Dear People Of The World

Was it something I said?

Kind regards,
The one with a grand total of two comments on the last twelve posts, one of which I wrote myself.

A Mother's Pledge

THIS I PROMISE YOU
I will not wave goodbye with vacuum cleaner in hand again, saying "have fun!" with scary fake-happy voice. I will not have you grow up thinking this is normal behaviour. It is not. It may be common, it may be classic motherness, but it's not normal. So there. This will not happen to us again. I will not be that person. This I promise you.

Cornwall Update

We are going to Porthleven!
A big thanks to Jo for excellent advice.
(This picture taken by someone called Mark Stokes. Hello Mark!)

Lady Day Waffles

We celebrated with waffles this morning, just like last year. Interesting discussions this year too, and a little less graphic. The reason Swedes eat waffles on this day is that "Vår Fru" (Our Lady) sound very much like "våfflor" (waffles). At least if you say it quickly. And I guess back in the days people really weren't opposed to find an excuse to feast on milk and eggs in the middle of Lent... A pragmatic people, if anything, the Swedes. So a feast we had! I'm hoping for leftovers as dessert. Happy Friday, everyone.

Sweet Release

Yesterday we finally launched my company website. Big phew. There isn't an English version yet, but hey, I've shared stranger things than this with you. So, without further ado, I give you: SECRETAIRE. Feel free to hire my ass.

PS. It has rabbits.

Yes Please

I've had a crush on Coralie Bickford Smith for years. The talent! The name! The utter Britishness! And now she's done it again, with covers for Penguin's Great Food series. Just look at it. Swoooon. Photos from Saveur.com, check out her other work here (the Clothbound Series 1 is a dream).

You Said Not To Be Embarrassed About Blogging About Nothing

Spring curtains are up. They look like a drunk person made them. Cheerful, would be a kinder way to describe them. Maybe I was very cheerful making them, hence sewing anything but a straight line? Nevermind. Seriously, nevermind. They are curtains. And I have to be somewhere in thirty minutes, so really, nevermind.

Happy happy Wednesday, hope the sun shines merrily on y'all.

Say Hello To 1932

This is our street in 1932. Our house is the second on the right hand side. The downstairs window facing the camera is our kitchen. The one upstairs is Wilhelm's room. I wonder about the family that moved in here first. Who were they? Our kitchen window would have been their livingroom. And Wilhelm's room the bigger bedroom upstairs. Our study would have been their kitchen, and our bedroom and livingroom wouldn't have been there at all. The big birch isn't there. But the apple trees in the back would have been planted, though we can't see them here. I wonder who they were, the house's first family.

This Week's Eats

Well, this weekend was a bit on the boring side. But nevermind. There were highlights as well. The godchild is finally back on Swedish turf, mother and father and brother in tow. Such a very good reunion. Life is so much better when my loved ones stay on this continent. Stay put, I tell you! Stay put!

If you'd like to read some more about this week's eats and happen to be fluent in Swedish, I've added a link to my husband's tumblr above to your right. It's a very good place to go, trust me.

Still a little disappointed that noone answered my Big Love question. I guess NieNie doesn't read Leo... But someone out there must know? No?

Wishing you a very good Monday. Hope you'll get to eat something delicious.

Monday
Risotto ai funghi. Mushrooms from Midsomer, rice from Italy, a well traveled and delicious dish. And yes, the children will hate it. Vehemently.

Tuesday
Zuppa ceci. (It does sound better in Italian, you can't hate me for this). But yes, chick pea soup it is. Again. The kids will not enjoy this either. A tough week for the kiddos.

Wednesday
Noodles with salmon, hopefully in some kind of wonderful broth. If this turns out well it will be the essence of comfort food. If not, well, then at least we tried.

Thursday
Kid's night! Mashed potatoes and falukorv i ugnen. You know, that weird Swedish dish that I've mentioned before? It really doesn't translate well. And you won't want to cook it. So I think we'll just leave it at this.

Friday
The last of the venison. The last filet it is. After this it's all stews. Dear filet, how I will treasure thee! Had the second last one Saturday. Best meal I've had this year, except for our visit to Porto Cervo a couple of weeks ago. Goodbye dear deer!

This Thursday Feels Like Friday

Sometimes it hits me.
Hits me in the best way.
More like a spark than a ton of bricks.
More like a buzzing sound, like a bumblebee in the window before you let it out.
More like the noise from the refrigerator, that you feel more than you hear.
Sometimes I hear it.
Sometimes I feel it.
Sometimes it's right there.
And I close my eyes to keep it inside.
It's so good.

This Week's Eats

Sunday two weeks ago I took the kids grocery shopping at the mega giant ultra big treacherous supermarket where we hardly ever go. A fun family outing! Ha. Jesper's famous last words before we left: "Look, I don't want to sound patronizing or anything, it's just that it's happened to me before, so I just figure I'd tell you, ok? This place is DANGEROUS. You will buy more than you ever dreamed of and quite possibly break the bank. I'm just saying. You know. I've done it. It happens. Real easily too." With this sermon ringing in my ears I entered Babylon, fully determined to buy ONLY what was on the list and ONLY things that we really need. Yeah, that didn't work out. At all. So this week's theme? Budget, baby.

Monday
Chicken dumplings with coconut rice, spicy salad with cucumber, carrots and roasted sun flower seeds. (Turns out that minced chicken is very inexpensive. Let's not think about why. And organic shredded coconut wasn't, so that we had to cut out.)

Tuesday
Courgette soup with mint and garlic, no grilled sandwiches, had forgotten to buy bread.

Wednesday
Bavette di salmone. Found a teeny tiny piece of salmon in the freezer, it will have to do. Lots of pasta, a dollop of cream, who's going to notice the salmon anyway?

Thursday
Omelette! With roasted potatoes (potatoes being the budget's best friend) and maybe a carrot or too, tortilla style. Winter salad (that's a pretty way of saying cabbage and carrots, m'dears).

Friday
A whole free range chicken (to make up for Monday), cooked in the oven with tons of vegetables. Really, who's budget makes it all the way to Friday night?

That's it! Next week we go deeper into the freezer on our quest for The Last Remains. Never know what might turn up. Gaaah! This week actually turned out as tasty as any other. Yay for me. Yay for you. Bye now.

Nothing, Really

This morning we had breakfast at Blanka's daycare. She was so proud. And hungry! She ate three eggs and a sandwich. How many eggs can a fouryearold eat without getting sick? (I ate two eggs myself, and two sandwiches. Someone had to keep her company.) Even Wilhelm munched away, it was sandwiches galore. Jesper was too embarrassed to eat all he really wanted, but I smuggled him a ham sandwich, pretending it was my own (since I have no shame). There was tea and coffee and everything you could ask for. Such a great idea, a drop-in breakfast. When we left I felt very much in love with the place and everyone who works there. So good. Thank you.

And it's a cellphone free environment so no pictures. You get to enjoy the timber from Midsomer instead. Doesn't it look like some kind of hazelnut brittle?

This post consists of nothing and has no literary ambition. It's not even funny. I feel sorry for you all. Maybe tomorrow I'll get my act together. It IS a pretty good picture, though. There's always that. Thanks for putting up with me. You are patient and kind.

A Day In The Life

Things I'd like to talk about today:
Dog etiquette – if it licks my hand, how soon can I go wash without hurting the owner?
Last episode of Mad Men. The drama, the tension, the suspense!
What to eat for lunch
Skinny jeans – why are they always too big or too small?
Backstreet Boys
Gardening
The Future – always interesting
Robbie Williams – friend or foe?
Easter
Big Love (see previous post)

Things I likely will discuss:
None of the above

And why, you ask me, is that so?
Am spending the day at a lovely office where I'm cast as New Girl.
Will try and act accordingly
Dear Lord, how hard it is.

Need To Know

Calling all LDS readers! (Do I have any? Oh, this is interesting on so many levels!) Here's the question of the day: Do Mormons watch Big Love?
And if so, to enjoy or to be appalled?
I need to know this. Please help.

Forever your humble servant,
A.

Lent

We're celebrating Lent this year by focussing on all that is good in our life. Adding difficulties at mealtimes is the last this family needs (believe you me), so giving up meat or dairy was not an option. But this is a time for reflection and the kids and I have been discussing what it means to be grateful. Hard to grasp and difficult to explain. But I'm happy with us just having the conversation. "I em grateful for momymy" Wilhelm wrote in his book. I think you all can guess what I wrote in mine.

Thank you for reading. I'm so very glad you're here.

Love,
A.

Again With The Videos

Today is International Women's Day. If you were born with the right to vote, went to school, married who you wanted and had children by choice, a little celebration is in place. No, make that a big one.

Tack mamma! Tack pappa!

Again With The Perks

I was at my desk, working. The sun was doing its Marchy thing, light and a little painful and very welcome. And then there were voices. Strong and beautiful, singing in perfect harmony, making me jump up and stand on my chair, to look out over the curtains. That good. And I'm picky. It was the neighbours, of course. The ultra talented girls with voices that cut right through the window and into my office. Working from home. Yeah, I'm still just seeing the perks.

Sportlov

It's Monday morning after a week off and everything is just that, a little off.
Not a bad way to start the week, really. We can be tidy and organized another day.
But first work.
Back soon.

What You Don't Know

It's funny when you make a decision.
You never really know where it's going to take you.
What doors it will open, where you will find yourself.
I wrote about leaving my job long before I knew I was going to leave.
As if the decision was being made somewhere else and all I had to do was follow.
And now that I've taken that step, my giant leap for annakind, I feel like there are other transitions being made.
Other possibilities, other ideas, taking place, taking up space.
It's a little scary.
And very exciting.

I'm so glad that you're coming along for the ride.