Tagged: obiterphotos

20
Jul
2015

HEATING UP: CROATIA (PART 1)

We had plans to do a lot more while we were in Croatia, but the heat flattened us. Okay, okay, it flattened ME. I knew it was going to be warm down there…intellectually, but I wasn’t really prepared for just how hot and humid it actually was. The day we arrived it was 38 degrees Celsius (damn hot). Barky promptly curled up and died. The other thing that flattened us was my brother’s ambulance ride to the hospital during the night of our arrival. I don’t think our heart was in Croatia. I know mine wasn’t. Maybe someday I’ll go...

19
Jul
2015

PALACES, PARKS AND POMP: VIENNA

We didn’t give Vienna a chance, really. I don’t know if we just weren’t in the mood or what. We spent three nights there which equaled 2 full days and we barely scratched the surface. No one wanted to pay the money to go see a concert (and frankly, it was only me that was really interested), and the Spanish Riding School is closed for July (drrr) so no dancing Lippizaner horses for us. After Prague’s lovely candy-colored and Old Europe impression, Vienna struck us as too big, too modern, too OVERDONE, somehow. People there were rude to us for...

18
Jul
2015

REST IN PIECES

I imagine it must be pretty peaceful at night when the doors are closed and the lights are off and the line of tourists has ebbed and gone but it doesn’t strike me as much of a RESTING place, despite the fact that it’s estimated that the remains of more than 40,000 people are interred here. We left Prague on Wednesday morning and headed toward Vienna with a little detour in mind: the suburb of Sedlec in the town of Kutná Hora. The Ossuary Chapel attracts over 200,000 visitors annually. The bones date all the way back to the 14th...

17
Jul
2015

COBBLESTONES, BRIDGES & SPIRES: PRAGUE

We tried to plan a trip to Prague several years ago. I’ve always wanted to go, though I’m not sure why. Prague doesn’t have the same call for my heart the way Edinburgh does, but I’d heard so much about it, all good, that it was high on my list of destinations. The kids were much younger then and the more research I did, the more I realized that the Prague I wanted to visit wasn’t necessarily one that my children would want to go to…and we ended up changing our plans that year. But, it’s always been in the...

14
Jun
2015

ING*

Reading: Re-reading golden oldies…Diana Wynne Jones’ YA fantasies. She was amazing. Listening: The last artists I found and added to my Spotify list are Jess Penner and Natalie Prass. Melodic and delightful! Thinking: About writing to-do lists, haha! Smelling: Nothing. I can never smell anything because I am apparently permanently stuffed up. *sigh* Wishing: The pansies would last even longer but I’m guessing it’s about time to start re-potting. Planning: The things that still need to be taken care of before our trip. Wearing: Capri pants and no-sleeve shirts (even though it was really too cold for them today). Loving:...

06
Jun
2015

WHEW!

Crazy week from hell is finally over and I can enjoy the sudden summer that has been visited upon us. Monday was our 19th wedding anniversary…next year is 20! TWENTY YEARS. That’s crazy. We didn’t do much, and didn’t even exchange gifts, but Anders cooked a delicious dinner 🙂 Tuesday and Wednesday were high school graduation parties for the sons of friends. We all went to the first one on Tuesday but it was just me on Wednesday at my friend Debbie’s, whose son Jacob is only one year older than Martin. Next year it’s our turn: EEK. Nearly everyone...

31
May
2015

A MOMENT

We’ve not had much warm weather so far this spring, it’s been very changeable. Every five minutes, a new condition: rain, breezy, sunny, cloudy, hail, chill, you name it. Yesterday, on the way home from dinner in Malmö with Anders’ mom we saw several rainbows. One of them was huge and simply perfect; you could see ALL the colors. Even Anders (who is color-blind), said he thought he could actually see red. Usually all he sees is blue and yellow: all his rainbows are Swedish! It’s lilac time, my favorite. They smell so lovely outdoors. We don’t have any, yet,...

21
Apr
2015

SPROING

Around every corner, the fuchsias are glowing. The bird cherries have exploded like white blossom popcorn trees and the magnolias are about to blow. There are little leaves on the lilacs but they’re still a couple of weeks away. The thornbush in the back yard has also exploded with starry white blossoms. It’s not really a bush anymore; it’s nearly a tree. I wonder what it is? Hawthorn? Blackthorn? Judging from what I found online, it is either a blackthorn or a cherry plum. I’ll have to pay more attention to the fruit later, but I’m pretty sure it’s not...

08
Mar
2015

SECOND VERSE SAME AS THE FIRST

Why do I get the feeling March is going to be one of those barely-manage-to-post-once-a-week months? I could write more, but I’d have to spend more energy wresting the computer away from the clutches of my World-of-Warcraft-obsessed offspring and frankly, I just can’t be orked. Plus I am busy alternating between reading a really good, fascinating book and working my way up through endless levels of Tap Titans, so as you can tell, my life is SUPER EXTRA IMPORTANTLY BUSY right now. Someone who lives nearby and whom I have ended up behind on the highway more than once, has...

18
Jan
2015

TREASURE HUNTS

I probably wrote about these back when we were doing them, but I was cleaning our bedroom today (spring-cleaning! in the winter!) and found this little stack of tiny notebook pages. Upon further investigation, I realized they were the treasure hunt lists that I used to make to entice Martin to go walking with me. We’d walk around Flyinge with this tiny notebook and he’d check things off as he found them. I don’t remember how old he was but it has to have been when he was pretty young. 9 maybe? Give or take. Usually I would make up...

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