Canoe, glass, cycling and fishing tours – that’s how we have spent our last few days here in Transjö. We’ve looked at the big glass manufacturers here in the local area. We’ve tried our hand at glass making on a very wonky bench in the now closed Kosta Glass School and spoke to some of the old teachers there, who miss their old jobs. There is no work for us in Smaland, as there are simply too many good glass makers living here, who have no jobs themselves. The small studios turn off their furnaces for the summer and some of the local manufacturers have closed down altogether because they have struggled in the current market.  Two days ago we went on a canoe tour on the nearby lakes and cast a fishing line off the back. The boys had given us all the equipment and said we should give it a go. Almost at the end of our tour, we got the first big fish to bite. Louise quickly pulled the fishing line in, while Franca tried to get a grip on the slippery fish and take the hook out of its mouth. However the pike or perch, (which Franca thought to have recognised from Findus and Peterson books - German children’s story) had completely swallowed the hook so we had to kill it. Louise quickly got the knife out and there it lay – one dead fish. Full of pride we paddled home and looked forward to our tasty hand-caught meal.  “Summer pike aren’t edible” the boys told us, the most we could cook is a badly tasting fish soup. So we had to throw our big fat fish to the foxes. We had more success collecting blueberries, which we made into three really tasty pots of jam.