Back in Sweden

Winter

2012-02-05T14:55:00.001+01:00

Winter is here. Tonight the temperature came down to -20 degrees Celsius. Not as cold as in the north of Sweden (close to -42) or other parts of Europe, but still cold.

This time of the year

2012-02-01T13:40:00.003+01:00

Now it's time for "semlor" again (that is, the Swedish Lenten buns). Yesterday I made a batch of 14 and the idea is to eat one every Tuesday for the coming weeks until Feb 21st, which is the official "semmel-day" this year. But 14 are more than enough so there will be a couple of buns in between as well (and maybe even a second batch later on)...

The Lenten buns are made out of a sweet bun with almond filling and whipped cream under the lid and, of course, powder sugar topping it off.

Time passes by

2012-01-22T21:34:00.004+01:00

I haven't been posting anything here in ages, and the green grass in the previous post is now covered in white snow (finally, after a very mild winter so far). Inga went sledging for the second time in her life today and she really enjoys it. Right outside our house we have a small hill, just the right size for her.

Since my last post we have been doing a few things around the house and I'll try to post some info about that soon. We have also been visiting our families in other parts of Sweden, celebrated Christmas and New Years completely differently from what was planned and so on. I am also only five weeks from due date, which is one of the reasons I haven't had the energy to update this blog in the past months... Least, but not last, we have had lots to think about lately. I'll get back to that later, but right now I can reveal that it has to do with work and location.

Stay tuned and don't give up on me just yet!

Green grass

2011-09-22T12:42:00.001+02:00

So here it is, our "new" lawn. Not yet perfect, but compared to earlier this summer, the difference is huge.

The doorstep

2011-08-24T13:07:00.002+02:00

This is it. After four days of work, we now have a really nice entrance to our house. Inga can walk right out without climbing and I'm not afraid to trip and fall any more. It's comfy to sit on and great to walk on barefoot. It just couldn't be better.

Our new living room

2011-08-13T12:50:00.004+02:00

Right before we went to Poland, Matts finished off the work in the living room (apart from the skirting) and we were able to furnish it again. Inspired by some interior design TV-shows, we turned the couch 90 degrees and got a much cozier room that we enjoy a lot. (Before it looked like this.) Last week we were able to buy an arm chair as well so now we can use the room with guests as well.

The corner, where the old wallpaper was ripped, now look great and I have to say that I really like this old-fashioned striped wallpaper that goes perfectly to our furniture.

Work in progress

2011-08-13T12:43:00.007+02:00

The past days we have been quite busy here. Finally, our new pillarbox is in place in front our our house. And I got down to do some work on the front lawn. So far the result is somewhat greener grass (compared to this), but if everything goes as planned, the grass seed I spread out will make the lawn a proper one before the end of this summer. At the moment Matts is working hard on our new doorstep - and it will be awesome. Even our neighbors have given Matts compliments daily these past few days...

Workman's beard

2011-08-07T16:01:00.001+02:00

After being locked in in our living room for more than a week, Matts came out, looking like this... Pictures of our new, fabulous looking living room will come later on.

Birchermüsli

2011-08-07T15:55:00.003+02:00

On Sundays in Switzerland, I sometimes went by Frei's in Brugg to buy home some bread rolls and their delicious Birchermüsli after going to church. Before we went to Poland, about two weeks ago, and the fridge was quite empty I finally made my first batch ever of Birchermüsli and it was delicious! I used this recipe as a template (but with fewer apples) and then added a nectarine, bananas, raspberries and some whipped cream to it as well.

The last piece of wallpaper

2011-07-24T19:54:00.002+02:00

Finally, after nine days of hard work, Matts came to the last piece of wallpaper. After some additional painting, our living room is finally done - apart from the skirting that we haven't decided on quite yet. Tomorrow we'll clean our whole house from dust and bits of this and that that have spread all over the place and then it's time to re-furniture the living room. I sure look forward to it!

Muffins - again

2011-07-24T19:39:00.003+02:00

We had some really small and tiny bits of rhubarb left in the garden and I decided to do something with it. I googled and found the recipe for these delicious muffins.

Rhubarb muffins with white chocolate and cardamom, 12 small ones

Rinse and cut 150 grams rhubarb and add 2½ tbsp sugar to them. Put aside. Beat 100 grams of butter with 1 deciliter sugar and ½ tbsp vanilla sugar. Add 2 eggs, one by one and then 1 deciliter milk. Mix 2½ deciliter flour with 2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp ground cardamom in a separate bowl before genlty mixing it into the butter and stuff. Add 100 grams white chocolate in chunks as well as half of the rhubarb and then distribute the batter evenly in 12 muffin cups. Spread the rest of the rhubarb on top and bake for approximately 20 minutes at 175 Celcius.

Simply delicious!

The Knivsta Hedgehog

2011-07-23T19:21:00.003+02:00

Yesterday we got a visitor coming by after dinner outside. And today, the same visitor came once more - a hedgehog. This time I followed it to our flowerbed where it turned out to be a true epicure, enjoying escargot for supper...

Hard work

2011-07-23T19:13:00.004+02:00

To strip the living room of it's wallpaper has taken days. But eventually it was time for Matts to apply the spackling paste, and after some polishing and painting (the ceiling as well as the walls under the windows) today was finally the day of hanging the new wallpaper. It sure looks fabulous and I can hardly wait until it's all done and we can move back into our living room.

Let your thoughts fly away

2011-07-17T19:33:00.003+02:00

While Matts worked on the living room and Inga played in her baby pool next to me, I lay on the deck watching the blue sky and the swifts that flew by.

Taking the wallpaper down

2011-07-17T19:20:00.006+02:00

This is what our living room looked like yesterday morning. But after lunch it all changed. We moved the table into the guest room, hooked down the curtains and pushed all the remaining furniture to the middle of the room. There they are now, covered in plastic while Matts works on the wallpaper. The wallpaper is an old structure one with small small bits of wood in it to give it structure. Probably very modern in the late 70s, but now, more than three decades later it's about time it disappears from these walls. Not the least since it's broken in one of the corners where the walls have moved. Luckily Matts is doing a good job, taking down the terrible wallpaper, inch by inch.

Raspberry-Chocolate muffins

2011-07-15T18:55:00.003+02:00

Today I baked. It's my favorite thing to do in the kitchen, but lately I haven't baked much at all. This time I made a batch of muffins. So easy and fast to make, and nice to eat as well... I found this recipe in a book that I was just about to return to the library and they don't have much sugar in them. Originally the recipe said to use white chocolate, but since I only had dark at home I simply used that instead. That might be the reason why they aren't so sweet. Not that that is a problem in any way...

For 12 regular size muffins I beat 200 grams of butter with 1,5 deciliter sugar. Then I added 4 eggs, one at a time. I mixed 4 deciliter of flour with 1 tablespoon of baking soda and added that together with 100 grams of frozen raspberries as well as 75 grams of dark chocolate. After about 20 minutes in 175 C they were ready to enjoy.

Our gardens

2011-07-13T12:33:00.008+02:00

Yes, I know. I have been terribly bad when it comes to updating my blogs. But I haven't forgotten about them so don't give up on me quite yet.

We have some projects going on both inside and outside our house. Most of them are still only in our heads, but since Matts will go on vacation next week we'll have more time to actually get started. First we (that is Matts) will work on the walls in the living room. We already have bought the new wallpaper but before we (that is Matts) can put it up we (!) need to tear down the old, structure one. Hard work, but it shouldn't be impossible.

What we have done is some work in the gardens, both front and back. But we have lots of plans for these parts as well.

The first picture shows that some flowers, in this case geraniums, really can make a big difference. We still only have our small balcony table that we bought in Lund, but for next year we plan to buy a bigger table with a sofa and two chairs to go with it. If we are lucky, we'll find it on sale later this summer.

The second picture shows our front garden. The flowerbeds really need some work and the lawn is not as green as we want it to be. But in a couple of weeks we will do some work on the lawn and the flowerbeds will be upgraded as soon as we have time and energy for it. At least our front garden is not the worst in our area (luckily, this is Sweden and not Switzerland!).

Thirdly you can see our letterbox that is almost buried under our spiraea... We have a brand new pillarbox that we (that is Matts again) will install probably during next week. Eventually we'll do some work on the spiraea as well.

On the fourth picture you can see our jungle, aka back garden. Matts already did some work there, taking down some Alpine currant shrubs that had really gone crazy. They are already coming up again (you can see them in front of the "log") and will probably become a quite nice hedge when taken care of. But there's still much to do. We have some beautiful flowers; a sweet pink peony (that's now owerblown) and a gorgeous red rose (that you can see in the background) as well as both rhubarb and strawberries. But we also have lots and lots of weed that needs to be taken away... The plan is to plant more berries and stuff along the white wall; American blueberries, blackberries and red currant, as well as work on the lawn parts here too.

As you understand, we have quite some work to do - and this is not talking about everything we want to do inside as well. We try not to be totally stressed out about everything and focus on the things that we can do right now. Not everything will come true this year, but we plan on staying here for a while, so there's really no rush. Except when it comes to the so-called doorstep to the left: it's really dangerous and the plan is for Matts to build a new one as soon as possible.

Refund

2011-05-21T09:20:00.003+02:00

Unlike in Switzerland, the soda cans and bottles in Sweden are recycled with refunds and therefore we don't have special bins for them. But it's not always you feel like dragging an empty bottle around until you can recycle it so many cans and bottles end up in the regular garbage cans. However, this is not always the last stop for the empty containers since some people; elderly, homeless or just bored, go all around downtown to scan the garbage bins and earn themselves some money by recycling. A while ago when I was walking through Uppsala I saw these pillars here and there - give and take stations for bottles and cans! How clever!

The Vasa ship

2011-04-20T21:56:00.002+02:00

Last Sunday we took our guest back to Stockholm and to the Vasa museum where the more than 300 year old Vasa ship is preserved. It is one of my favorite museums and I still find it fascinating that 95% of the original ship is right there on display. This time, however, Inga and I didn't pay 100% attention to the ship, instead we trained on walking - Inga's new favorite thing...

Tree climber

2011-04-20T21:54:00.001+02:00

Matts decided to do some morning work on our apple tree while I prepared breakfast. When I looked out of the window I suddenly saw that he had left solid ground and actually worked on the tree from the inside so to say...

Easter and runes

2011-04-20T21:41:00.003+02:00

Last Friday night we cheated a bit and had an early Easter dinner. Egg halves with mayo and shrimps, smoked eel, preserved and raw cured salmon, pickled herring, quiche on Västerbottenost, meatballs, chipolata sausage and Jansson's temptation. To that Easter beers and påskmust. Yummy!

On Saturday we went to Uppsala. We started out with a lunch in one of the student houses and continued to the dome, walked past some stones with runic characters, took a look at the Silver Bible in the university library Carolina and enjoyed the view over Uppsala from the castle courtyard. A very nice and sunny day.

Apples and guests

2011-04-20T21:33:00.004+02:00

This past weekend we had visitors sleeping in our guest room for the third time. The first time it was my mother in law. She helped us with the move and had to sleep in-between boxes and living room furniture. Our second visitors were my parents and the day they came, we went to Ikea to buy this daybed that Matts then assembled right before bedtime... Our third visitors were our friends Liz and Will visiting from Switzerland. Before they came I finally was able to roll out our fabulous green carpet that will set the tone in the guest room.

Talking about green, this is what our front garden looked like last week. A few crocuses and an apple tree gone wild...

Nordic animals

2011-04-20T21:25:00.003+02:00

Last Thursday, Inga and I met up with Liz in Stockholm to visit Skansen, the oldest outdoor museum in the world. There they have lots of interesting things to explore, e.g. different Nordic animals. We saw bears, wolves, wild boars, moose, different kinds of seals and some beautiful reindeer - and learned that reindeer are the only deer where both males and females have antlers.

Room to live in

2011-04-06T21:46:00.002+02:00

After eight days in our new house, I'm in love. There's a lot to do to make this our dream home, but it really feels good with all the space and the fact that we are allowed to do almost whatever we want to here (compared to the rental apartments where we have lived before). We started out with the living room floor. It badly needed to be polished and varnished so before placing our furniture there we hired someone to do the job since we realized we would probably never do it ourselves. So now we have a terrific floor to go with our terrible walls (the wallpaper was once white but is now both dirty and at some places torn - it's our next project!). While the work was done on the floor, we kept all our living room furniture in the guest room together with a bunch of moving boxes. Kind of crowded I have to say. Now we have furnished the living room and in a couple of days we are allowed to roll out the carpets as well (the varnish needs a few days more to harden completely). More pictures are coming later on...

Springtime - twice

2011-04-06T21:43:00.002+02:00

This picture was taken in Lund two weeks ago. Now we are relocated to Knivsta and once more go through the first phases of spring. When we arrived here about a week ago there was still a big pile of snow in our yard. It's completely gone now. Instead, green leaves are showing on our small lawn...

That's what friends are for

2011-03-02T21:25:00.002+01:00

Yesterday it was my birthday. It also was the first day of work in Uppsala for Matts, making me a grass widow. And it was the second day with a running nose and fever for Inga. In other words, not really a day for celebration. But then someone rung the doorbell: a friend with a piece of cake for me! Yummy!

Tell me why I don't like Fridays

2011-03-02T21:06:00.002+01:00

TGIF

I don't know how many times I have seen these four letters as status lines on Facebook recently. And every time I have wondered what's so great about Fridays? Are Fridays really something to celebrate? Apparently, for many of my FB-friends.

For me, Fridays have been the worst day of the week for almost a year now. Not that Fridays have been terrible or anything, but the last day of caring for my wonderful daughter on my own before Matts comes home from work has been the toughest one most of the weeks since she was born. By the end of the week, I have often been so exhausted that I have burst into tears for pretty much nothing. I do love my daughter of course, but I do need to sleep too...

I remember how amazed my mother was, in the beginning of Inga's life, that I could cope so well with the lack of sleep. My mother knows more than well how dependent I am on sleeping well, and what happens to me if I cannot sleep enough (lots of crying, illness, personality change, eating disorders etc.). Now I know that during the first wonderful weeks, it was all about hormones. Hormones helping me get effective sleep during the short "naps" the nights were divided into. But it all came to an end and I am more or less back to my old, sleep-craving self. And Friday, being the last day of not being able to sleep in or have some time for myself hence became the worst day of the week.

This said, I am so very happy that Matts won't be working a single Friday this month. I might even be able to post "TGIF" on Facebook on Friday...

The good life

2011-02-22T11:21:00.001+01:00

Inga is sleeping and the sun is shining on the small snowflakes that slowly make their way down to the ground. There are hardly any "musts" to do today. Life is good.

Sunny, chilly Sunday

2011-02-20T16:59:00.007+01:00

After only enjoying the beautiful weather from inside yesterday, today Inga and I took a walk in the sun. We followed the same route that I walked almost every day last summer (until it just got too hot even in the mornings) but it was quite different. In Rinnebäcksravinen the water level is low and at some points frozen to ice. The ponds by the sewage plant are covered with thin ice layers now and the thistles along the shores are only dry skeletons. But there are signs of the upcoming spring as well.

Time to evaluate

2011-02-20T11:26:00.003+01:00

The past weeks I have been thinking a lot about friendship. Now, we only have about five weeks left here in Lund before we move north, to Knivsta. I have concluded that one and three quarters of a year really is a short time to make really good friends. At least under these conditions. During our two years in Switzerland it was much easier, being the "foreign" as well as meeting many others in the same situation as ourselves. Moving to Lund was different though, since we this time moved into already existing sets of acquaintances. Very different from moving to Switzerland as well as from moving to Uppsala ages ago to study.

This said, I feel privileged to have met and got to know so many wonderful persons here. It's surpassed my expectations. However, the closer we get to our move, the less meaningful it fells to further extend our circle of friends here since there simply isn't enough time left to spend socializing. Instead I want to concentrate on the friendships already existing.

When moving away (or having friends moving away for that matter) I think there are three ways to handle it. Firstly, we can let everything continue as normal, seeing each other just like before until the inevitable day of the move comes. Secondly, we can start to distance ourselves from each other since it's "no use" to spend time together with the move coming up. Lastly, we can try to make as much as possible of the time left, knowing that after the move it might be a long time until we meet again.

For me, the first and last approach are the natural ones, depending on how close the friends are. The second way really hasn't got anything with friendship to do according to me, but I can see that it might be some kind of self protection for people who doesn't want to get hurt.

I hope that these last five weeks here in Lund will be great and that when the day of our move comes I can look back at our time in Lund with a feeling of gratitude for all the friends I have.

Five minutes

2011-02-20T11:20:00.002+01:00

Since Friday afternoon, Inga's been down with the gastric flu. Now she is recovering and to help her I have to give her five ml of fluid replacement every five minutes until about lunch. So I have prepared a tray for the morning with a cup filled with the fluid replacement, a syringe for measuring, a baby-cup for Inga to drink from and a timer to help hold us to the schedule. At the moment Inga is sleeping though, but as soon as she wakes up it all begins again.

Saukalt!

2011-02-16T13:59:00.001+01:00

Ice cold wind outside. A perfect match for my mood at the moment. And a bit refreshing - the thoughts fly away just like the dry leaves from last fall...

What I miss

2011-02-04T14:50:00.004+01:00

Today I miss

my friends in Switzerland - always up to do fun things and never too busy to just hang out.
a chef in my kitchen - I really don't feel like cooking and Matts is down with a cold.
a few hours of sleep - when will I ever catch up?

Three years ago

2011-01-29T20:20:00.004+01:00

Three years ago, Matts and I went skiing for the first time in Switzerland (and for the first time whatsoever for Matts), in Flumserberg. Matts has been complaining a lot about us not going skiing this season, but this year we will take a rain check on carving down the hills. Next year we plan to be back in the slopes, if not in the Alps at least somewhere in Sweden.

Life insurance

2011-01-24T21:45:00.003+01:00

There's one thing that really upsets me about some parents. Not all, since many are grown up and responsible as they should be, but unfortunately too many don't seem to understand the importance of this subject.

So what am I talking (or rather writing) about if not one of the cheapest life insurances that exists: the bike helmet! For more than six years we have had a law in Sweden saying that children up to the age of 15 must wear a helmet riding a bike. So far, all is well. What upsets me is the fact that so many parents don't wear a helmet.

What crosses their minds when they decide they don't need one, but their children do? Certainly not the fact that their children need their parents alive. Or that no matter how good a biker they are, not everyone else out there is biking or driving their car with 100% control at all times (even if they of course should). Or that we, as parents, are extremely important as role models for our children. Or that the hairdo really isn't as important as our lives.

What I find most upsetting is parents biking without helmets with their children on the back of their bikes or in a bike trailer, kids wearing helmets. What if there is an accident and the parent gets severely injured and the children watches it all happen? Of course, helmets doesn't protect anyone from broken bones, but it can make a big difference if we get into an accident.

So if you bike and don't already have one, go to the nearest bike or sport shop tomorrow to invest in the cheapest life insurance there is and show all those kids that you are a cool grown up using your brain and wearing a helmet.

Buying vegetables

2011-01-19T19:34:00.005+01:00

When I was a child, my parents had to weigh and put price-tags on all the fruit and fresh vegetables they bought. This has long been history in Sweden. Instead, the cashiers learn all the four digit PLU codes by heart (or occasionally look in a table) and all the costumers have to do is to put the apples or onions in a plastic bag. I was amazed to come to Switzerland where the "old" system is still up and running. And when I by mistake forgot to tag my cauliflower or eggplant, the cashier took I run (and I really mean a run!) to the fruit and vegetable department to weigh it in for me. That's what I called service.

But at the same time it's kind of stupid. Because if they had a scale and a catalog of PLU numbers by the counter, they wouldn't have to take that run. And if they had a scale and all the necessary PLU codes by the counter there would be no need for the costumers to do the job themselves at all. In the end, it would mean that the costumers have to wait a tiny bit longer by the counter, but save much more time in the vegetable department since there is no risk of forgetting the cucumber number before reaching the scale (since in Switzerland, every vegetable and fruit have a number, and by the scales you press the individual number for every item). I guess this is what the supermarkets in Sweden figured out long before I bought my first orange.

However, Sweden being in the frontier, the scales are now reintroduced. Not for every Tom, Dick or Harry, but for everyone following the self-scanning trend. So now, we who call ourselves the go-aheaders run around the supermarkets with barcode scanners, fooling ourselves that we are saving time while what we really do is to save the cashiers from work. And of course, self-scanning means that we have to go back to the scales for the potatoes and watermelons we buy since there is no cashier in the end to do the work for us. And to confuse it all even more, even if you are not a self-scanning costumer, you can still use the scales and "save time" at the counter (in case there's an unexperienced cashier who doesn't know all the PLUs by heart) by spending an eternity by the touch screen that goes with the scale to find the image of that fennel...

Some stores in Switzerland also have the self-scanning option, and something tells me that they will completely skip the scales-at-the-counter-step, no matter how costumer friendly that would be.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T13:38:00.002+01:00

We spent the evening with good friends and good food! We watched the fireworks from the dining room instead of going out in the wind and leaving our sleeping beauties alone...

The pig of 2010

2011-01-01T13:37:00.000+01:00

Candy time - finally

2010-12-22T20:23:00.001+01:00

At last I managed to finish the Christmas candy of this year. Mmmmm...

The shortes day of the year

2010-12-22T06:51:00.003+01:00

Today it's the shortest day of the year. Here in Lund the sun will rise at 8.35 am and set at 3.36 pm. Not too bad, I have to say. In Knivsta, where we will live next year the sunrise is at 8.48 am and the sunset is at 2.50 pm. Then comes the "extremes": in Brugg (where we lived while in Switzerland) the sun is up between 8.12 am and 4.39 pm whereas in Boden, where I grew up, it only shows itself over the horizon between 10.03 am and 12.59 pm. This is however very much compared to places above the polar circle, like Kiruna, where the sun neither rises nor sets at the moment. They have to wait until a bit into January to see the sun again, after 25 days of darkness with only a bit of dawn immediately followed by dusk. But on the other hand, the sun never sets there between May 30 and July 15! Feel free to compare to this. Now, what do you say about that? One thing is sure: it'll only get brighter from now on.

Snowstorm

2010-12-16T14:06:00.002+01:00

It's snowing today. A lot. And since Skåne is so flat, it's not only snowing, it's snowing horizontal. In this beautiful weather I took Inga to the gym for the last mother-baby-class this year. The walk there was ok, the walk home was another workout session. :-)

Lucia

2010-12-14T19:39:00.005+01:00

So, yesterday it was the day of Saint Lucia here in Sweden. I didn't have the opportunity to watch any Lucia train this year, something I hope will change next year since it's such a beautiful thing to experience. Take a look here to see for yourself (it's mostly in Swedish of course, but since music is universal I am sure you can enjoy it nevertheless):

Luciamorgon

In this show, some of the most popular singers in Sweden contributes. The man, telling the story behind Lucia, is a well know actor (and luckily for you who don't know Swedish, the stories are quite short).

This link will work until January 13th 2011.

Saffron buns

2010-12-12T14:57:00.005+01:00

Yesterday I finally got down to baking the traditional Saffron buns that we eat this time of the year in Sweden. Tomorrow, December 13th, it's the Lucia Day here and the tradition is to eat Saffron bread and gingerbread cookies on this day while listening to the Lucia and her maids singing seasonal songs. The dough to the buns gets a really nice yellow color from the saffron.

Yesterday night Matts and I had an evening fika consisting of the saffron buns, some Zimtsternen as well as Swedish mull wine with almonds and raisins. Yummy!

Winter wonder land

2010-12-10T19:03:00.004+01:00

Life is not a bed of roses

2010-12-10T18:45:00.002+01:00

Right now I am dead tired of many things. Like getting Inga to eat, something she just won't do. Or not being able to clean the place since I cannot do that and take care of Inga at the same time, at least not fast enough to make a difference.... And being too tired to make the fun things, like candy and baking (but I am not giving up on that just yet). On top of this my grandfather died early this morning. He was old and suffered from Alzheimer's and now he is home where he belong, with Jesus. But still, he was my grandfather and I loved him, and when loved ones die it's sad no matter what.

So I admit it, my life is far from perfect - it's just like everybody else's life. It's just that I in some ways thought that I was stronger than this. That I would be closer to the perfect housewife and mother, baking and cleaning with a smile on my face. But then again, what does it mean to be strong? And do I have to be strong on my own? What I know about being a Christian tells me no, I don't. It's just so hard to go from theoretics to practice...

In the jar

2010-12-10T18:15:00.003+01:00

So here they are, ready to be eaten. I already tried one, and it was really delicious!

This is how you make them:
Beat 3 egg whites hard. Add 250 gram confectioner's sugar and blend well. Take 1-1½ deciliter apart for the frosting. Add 1½ tbsp cinnamon, ½ tbsp kirsch or lemon juice and 350 gram grinded almonds (leave the peel on) to the rest of the egg mixture and mix well. Roll out between plastic film (the dough should be about 7 mm thick) and punch out stars in different sizes. Place these on a baking sheet and cover them with the remaining egg mixture. Let them sit 5-6 hours or over night at room temperature before baking them at 250 degrees Celsius for 2-5 minutes. Enjoy!

Zimtsternen

2010-12-09T20:58:00.002+01:00

First step of the Swiss Zimtsternen is done. Tomorrow I will let them sit in the oven for a few minutes and then they are ready to be eaten.

Christmas candy

2010-12-09T14:51:00.003+01:00

Last year I was pregnant and very tired at this time of the year. I managed nothing but work, basically. Baking and making candy for Christmas was out of the question, apart from in Oskarshamn, where Matts and I made candy together. My mother came and helped me out with cleaning and baking while I was working.

This year I have a baby and I just cannot start any big projects during the day, even though I really want to. Sometimes I try, but the joy of baking fades away as Inga's scream pitches higher and higher notes. So far I haven't done any Christmas baking or candy. But I have grand plans! So maybe, but just maybe, I will make those Zimtsternen tonight and the Safron buns on Saturday. And I might even make one, two or even three kinds of pralines. Just to get that Christmas feeling.

I'll keep you posted if I succeed...

Hugs and kisses

2010-12-06T10:33:00.004+01:00

I never was a hugging person. I don't recall hugging my friends very often when I grew up, but I was very annoyed when my sister tried to hug me - our needs in that respect were very different. When I moved to Uppsala to study, however, I "learned" that hugs can be a nice greeting ritual and slowly I got used to hugging at least some of my friends when we met and when we said goodbye, more and more comfortable with it in the years.

To go from hugs to kisses, as in the cheek kisses common in Switzerland seemed a bit too much though when we were moving to the small country in the middle of Europe. Three cheek kisses every time - oh man, how would I cope with that? But my worries turned out to be needless. After a short while the kissing bit came quite natural. So natural that I, without thinking about it, greeted one of my best friends in Sweden with three kisses instead of a hug when we were visiting around Christmas...

How was this possible? The answer is easy. Cheek kissing is not as intimate at hugging since you simply don't come as close to the other person while kissing as you do in a hug. It's easier to keep the distance, so to say.

During our years in Switzerland we met people from all around the world and we greeted our friends in different ways. Sometimes it was tricky to know if a kiss, a hug or handshake was appropriate, but with time we found our ways in the greeting jungle.

And now? Here I am, back in Sweden, re-adjusting to the hugging culture. I think I'm doing ok...

The new star

2010-12-05T18:51:00.003+01:00

This year we sadly had to replace the Advent candlestick that we had in the kitchen last Christmas since it doesn't work anymore. Instead I bought a new standing star that brings the Advent feeling into the kitchen.

Books

2010-12-05T14:51:00.002+01:00

I haven't been reading in a long time. Last fall I read a lot, but then, from November on, I worked too much to have the inspiration to read. And then Inga came and all I have read since has been magazines - occasionally. But now, the urge to read has come back, vivid and strong. I started reading th Twilight books a couple of weeks ago, and now I have visited the library homepage to see if any of the books on my "want-to-read" list are available. And I plan on going to our local library tomorrow...

Changed plans

2010-12-05T12:21:00.004+01:00

I was all set to go to church this morning - and even on time for a change! Make up was on, dresses were on both Inga and myself and Inga was ready to go in the stroller. I was just putting my boots on when Inga puked all over herself. So we are staying at home today, hoping it's not the winter vomit disease, but just a slightly upset stomach...

Chai Latte

2010-12-03T16:38:00.004+01:00

After actually vacuuming and wiping the floors I treat myself to a homemade Chai Latte made on tea I just bought in the tea store earlier today. It's the first one I ever made so it's not perfect, but still yummy!

Inga likes it too...

Summer memories

2010-12-02T11:20:00.007+01:00

The winter is here. Outside it's white and snowflakes are flying around in the air. The sun hides behind clouds, but the clouds aren't thick enough to completely block the sunlight. It's simply beautiful.

This summer we went to Öland, the second bigges island in Sweden, situated right outside the east coast of Småland. It is a beautiful place. At the southernmost point, one of Sweden's most known lighthouses stands, Långe Jan. I have been there once before, but then it was closed. This time, however, we were able to climb the stairs all the way to the top. The view is beautiful.

Beneath the lighthouse, naturum is situated. There are several naturum in Sweden, and they all educate the visitors about the local plants and wildlife. Around Långe Jan there's an ornithological station, so it's mostly about birds in this naturum.

A new start

2010-12-02T11:18:00.002+01:00

It's been a long time since I wrote something here now. The time just doesn't seem to be enough these days. But it's all about priorities. At least mostly. Recently Inga has been very "mumsy" and I haven't been able to be further than about 50 centimeters from her, but this is about to change now. And I have some ideas about what to write about here so I just need to get started.

Old shoes out, new shoes in

2010-09-08T20:48:00.003+02:00

Yes, I know. I haven't been updating this blog in ages. The reason? I have been wearing out my shoes by all the walking I do nowadays! :-) Since the stores here mostly sell the black ones (despite the fact that these shoes come in like ten different colors) I tried my luck on-line instead. And yes, I found a pair living up to my color standards. On-line shopping vs. regular shops 1-0. The shipping was free and really fast - I ordered the shoes this Monday and today, two days later, I could pick them up at a nearby grocery store. On-line shopping vs. regular shops 2-0. But, unfortunately, I could not check the manufacture date on these shoes and they turned out to be only five months younger than my old pair (that I bought last spring). On-line shopping vs. regular shops 2-1.

Time to taste!

2010-07-02T18:57:00.002+02:00

And finally, I could taste the elderflower cordial for the first time. Yummy! The weird thing in the glass is an ice cube with some elderflowers...

Bottling time

2010-07-02T18:55:00.003+02:00

So yesterday, after three days, it was time to filter and bottle the elderflower cordial...

Elderflower cordial

2010-06-28T14:44:00.005+02:00

During this morning's walk with Inga in the lovely weather, I collected more than 60 bunches of elderflower. Back home I rinsed them in water and then let them sit on a towel, waiting to become elderflower cordial. I never made elderflower cordial before, so it's kind of exciting, but it's not hard to do so I am quite sure it'll taste just fine.

After rinsing the flowers, I placed them in a big casserole and covered them with three lemons in thin slices. Then I added 2 liters boiling water, 1,5 kg sugar and 50 g citric acid. I stirred until the sugar was dissolved and now it's supposed to stand covered for three days before filtering. Then, hopefully, we will have about 3 liters of concentrated elderflower cordial...

The Royal Wedding Chocolate

2010-06-22T17:31:00.004+02:00

This past Saturday our crown princess Viktoria got married to her prince Daniel (he wasn't a prince until they were married, but just a "regular guy" who happened to be the boyfriend of our princess). To celebrate this occasion, we split a big box of chocolate with our friends Samuel and Jenny. These are the remains on the day after the wedding. They didn't last long...

It's getting darker...

2010-06-22T17:19:00.005+02:00

Now it's getting darker again. Today the sun rose as late as 4.22 am and it will set "already" at 9.55 pm here in Lund. In the north of Sweden (where I grew up) the sun rose at 1.00 am and will set at 00.06 am... How I love the summer nights in Sweden!

Summer is here

2010-06-04T17:47:00.004+02:00

Today it has been a really nice summer day with high temperatures. So when Inga and I walked through the botanical gardens today I wasn't surprised to see lots and lots of white skin... Yes, we Swedes tend to undress as soon as we get the chance. I am however sure that many will regret this later on when their skin is bright red since not everyone uses SPF 20 like I do...

You know that you are old when...

2010-05-14T16:12:00.001+02:00

... you are surprised there's a new Robin Hood movie coming up. Wasn't it last year Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner ran in the theaters?

More flowers

2010-05-01T17:58:00.002+02:00

These beautiful flowers came to us this week. It was my colleges at the school where I worked who sent us them to congratulate us to our little girl.

The sun

2010-04-28T14:56:00.003+02:00

Today the sun rose at 5.31am and it will set at 8.39pm here in Lund. The days sure are getting longer. But it's much darker here in Lund than in Boden where I grew up - there the sun rose at 4.04am today and will set at 8.59pm. In Brugg, where we lived in Switzerland, the times are 6.14am and 8.32pm...

Springtime

2010-04-25T16:56:00.004+02:00

Now spring is really here. A couple of weeks ago, the ground in one of the parks on the way downtown was covered in blue, scilla. I just learned that another name for these flowers is blåstjärna which translates into blue star. Beautiful name for a flower that really shines like a star in the sun!

The scillas are slowly fading now and instead it's the wood anemones that take over. I really like them. These spring flowers are something that I didn't grow up with at all since they don't exist in the northern parts of Sweden. My mother, born somewhere in the middle of Sweden did miss them a lot when she lived up north... Her favorite is the Hepatica and when she was here we spotted them downtown, outside a restaurant. But I haven't seen them anywhere else here in Lund and according to my flora they don't thrive in here in the southernmost parts of Sweden.

Now all the trees really start to burgeon so very soon it will be very green here. In the north of Sweden they still have lots of snow and will have to wait another month or more for the green leaves...

Sofiero Palace

2010-04-10T18:30:00.003+02:00

My mother has been visiting the past week. Since she came by car, we made a few excursions. One to Ikea in Malmö and one to Sofiero Palace outside Helsingborg. The garden of the palace has been designated the most beautiful garden in Europe 2010, but since the spring is so slow this year, hardly any flowers were blooming there now. But it sure was a beautiful place and we might go back there later this spring.

Heart of crocuses

2010-04-06T18:30:00.001+02:00

Someone planted crocuses in the shape of a heart along the bikepath between downtown and our place.

Springtime

2010-03-25T10:44:00.005+01:00

This year, spring officially came to Lund February 25. But then it got colder again (just like in the rest of Europe) and things slowed down a bit. Now it seems it's here to stay. Easter is coming up as well and some trees already decorated themselves in an appropriate yellow color...

About two weeks ago I bought a bunch of Barbeton daisys and they are all still really nice. These past days we also got some spring flowers from friends visiting. As I said before - I love flowers!

Postpartum

2010-03-21T19:49:00.002+01:00

My big belly is gone. I'm of course not back in shape yet, but the difference is huge. I haven't tried on my regular pants yet (and they probably won't be that comfortable yet anyway), but that time will come too. :-) I don't, however, need the support stockings or the heartburn medication anymore and that's really sweet after months of struggling with the stockings and having to take the medicine every evening. It feels like I'm getting myself back in some way even if some parts now belong to our new family member (and hence have increased a lot in size lately...).

Our new family member

2010-03-18T19:53:00.003+01:00

I'll probably not be very active here for a while, since Matts and I now are parents of a beautiful baby girl, Inga, that was born on Monday, March 15 at 6.44pm. :-)

The delivery went well and as of today around noon we are back home in Lund. All the deliver rooms here in Lund were full when it was time for us to hit the road and we actually got the very last spot in Malmö!

For more pictures of our little sweetheart, visit En kiwis dagbok. The text is in Swedish, but since pictures say more than words, that shouldn't be a problem. :-)

Due date +1

2010-03-14T10:05:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was due date. So far no baby. But then, who knows exactly when we will actually become a family. This has, however, in many ways been a crappy weekend. It started out really nice on Friday with a Thai dinner and a movie at the theater (a nice Swedish one called Farsan) downtown, but from then on it's been terrible. My "old" back problem is back, worse than ever and yesterday I couldn't stand up or lie down, not to talk about sit up (eating was a struggle) without severe pain on my lower left side. Now, after two nights of hardly any sleep, we'll go go the hospital to see if there's anything they can do... Matts has been great though, taking care of me, so in that respect it's good this all happened during the weekend.

This post's beautiful picture of my belly I took myself on Thursday. It's quite big now and I am ready to "get rid" of it now. Even if it probably won't be today, I am sure it'll all be over by next weekend... Keep your fingers and toes crossed.

Sunday breakfast

2010-03-07T11:31:00.002+01:00

Today I made a "special" breakfast. Normally we eat yogurt or filmjölk (a kind of sour milk only found in Sweden) with cereals, fruit, bread, tea and juice. This morning, however, was a pancake morning. :-) So I made a batch of American pancakes as well as a nice strawberry-blackberry-banana smoothie for us. Yummy. We also had sliced apple and pear as well as some home made bread and coffee and tea. A good start on what hopefully becomes a good day.

One week to go

2010-03-06T16:12:00.003+01:00

Now we are only one week away from due date. It's crazy!!! I don't have the feeling that my belly is growing any more, but from time to time there's full activity in there.

Yesterday, Matts' work invited us to the annual party they apparently have. It was really nice and started out with a warm-up drink at Matts' workplace. Then we walked across the street to a restaurant where we had a really nice three course dinner. Shrimps and stuff as the starter, lamb, potatoes, wine sauce and vegetables as the main course and then a buffet with a chocolate fountain and other good things for dessert. Do I have to say I was quite full after dinner? After eating we hung out with Matts' coworkers for a while and even hit the dance floor for a bit before it was time to call it a night and bike home (yes, I'm still biking. It's so much more comfortable than walking, especially since I now walk at snail's pace...). All in all a very nice evening.

Online shopping

2010-03-06T16:00:00.004+01:00

The past week I have been doing some baby shopping online, both on a regular "buy and sell site" as well as on a bidding site. And here is the result. I bought a 5.5 m long piece of fabric designed for carrying babies. It's kind of tricky to wrap it since it is so long, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it pretty quickly anyway. Here it is filled out with my belly as well as a toy rabbit... :-)

Then I found an ad for a baby car seat. We don't have a car, but will probably rent one now and then and since we might take a cab back home after the delivery we really need a safe seat for our new family member. So we made a quick move and now have a very nice car seat that only cost us a fraction of a new one.

Last, but not least (however, least expensive), I bought a bat tub seat for our baby. I have friends who have the same thing and it really works well for small children. Of course, we will never leave our baby unattended in it, but it's easier to clean a baby with two hands than one.

Seeing the color scheme you might think we expect a baby boy. But I actually decided this week that I'm carrying a girl. Purple and blue are not colors exclusively for boys anyway and when buying things second hand (the wrapper is brand new, the other things are used) you cannot be too fussy about colors.

Flower power

2010-03-05T09:58:00.005+01:00

For my birthday I got flowers. Lovely! Tulips from Matts, an Orchid from my mother-in-law and sister-in-law with family and some spring flowers from a couple of friends. I love flowers!

Rinnebäcksravinen

2010-03-04T12:41:00.004+01:00

Really close to our place there is a gorge called Rinnebäcksravinen. It is a small nature reserve where they keep animals in the summer. Last years there were a bunch of cows, and apparently, they kept sheep there earlier. It is open for everyone to stroll through and last year we saw lots of people hanging out there, having picnics and relaxing by the water. Today however, the gorge was empty even though the sun is shining from a clear blue sky. But it's not that weird - the temperature is below freezing...

Observe that the white things at the horizon are not the snow covered peaks of any mountains - this part of Sweden is very very flat - but some clouds over the sea inlet that separates Sweden from Denmark.

Birthday fika

2010-03-02T11:45:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I celebrated my own birthday by inviting my friends on a birthday fika. On the menu was Rimbo buns, Pitepågar, choclolate amaretto muffins, lemon cheesecake and chocolate chip flarns... It was a great afternoon and there was something for everyone on the fika-table. :-)

In the evening, Matts took me out for dinner in a Greek restaurant here in Lund. Yummy yummy. Too bad we don't have doggy bags here in Sweden, since we got too much food to finish (might have something to do with the afternoon fika...) and it was so good...

All in all I am very happy with my birthday and almost already look forward to the next one (except for the part of growing older for each year).

Two weeks to go

2010-02-27T11:39:00.008+01:00

Today it's only two weeks left to due date. In other words it's really time for us to get ready now. That includes finally using those movie gift cards we have (they expire in December and who knows when we can see a movie together next time). So in about 20 minutes we'll bike downtown to take the train to Malmö to see Avatar 3D this afternoon. That will be nice!

On the picture to the left my belly doesn't look that big, does it? But I really cannot see my feet anymore and I sure don't feel very gracious anymore. :-) But so far, it's not too bad being pregnant and even though I look forward to becoming a mum, I can still picture myself being pregnant for a little while longer.

A couple of days with a good friend

2010-02-26T10:57:00.003+01:00

The past two days Andrea, one of my best friends, has been here visiting. Since I still have my cold we have taken it very easy, but nonetheless had a great time. We started out on Wednesday with waffles when she arrived from Gothenburg. The we just hang out in the afternoon. In the evening we took a walk to our local supermarket to buy some ingredients for baking... :-)

After breakfast yesterday we made chocolate muffins and a coffee-cardamom cake. Then sporty Andrea went out for a 10 km run, partly in snow, before we headed downtown for a nice, vegetarian dinner and a little bit of shopping. After a couple of lazy hours Andrea left for Malmö, where her cousin lives, and I went to my prayer group meeting.

This morning, I prepared a steady breakfast for my friend as well as for Matts (and myself) and shortly after breakfast they both left - one for the bus to Gothenburg and the other for work. It's been two very nice, relaxed, days. Hopefully I can return the visit sometime in the spring together with our new family member...

Preparations

2010-02-24T10:20:00.002+01:00

With less than three weeks to go, it's about time to take care of the last preparations. "The bag" needs to be packed and some other minor things need to be taken care of. But, as I mentioned in an earlier post, when it comes to baby clothes we probably have all we need for the first weeks. Or what do you think?

A while ago we also prepared the baby bed and it is now only waiting for our new family member. So are we. The question is if we are mentally prepared for this? Can we ever be, considering this is our first child and that this whole thing will make a huge, but of course positive, difference in our lives? I don't know. It sure is exciting, but it's so hard to imagine what our lives will be like in a couple of weeks. But in the end it is something we have wanted for quite a while now, so more than anything else we look forward to our first encounter with our little kiwi.

Rimbo buns and Chocolate Amaretto muffins

2010-02-20T19:08:00.003+01:00

So I did some baking. Rimbo buns and Chocolate Amaretto muffins (well, we didn't have any Amaretto at home so I substituted it with vanilla). It all smells great, but we haven't tried it - yet.

The buns are really nice however, not too sweet, pretty fluffy and quite easy to make:

Rimbo buns, about 30 pieces

20-25 g yeast
2 deciliter cold milk
200 g room tempered butter
1 tbsp sugar
about 6 deciliter flour

Filling:
75 g butter
1½ tbsp sugar
1½ tsp vanilla sugar

1 beaten egg

Dissolve the yeast in some of the milk. Add the rest of the milk as well as the other ingredients. Mix well and work it for a bit to get a nice dough. Carefully roll it out to a square about 40x48 cm. Cut it in 8x8 cm squares. Blend the ingredients to the filling and put some on the middle of each square. Pinch the corners of the squares together and place the buns in paper forms on a baking sheet and let them rise under a tea towel for about 2 hours at room temperature. Brush the buns with a beaten egg and bake for 5-10 minutes at 250 C in the middle of the oven. Enjoy!

Annette: as you can see, the baking grids you gave me come to good use here in Sweden as well. They are just awesome! Thank you so much.

Three weeks to go

2010-02-20T15:15:00.002+01:00

Time is flying by now. Only three (or one or five or anything in between) weeks to go now. Yesterday we went to the midwife and she could feel that the head is completely fixated in the pelvis now, meaning that the baby is in his or her start position for birth. Three weeks - that's like nothing!!! It's really exciting but also very weird...

Lazy Saturday

2010-02-20T15:03:00.003+01:00

After spending an effective morning at the mall buying jeans for Matts and ordering a big doormat (big enough for the baby carriage) as well as a "quick" tour through the supermarket followed by a fika at home we now have a lazy Saturday afternoon. Matts is working on his computer and I am preparing to do some baking.

Outside the snow we have had for weeks is slowly melting away at the moment. But they say we might get more, already tonight, and that it will be colder again, so is seems the winter is not yet letting the spring come forward despite the fact that this is the south of Sweden where winters like this are extremely unusual.

Four weeks to go

2010-02-13T16:21:00.003+01:00

Two pictures in one week - not bad, is it? Today I have exactly four more weeks to go to due date, but that really doesn't mean exactly four weeks before baby. Hopefully the little kiwi will stay in my belly for at least two more weeks but not more than six weeks. I actually kind of hope for exactly four weeks since this will give me three relaxing weeks to prepare myself and our home for the baby arrival after finishing work, but whenever the kiwi decides to pop it will be warmly welcomed by us.

About preparations: we now have more than enough baby clothes in size 50-56 (newborn), so if anyone considers giving us baby clothes, please choose the somewhat larger sizes (62 and up).

Iron lunch

2010-02-11T16:09:00.004+01:00

To boost my iron levels I had blodpudding (black/blood pudding) with lingonberry jam, carrots and an orange for lunch yesterday. Not everyone likes blodpudding - in fact it is one of those dishes you either like or really hate. I belong to the former and since it's such a quick meal to prepare it's perfect for a lunch on my own. It's also very cheap - as a student I ate it a lot.

4½ weeks to go

2010-02-10T10:18:00.003+01:00

I have no idea why this picture is so blurry (but I blame it all on Matts who took the picture). This is, blurry or not, my big belly at the moment. It is kind of getting in my way when I want to tie my shoes (one disadvantage with winter and snow - I cannot go outside in flippers), when I fight to get my compression stockings on in the morning and off in the evening and when I want to reach that cup of tea (and the cookie that comes along with it) on the living room table while sitting in the sofa. But apart from those minor things it's quite alright at the moment.

Delivery date is coming closer and after this weekend when we went to Oskarshamn for a short visit we are more prepared than ever. In the car we brought back a baby bed with mattress, a baby chair and a backpack for carrying a baby (though these two items we won't be needing in the beginning), all from Matts' sister with family, as well as a bag filled with baby clothes, both home made and bought as well as another, giant bag, filled with bed linens and stuff from my mother-in-law. What we forgot was the baby car seat so we don't know how we'll make it back home from the hospital yet...

Sick leave

2010-02-03T08:42:00.003+01:00

Today it should have been my first day off this week, but due to the Winter vomit disease it's my third day at home instead. No fun at all, but what can I do? I am quite sure Matts brought the bug with him when he returned home from the US on Saturday (food poisoning he thought, but I'm convinced that's not what he had). It all started on Sunday night and even if I have been able to keep everything I have drunken and eaten since Monday afternoon, I'm still not feeling that good. I really hope today will do the trick and that I will be up and running like normal tomorrow. We'll see.

The plan for today is to take a small walk outside in the snow storm. Yesterday night I could hardly go to sleep since my body was craving some activity. So finally, I got out of bed and went out with the garbage. It was quite nice, I have to say. Lots of snow, barely anyone else outside and a really nice temperature (just below freezing). So I took a small walk around the block and then fell asleep almost as soon as I was back in bed.

I know that many of you want to see some more pictures of the growing me, and I promise to see to that as soon as I feel like dressing in something else than my pyjamas and well enough to put on some make up...

Seven weeks to go

2010-01-24T18:21:00.003+01:00

What can I say? I'm gigantic! Compared to what I looked like in October (see here) I am enormous now. Where will this end? I'm sorry to see that it's not only my belly that has grown, but also the rest of me. I hope most of it is fluids that'll go away as soon as this is over... :-) Anyway I plan on lots of walking with the baby once it has decided to come out to the real world. And since we have bought a great baby carriage literally made for long walks I am sure those extra kilos won't be a long story. But still they say nine months of gaining weight and nine more to loose it. I guess I'll be really fit just in time for all the goodies on the Christmas table then...

This is, by the way, the official After X-mas picture to be compared with this one.

Chocolate balls

2010-01-23T17:08:00.005+01:00

Today I made some Chokladbollar. They are very easy to make and are delicious (for those of you who have had Delicatobollar, the kind that they sell in Ikea, this is the homemade version).

All you need is 100 g of butter that you beat with 1 deciliter sugar until well blended. Then you add 3 deciliter oatmeal, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp vanilla sugar and 2 tbsp cold, strong coffee.

Mix well and form small balls (this recipe yields everything from about 24 small balls to a few big ones). Roll the balls in coconut flakes, decorative sugar (these two versions I made today) or colorful sprinkles. Then put them in the fridge until it is time to eat them. Oh, I can hardly wait to taste mine later tonight!

There's an alligator in our bath tub!

2010-01-23T17:03:00.002+01:00

Lately we have had an alligator in our bath tub! It is there to prevent me from slipping and falling over when I take a shower since I kind of have gained a lot of weight lately and no longer know where my center of gravity is... In addition to this problem I now wake up every morning with extreme swollen fingers - so swollen they hurt and I cannot bend them properly until I have been up for a while. And then we have my legs. If I don't wear support stockings my ankles look like logs in the evening. All these things are symptoms of the wonder that's growing inside of me, so I really shouldn't complain but appreciate these weird things that happen to me at the moment. :-)

On a tired Saturday morning

2010-01-21T19:43:00.005+01:00

I know that this isn't the most beautiful picture of me and the belly, but hey, what do you look like yourself on Saturday mornings? Here I am, pre breakfast and pre gym (hence the fancy clothes and hair-do).

Today we went for the second (and probably last) ultrasound examination. We found out that the baby weighs a little more than 2.2 kg at the moment and that everything looks good so far. It is now more or less fixated with the head down and what I feel pressing on my ribs on the right side is probably the butt... :-)

A trip to Falun

2010-01-19T16:59:00.005+01:00

In the beginning of January, I went to Falun to visit my parents. They live a seven hour train ride from Lund and when I booked my tickets I got to experience one of the weird things about the Swedish train ticket system. The ticketing system in Sweden is nothing at all like the Swiss one. It actually resembles the system for the flight tickets more... Why? Well, to get a good price you have to book your tickets far in advance since the prices go up the closer to departure date you come - at least on popular travel days and times. This time I booked kind of late (that is not three months in advance) so the tickets were quite expensive, but ok. The funny thing was that the 1st class ticket was cheaper than the 2nd class one! This happens now and then since people in general travel 2nd class to save money and never even consider checking the 1st class price. It is very weird anyway.

However, as a 1st class passenger, my ticket to Falun not only was cheaper than the 2nd class ticket, but it also included breakfast since I left quite early in the morning. So there I was, sitting in a nice chair on the train having an excellent breakfas and paying less than many in the crowded 2nd class carriages!

Then I reached Falun and my parents and met a winter wonder land! The temperature was about -25 C all the time, and the sun shone from a blue sky. Falun really is a very nice town and almost every day I took a walk along the river and one of the lakes close to my parents house.

The sun stands very low during winter and the light is fantastic. I really love winter, and dressed in long johns, warm glowes, good shoes and Matts' warm winter coat I could enjoy the cold. I did get an ice mustache though as well as nice, red cheeks, but I really didn't freeze.

From Falun I took the train to Kumla to visit my grandmother and then I went to Örebro to see my brother and one of my sisters as well as meet her boyfriend for the first time. Then I went back to Lund. During these parts of the trip I did experience more of the Swedish train system. First, going to Kumla, we had to go on a bus in the middle of the train trip since the rail was broken for a bit (probably due to heavy cargo trains with bad wheels literally cracking the cold rali). Then, from Örebro I once again had to take a bus instead of the train for the first bit since a train had derailed... And then, of course, my last train was about half an hour late to Lund... But all in all it was a very good trip.

New Year and all that

2010-01-18T20:11:00.003+01:00

Time is passing by really fast now and I cannot believe it's almost three weeks since year 2010 begun. But so it is.

New Year we celebrated with good friends. Andrea and Thomas came down from Gothenburg for a couple of days and on New Year's Eve Jenny and Samuel also joined us. Matts did his thing in the kitchen and prepared a great three course meal on an apple theme... Yummy indeed!

On New Year's Day, Frida and Lars came by on their way back to Switzerland. As always, it was very nice to meet them and we had 24 really nice hours together before they had to leave for the airport.

Christmas impressions 2009

2009-12-30T08:55:00.007+01:00

We went to Oskarshamn to celebrate Christmas with Matts' family. We arrived to a snow white and cold town, but on Christmas day it started to rain and everything was just wet wet wet. But then, the temperature crept below freezing once more and we had a thin layer of snow so it was once more beautiful (and really slippery).

Here are some pictures. First, the Christmas tree and some of the gifts. In Sweden, the tradition is that the gifts are placed under the tree and opened on Christmas eve, sometime between the big Christmas dinner, Donald Duck on TV and the dessert.

Matts and his niece were so happy it finally was Christmas eve...

This is the Christmas candy that Matts and I made a few days before Christmas. Yummy! On Christmas eve, Santa came by with some additional gifts.

Matts and I took a walk in Oskarshamn and this is the town seen from one side of the harbor. Oskarshamn is situated right by the sea and from here you can take the ferry to Gotland, the biggest island in Sweden.

4th Advent fika

2009-12-20T20:14:00.001+01:00

Soft gingerbread cake, syltbollar and lussekatter. And to that, of course Julmust, the no 1 Christmas soda in Sweden.

Before X-mas

2009-12-19T11:20:00.006+01:00

This is how big I am today. The question is how my size will be affected by all the good Christmas foods I will eat next week... And I have to admit that I already started... Yesterday, I ate a quarter of a big chocolate box, Paradis, all by myself. It was gooood. :-)

Paradis is one of two chocolate boxes that are sold in tremendous amounts here in Sweden, especially around this time of the year. The other one is Aladdin. Paradis contains only milk chocolate while Aladdin has mostly darker pralins. The box I started on yesterday was a gift from our local grocery store but I am almost 100% sure that we will get another one as a Christmas gift next week...

Christmas time

2009-12-18T17:21:00.006+01:00

Now it's only a few days left to Christmas. Matts is on his way home from his last workday for a couple of weeks and then we will head to the mall for dinner and gift shopping. It is hopefully not too hectic this time on a Friday, so it should be ok. Here at home it's very cozy now anyway. We have our holiday decorations up and it really makes a difference now when it is so dark outside (but we do have some snow that lightens up).

In the living room the Angel Chimes reminds me of our first December in Switzerland. At this time I didn't have a set of my own and was struck by surprise to find one at some Swiss friends place. It was so beautiful and reminded med so much of Sweden that I burst into tears! I realized that I just had to get my own set. :-) In the window in the background we have the Advent star. They come in many different sizes and models and are very common here in Sweden. The small Christmas tree isn't decorated yet - and might not be this year - but spreads a nice light in the hallway.

For the first time ever, we have a dining table big enough to use the beautifully embroidered table cloth that we got from my mother-in-law several years ago. It is of course embroidered by herself and it adds a lot to the Christmas feeling in our kitchen. Now we just have to be careful not to spill on it while eating. :-) But things like this are made to be used and not stuffed away in a box and stains are part of life...

The Advent candlestick in the window is almost a must in every Swedish home and this time of the year it is so nice to see them in the windows of every single building. We have two, one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom, but some people have many more (or only one).

Compared to Switzerland, Swedes generally have more lamps in the windows. In Switzerland, the windows are dark and often covered by curtains and I missed the cheerful window lamps that make people's homes look cozy from the outside while living there. We couldn't even find the kind of lamps that we wanted to have in Switzerland when we were about to decorate our place there! Different countries and different cultures.

Tip: to see more details on the pictures, simply click on them.

I know

2009-12-15T22:53:00.003+01:00

... that nothing much has happened on this blog lately. I have been extremely busy (to be me) and then, of course, very tired in between. :-)

My mother has been visiting. She baked lussekatter and pitepågar since I really haven't had time to make things like that lately. And lussekatter is a must for December 13, when we celebrate the Lucia day here in Sweden. Thank you so much, mum! She also cleaned some of our windows, something I just didn't seem to get down to.

Then my friend Andrea came for a short visit and we had a great day together. We went downtown, had a fika (of course) and just strolled around in Lund. Very nice!

And then I have worked, of course. I now have two part-time jobs, one that's about 10 hrs every week and one that's 15 hrs every week. Far from full time, but more than enough for me, at least right now. :-) But now I only have two more days to work before the holidays so I am happy!

A day "off"

2009-12-02T08:41:00.003+01:00

Last Saturday it was time for another walk here in Skåne. We planned on going, but as the weekend approached we realized that what we really needed was a day at home, doing whatever we felt like. So we stayed home. Instead of walking in the nature (it was a lovely day so I am sure it had been great as well) we slept in, had a long nice breakfast, finally got down to put our pictures and stuff on the walls, took a walk downtown to check out a few things - including a nice fika at a café with very nice stuff - as well as going by the library to borrow a couple of movies. Then we just relaxed at home. Sweet.

On Sunday, 1st of Advent, I went to church to sing in the Advent choir. It was really fun to sing in a choir again - it's been more than two years since last time now. Then Matts and I took a walk through town since there are markets and stuff going on all over the place (pretty much all over Sweden) on this particular Sunday. We bought some burned almonds and had yet another fika on a very classical confectionery before heading back home again.

Now it's Wednesday and I have a day off from work. Lovely. What's not so lovely is that I have like a ton of things to do at home and if I don't start soon I'll never finish. So now it's time to start cleaning, making a menu for the week to come and go grocery shopping til I drop. :-) I really should go to the gym as well, but I am too tired and have a small cold going on, so I probably won't (even if my back says I really should). But cleaning and shopping is exercise as well, isn't it?