Out of Halsingland, into Dalarna

This morning as I left the B&B in Halsingland it was my intention to visit and tour one of the large decorated Halsingland homes. I knew the tour schedule and had plenty of time to get there when I passed by a couple of signs I had not seen yesterday.

As I passed through the small area known as Ostana, I saw a sign for a farm that read "Gudmunds-"??? Then another that read "Grasatter". Both of these names are places are mentioned in my tree (Actually Gudmund Gudmndsson is one of the earliest ancestors in my tree, in the 1500's! And the only thing I know of him is that he was "Bonde i Ostana" which means "Farmer in Ostana".

The next turnoff took me past the Ovanaker church and was pretty much next door to the farms I just spotted. So, my plans changed. I walked around the church buildings and the graveyard for a bit before returning to the farms.

This is one of the only big churches without a large steeple. I wonder why?

The Grasatter farm is located right next to the church:

And the Gudmunds-Olle Farm is 2 down from that

This is, I believe, the farm (though not this house) that the earliest known ancestors of my children lived in the 1600's.

Satisfied with my discoveries, a little sad that I had missed the house tour, I moved on to the road that would take me to Falun -my next night's stop.

It did not take me too long to once again become distracted from the journey as I saw a sign pointing to Grangsbo.....so what do I do? Follow it!

A few Km down the paved road, the GPS told me to turn off onto a gravel road. This would be the village or croft called Grangsbo, and this again was a name I remembered from my tree. Alongside the road, in the trees, was a wooden, hand-carved sign pointing me to the Little Church at Grangsbo" (in Swedish, of course). What's a girl to do when she sees a sign like THAT? Follow that road!
Soon I spotted the tiny church and pulled off to see what I can see. The church is not so very old, but it is quite charming. I could not enter, but I ate blueberries and raspberries as I snapped som photos.

I have arrived in Falun, which puts me in Dalarna 'county' home of the famous Swedish Dala Horse.

 I went up to the Falun Copper Mine this afternoon but FORGOT my camera at the hotel!!! Let me describe what it looks like to you: A BIG HOLE in the ground! Use your imagination!

There is also a museum and some shops, etc. I took a little 'train' ride around the hole and chatted with a nice family from Belgium

The church in the middle of town.

One of the pedestrian shopping streets, at 6 pm on Saturday evening...All the shops are closed and the streets are empty.