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.

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... :)

Weekend outdoors

Look, look what I did! :) I actually sat down and made a few rows of crochet last night. It felt good, I have to say. First aching hands, and now when they feel a little better, I haven't really had the time or energy to sit down with any needlework at all. I fall asleep early every night, not used to all this "go to work"-business yet, and the weekends are stuffed with activity too. And that's really what I wanted to talk about today.

This is where I spent most of last weekend. We were hiking as we call it, although we don't walk that far into the little grove where we usually spend our Thursday evenings with a bunch of kids every spring and autumn. We are called Royal Rangers, and this is an activity for kids that our church has. So "our" nine kids and us grown-ups came here Saturday morning and left Sunday noon. (I have to admit that some of us spent the night in our own beds, but the others slept soundly in our shelter. 

Welcome to our kitchen! :) Everything is cooked over open fire. The yellow box/kitchen counter is our only cupboard, it contains a few drawers with beaters, spatulas, a few bowls and things like that.

One of our stoves. We build up a fire under the gratings, and cook on it. I think it's cool  that you can actually build a stove with wood, string and dirt. :)

But when we baked potatoes, we used a fire pit on the ground instead. Let the fire burn out, and put them on the bed of embers. 

Fire is most fascinating, don't you think? I love the late nights out there, when I sit by the fire as the kids are getting ready for bed. It's dark and pretty quiet, and I sit there under a wool blanket, staring into the flames and embers. They almost look alive!

I didn't show you the kids, since I'm not sure their parents would approve of that, but I can tell you we all had a great time. Building kites (that didn't fly), playing games, sending off flying paper lanterns, eating (everything you cook and eat outdoors tastes so much better than anything else) and laughing. But you're pretty tired once you get back home... :)

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!!! :)

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!

Quite a week

Sometimes time moves very fast, and this week really disappeared in a hurry. Maybe because it's been more busy than I'm used to.

It started off great - my husband was invited on a cruise by an association where he works extra as an instructor in CPR, helping kids to know what to do if they get lost in the woods, avoiding accidents in your own home and stuff like that. It was all for free, and I was also invited! So we took the train to the capital on Sunday, almost didn't board since we were missing on the passenger list, but finally took off for an overnight cruise to Åland. Nice dinner, very interesting people and I also got to meet some of his friends from far away parts of our country.

(This is where I meant to show you a picture from the cruise, but all the pictures are on my phone and won't bother to go get it...)

We had a very nice time, even though my husband came down with a fever... He's the one who always remains standing when the rest of the family is coming down with something, but he even had to stay at home for a few days. I think a few bugs jumped over to me too, 'cause I've been really tired, cold and a little dizzy this week. Actually I was so cold, I almost scared my love half to death one night, by accidentally touching him with a foot as cold as ice. He was asleep, but sat up in terror trying to find that creepy, cold thing in his bed... :-S Ooops! :) Poor guy!

I brought a lot of yarn, since we had to spend some time on the train (and I honestly thought I would be sitting in a corner on the boat while my husband talked to his friends about things I wasn't too interested in), but the time was spent talking, solving nonograms (those Japanese crosswords that create images) and I simply had too much fun on the boat to even think about knitting. This little piece is all I made, waiting for the train on the way home.

This is how I spent the morning after the cruise. Birdwatching. That pole has a bird feeder on it, in the shape of a red cottage. But most birds look for food on the ground. Especially two kinds, the European goldfinch and the yellowhammer. I have also tree sparrow, blue tit and great tit, nuthatch and sometimes the blackbird passes by to get some apple. Occasionally the woodpecker pays a visit, and I have a few willow tits I think... And of course the magpie takes a walk around the place, scaring the little ones away. What birds do you see around your feeders? I miss the bullfinch though, always saw a lot of them in the woods where I grew up, but I have only seen them here on the fields once.

And look here, I'm on it again. Snöstorp. Hopefully I'm on the right track this time. I have to get going a little further to see how much it stretches out, but it looks promising. Last time I tried I used 9 mm needles, and I thought I would need at least 12 mm to make a difference but I was wrong.

That 1 mm made a big difference, this piece isn't that dense as my last try. And I think I will need less yarn too, so I might have enough.

Oh, speaking of yarn, I almost forgot. Wednesday, I was invited by my aunt to a yarn inspiration night at GarnMalin, that lovely yarn shop not far from here. She had invited a few friends, and we could just walk around with the shop all to ourselves, trying out yarns and ideas, test knitting and talking. I loved every minute of it! The lady who owns the store is such a sweet thing, so kind, caring and positive. She loves to share her patterns and ideas, and she is very encouraging. Yes, we had a great night with a lot of laughter and knitting.

Well folks, I think I have done enough writing for one day here... trying to keep you updated. :) Let's hope I have some progress to show on the Snöstorp next time!