Nostalgia

I've been reading some books that pictures Falun how it used to look like and what it looks like now. I am still very attached to that town even though we have moved and are now living in Borlange. I sometimes do wonder about the good of progress and change, at least in the way how towns change over the years Somehow I would like to smack the silly people who thought progress was to knock down charming old houses and destroy complete blocks and replace them with bunker looking complexes all in the name of progress and the future good. Borlange I think is a brilliant example of how it can go wrong. The town center looks like it is a set of concrete boxes put together, no curves, no greenery, no surprises just this grey, beige mass of concrete and glass from the seventies. No wonder people don't like to be in town and that the businesses are moving en mass to the big shopping mall Kupolen just outside the city center. But I must say that Falun did patch up a lot of the damage done by redoing lots of the buildings as to make a softer skyline.

Just as an example the house we now own is from 1925 but you really couldn't tell, that is how massive and damaging the renovation to it is. The former owners must have ripped every feature out of it because bloody eck we haven't found ONE original feature, part from the doors which I am surprised they kept. But also very pleased that they did because they will be lovely once we have stripped them of I don't know how many layers of paint and repainted them in a soft white. I am quite sure that at one point they must have had a balcony above the porch and most likely a glass veranda entrance underneath it. Also I think there must have been a wooden staircase inside even though the one in here now is made out of the much used MDF and then covered with plastic carpet (shudder).

There is quite a lot I would like to do with our house in terms of renovation and putting a bit of the features back in or at least try and give it a bit of its charm back. At some point we will renovate the bathroom/sauna/utilityroom and the kitchen. Most likely we will get rid of the sauna, I quite like saunas but haven't tried ours out because it has been packed with books and other stuff when we were doing the lounge and bedrooms upstairs. I much more prefer to have a bath tub installed and a better way of having the washing machine/dryer tower placed. The kitchen is a problem in itself as it is now since there really is only one way of having our kitchen table and we cant fit any free standing cupboards in since the walls are too narrow and you got a fire in one corner. It would be very interesting to change everything around in there and move the fire into the lounge plus put in a better fitting window where the sink is today. That's another thing that is annoying me just a bit, there are at least 6 different styles of windows in the house, somehow it makes it look lopsided. But there are good points as well with the house or else we wouldn't have bought it, but I like to dream a bit of what it can be made into. Just to ease James' worries I'd better put this disclaimer in; I am just talking out loud and not making any firm plans to do anything or all of what I have written in here. Better love..? :)

Golden Sunday

Sweden won the Olympic hockey final today over Finland, YaY to us!! Hockey is one of the few sports I do enjoy watching and it was a nail biting one as well since it was a close match from start to finish. Not to talk about the last few minutes when the Finns really were throwing everything they had against the Swedish goalie, taking out their own goalie to gain an extra player and the Swedes were diving in to stop the puck with their own bodies if anything else failed. It was really tense and people at work who snuck in to watch it on the staff room TV were shouting and jumping and then the last second ticked over and we WON!!!! Poor Susanne was sitting at the till all alone while the rest of us was shouting in the kitchen but I don't think she minded and there were hardly any customers in at all during the game anyway. Everybody was home watching it just as they have been during any other Swedish highlight or chance of a medal in the Olympics.

It's that time again.

You know, when you look around and get the urge to change everything around you?
You don't know it? Oh good for you because it is a hard bug to shake once you've attracted it. We are now getting in gear to redecorate our bedroom after having a wee bit of a rest from the stressful pre-Christmas rush getting everything nice and finished. We are starting slowly by looking at wallpaper and taking home endless amounts of catalogues and test rolls and you really don't want to know. We've gone off the idea of the one we had decided on before Christmas, partly because it will be the only thing in the house that is blueish and we don't have anything that will match it, not to mention any bedspread that will fit with it. And I have an inkling that I wont be allowed to buy yet another bedspread just because I have such wonderful puppy dog eyes when I really want something from James. He might have fallen for it earlier but he is wising up ...! It's a bit tricky this time too with a north facing window meaning not a lot of light in winter and huge white wardrobes, white floor and white newly painted ceiling. At the moment it feels a bit bleak and too white. I do like white and shades of white when seen in magazines but I don't think I'd like it so much if I had it at home. Because if I did we wouldn't have decorated the house so much since almost everything in it was white or beige to start with! I'm more of a colour girl but not bright ones since I cant stand it loud and bright everyday. So the question for the next couple of days and weeks is, which colour do we pick for our bedroom, not to mention the pattern....!

Work is as work usually is, boring but pays well. Stressful and intrigue filled as well as of late. I'm really really REALLY trying not to get sucked into all the gossip and bullshit that is flying around and just do my stuff and get out and home before anyone has the chance to start asking me what I think of this and that and have you heard of so and so... But it is hard to close your ears especially when the person talking has this loud and shrieky voice that will penetrate steel if necessary to get her point across as the one that should be heard and obeyed and oh yes we will do as you say Mrs B, not really, up yours and leave me alone is what I really want to say!

Spring is not sprung but mini springing as the snow is melting at daytime and freezing again at night time. Hopefully it is not too far away since we both are eager to get started with the garden and getting various projects going.
I've asked James if he would build me some flower boxes to hang on the side of our porch. I also want a trellis for a climber plant to grow on as to shield us from the wind on the left side of the porch. Also we have to get the rest of the boxes for the raised beds made and put in place, all fir tree branches cleared off and the freed ground surveyed to see what to make out of it. Raspberry bushes bought and planted, black currant bush moved from the allotment to a suitable place in our garden and flower beds dug in various places if there is time. Lots to do and plans to be made. All great fun eh? :)

I've cut my hair

Not just trimmed the ends a bit, oh no I have really really cut it all off... It feels weird not being able to put it up in a pony tail as I am used to doing to keep it away from my face. There wont be a pony tail for ages! But it has it advantages as well, no more frizzy hair in winter when everything is so dry you could almost touch the air inside. And at the moment all I need to do before going to work is ruffle it up a bit, add a bit of hair spray and off I go. It is also fun seeing people doing the double take when they don't recognize me at once. I got to look different if they walk past and then stop and have a second look before saying ' oh it IS you'.

We have had some cold weather for a while but now it is finally easing up a bit with warmer weather in the daytime at least. Right now it is close to 0 and the snow is melting a bit on the sunny sides but still loads of snow left since we had some more the past week. I managed to capture a sun halo with my camera when it was -20 the other day you can really see how misty and cold it is I think. Hopefully it wont be getting that cold again for a while.

A wall of snow coming down

That is what it looked like a minute ago when I glanced out the window. Here we have had absolutely perfect winter weather with up to +8 degrees for a week and now it is back to old miserable snow and cold. Sigh..

I hate to be fooled into thinking it might be getting warmer and a bit more like spring but its not spring but you could have fooled me the past couple of days! It's only February I had to remind myself over and over again. I was getting really excited about the warm weather but to no avail. Everything is once again covered in a white blanket and I'm sure it will remain so until late march if we are unlucky. Booo hiss!