Busy, busy, busy!

Well it's coming up to 11pm here in Sweden
and we're still full of busy.
The computer is about to be disconnected
and so that's the end of my blogging until we get where we are going
and get reconnected again.
Not sure when that will be.
But I should have more time to blog once we get settled
unlike these past mad few weeks!

So please keep calling in
I love to read your comments.
Sorry for not getting back to you these last few days,
but they have been manic!
I look forward to visiting you all once we're 'switched back on'
and catching up with what you've been up to.
Until then...
when I will be visiting you from a different country....
Vi ses,
See you soon!

A - Z Monday~ Time to Move On

T is for~

Time

Travelling

Tired

No I'm not going to own up to being a time traveller.
But isn't it funny how time behaves?

How one moment you have lots of time,

then before you know it

the time is up,

gone in a flash,

and all the things you had meant to do

you haven't got round to.

And all the things you still HAVE to do,

well time is still moving on

and unless you continue to work hard at what you have to do,

things won't get done.

Earlier this year I didn't blog for a while.

I didn't feel able to.
It was a time of reflection,
a time of thinking about what is important to us,
for Mike and I.
Decision time?

I don't like making decisions.
Mike and I had returned to our house in Sweden.
Intending to make it our permanent home.
It's our dream house really
because that is what it is to us.
We both love the house.
Part of it dates back to the early 1900's.
The kitchen has been added on to the west side of the house
and you step down 3 steps into it.
To the north side of the house
an extra living space has been added with bedrooms and bathrooms off it.
Again you step down 3 steps into that area of the house.
It adds character to an already traditional Swedish Torpet.
In the old part of the house the front door which faces south
leads into the hall.
The sitting room is off to your right (east) as you come in.
It has 3 windows,
one each facing out to the north, east and south.
It is a very light and sunny room
and overlooks the forest.
That is all you can see from this room,
and the garden.
We have spotted lots of wildlife from these windows.
Deer of course and birds of all types being the main ones.
But also a fox, and once we watched as a Jay caught a snake,
(presumably a grass or smooth snake),
and hit it against the rocks before flying off with it.
I have some photos on the other computer,
(you know, the one that isn't working).
I had intended sharing these with you.
Hopefully I still can when the computer gets fixed.
The dining room is off to your left
as you come into the house.
Like the sitting room and the hallthe ceilings are low.
When I stand up in these rooms
I can easily put my palms flat on ceiling
and my elbows are bent.
The doorways are even lower and even I at 5 foot 8
have to be careful to just duck my head as I walk through them.
Yes we have had a few bumps on the head
so we have a star
a left over Christmas decoration
hanging from the dining room door lintel to remind us to duck!
For some reason
that is quite a bit lower than the sitting room
though the ceilings are the same height.
The house, typically Swedish is made of wood.
I realise I could go on and on describing our lovely Swedish house
the space and the peace and quiet that surrounds it,
I should have sorted through some photos for you,
(maybe I can still do that another time).
But of course that is what I am short of
because on Thursday
we are setting off for pastures new.
Yes, you heard me right.
We are setting off
on our travels again.
We are leaving our beautiful house here in the forest,
our lovely friends,
and this amazing country.

I was missing family and friends,
Mike was finding the winter
long and hard.
So we thought long and hard.
We decided that we would return to the UK.

However,
instead,
we are taking a detour.
We will be setting off early on Thursday morning for pastures new.
We will be travelling slowly
and taking 3 days to get where we are going.
We are taking 2 vehicles as we each will be driving.
Well we do have 3 hounds travelling with us,
and some of our possesions.
Where are we travelling to?
Well I leave you to guess for the time being.


So that just leaves the tired bit.
That's how you feel when you have been packing up a house, workshop, garage, outhouses, etc...

I desperatly wanted to write this post back when we were considering what to do, but I couldn't. Then of course when the time was right to do it, I didn't feel able.

It has been a very hard decision to make.

I've just realised~T is for Thursday too.

A-Z Monday, Letter U

Umbrellas!

What a lot of use they have been getting this summer.

So much that they are worn out and need to be replaced.

This must be one of the wettest summers I have ever known.

We have told our Swedish friends not to laugh about British summers.

This Swedish summer has been so wet.

Not only rain most days

but

heavy, heavy rain,

and thunderstorms.

But you wouldn't want to go out in a thunderstorm with your umbrella up

would you?

Check in with Jen at http://unglazed.blogspot.com/ for more A-Z Mondays.

Crayfish

This weekend we joined some friends with their Crayfish festivities.

The menfolk had already been out collecting the crayfish.

They go out on boats and put out pots which are left overnight.

The contents are collected later the same night or in the morning.

The photo below and the one of the sunset

were both taken by Mike in 2006 when he went out

on the boats for the crayfish,

needless to say he didn't stay out all night

but the others did I believe on that occasion,

building a camp fire on one of the islands.

It was quite an experience.

In this photo you can see the type of pots that are used.

They are freshwater crayfish

and need the freshest and cleanest of waters to survive.

This year Mike and I only joined them for the Saturday evening

when the crayfish have been cooked.

They are usually boiled in water flavoured with salt and dill.
Of course it is traditional to serve the crayfish with plenty of alcohol!
Akvavit (Snaps) is generally served.

Our host however had bought a special drink for Mike!

He was well chuffed!

Our host as always had provided a lovely aray of food.

But it was so delicious that I'm afraid I tucked in before taking any photos.

Well I didn't want to hold up the proceedings!

I did take a photo of dessert however.

It was a lovely evening

As usual we dined outdoors on the terrace overlooking the lake.

As it got later and a bit cooler

I moved to sit by the fire

where we sat and chatted

Rounding the evening off nicely

leaving a feel of warmth, reflection

and mellowness.

A~Z Monday letter V

Welcome, says the sign in Swedish.

And of course begins with the letter 'V'.

I'm a bit late with my A-Z Monday hosted by Jen http://unglazed.blogspot.com/

The sign is outside the cafe in the village

where we went for lunch last week.

Broccoli soup
and

quiche

Simple food but tasty.

The decor was simple too,

if a little faded

and old.

It is an old building and I wonder just how old the wallpaper is.

But it has a certain charm

which I just can't capture with the camera.

I don't think it would be to everyones taste.

But we like it.

The welcome is friendly.

And it is all very informal.

So why was I late with this post?

Well we had Very much rain,

with Very loud thunder,

which made Jewel and Rufus two of our hounds

shake and quiver with fear Very much.

Rufus finally found sanctuary under the dining table which had been pushed into the corner.

Jewel settled a little better

happy enough just to be next to me.

When we have thunder here it circles the house

and the 'mountain' it is on

for hours.

And when that happens I have to pull out all the plugs connecting the computer to the internet lest we loose connection permanently.

So that is why I couldn't post yesterday.

Look to the Skies

I had a fabulous day yesterday

doing something I haven't done in a long time.

I went to an airshow.

I love airplanes.

I can't tell you much about them,

but I like them.

If it hadn't been for our friend who took me, I wouldn't even have known it was on!

Mike was invited too of course,

but he isn't bothered about watching aircraft,

whereas I love it.

Back in the UK the largest free airshow in Europe takes place not far from where we live.

(http://www.sunderlandevents.co.uk/event-detail.asp?eventid=2973 )

I've ended up going on my own

because no one else was interested!

As you can see from this photo, we were not far from the airstrip.

The parachutists gathered together once they had all landed.

I was trying to get a photo of them when they started running across the runway.

It was only when I had taken the photo and moved the camera that I saw the reason for them running,

a plane was heading towards them!

This is a jet from the Netherlands Airforce.

You can see from the sky that the day by and large was lovely.

It was getting a bit too hot.

But then the clouds rolled in and threatened rain.

But it didn't so we stayed dry but cooler.

There was lots to see,

I've only put a selection here.

The first photo is a Spitfire

can't miss including such a worthy aircraft.

But there was a very fast noisy Swedish Aircraft with Saab engines

which made everyone stop look and listen.

You couldn't help but listen, the noise from it's engines was deafening,

literally!

I had forgotten how loud they can be.

In sharp contrast gliders sailed through the air effortlessly,

and soundlessly, tailing pink vapours from their wingtips.

I was amazed to see them doing stunts such as looping the loop and climbing vertically

only to slip back the way it had come.

I think that was from an 18 year old pilot too!

There was also a very popular stunt aircraft pilot,

the best in the world I was told.

He seemed quite a character and the crowds loved him.

One of the great things about this show was being so close to the airstrip,

the planes,

the pilots,

and the action!

Hope your weekend is an action packed one

filled with whatever you want it to be action packed with.

Maybe food, sun, lazing.......

A Bit of Colour

The sun is shining today
so I thought I would go get me some colour.


The Cornflowers,
Poppies
and Nasturtiums
I grew from seed.


These berries are in a wild bit behind the house.
We passed them this morning as we came back from a walk in the forest
with the hounds.
A feast for the birds
I'm sure.


I've been waiting for the Clematis to flower.
There were lots of buds just biding their time.
Yesterday one flower opened,
and today there are more.


The Poppies are scattered across the garden,
in various flower beds.
Mike thinks they look untidy!
But I think they are pretty,
so I don't care!


I always love Nasturtiums.
Their unruly habit seems to suit me.
These are in a window box with some herbs.
They are all going past their best now
and I can see some seeds.
I will collect them for next year.
More unrulyness!


Pontentilla,
my favourite colour.

Not sure what this is.

It's a shrub.
A lovely pink don't you think.
I hope you are in the pink today!

A to Z Monday ... Letter W

W is for water.
Another A to Z Monday hosted by Jen @ unglazed.
I am thankful for this A to Z Monday as it is acting as a prompt for me to blog.
We now have the use of one computer,
the other one refuses to switch on!
So we are sharing,
and whereas I would normally use the other computer in the evening to catch up,
this one gets used as a TV!
Even this computer is acting up,
I cannot respond to my emails, but at least I can still read them.
So if my sister is reading this,
that is why I have not replied to your email.

I got up a bit earlier today

to go down to the lake to take some photos.

Unfortunately,

it was a grey morning.

So the water and the sky

are grey.

However,

a little bit of interest in the next photo...

The green you can see is a floating island!

It is made up of reeds, grasses and has trees growing on it.

Bog Island!

Our friends who told us about it had to look up their word in the dictionary and came up with the word, bog!

Yes we said, that makes sense.

With all the heavy rain and bad weather weve been having

the floating island has floated all the way up from the other end of the lake!

Enough grey.
I will leave you with a photo taken in the summer of 2006,

that glorious summer in Europe.

A back view of me having had a swim in the lovely blue lake you can see.

Quite a different colour from how it looked this morning.

Its the same lake but from a different position.

The water usually gets lovely and warm in the summer.

But I havent tried swimming in it so far this year.

I think I will have to take another trip down to the lake as the sun is shining now!