What I've been up to lately...

When I look back at this summer, I have so many strong memories. I don't even know where to start... Concerts, the sea, family, nature, garden, fixing at home, trips... I could never cover it all, so I'll simply tell you what I've been up to the last couple of weeks.

Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated our 13th anniversary. Amazing how time flies! At the same time, it feels like he's always been by my side. Well, yesterday he had to work a long day away from home, so we took the chance to celebrate the occasion a little early. Almost two weeks ago, we left our kids with my parents, packed the car and took off. We didn't have much of a plan, just going west to a part of our country called Dalsland. Lots of wild nature but not too far away from home. Simply stopping when we spotted something worth a look, we had a great day together. We visited an old fashioned market with a lot of goodies, I actually bought a pair of pot holders although I really don't need any more of those. I simply fell for them! :) So soft, and still thick enough to use for the oven.

Just walking around in our own pace, without having to break up earlier because of tired/hungry/bored kids was great! ;) I think all of you parents out there know what I mean. We also visited a pretty herb garden, an artists studio and a museum filled with things from the past. Inspiring places, really! We also went to a beautiful church, unfortunately closed, but even the graveyard and the surroundings were worth a visit.

The next stop was a very special experience for me, since I am very afraid of heights. Not any height, a hill can be high and steep, I don't mind. But bridges and other kinds of buildings, with mostly air under my feet... Waaah!!! The sight worth seeing this time was an aqueduct, a canal dug through soft rocks wouldn't do here, so they had to build a bridge for the boats. First we crossed a bridge on foot, and it was high (!) up. I took this picture from it, but seeing it from underneath almost made me to nervous to cross it again. So high up! :)

You can see the aqueduct below, passing over the rocky dried out creak below. We took a walk along the canal, and suddenly realized we had to turn back or cross that aqueduct, on that thin, curved edge with a very unsteady (at least by the look of it) railing. I knew I was to scared, but I said firmly that I can't always let my fears win, and I walked! And almost died, it was worse than I thought. My husband walked behind me and could actually see my knees shaking, but I fixed my eyes to the other side, firmly avoiding to look down, and I made it! :D So proud of myself, but I'm not sure I could do it again...


I was enjoying life much more on the picture below, I have to say. We put up our tiny tent for two (and nothing more, where are you supposed to keep your things?) and rented a canoe for the evening. It was lovely! So peaceful... Just my love and I...

The next day involved some more sightseeing, tea and cookies in the beautiful garden of a friend (or rather boss...) of my husband's and turning back home again. More in love than ever! :)

Well, back at home we started painting. Not furniture this time, now was the time to fix the son's room. Painting ceiling, walls and door posts in just a few days. Thought my arms would fall off, but I made it! That's happiness, can't take it for granted that my rheumatism would allow me to get carried away like that.The room went from light baby blue with too much stuff and pieces of furniture, to two shades of brown with less furniture and more grown-up. More space for him, a TV of his own, and it looks great if you ask me! :) No pictures, I'm afraid...

Well, the paint had just dried when we left again... We had promised the kids at least one night in a cabin or hotel, so we took the train to Stockholm to take them to some museums. We had a great time! We visited the technical museum and Skansen the first day. Skansen is an area with a lot of Swedish old buildings, and Swedish wild animals like rein-deers, bears, and wolves. They also have an aquarium with non-Swedish animals, like snakes, spiders, crocodiles and monkeys. Proud to say that the entire family dared to pat a snake, even though one is really scared of them. Was surprised to see the daughter patting a snake with confidence, and even following a deadly bush-snak's head with her finger, with only thin glass between them. I mean, she's afraid of kittens! :)

The last day was spent on the Vasa-museum, a museum containing a ship that was built in 1628, but sank after only 20 min or so... They managed to pull her up 30 years ago, and now you can see her and a lot of things from that time. Most interesting history lesson I ever had, I think. (You get the feeling of her size if you manage to spot the people way down on the floor, this is a huge ship!)

So, now you know why I haven't been showing up here a lot lately. Busy life! :) But it's calming down now, so hopefully I'll be posting more often.