Happy Easter!

How are you all doing? I'm having a quiet moment right now, so I thought I would say hi. This Easter is not a very quiet one, since my parents and my two youngest are here with us. But right now they are on a trip, so my family is chilling.

I spoiled myself with some fresh flowers this weekend. I don't do that very often, so I am really enjoying them. And do you notice the sparkling tea light holder next to them? My mum made it for me. I think it's so cute. A good thing domebody is crafting when I'm not. I know I don't have to, it simply feels strange that I don't. And I think I have figured out why. Crafting or needleworking was never a way to relax for me. It was work. Something that kept me busy, made me feel that I achieved something, and also a very intense moment when inspiration hit me. Now when days are full(er) with work and housetending, I'm too tired to be inspired. 

Life takes it turns, and I'm sure I will find new ways for my creativity to work. Actually, today I felt rested enough to maybe pick something up. Maybe. :)

Lazy days

Hi there! How are you? Me? Well, I am having happy, lazy days. Really not doing much at all, and loving it. I love having my family around me at home. Especially these days, when the house is decorated and cosy, when we have a lot of good things to eat, and the kids are in a state of joy and harmony over new toys and stuff. My body has been giving me a pretty hard time lately, so it has been perfect to be able to just cuddle up somewhere. 

In spite of hurting limbs, I have managed a little knitting and crochet. This blue mohair scarf has been lying in the basket for a while, blocked and ready for an edging. The pattern had a suggested edging, but it looked weird in the yarn I used so I went through my books and found one I liked better. I was surprised that it turned out so cuddly, I had expected it to be at least a little itchy.

I was also able to finish this owl hat. It's for a baby girl, and I was asked to do it. No pattern, so I tried to keep it simple. A square hat with ear flaps (that I picked up stitches to make when the hat was done). I hope it will fit the girl... That is the hardest part when you improvise a design, that it has to fit too... :)

Now, I have a crying daughter on the floor, who wants my help to make earrings. So I better go! :)

Mother's joy

Dear friends, I am proud to present to you a new little knitter. My sweet daughter Elsa, almost eight. She asked me the other day how one knits, and I showed hee. She then declared that we would have a knitting lesson for her the next day (as in yesterday). So we did, and it didn't take many tries for her to get it right. So proud of her!

She is really committed to it, this is her this morning before school. She usually takes her time in the morning, but today she rushed things to get time to knit. :)

She had not knitted many stitches before she declared that she needed a knitting basker. Now, where on earth could she be getting such ideas from? Luckily, she found a little basket in her room that suited her work perfectly.

This might bexome an expensive story, though. I got her the kiddy needles to start with. I think they actually belong to her brother (who is more into crochet by the way). But as soon as she had her basket, she told me she needed to ger her own needles. She just couldn't borrow someone else's all the time! :) Maybe I should bring her on my next yarn hunt. Or maybe not... Either way, she is already more interested in using circular needles than regulars. She is her mother's girl! 

Testing, testing

Hi there! Yes, I am testing. I have been telling you about the trouble I have had, trying to blog on the mobile. The app is not so great, but since I do all other computer stuff onthe mobile, this blog has been neglected. But hopefully not anymore. 

Today is my birthday, andmy darling husband gave me anamazing gift, a surf pad. Or is it called a tablet? Either way, I am loving it already. It is easier to blog from, and way better when I search new patterns on Ravelry. I don't have to use that stupid blogger app anymore, even though itseems I will have to e-mail the pictures to the blog since I cannot get the uploader to work. But I can live with that. This will hopefully make me able and willing to post more often.

This was not my only gift. My daughter gave a lovely pair of ear rings formed like roses. And my son made me this amazing creation:

Is he creative or what? :) It says "congratulations" in Swedish, and then my age. I adore it! And I am so very happy about this day spent with friends and family, and the loving gifts I have received. I am a very happy 36-year-old in deed! 

Tomorrow is work day, so I better get myself and the kids in bed. See you!

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.

Happiness

The sun is setting, and I take a walk in our garden. We have been busy gardening, painting our garden furniture, shopping plants and... well, we've been busy! :) But busy in a good way, because we want to do all this for ourselves. We love to be in our garden, and I think both me and my husband has a special thing for our kitchen garden. All the plants of course, inviting us to make something tasty. But also cooking outdoors. Today, my husband made the "kitchen" in the left, from an old sink. There we can prepare food or work with our plants...

But I'm sad to say we have to spend much time indoors, because of the mosquitoes. An aggressive kind has invaded the area around the bird lake we live close too, making it impossible to stay outside. Some days are worse than others, but today we managed to stay outside. Lots of mosquito repellent and some candles they don't like the smell of helped a lot. This is where I spent most of the day, tired because of an upset belly. I hate all the trouble and pain it's causing me (it happens quite frequently), but the overall feeling today was happiness. I love our garden, that we put so much work into lately. I love how the furniture turned out after a much needed paint, and with new pads. I love the view from our backyard, watching the farmers bringing in the hay. I love seeing my husband so enthusiastic over his projects. Happy!

We had my parents over for a few days, spending time together. Lovely! I truly enjoy sharing my gardening enthusiasm with my mum. And I also want to share my little miracle. I don't know much about hollyhocks. But I do know that the plant I received from my husband years ago had the same color as the closest flower below. That's just one plant, that has spread along the wall of our shed. And now, I have flowers in three different colors! The two in the picture and a lighter pink. Isn't that strange? The dark pink one even has a different shape than the other two. But I'm happy, I really wanted hollyhocks in more colors than just one, and now I do!

 Oh, and not only the grown-ups are filling their days with outdoor projects. The kids have opened a flee market in our (not in use) outdoor toilet. :) And when dad made an outdoor kitchen, the son thought we should really use the waste water for something. So he made water cleansers, so that he and his sister can filter that waste and use it when they play, instead of spending clean water for playing around with. :) Environmentally educated kids these days!

I hope you all are having a lovely time, and that you are all able to enjoy your own beautiful surroundings. We are having some warm, sunny days after a pretty cold and rainy summer, so we are enjoying it all very much. Now, I'm wanted elsewhere... Take care!

Seaside pictures

 I promised you more pictures, and here they come. I have been working the last two days and didn't get the time to sit down by the computer until today. It's always exciting to download the pictures from camera and mobile, since I never really remember exactly what I pointed that lens at. :) I kind of rediscover them, and the memories they represent.

The first day by the sea was windy and rainy, but we just had to get down to the water anyway. It's a bit of a walk from the camp site to the beach, but it's quite a lovely walk. The trees are marked by the wind, and you almost get the feeling of being abroad, everything looks so different from what we're used to. Windy and rainy it was, and the waves came crashing in. Dramatic and beautiful! The kids wanted to try out there new water canons, and so they did. And despite the wellingtons, they got wet because of the waves surprising them. :)

Instead they started playing by a creek leading out into the sea, throwing sand in the wind and trying to make sea shells float as far as possible. There's always something to do by the water. I walked around and admired pretty sea shells and sand formations. Don't want to drown you in pictures though, so I picked out a few.

The next day was sunny and warm, and almost no wind at all. Definitely no rain, so we had saw a few smiles when people looked at our kids, looking like this. But there was a reason (beside the wet pants and socks from yesterday). 

Time to shoot around with the water canons! :)

While mummy played around with sea shells...

And followed the birds footsteps. I love how they disappear around the bend... Watching the kids playing by the water, walking around on the beach and on the sand dunes, talking with my darling husband. Love the mood the beach gets us all in. Pure happiness, I would call it!

This seemed to be a busy place for some reason... I love the different sizes on the footprints.

And here we have other markings in the sand. While we watched sea shells, driftwood and dunes, someone had made himself a country with cities and roads. And funny names for the cities too. I admire the creativity!

Someone else had turned into a sea monster, muddy and with scary teeth. :) This monster sometimes makes very funny noises when it's saying "s", it's quite tricky when you're missing your two front teeth!

We stayed for two more days, but no more walks to the beach this time. But we're going back again later this summer, and I'm pretty certain I'll bring the camera that time too... ;)

By the ocean

I guess I understood I would blog less often now when I have a job. But I don't want to give you the impression that I've given up blogging all together, so I thought I'd say hi...
Hi! I'm on vacation. :) Sort of... The kids are free from school four days, and my husband is working at a conference on a camp site/conference center. So we tagged along, with our little caravan. The weather has been very windy most of the time, a little rainy too. But yesterday we had sunshine and went down to the ocean. Love it there! And how the kids enjoy playing there, no matter what the weather is like. :) They play in the sand or shoot water canons, while husband and I stroll around and enjoy nature. Sea shells, bird footprints, wood washed by the sea...
Work again when we get home, but I'll try to have a moment by the computer to show you some more pictures. Got to go now, the kids want ice cream and I'm the one with the money... :)

Date night, birthday, spring and mint!

I have so much to talk about this time, I really don't know where to start. OK, let's start with last Friday. My husband and I left the kids behind (but well taken care of, of course) and went to Jönköping, a city an hour and a half from here. We haven't been away like that for ages, just the two of us, so we really enjoyed it. We love going places together, since we love sitting in the car talking. About absolutely everything and anything. Quality time, I say! And with no kids interrupting from the back seat, the drive went really fast! The reason for the trip was a concert, Steven Curtis Chapman visiting Sweden for the first time ever, and also some Swedish artist that we both like. A wonderful night! And I even managed to stay awake the whole way home. :)

Next day, we went to Jönköping again, this time to visit my sister who recently turned a year older and wiser. :) Now you can never guess her age, right? ;) I just love spending time with my family, and especially with my nephews. They grow so fast! But I have to admit I kept falling asleep all the time on our way home. At ten o'clock, why is that?

Sunday was all about church and garden time. The kids were playing around in the beautiful weather and I was tidying up the garden after the winter, as always a little late... But at least it's done now. And we had a lovely barbecue in the evening, enjoying the sunshine. Lovely!

Yesterday was a busy day. First of all, I went to work. Yes, that's right. No more sitting at home every day. Some friends have a funeral home, and they need some extra help when it's busy. As always, the head was spinning after the first day. All new impressions and all new things to learn... But I hope it will all settle and turn out quite well.

In the evening (after a rest under a warm blanket), we went to celebrate the arrival of spring with a huge bonfire by the lake, the traditional songs and speeches and everything. (At least a Swedish tradition the last of April.)

Today, we were all at home. The kids were pretty tired after a late night (or several, actually) and chose to take it easy. Reading, playing around, sitting in a chair in the garden... The husband and I, on the other hand, have been working. Digging up plants, making a bigger flower bed, putting plants in the new flower bed, lawn mowing...

Well, my husband made all the hard work. Except digging up the mint that was escaping their due place and had to be taken care of. That was hard work, I tell you! Those roots... Aaargh! They could make anyone crazy!

Came bedtime for a tired girl, and I sit by the window. Watching the husband still working outside, watching my potted plants thriving from all attention I've been giving them. Growing, flowering...

Tomorrow is a new day, and I'm working a few hours. So it won't be a late night for me... I need my rest. Hopefully I'll be able to use my aching shoulders tomorrow... that mint! But I enjoyed it, at least most of it. Gardening is good for the soul. And best of all, I was strong enough in hands and arms to do it! Yay!!! :)

Crochet pots

It turned out to be a good thing, that I forgot to take this picture yesterday. Or I wouldn't have had anything to show you today... The planting business was a bit too intense, I guess, 'cause my poor body didn't want to hear about it today. So no planting, just a hot, foamy bath and looking through the seed catalog, trying to decide what to buy. Not so bad after all, hey? :) It took some effort to really appreciate it (since I truly was in mood for some planting), but then I honestly felt grateful for simple things as bath foam and garden dreams. It's been a good day this far!

This is what I forgot to show you yesterday. Recognize the tins covered in crochet? They really brighten up the window sill with all their colorful stripes. They even look better than I thought they would. I love when that happens!

Maybe I'll still get a few plants in new soil and pots today, as the kids wanted to join in when they realized what I had been up to. So I'll help them out when they get home from school, trying not to overdo it. I tend to get carried away, but my body needs a break every now and then. And sometimes it's so hard to listen when it tells me to stop what I'm doing! When I'm in the mood for something, I want to do it now! :) Well, my son is just like me, so I better put some plants on the kitchen table before he arrives... See ya!

Birthday and flowers

It feels like I haven't been in here for ages... It's been a busy week! I usually sit at home every day, but last week I got to see the world for five days in a row! :) No big things though, a few visits at my husbands childhood home, church and stuff like that. But I liked getting out and meet people!

We also had people here yesterday, my family to be specific. They came over to celebrate my husband, who got a little older the other day... I had some plans to knit him a few things for his birthday, but since my hands were hurting last week (but a lot better now), he received a gift still on the needles and a little gift bag that I made. 

I often get compliments for my hand writing when I make cards, but there's really nothing to it. I usually write just as ordinary as anybody else, but for those special occasions I have a book to look in. It contains all kinds of different alphabets, and I simply copy them. Easier than it looks like, I can assure you! But I love the way it turns out most of the time. Best of all, these alphabets look great even if you don't write in even lines!

I've been trying to craft in other ways with my hurting hands, so I made this pimped pot the other day. Just sewed some felt together and glued some felt hearts that I cut out from scraps on it. I hurt a little though, my left hand didn't really want to hold on to anything. Guess I've been holding on to the knitting needles to tightly lately! So I've tried to stay positive, appreciating what I can do.

Today I felt that I had energy enough to start replanting my indoor plants. I started with the geraniums. They moved to clay pots, and I used some old saucers my mum gave me. I love them! Only wish I had more... I am planning to take cuttings from a lot of my plants, and I so wish I could put them all on pretty saucers! Either way, I hope to be able to continue tomorrow. Better not overdo it, as I usually do, and use up all energy in one day. I would regret that! So tomorrow I´ll be replanting... hmmm, perhaps suckulents. But now I better get dinner started!

Spring is in the air!

The sun is shining, and as soon as I woke up today I could hear the birds outside the window. Lovely!

I like our house, but what I really miss is some kind of outdoor place with a real floor and sheltered from the wind. We have a porch at the front door, but it's facing north which makes it a pretty dark and cold place to be. Summertime is fine, the lawn is more than good enough. At least when the sun is shining... But a place to go when it's a little too cool to sit outside, or when it's windy. Which it is most of the time here.

So yesterday, when the sun was shining and the tree tops weren't moving at all, I made a quick decision that we would make supper outside. Didn't find any "real" outdoor food to be prepared in a rush, so I decided on fish soup on our little kerosene stove.

The kids love outdoor cooking, so they helped me with the preparations. Although one of them hardly tasted the soup, since I had put some "vegetables" in there. Carrots and parsnip...

The other one loved the soup, and asked when we could eat outside again. Soon? Maybe on Thursday? :)

Even if the soup wasn't acceptable to all, at least we had a wonderful time out in the fresh air together. I have to do this more often!

Flowers in gray

Hi there, remember me? The kid's had a break from school last week, and as usual when they stay at home I don't get my blogging done... But today everything is back to normal, which means they are in school and I get my computer time.

So, what's new here? I'm afraid I don't have too much to show you... There are some birthdays coming up and some projects to go with them, but I  can't show you since it might spoil the surprise for someone...

I've also had some wonderful time with my family, we visited my mum and went skiing/sledding/hot dogs-eating  the other day, but we need to download the pictures from my dad's camera. I was in charge of the fire place, a good place to be on a pretty chilly day. But we all had a great time together, me and my family, my parents, my brother and sister with her family. Loved it!

There has also been a lot of lying on the bed, aching, but I didn't take a picture of that... ;)

What I can show you is this:

One of those projects that never seems to get finished... But I finally attached the shoulder strap in the beginning of last week, now all I have to do is look for some buttons to decorate the strap with, and some kind of snap to close the bag with. Always avoid zippers when I can! Too tricky for my liking. I've decided not to line this one. Since I'm not using a zipper and it's felted, I see no need to. Besides, I couldn't find a pretty fabric to go with it, and it would certainly need a pretty lining.

Oh, and look here! This project is actually growing now. It's been only one single flower for such a long time I thought I would never make progress with it. But now I think I'm ready to continue with the rest of the bag.

You can see the original plan on my note pad, I'm not much of an artist when it comes to drawing but I hope you can see that it's a bag. Hmmm.... I just noticed that the sketch has four flowers in front, I've only made six... But I think that's enough. Now I just need to figure out how I want to put it all together. And I have so many other plans right now, I could easily start a new project every day from all the ideas I have spinning in my head. But I won't. I hope. Need to get some things finished first.

Oops, need to go! My daughter will be home any minute now, and she always want the computer when I have it. :) Be back soon, I promise!

Tired but happy

It's been a busy weekend. My sister and nephews live an hour and a half away from us, and sometimes they visit us for a few days. They left just a couple of hours ago, and it's rather quiet here now. It wasn't before, and I already miss them! :) But I need some rest now, I'm actually awfully tired.

We went to our kids' school for some winter play (twice), and I'm not used to all that action and fresh air I guess. 

But it's not all action when they're visiting. They also love to stroll around in our garden, sit down and read together or just cuddle for a while. I love it!

My kids love to spend some time with their cousins. By the way, can you tell her mum loves to make her stuff? ;)

I have a lovely photo of my son too, in his new scarf I haven't even mentioned to you. Shame on me! But he's getting all grown up about certain things now, so I'll have to ask his permission to show pictures of him online. Not more than fair, so I'll ask him if he'll let me show you. I made her (another) one too, but I don't have a picture of it yet.

I think I've mentioned making fingerless mitts for the oldest, and that the two little ones wanted me to make them a pair each. Well, last night I finished them, and I can tell you they were appreciated! That surely warms auntie's heart! You will see them again shortly, since I'm planning to share the pattern.

I've been working on that potholder too as you can see. It takes some time to make them since you should use thin yarn to create the right effect, but I enjoy working on them. The color is completely off here, they're really blue. I'll get that right next time, OK?

Our little cruise

Here we go, today I brought my phone to the computer and uploaded all my pictures. Sorry about the other day, I was simply so tired and sour after vacuuming and tidying half the house, that I just didn't want to make the effort when I realized the cruise photos was on the phone upstairs...

This is the ship, Viking Cinderella. The association (civilförsvarsförbundet) had rented the whole thing for us, and here it is coming in for a quick stop before we could board. Which we almost didn't...

My husband's "boss" had booked us on this cruise in September already, and was told we only needed ID to board. Once in check-in, everybody else had a booking number, and my husband was nowhere to be found on the passenger list... We began thinking that we might have to book a hotel room and spend the night in Stockholm instead. But they got us a cabin eventually, and food tickets too... We even offered to stand in the kitchen, eating the leftovers from the plates if only we could get on board... ;)

We walked to the terminal from the train station, in wind and snow. My precious earwarmer was truly put to the test! My face was almost as red as my coat once we got inside! :)

So this little place of ours felt almost as good as heaven, warm and... well maybe not too cozy, but at least we were finally on board, and the cabin even had a window. For a moment, I feared that the black straps was there to keep me from falling down from the bed in rough sea, but I guess it was only to keep the bed linen in place when the bed was folded up against the wall... :)

And who cares about small cabins when you get to spend some time away from house and chores with the one you love?

A really bad picture through a window at night, I know... Can you see me? ;) But the capital looked so pretty with all the lights, I just had to try and catch it with the lens. I might add that most of the pictures are taken as a documentation for our kids when we got home, they were pretty curious about it all. Picture quality was secondary.

The night was spent with hugs from my husbands friends, listening to speeches (the association celebrated 75 years), a fancy dinner and lots of talking to interesting people. Unfortunately my husband came down with a pretty nasty fever during the night, and I was a bit dizzy and uncomfortable (I'm honestly quite scared of deep waters, and had a hard time trying to relax) so we didn't get too much sleep I'm afraid. But morning came with the view of another country, since we made a quick stop in Åland, a Finnish island not far from Stockholm. We remained there only during breakfast time, so we never made the effort to get on shore. So this breakfast view is all you will see of our destination. I guess these cruises are mainly for getting people to dance, spend money in the bar, eat expensive food and buy stuff in the tax-free shop. Which we did, candy and clothes for the kids to be specific. The destination is of less importance...

 My phone adapted to the surroundings by jumping to Finnish time, which got us confused a few times. Especially since it wouldn't jump back to Swedish by itself... So I found this clock rather cool, don't you? :)

After having a few pills, Anders felt well enough to participate in a CPR contest. He's a bit blurry, but that's only because he's fighting so hard to get this poor man back to life.

They stated that the winner would be the one who got the doll up walking... You don't need a cardiac arrest to find that hard without arms and legs, if you ask me.

There was not much of an open sea, since most of the cruise take place among all the little islands in the archipelago of Stockholm. Lot's of nice (as in expensive) houses though. 

Not the kind of weather  that makes you want to stand on sun deck to long though, a few snap shots for the kids and quickly inside again!

 We had lunch by the front window, which was quite nice. A little cold though, due to the weather. (I might add that we didn't walk back to the station in Stockholm, we took the bus this time. Expensive, yes, but worth every crown!)

Our son had ordered us to take pictures of our food, so we did. I loved the apple pickled herring, I have to say. Lovely!

And finally we sailed (or whatever you do on a big ship) through Stockholm again. Our capital is surely something else, sitting on the water as it is. I haven't been there much, but we're thinking about going back this summer.

Well, that's it! We took the train back to a freezing cold night, and in the morning the kids declared their new clothes from the tax-free their favorites. :) It was a nice trip with some time "alone" (or at least away) even though my husband was ill. Getting the opportunity to sit and talk without interruption, or walk hand in hand admiring the view, just appreciating each others company is not to be underestimated!