Once I saw the king, Karl XV. We waited at 'Blå Grindar - Blue Gates, a farm northeast of Aneby'. Some boys sat up high in a tree. When the princess saw them she said: - There are big birds here, I think. (This might have been Karl XV:s 'Eriksgata' as a new king, which he would have made about 1860. He was a ruler between 1859 and 1872 - KHR).

My mother Stina had a very good voice and she used to sing at 'playgrounds'. On older days she almost regretted it. -- I remember how she walked a long, long way to listen to a "väckt - awaked" priest. It might have been Sellergren. We children had to walk along and lift the skirts, she was weak my mother.

At one time my father and mother went to see the hanging of a post robber. They stood closeby and saw his despaired face. Stina said: - If I had been judging, I would have given him free. - Yea, would it be you, Stina, who ruled the world, then there would be nothing to fear, Göran Petter replied.

When mother Stina was lying at her final days, she did not want to allow anyone to watch over her. The light was turned off, but the watcher stayed. Then, through the darnkess they heared a repeated, joyfull whisper: - What a surprise, that I should be one of the chosen!

My father Göran Petter died i "rösota" ( dysenteria. Sweden was badly hit by an epidemic in the 1850-ies). - Ya should know, that they prayed over nine farmers at once in Lommaryds church. (Göran Petter died before Stina. He was about 60 years old when he died).

Aunt in Bröttjehaga might have been a sister to Stina. -A brother to Göran Petter was married to Maja, "Mor i Björkenäs", "the small relationship wheel". These people are parents of a Maja-Stina, who was the mother of Ingrids grandfather on her mother side.)

- Are you waiting for proposers girls? That was aunt Ullas usual question, when she was sweeping the front stairs and dressed us up. She had lived in Vallåkra, Linderås, but at older days she stayed in Rasåsa 'lillstuga - small cottage'. (Aunt Ulla was a sister of Göran Petter.) (A photografer lived for a while in Ralingsås. That must be the reason for the pictures of Sophias sisters as they were young.)

When the 'bönaman - a man hired to find a suitable wife or husband' once came to Ralingsås, he was proposing for Karl Henrik Pettersson, who then was a farmer at Högaskog i Eksjö parish. He was an able farmer, he was trusted and a church warden. Now he had just lost his wife, and was left alone with two children. The 'bönaman' talked well about him to Sophia. - I though, that he was a bit old. But the 'bönaman' was persistent: - His both 'höder och vöder - kind and able'. And he succeeded. The marriage was on March 17, 1862.

The Christmas of 1862 the young wife Sophia was visiting the Christmas Mass with her husband, the church warden. On the 28 of December Ida, the first child, was born. Can ya understand, that I just dared to come with him!

Karl Henrik first farm the family farm at i Sjudemåla, which was sold in 1856. His parents farm was Sjudemåla in Torpa parish. After Högaskog he moved to Hareryd in Flisby parish. - There, one night, a madman or mentally ill person jumped into the large room through a window. (In 1865 Karl Henrik lived in Hareryd, Flisby parish.) - The true shepherd enters through the door of the sheep shed, he yelled. The Maid was scared and jumped into the masters bed. (The farmhand and the maid used to have their beds close to the door.)

Ingrids father, Karl, had a brown spot, as large as a quarter, at one of his temples. When Karl was a baby the accident happened. He sat on the floor in front of the open fireplace. Sofia and the maid were out to get some water to the house using the two man yoke. When they returned the baby was crying in dispair. A glow had jumped out of the fireplace and burnt through the padded cap. The wound was treated "as usual at that time" with 'saltlake' - saltwater used for food storage.

A few years after the move to Näs, Karl started his shooling at Prästtorp, a cottage in the forest between Möckelåkra and Edshults mansion. The teacher was an old lade, who were lame. She was teaching from her bed. The first days the boy brought a small horse made out of av porcelain. He used to play with it in the breaks. (It belongs to Ola now) -- The Main School was at the church, where the young cantor Vidén was teaching.