Swooooosh!

What was that? What you mean already back to work?!?!
I cant believe that my vacation just went by like a blink of an eye! But by gods it was a busy blink!

The first two weeks was spent at home doing gardening stuff or so we thought, you see my knee happened and that put a nice stop to that. At least we got a bit done before i had to take a seat on the sofa and the stupid knee was much better when we went to Germany and England.

Oh the concert with Bruce was magnificent! I have for so long wanted to go and see him in concert but it has always been hard to get tickets since they sell out in a matter of hours here in Sweden. But my clever husband looked elsewhere when it wasn't possible to get tickets for the concerts in Gothenburg so he thought, why not a weekend in Hamburg so he could finally ask me the question, Excuse me, but are you a Hamburger.... Yeah i know, he has a warped comic streak in him but i love him for it all the same. I don't know if i like Hamburg though. A bit soulless if you know what i mean. Oh it is a big town and all but almost all of its history had been blasted away in WW2 and it showed.. I really cant get all excited about something built in the 50s and 60s not to mention the 70s..brrrr. As well as i cant understand the need to advertise the red light district as a 'must do' when in Hamburg. We had a quick drive-by with the open top tour bus (yes you got to do one of those) in St Pauli and the famous Reeperbahn. And that was frankly enough to put you off from going there anymore. I cant and will not ever see the point of going somewhere to see someone stick a needle up their arm, totally oblivious to the fact that a full tourist bus is slowly crawling by watching him do it. Just as i cant see what point you have of the pictures you take of the man...? Is that what you will show your friends back home when they ask what your holiday in Hamburg was like? Sigh...

I would like to go to Germany again but maybe to somewhere that has a bit more history saved. And you got to admire the German efficiency. Everything was on time and clean and ... well there is nothing to complain about, well maybe that irritating habit of dubbing everything into German on the telly. Do you know how weird it is hearing a German voice coming out of Orlando Blooms mouth when trying to watch Elizabethtown? It was just too much. We ended up watching the football (yay Spain!) and trying to decipher the news and weather.

Our week in England was lovely. Lots of shopping done(new smaller clothes that actually fit me!!) and we had a really nice family day out hiring a boat on The Broads celebrating James' dads 60th birthday. He didn't know where we were taking him but he soon sussed the general direction out and then he put two and two together. Everyone took turns in driving the boat and we had a nice buffe picnic by the side of the river and toasted in some bubbly. It was very relaxing gliding down the little rivers and canals, just watching the world go by and look on in amazement how big a boats some people have! And luck would have it it didn't rain until the very last hour.

We had 2 days at home before going off to Stockholm with some friends of ours. We had a 3 night stay in a hotel, saw lots of stuff you don't normally do when in Stockholm, like the boat tour under Stockholms bridges, going by boat to the viking settlement of Birka, the lovely garden and castle of Rosendal, went up the tower at Kaknäs and got rewarded with a great view of Stockholm, had a night out in the amusement park Gröna Lund where we did try out the Funny House and the Haunted House (well me and Rosie wanted to get scared) and watched Fredrik go on one roller coaster after another while safely on the ground taking pictures of him. We also managed to have a long walk through the Old Town and all its small alley ways and artists shops. Not to mention tripping over all the Japanese tourists flocking around every corner. I don't know why Stockholm is so popular with the Japanese but they seem to be everywhere in summertime.

All in all a very good vacation, part from my knee which btw is much better now so I'll stop going on about the knee since the knee is so much better in a knee like way...

Restless legs..

I am getting the jitters! On Friday we are going to fly to Hamburg for a weekend stay including going to see Bruce Springsteen in concert on Saturday and i am getting very excited about it all! But also very nervous... We have booked an apartment in central Hamburg but it is always a bit nervous before getting there and seeing how it looks like and getting settled. It seems really easy to find though, just get on the u-bahn at the bus station and hop off after 6 stations, if you are going the right way of course! We have been doing a wee bit of research of what there is to see but I still think it will mainly be a hop on hop off bus and then maybe a stroll through the older parts. Got to see how much my knee will allow me to do as well. The knee is feeling much better even though it really is sporting all colours under the rainbow at the moment.

Tickets, concert tickets, passports, euros, guidebook, camera, instructions to find apartment+map, adress book, mobile phone - check.

Clothes? Don't know what to wear and no it isn't because i got sooo much to choose from anymore, nothing fits me anymore! You see i am shrinking, shrinking..!! The last time James translated it into pounds and stones I'd lost 2.8 stones. Doesn't sound much compared to when you say it in kg, which is 18, something. Sounds better doesn't it?

Oh well at least we are going straight to England from Germany so can get more clothes there... shhh, did you hear that? It was James screaming of despair at the weight of our suitcases... poor soul no wonder he is preparing and doing all these sit ups. I do count them our for him when doing them, well at least i try to do so between the burst of laughter at the sight of him doing sit ups crawling out of his underwear inch by inch. Don't know how he does it but it is sort of watching a very slow sporty striptease..!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it is my knee!

Yes i know i said i would be back after my walk yesterday but since it was Friday the 13 th what did happen? Well on my walk yesterday i was looking at a plant saying to James that that one is just like the one we got in the garden when i twisted my ankle and feel hard on my left knee which now more or less resembles a blimp in size and are proudly sporting 2 huge bruises and a nice shaved off patch of skin. In the process i also managed to make a hole into my new trousers over the knee. Hopefully it will soon go back to normal. My knee that is, trousers are now degraded to being worn when doing gardening stuff instead of coming with us to Germany/England for our vacation. If i don't see any improvement i suppose i have to go to the medical center on Monday and see what they say about it.

Cant live life in the fast lane without injury eh?

Back to blogging...

So here i am again. I tried to feel comfortable at livejournal but it didnt really happen. As i have been reading a bit what i've written on here before i got thinking i should give it another go.

I'll be back in a bit. Got to get my walk in before those clouds that look likethe are going to empty of lots of rain get here.

Paranoid moi? What you mean its all in my head!

I have a feeling i will change direction in blogging soon. I have a feeling people i dont want to read this blog is or will do soon. So it seems i will reinvent myself somewhere else. I'll let anybody who wants to follow me there know where Im going to end up if you let me know in the comments but in the mean time damage controll is in progress..

Happy New Year!

So another year has passed and left us with various memories, both good ones and bad ones. I hope the new year will bring each and one of you what you wish for the most.

Warning Chocoholic ahead!

I am all sticky from tasting and making Christmas sweets. I've just finished off making a batch of dark chocolate truffles with lovely smooooooth cognac(Prince Hubert De Polignac V.S) in them. It has to cool down now enough to handle so am waiting for the fridge to do its stuff. Then I'm going to roll them into balls and dust with cocoa powder. Yummieee... There are also Ice Chocolate Éclairs sitting cooling off in the fridge and I have a lot of Cocoa Crispies cooling on the kitchen bench, they didn't fit in the fridge! It feels like I've rolled a hundred of little marzipan balls as well that is waiting to be dipped in chocolate. I ran out of the nice milk chocolate since someone, no naming names, had eaten a WHOLE 250 g bar (minus a little row I had last night but that was crumbs compared to the whole bar!) I got to find a hiding place for my sweets I think or there wont be any left for Christmas. I was going to leave them here for a treat for my mum and sister since we wont be here for Christmas this year. We are going to spend the holidays with James' parents. I am very excited about that because I have never had an English Christmas before. Only thing that is wrong with that is that I wont get to open my pressies until Christmas Day! Here in Sweden we open our pressies on Christmas Eve. Which to me is the right day...

Done diddely darn done!

YES, finally I am done with the Christmas shopping for this year! It was a slow start this morning but once I got going and got a few ideas of what would be suitable it all seemed to fall into place quite alright in the end. But now looking at the big pile of wrapped pressies we are going to take with us to England I am seriously doubting we can fit any clothes in our suitcases or we might be overweight checking in!

We'll just have to squeeze some thin clothing into the little spaces left and wear a double set when going. Now that could be interesting at the airport when going through the security check!

Fiddle fiddle fiddle sticks..!

Well yes I couldnt help but to fiddle a bit with the new blogger beta.. I dont know if I like it yet or if i will up sticks and move somewhere else... I quite liked the old blogger but then my dear James updated his side and suddenly mine was hijacked because he was put as a contributer to mine and i couldnt accsess it as easy as i did before. Something weird and it wasnt, isnt his fault.. :)
Another weird thing is that the spell checker isnt working. I use it when im not sure about spelling and it helps in the I and the 'nt that im too lazy to put in when typing.

Chrismas shopping... woho..

No, not one of my favorite things to do at the moment since I am out of ideas. I've been doing a few bits here and there but these last few ones seem to be dragging on and dragging me down as well. I had actually promised myself to cut back on who I buy pressies for and just do it for the family and a few friends but every year it seems that the list somehow magically enlarges to a long scroll. But I have been thinking about it lately and really am going to stick to the guns this year and only do family and a few friends, period.. maybe. No matter how much angst im getting for not buying for the others. At the same time as I like Christmas I dont like the Silly Season which is what I call the time leading up to Christmas when you get bombarded with tips and ideas in how to make this Christmas the most happy and wonderful one, if you just do this or buy that.. You know the feeling? Well I 'spose theres nothing for it, nothing to make me linger any more at home. Up and atom... ;)

It is a very weird winter going on here. It has been hovering around +10 for 3 weeks now. No snow, no frost, plenty of downpours and they say it will keep like this for quite some time yet! Mind you i dont complain too much, no snow to shovel away and the house is quite warm inside since it isnt cold outside, we have crap heating that doesnt cope when it gets below -15 ish you see. But it feels odd. There should be hard frost nights with snow falling, really there should, but there isnt.. They are talking about it being an effect of global warming, which i could well believe, and some say it is because we are getting into another El Nino period. I just feel spooky about it since it seems so out of wack.

Currently playing Astral Projection - Solid Electronics

The computer music center is going in full swing and the roof and walls are absolutely coming down on me any second now. Or at least the neighbours will think we are having a full blast rave party going on. The only thing missing at the moment is the strobe painting the night sky!

I have a very diverse music taste. I can listen to opera one minute to swing completely and listen to Death Metal because there is this one song i like or like now trance music full blast. I enjoy serene music like Enya but also blue grass , blues, heavy metal, classical music, really you name it and I'll listen and i might find something i like and keep in my library.

It is such a shame it is illegal to download music. You really got so much to choose from on the Internet and there are chances you might find the next Britney Spears or Madonna by searching and listening and sending a good song on to your friends. You still do of course, download i mean, illegal or not but its such a shame that it couldn't be free. I know the artists have to get paid as well and it is right that they should be but looking at the price of a CD in the shop i cant but help feeling that we the customers are getting screwed big time by the big music labels. Thinking about what the prize for a new CD is at the moment , 225 Kr, I understand why people search and download.

I came across this one from my old entries and thought it worth being posted again.

On a British Airways flight from Johannesburg, a middle-aged, well-off white South African lady has found herself sitting next to a black man. She called the cabin crew attendant over to complain about her seating.
"What seems to be the problem Madam?" asked the attendant.
"Can't you see?" she said. "You've sat me next to a kaffir. I can't possibly sit next to this disgusting human. Find me another seat!"
"Please calm down Madam." the stewardess replied. "The flight is very full today, but I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll go and check to see if we have any seats available in club or first class."

The woman cocks a snooty look at the outraged black man beside her (not to mention many of the surrounding passengers). A few minutes later the stewardess returns with the good news, which she delivers to the lady, who cannot help but look at the people around her with a smug and self-satisfied grin.
"Madam, unfortunately, as I suspected, economy is full. I've spoken to the cabin services director, and club is also full. However, we do have one seat in first class." Before the lady has a chance to answer, the stewardess continues... "It is most extraordinary to make this kind of upgrade, however, I have had to get special permission from the captain. But, given the circumstances, the captain felt that it was outrageous that someone be forced to sit next to such an obnoxious person." With which, she turned to the black man sitting next to the woman, and said:
"So if you'd like to get your things, sir, I have your seat ready for you..." At which point, apparently the surrounding passengers stood and gave a standing ovation while the black man walks up to the front of the plane.

People will forget what you said...
People will forget what you did...
But people will never forget how you made them feel.

DIY time!

We did block off a doorway into our lounge earlier this autumn and now I'm finally getting round to plastering the joints and trying to make it blend in with the rest of the wall, still got the wallpaper to do on one side and painting the other side. Also James and his dad boxed in the chimney breast that was showing in the lounge and I am also trying to make that one look nice. But bugger it is hard getting the corners nice and sharp on that one! I've sanded it once and patched up were I missed so I'll just have to sand it down once more to see if that will do or if there is more to patch up. We also have to get around doing the skirting boards in the lounge and the frame for the attic fold down stair. All the doors need seeing to as well since most of them had been clad with plywood to hide the nice old frames and the paint is peeling on some of them We might even repaint the hall, still thinking about that one though... I just want everything finished! It has been lingering on for quite some time now but I suppose we'll have plenty of time this winter to get all things done..

If you ever feel like you got too much time on your hands and don't know what to do with it or if your just plain old bored go Grow something. I dare you to get it working at its maximum.

Currently playing Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah (on repeat..)

Weird that, you know, sometimes you find a band that you like immediately. That is what happened when I found this one. I've heard the hit 'I don't feel like dancing' on the radio previous and thought hmmm might be good. So I decided to get the CD after a radio show featuring them and I got to hear a bit more of what they play. I think I might drive James round the bend though if I play it much more when he is at home...

The more it snows a tiddeli pom...

It has come about 20 cm of fresh new crisp white snow! I love winter, especially the snow and the clear dark nights when you can see the stars go on forever and ever. There is nothing that compares to a late evening walk in the moonlight and it is all quiet and the only sound is the crunch from the snow under your shoes.

I remember from when I was little that we always seemed to be out later in winter when the lake had iced over and the snow had come. You could play cops and robbers in the dark or more fun have snowball wars with your own castle made of snow to protect. If you were lucky dad piled all the snow into one big mound where you could bore holes and make little chambers inside and sit there with a candle lit eating your sandwich pack that mum used to prepare with that warm choco in a flask which always seemed to go cold just too quickly. We played we were astronauts at night walking around in the cold empty space(usually down by the lakeside) and used dads old binoculars as our telescope to see if we could spot any UFO's or alien invaders. We never got very close to the stars but it made it all much more magic when you could see them a bit closer to you. Sometimes we'd see the northern lights glimmer and flicker its band across the sky and there were shooting stars raining down on us. You don't see them in summer since the nights are too light and I do miss them. So I always welcome winter like a good old friend, a wee bit too cold at time but still the very best of friends.

It is raining

And I really mean RAINING! No little dripdrops, I mean full front on pouring! And I will have to go out in it later to go collect my car. It is at the moment at the garage for a long over due service. Me, I'm due for some serious sleep but cant really since there is a bit to do in the house and I have work later on. It has been three days with really early mornings since I've worked the weekend and today was just too much when I really should have been able to stay in my much cosy warm bed instead I had to get up and go. Thankfully I got a lift back home courtesy of the garage or else I would have been even more miserable getting back home in the rain on the bus, even more so since I forgot my umbrella at home...

Near miss

Just a bit north of us they are now covered in the white cold stuff. Apparently it has come around 10-20 cm of it. We just got the sideways rain.. But I am happy it missed us this time since we haven't put on our winter wheels on the car yet. That appointment isn't until tomorrow.

The garden is almost sleeping. Just got to get some rose cover and rake up the leafs and apples that are falling as soon as you turn your back. It was a lovely day yesterday so I thought I'd make the most of it and got the dahlias up and tucked in for drying. I also turned the flower bed over and moved some of the perennials that had got too big for the spot they were in and cleared of the last of the marigolds and petunias. Parsnips are now down in the cellar for winter storage all scrubbed up and tucked away. There are only a few summer flowers left in the garden and they are still so nice I don't have the heart to pull them up just yet. Especially since they have promised a bit warmer weather for next week. It will be a new record for me to still have flowering Margueritas in late October not to mention the lovely crawling and sprawling Nasturtium I have in front of the porch. I wish the frost would hold of just a bit longer so I can take a picture of it for you to see.

We've had the smell of snow in the air for 2 days now but nothing as of yet. But it is getting colder the longer the week wears on so I wouldn't be surprised if we did get some of the white cold stuff soon. It has been a weird autumn my dahlias are still in full bloom and the last of the marigolds are budding, my lovely dark pink roses are flowering again and got lots of small buds coming and we haven't had one night of hard frost yet! I am dithering about if I should cut my dahlias and bring them in for storage or let them flower until the frost gets them. Everything else is more or less tidied part from the parsnips that still are going and the late salad which is covered by some fleece anyway. James has kindly turned half of our vegetable patch and I need to find some fir tree branches to cover up our roses when it gets colder. Yes I know, how ironic that we did cut our fir trees down..

We've been busy over here. I am getting into this thing called eBay you see.. Am trying to sell some of my surplus postcards and have managed to sell two (2!) so far. I also managed to have my birthday and had a very nice gift from James, my own web site, which is in development. I had lots of other nice presents and a two day celebration as well! Is it silly wishing it would have gone on for another day? I have been a bit slack with everything online-ish but now when winter is setting in I will get back in the saddle and start writing more regular. There wont be much to do outside anyway when everything is covered with snow or it might just pour down with rain. You never know now a days.