I found my dream garden today. Flowers, herbs, veggies, fruit, forest fruit… all you can dream of in long, perfectly straight lines. Unfortunately I don’t think it would stay my dream garden for that much longer after I took over it… It’s impeccable and you find it in Gamla Staberg.
I had the first swim in Swedish waters today! Yes, it was cold, but it had to be done. I mean it is almost August. However, Daniel stayed safe and dry on land.
Daniel safe and dry in the sun.
Swedish summer at its best.
Coca Cola water.
I did it! I finally did the premier dip!
Happy as a child.
Later today someone else who craved a swim came to visit.
Dogs beach in Stångtjärn.
Swimming feast quickly developed into rasberry picking event.
It’s a favourite family activity.
1,5 litres of rasberries richer!
We have a new familly member – VICHO. He came as Leif… which didn’t feel quite right to call him in spanish, i think he is definitely a BICHO, but for some reason Daniel likes Vicente, so then the compromise came out as VICHO! I love him… but I’m not quite so sure Mr. big brother has had his heart melted yet…
My Vichito!
Like any cat Vicho LOVES to look at stupid things moving around, especially if there’s a human arm causing the movement.
Tachín’s Pride toy quickley became a favourite.
It is simply irresistible.
But when the master pops up… the playing is abruptly interrupted.
What the heck have these people dragged home this time…?
When everyone is looking I’ll pretend to be polite…
… but I swear I’ll give you DURO as soon as they leave the room!
No boys, you have to be friends, that was the purpose of this whole family expansion!
Today I finally got to go on rasberry hunt. All the week-end I’ve been dreaming of those huge, ripe rasberries I discovered already on sunday. Luckily noone had discovered my secret rasberry paradise. Now the autumn afternoons with cool rasberry juice in the balcony are saved!
My sister and her tall boyfriend have been with us all week-end. And, yes, that automatically means noone goes safe! Especially not when you introduce competition hungry Daniel to a new sport…
Sister love!
This week-end has also been mine and Daniel’s anniversary – so of course we’ve been celebrating spanish style.
A traditional meal, rostbiff and hasselbackspotatis! No, I’m not abandoning my vegetarianism, but yes, I did allow meat to be cooked in my home this special week-end.
Dancing queens.
The Stålgren sisters and their men conquering the mini golf field.
The golf master.
Andreas knew the rules, but still couldn’t resist not hitting the ball to hard.
Happy salmons =)
Lotta with drag under galoschern. She surely was the star of the night.
The one-year weds.
The winner got to pick the dinner place. Of course he voted for Sweden’s pride – MAX hamburgers!
Mr. luxury shake.
But then came the rain.
We were pretty when we left home, happy and without umbrellas.
Daniel is getting ready for the wet shirt contest.
It’s no summer if there’s no wedding. This year my second cousin got married and we all got to celebrate it togther! I did my best translating the wedding sermon and the speaches, but poor Daniel must still have thought swedish wedding jokes are the most boring ever! Have you ever tried to translate family jokes that alludes on specific places and dialects? Oh, my goodness, I’ve never felt so convinced I made the right decision when I decided NOT to go for a career as a professional interpreter! But with our without understanding traditions and jokes, we were all happy to be together! And we got to see a beautiful couple and have a great party with family and old friends!
Robert, Ida and Daniel at Skokloster kyrka.
The newly weds just couldn’t stop kissing.
Small admiring and adorable princesses!
Robert practicing the throwing-rice-at-the-lovebirds-technique.
Men doing manly things while waiting for the food.
Pausing for family picture.
Posing for family picture.
Ida informs Charlotte about the wedding dressing code that tells that wearing red at the party means you’ve slept with the groom, information which Lotta did not have when she picked her wedding outfit.
Late night conversation that propably touches other issues than wedding dressing code.
Tired wedding celebrator and sympathizer.
Waking up the day after in our little sea-side cabin. When we booked it we only read about its’ beautiful location and good price… not about it not having nor toilet, water or matresses thicker than toilet paper…
But the weather and the morning coffee was the best in a long time.
Mommy and … the mommy replica!
It might seem like all we do is to go to IKEA to shop cheap furniture and construct things in our little flat… and well, maybe there’s something to that. But believe it or not, but it’s difficult to fill out a flat of 85 square mts when you’ve been living in shoe box for the last couple of years! Thank god IKEA had sales and I found just the things I’ve been thinking about, and some more. The problem was not finding things, but transporting them home…
After a long drive and before a tiresome shopping tour you need to refill your shrimp- and egg sandwich supply.
The happy moment before starting to stuff the car.
Hmm…. apparently not all IKEA things can be made into pieces as I thought.
But isn’t it amazing what you can get into your car with just a little stuffing and subborness.
Even if it means it costs your comfort.
But just look at our new balcony! Who would say it was’t worth having a sore ass and being car-sick when the result is this!?
We have not just been eating sill and dancing traditional dances during mid-summer. We’ve been working hard too! Well, at least we have all participated according to our abilities. Me and my mom have been planning, leading and supervising the latest construction project in our flat while the men have been sweatting over screws and planks. And the result of a team-work is always perfect if its’ goal is the doing.
As a natural leader I was a few steps ahead of the guys… when they we’re sawing up the planks for the balcony floor I was already shopping necessities for the herbal garden.
Working men. Or one man working, two supervising.
Praying that it will fit together not just in theory, but also in practice!
Once the floor was done… the plans got more advanced and like that we a flower wall was in the making!
Happy, happy to finally have a balcony WITH flowers and herbs!!
Chini is also happy he gets some experience of nature. I’m still a bit concerned he insists on eating more flowrs than his cat grass!!
Balcony inauguration – with evening SUN!
A happy land-lord.
Midsummer is the celebration of the longest day during the year. After this day it all turns and each day gets darker and darker, until there the day is so short that you hardly notice it… but that’s not to think about yet, at least not as long as it supposedly is still summer! Our province, Dalarna, is the place to be for celebrating midsummer. But as we are not from here and are also bad at planning time, we almost missed all the midsummer celebration! Luckily we did get to hear some violin music, see some folkloric dresses and most importantly – EAT SILL!
Left over midsummer garland.
The song-leader and his pupil.
We were all convinced the celebration had been beautiful if we had got here at 15 hrs and not at 18 as it said in the paper…
Luckily, since midsummer is so popular there were celebrations all week-end and we drove around until we found some proper swedish tradition!
Folk costumes and swedish scenery.
This week-end is all about singing, dancing silly dances and dress up in far too expensive folk costumes. As I’m not a proud owner of a folk costume, I LOVE watching them!
Momma and mommy were happy to finally get some proper culture and fika.
But the best in midsummer is the FOOD. Sill, sill and sill (sill is the swedish sushi 
) and other wierd fish is what you’ll find on the smorgasboard.
The new favourite this year was the SILL-cake! I swear it is destined to be an international success.
Daniel’s paradise plate.
Daniel and his swedish teacher =)
The sweet end.
I started my new job this week, yeay! I will be working as a researcher within the department of social services and elderly care within the municipality and I am so happy! When everyone else is getting ready for holidays I put on my new glasses to make sure no important details slips away from my desk! But it’s not just me who’s being a working lady lately, Daniel and Chini have also been diving into difficult tasks…
I got my new glasses last week so that I won’t be missing out on any important details in my work.
Making the bike into pieces in order to transport it in our tiny car was the easy part… putting it back together was a days work.
But perseverance gives results!
Drilling, plugging, screwing and fastening our shelves has been my week-end amusement. It is still to see if they will be coming down during the night…
Of course our love-child never disappoints us. All week he’s been dedicating his time to intense studies.