We have got to start getting to bed earlier, but considering that it’s past ten as I type this and nobody seems to be winding down yet, I don’t think tonight will be the night. Since Olof’s vacation started a week ago, we haven’t gone to bed before midnight (yes, that includes the kids, I’m ashamed to report), and we’ve been rolling out of bed sometime between ten in the morning and noon. On one hand, I suppose it doesn’t really matter what the time is as long as we’re all getting our eight hours, especially since we still have twenty-four hours of daylight, but it seems like such a waste of a perfectly good day to stay in bed until noon.

The day was more than perfectly good today and when I got up at eleven this morning and saw the sun shining through the kitchen windows I started berating myself for squandering even a few precious, rain-free hours. Not long after we got up, Olof, Tage and I took Asbjørn up to the top of the local mountain to run free and wear himself out. When we got home, Lydia wanted to have lunch outside so she and I seized the opportunity and took our plates out to the porch to eat. After lunch we spent most of the rest of the afternoon sitting outside enjoying the sunshine. Much to my amazement, it got warm enough that both Olof and I were forced to change into lighter clothing, a rare treat in this unsummery summer. Even better, I managed to get three or four loads of clothes hanged outside on the line to dry and I’m nearly caught up on the laundry now.

I lingered so long outside with my book and my fika that I didn’t have dinner ready until after seven o’clock. It was well worth the wait, though, at least as far as I was concerned. I made an Indian black-eyed pea dish that was delicious. I think I could have eaten the entire pan by myself (something I’m sure would have made Lydia happier than seeing it on her own plate). That recipe is definitely going in the “do-again” stack.