Day 151

After we got home from the cottage we went to the IL's house. Daniels a cousin with family was visiting, and we enjoyed some fun time in the garden. A little later Linus was dropped off by his mother, and he and the cousins daughter played football in the garden. Summer is still here, and it is just great. =)

Day 150

A wonderful day at the country cottage. Summer's here! At least for the weekend. =)

This picture shows how far into the water I came. It is still cold, but not enough to keep me completely out of it, especially when it is so warm in the air. My FIL actually bathed, and Daniel and his friends did so to after trying out the sauna.



Isn't it beautiful? The country cottage up on the hill, with a small guest house to the left, and the sauna on the raft in the water.

Day 149

Ebba relaxing on the grass, while Daniel is lighting the grill. We got company by friends from Stockholm tonight, and tomorrow we are all going to the country cottage. The guys hope to finish the sauna and do the premier bath. We'll see about that! :oP

Have a nice weekend!

Day 148

Thursday was another day for activities after work. Our manger had challenged us to join the "Blodomloppet". It translates into "blood run", and it is to rise awareness of the need to donate blood. Every spring the run is held in several cities, and it is a popular event.

Some of my friends from work met up at our place after work, and we then walked to the starting point. We walked the run, 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), with the crowd as seen in the picture (I did not feel ready to run that far yet). Unfortunately the weather was not on our side, and we got a lot of rain on us before we got to the finishing line. Anyway it was a fun event, and for a good cause. =)

Day 147

It has been very busy here a couple of days, hence no update on the blog. But there have been pictures taken! =)

On Wednesday it was time for another after work pub, and this time with the Champions League final on big screen TV. We started out around 5PM with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and our pub serving beer inside. The weather was ok, no rain but not so warm and rather windy. It worked to grill, but we had to sit inside and eat.

At 8PM the game was showed on the big screen in one of our big conference rooms. It was very appreciated, and a lot of people came to see the game and join in on all the fun.

Day 146

The day started out beautifully, with sunshine and warm winds. Then after work we took the bikes to go downtown to do some errands, and on our way home it was really grey and small water drops started falling. Now it is raining.



Even with the rain, this place looks much nicer in spring than in winter.

Day 145

This is what a Swedish drivers license look like. Both the new one (on top) and one of the older models (the one below). It was time to replace mine, and as I have procrastinated the photography part for a while the new one came just in time. Today was the last day of my old license.

Things have happened in 10 years, and it was really time to change the photo. I think I cut my hair short just a year or two after the last photo was taken, and sometimes I've had a hard time convincing people that it is in fact my drivers license and ID.

Day 144

The new white table for the living room that we got on Friday from IKEA. It came in a flat packet, but Daniel and Linus put it together in no time. =)

The long weekend has now come to its end, and tomorrow is workday again. It has been great with the days off!

Day 143

As the weather was supposed to be nice today, we agreed with grandpa to go to the country cottage for the day. Daniel and Linus is standing on the sauna raft, burning the fire stove for the first time. The stove will of course be moved inside the sauna once the interior is done.



Ebba spent most of her time looking for fishes in the water, as usual.

Day 142

Today was another day of rain and sunshine. Our walk with Ebba looked like it could be rain, so no camera, but it was a very warm and nice walk. Good for us. Then we went to the shopping mall, and had to run through heavy rain to get in. There was even some thunder.

We went to IKEA to pic up some small stuff, but came home with a Billy book shelf that will act as a storage unit in the hallway, and a new table for the livingroom.

But none of those will be the picture of the day. Instead these lovely small houseleek will have to do. They grow in a small pot in my garden, and I've had them for a couple of years. I do nothing to them in the fall, just let them stay outside all winter, and then in spring they start to grow again. Very handy!

Day 141

As Thursday was holiday, and the weather forecast was quite promising, we packed up our stuff and headed for the zoo. Our closest zoo is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from here and is called Kolmården Wildlife Park.

The weather was actually a lot better than expected and we had a fantastic day looking at all the animals. Above is a prairie dog. It is even possible to walk in under the place where the prairie dogs live, and look up through holes, like Linus is doing in the picture below.



Among others they also have a big African savanna with lots of animals. We found the rhinos to be very impressive, and also the Addax with their funny twisted horns (sorry, not in the pic).



Kolmården also have a Safari Park, where you drive in your own car and get to see a lot of animals close up. Keep the windows and doors shut! Here is a pack of wolfs.



And we also saw brown bears. They look so cuddly, but I guess they wouldn't be very nice if one came close. Both wolfs and bears are present in the Swedish forest, but mostly up north, and the wolfs are very limited.

Day 140

The weather has been rain and sun and rain and sun, all day long. We saw this beautiful rainbow when we walked Ebba after work. There were lots of rain beind it, but we managed to get home without getting wet, and with the sunshine in our eyes.

As today was last work-day this week, we have spend the evening relaxing. We made pizza for dinner, and now Linus is playing the video-game and can stay up a little late. Hopefully the weather will be good tomorrow, so that we can take a trip to the zoo as planned. *keeping my fingers crossed*

Day 139

We left work early to pick up Linus and head for the pediatrician. It was time for a hearing test, that is part of the 4 year old check-up. Linus is already done with his test in the photo, and he is now testing daddy's ears to see if he hears anything.

The afternoon was lots of sunshine and quite warm. We had a nice walk with Ebba in our forest, and then we went home to prepare dinner. A pineapple that's been in the fruit basket way too long made up a delicious dessert. Nice with dessert on a Tuesday evening. =)

Tomorrow is last day at work for this week. Thursday is holiday here, and we have already worked the time for Friday, so that one is off too. There are way too few four-day weekends!

Day 138

Finally we have found use for the pet bed Ebba and I got when buying dog food; it is an excellent spot for playing TV-games! =)

Day 137

Another morning of sleeping in and late breakfast on the patio. It has been sunny today too, and we decided it was _really_ time to clean the windows. So we both took a couple of windows and before we knew it all windows were clean. It feels very good to look out without seeing the bad consciousness.

Day 136

It has been another beautiful, although not so warm, day. This picture is taken from when we biked down to the city center to have lunch. Not far from us is this alley of oaks, and the branches almost forms a roof over the road. With the fresh green leaves and sunshine it was absolutely fabulous!

My original intention was to take a picture of the days first, and biggest, happening; our run. This was the first time in lots of years. I did survive, but was totally exhausted when we got back, and forgot all about the camera. The path was about 2 km (1.2 miles), and took me about 15 minutes, but I did run the whole way. Lets see if there can be another run early next week.

Tonight was very relaxed. We grilled with the neighbours, and had a delicious dinner with lots of different stuff. Later we all watched the European Song Contest, and saw our neighbour country Norway win. Congrats to them!

Day 135

It was lovely weather today, and when we got home from work we had planned to go down to town to one of the outdoor pubs. But when we came to think about it, it seemed a lot nicer to stay at home on our sunny patio. So we did.

Here is Daniel cuddling with Zelda, who really appreciates to have us home and outside. Our neighbors saw us from their balcony, and came down to enjoy the sun too. So we had a great time chatting and having some wine/beer.

Later Daniel and I took our bikes down to town to "our" pub, to eat dinner. All together a really nice evening and beginning of the weekend. =)

Day 134

What? Runners? Oh my! Yes, we went to buy training shoes today after work. The plan is to add outdoor cardio training to the weight lifting in the gym. And as Ebba is always way ahead of us on our walks, we thought we'd just try to keep up. =)

The guy in the sport shop was very helpful, and both Daniel and I got to run on the shop treadmill while filmed, to see if we made any strange steps that would require special shoes. None of us did, but I needed wider shoes for my Donald Duck feet.

And here they are. No more excuses for not running. I'll let you know how it went if I survive the first time, on Saturday. ;)

Day 133

When my family visited this weekend mom and I did some gardening, and planting flowers in the pots. These are one of my favourite summer flowers: dahlias. They come in so many colors, and the flowers are so gorgeous in different shapes.

We also planted the stair-pots with tagetes and Ivy. The bottom pot have chives, basil and coriander.

Day 132

Another late update, as it was a very late night. Our housing cooperation had its annual meeting yesterday, and as I'm part of the board it got a lot to do.

First we had a pre-meeting with the board that has been up until the 12th. Then the actual annual meeting with all the members of the housing cooperative, where we among other things elected a new board.

I will continue this year too as a member of the board, so right after the annual meeting the new board had a statutory meeting to decide who get to be chairman, accounter, secretary and so on. I think we have a good mix of people in the board, and it will be an interesting year to see what we can do for the members of the cooperation.

Day 131

There are some ruhbarb cupcakes still left, so I had one after dinner. Yum! I guess it doesn't look like a fancy cupcake with topping and all, but it was great anyway. =)

Otherwise it was a pretty grey day. Back to work again after the nice weekend, and when we got out with Ebba in the afternoon it even came some rain. I hope for some sun tomorrow!

Day 130

Another walk with the dogs this morning. Here are I, my dad, my mother and Daniel. You can also see Ebba, and a little bit of Emma, who has also spend the weekend with us. The picture is obviously not taken by me, but by my uncle Bernt.

We went home to have some coffee and newly baked rhubarb cupcakes, before mum, dad and uncle Bernt went back home again. Later in the afternoon we packed Linus into the car with some of the cupcakes and went to his mother and step dads house. Daniel played with Linus on the trampoline in their garden, and we had coffee and cupcakes out in the sun.

It has been a wonderful and busy weekend, so it is very soft right now; Daniel and me with the laptops on the porch in the evening sun. Hope you all have had a lovely weekend!

Day 129

After breakfast we all took a stroll in our forest with the dogs. The sheeps has now been let out again, and we came across a small herd of them. Linus was very brave and wanted to pet them, and luckily for him they wanted to be petted too.

We also did some shopping today, and my mother helped me to plant flowers in my outdoor pots. It got very nice, and looks very summer-y, but I have no picture of it yet. Maybe later this week.

Day 128

My mum and dad and uncle visited today. They are going to stay over the weekend. I have moved 250 kilometers (155 miles) from where I grew up, and where they still live, so we don't see eachother too often.

Here is I and my mother. =)

Day 127

Nothing much today. We worked as usual, and then went to Linus' Kindergarten to have the talk about his evolvment (I have no idea what that is called in English. It is twice a year, and the teacher talks about what he does good, and where he needs a little more attention). Then home and cook dinner. Before you know it is almost time to head to bed. Sigh.

I tried to find something interesting to take a photo of, but I lacked inspiration. Zelda was sleeping on the shelf above the computer, so she became the subject of the day. The cats are hard to capture when you want, but here she was perfectly still.

Day 126

Every now and then we are a little group that run an after work pub. This time it included grilled hotdogs and beer. It was rather popular even though the weather was quite bad at the beginning. The grill had to be under a party tent to avoid the rain, but after an hour or so the sun started showing up, and it was pleasant outside too. Inside we had our little bar with the fridge.

The location is our lunch cafeteria, and aren't those white and orange lamps cool!? =)

Day 125

Linus did some drawing when we got home from work. He was very eager to show it to me and the camera. The rocket is for me and the boat for daddy. And the sea is orange, that is OK, you can choose whatever color you want (his own words :).

Day 124

I'm sorry I haven't commented that much lately, but the weekend has been busy, and I have a lot of catching up to do on other stuff too. Anyway I have taken the pics each day, and I try to upload them and visit your blogs as spots of free time shows up. I haven't forgot you, and I'm not about to quit. =)

Linus came to us this afternoon, and we went for our usual walk with Ebba. The day started out with some rain, but as the day evolved, so did the weather. By afternoon it was about 16C (61F) and sunshine, and very nice for our outdoor activity.

Remember this view from February? Almost same spot. I love seeing how the nature is changing.

Day 123

We should have picked up our caravan from the winter shelter last weekend, but as Daniel was sent on a trip we did it today instead.

So this is our caravan. She is not very beautiful, and even fixed with some tape in the front, but she is very convenient. Mostly she will be parked at the country cottage, as an extra room, but we do plan to take her on a traveling vacation or two this summer.

We bought her last summer, and the manufacturing year says 1977, so she wasn't very expensive. Maybe we'll buy a fancier caravan some day, but for now this little ugly duckling will do.

Day 122

Another morning of sleeping in. It got really late yesterday, and today we began with breakfast on the porch. Kennet and Lina had stayed over, as they live about 120 kilometers from here (75 miles).

When they left in the afternoon we took the dogs for a walk in our forest. The sun was shining and it almost felt like summer for real. The trees are so green now, and the sky clear blue. Emma is behaving very well now when Daniel is home, and get to go without a leash when we are in the forest. She likes the new freedom! =)

Day 121

Today is 1st of May and Labor day in Sweden, and we have the day off. This is partly the cause for the celebration yesterday. =)

We slept in for a while, and then started to prepare for tonight. My brother and his fiancé was visiting for the first time since we moved to this apartment a year ago. We prepared a dinner of grilled fillet of beef with aïoli and potatoes. I had also baked a Key Lime pie for dessert. Yummy tonight too!

We had a great time, with lots of catching up. As a gift we got this bottle of really nice olive oil, a bag of luxury bread mixture, and a cute little bag with two small balls. When put in a cup with hot water they open themselves as a flower and gives you tea. So sweet of them!

Day 120

Today was Walpurgis Night, and traditionally we get together with friends to eat and drink and watch bonfires to welcome the spring.

This year we celebrated with some neighbors, and as both the other couples have babies, we ate and drank but left out the bonfire. It was a very nice night. For dinner we barbecued wild boar, and ate with baked potatoes and green pepper sauce. Yum!