Tagged: wonderfulworld

21
Jan
2016

SEASONAL BLING

Oh hi there! Here I am with nothing to say. Okay, I have something to say…let’s see if I can dig it out of the inner recesses of my brain. It’s beautiful here today, but OMG so cold. It was -9C when I left for work this morning and despite the fact that sun was shining and the entire sky was this pale, translucent pinky lavender blue all day long it was FREEZING. With a capital BRRRR. The fog was laying low over the fields all last night which meant that this morning everything was covered in inches-long hoarfrost. And...

07
Jan
2016

THE GOOD COUNTRY

I had made a comment to Anders some time ago, that my VW Jetta seems to want to go around 140 k/h, and he agreed…his VW feels the same. He said it was because that is approximately the speed you drive on the autobahn and the cars seem to be engineered to that comfort zone. 🙂 During our road trip through Germany, I got to drive a couple of times on the autobahn, and I’ll tell you what: I loved it. Drivers in Germany drive like you’re SUPPOSED TO DRIVE. They go fast, they stay to the right except when...

08
Oct
2015

SAVORY

I would have thought it was fall because I saw my first sugar beet on the side of the road just a few days ago (since then I’ve seen several), but the weather has apparently decided to fast forward toward winter. It’s been really cold, and gray, and windy as all get out. Two nights ago, the winds were so fierce that the leaves were literally leaping off the trees. Lawn furniture was blown about. The house shook with the gusts and kept waking me up. We’ve seen huge flocks of geese flying the wrong way south, honking their heads...

24
Aug
2015

OH SAY CAN I SEE!

I can see! OMG I CAN SEE EVERYTHING. I knew I was living in a blur, a fuzz, a near clear facsimile of vision, but I had no idea how bad it really was until today when I got my new glasses. I feel like I should look different, because now I look differently. Everything is so crisp and clear and readable. Even the tiniest, smallest print. Why did I wait so long?? For the first 20 minutes or so, I was a bit bothered by the subtle blur at the very corners of my peripheral vision; the edges of...

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,...

13
May
2015

PUT A PEONY ON ME

It’s raining again, and the lacy tracery of spring leaves against the branches of the trees is filling out into that one-color summer green already. At least I haven’t had to water the pansies but once since I planted them. I’m home early for a long weekend, though I was home sick all day yesterday, so it turned out to be an even shorter week than I anticipated. Tomorrow is Ascension Day which we have a holiday for in Sweden and my company gives us half-days off before holidays as well as the “pinch” day for Friday. Nice! Martin: *because...

25
Apr
2015

SEASONALITIES

I don’t remember this so clearly from my years in Chicago, but here in Sweden, one really lives after and by the seasons. I find myself looking out for the annual marker of the start of each season and feeling such satisfaction when it’s noted. Spring: pied wagtails Summer: clouds of gnats hovering in the summer evening air Fall: sugar beets on the side of the road (fallen off trucks) Winter: Advent candelabra Yesterday, I saw my first pied wagtail, so now it’s OFFICIALLY spring. The lacy tracery of bright green leaves wasn’t enough. The lush pad of fresh grass...

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...

11
Apr
2015

PRETTY PURPLES

I was smart; I stopped by Sularpsfarmen yesterday on the way home from work to buy pansies because I knew the weather forecast for the weekend was for nice weather and I knew Flyinge Nursery and Sularpsfarmen would be PACKED today and tomorrow. We’ve had several days of unbelievably gorgeous weather: 72 and sunny. California weather! One of the brothers helped me by carrying two bags of dirt to my car and I filled and purchased 2 flats full of pansies to boot. 24 pansies to a flat. I figured that ought to be plenty for my pots, right? Wrong....

30
Jun
2014

WHEN A WEEK OR MORE WHIZZES BY

Good things for remembering The sounds a baby makes when he’s content Walking and talking with my husband during the long hospital wait A woozy Martin smiling from the recovery room bed Simone’s Maultaschen, yum yum! The green and blue of leaves and water The way Sammy runs: flat-out Reading Blue Hat Green Hat to Sammy and laughing like loons Spotify quizzes with John and Anders and the kids Simone’s victory dance when Germany won the group game against the USA in the World Cup Not needing the fans we brought and being able to have the bedroom window cracked...

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