It being summer vacation, we hardly see Lydia these days.  She usually leaves the house within an hour of getting out of bed (assuming she even slept here, of course), and unless she needs her swimsuit or money (or both), we might not see her again until eight or nine o’clock. Because I made too… Read More A woman’s work

Last night we had a spectacular sunset behind our house, and a lovely big rainbow in front.  We hardly knew where to look. (Sorry for the blurriness here — I had to take it without the flash so that it didn’t end up looking dark.  These pictures were taken between 11pm and midnight.)

As I’ve mentioned before, we speak very little Swedish here at home. It always surprises me, then, to hear Petra speaking Swedish to herself when she plays. She can only have picked up the habit from Tage, who started using Swedish as his “play language” a couple of months after he started going to pre-school.… Read More Changeable

Last Monday evening I was sitting here in the office, doing one thing or another on the computer and listening with half an ear to Paul Jones’s weekly rhythm and blues program on BBC Radio 2. I turned my full attention to the radio when I heard the name of jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and… Read More Give this a listen

I’ve been feeling a bit homesick again — summer does that to me, particularly unsummery summers like this one — so this article struck a chord.  Some days I think I’d almost be game to try something like this. I wonder how many balloons I’d need to get from Sweden to Idaho?

A couple of days ago I bought this set of snazzy silicone muffin cups: My kids weren’t as content as I just to sit and admire the cheerful brightness of it all.  They wanted action!  Results!  I held out as long as I could, but in the end I succumbed to their demands.  Slave drivers.

I sometimes feel that the peace between us and two of our closest neighbors is a bit strained, dogwise.  There is one dog in each of their households, and the most charitable description I can give either–dog, not neighbor–is “unpleasant.”  The one I like less is an ugly white boxer who, I swear it, gives… Read More Rumble

Summer’s been coming in fits and starts this year, and I’m starting to worry that the whole thing will pass like this, without it feeling like it ever really got off the ground.  It’s been raining, or threatening to, most days, and even when it’s mostly clear out there’s such a breeze and so many… Read More Slow starter