region since the 1400's and Gustav Vasa even once owned the iron works at Grängshammar. We visited Östra Silvberg (Magnilbo) to look at the old silver mines that are now filled with turquoise water and we walked a little into the forest to look at the site where the medieval Saint Nicholas Chapel once stood.

You can find more information about The Silver ring at Säters Turistbyrå, Grängsgatan 1, Säter 0225-519 92  or at this linkbelow

http://www.sater.se/kulturochbibliotek/kulturmiljoochhistoria/silverringen.106.538f958410b38b4c073800019725.html

As it was Good Friday (Långfredagen) and my boyfriend is a christian we decided to go to Långfredagen Gudstjänst at Stora Skedvi Kyrka. The church is Dalarnas oldest church built in the 1200's and has some of the finest wall and ceiling paintings in Sweden that date from the 1500's. It really is worth a visit and is by far one of the most beautiful churhes I have ever seen. The service was lovely and the church has a fantastic choir. After the service we took a good look at the church and took some photographs.

It was now time to start heading home, on our journey back we stopped at Ulfshyttan.

I am not a christian I am a buddhist and some locals had told me of a buddhist temple in Ulfshyttan so we decided to go and check it out. It is not a temple as those of you that have been to Thailand would think. Its an old school from the 50's that the monks have bought and turned into a temple. The building is on the edge of a huge lake next door to Ulfshyttans Herrgård. The monks speak very good English, Swedish and of course Thai. They welcome anyone buddhist or not and will even offer you a very nice cup of tea so if you fancy checking out a little Thai culture in Dalarna or learning a little about buddhism, its a very nice welcoming peaceful place to visit.

I forgot to take photographs here but if you would like to know more about the temple you can go to www.watdalarna.com (I think this website may only be in Thai) or you can email them wat_dalarna@hotmail.com 0243 19580 or 073 7869766.

We started our long drive home and stopped by a loppis (flea market) in Smedjebacken. I managed to pick up 3 antique frames, 2 matching picture frames and one mirror with its original glass that are in desperate need or a little restoration and care.I believe the mirror to be from the mid 1800's so it is a real find! These will be my new gilding projects in the workshop over the next few weeks.