Today was the last day of Olof’s vacation. I don’t envy him having to return to the daily grind after having five weeks off. That must be a hard adjustment. I know it’s going to be a hard adjustment for me to have to resume full-time at-home mom duties instead of sharing the kid stuff… Read More Sunday in pictures

Sweet Mother of All That Is Holy, is it hot up here! We’ve all been reduced to giant inert blobs with barely enough strength to wipe the sweat from our brows. And, oh, what sweat it is … this humid heat is so sticky and uncomfortable. I could take a half-dozen showers a day and… Read More Mercury Rising

The rest of my family are in bed but I’m waiting up for Åsa. I just can’t sleep easy with her outside since Pia was killed. Today was a good day. Helena came over to help us wallpaper the living room, but we were very easily sidetracked by lunch, the beach, and fika so we… Read More Friday

I had a tray of geranium seedlings on the balcony. Fourteen tiny plants that I had nurtured from the day I planted the seeds four weeks ago and watched closely with an almost-maternal pride as they sprouted new leaves and reached their slender arms up to the light. This afternoon I stepped out onto the… Read More It’s Not Easy Being Green

We didn’t buy any fat pigs, but if Lydia had had her way we’d have come home with a baby goat or two. We just got home from spending two days in Lycksele, a town about two-and-a-half hours’ southwest of here. The highlight of the trip was a visit to Lycksele Djurpark, a Nordic zoo/amusement… Read More Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Asbjørn’s sweet tooth knows no bounds. He’s never been one to turn his nose up at a treat, but lately his gluttony has reached new heights. On Wednesday afternoon Debbie, Helena, and Melanie came by for fika and Debbie had made a scrumptious German chocolate cake, complete with Betty Crocker coconut/pecan frosting. After the four… Read More Dog Treats

I talked Olof into a trip to Alhems Trädgård, a local nursery, this afternoon, and I’m so glad I did. They’re having a sale on their summer plants, and I got three geraniums and two begonias for 65 SEK (eight U.S. dollars, give or take). Too bad I didn’t realize until the salesgirl rang everything… Read More Flower talk

I’ve finally recovered enough from our Stockholm weekend to start blogging again. We had a great time, but man were our days long and full. We came home completely exhausted and I don’t think either of us has caught up on sleep yet. Our flight left at seven o’clock Saturday morning, which put us at… Read More Stockholm Recap

Olof’s and my flight leaves from the Skellefteå airport in just over twelve hours. We’ll be in Stockholm from eight o’clock Saturday morning until five o’clock Monday afternoon, and we’ll be free as birds since the kids are staying with Olof’s parents. We’ll hardly know what to do with ourselves (actually, I think lots of… Read More Mama anxiety

As it turns out, our digital camera isn’t totally dead and it can be coaxed to take a few pictures now and again. We managed to get it working a couple of times today, and I got some nice pictures. The building of the wall has finally commenced and Lydia’s new room should be livable… Read More Picture Day