It's so great to get a surprise and to know that there are special people out there who notice and appreciate things that you do.

Today we came back from a few days sailing. When we came in, we listened to the messages on our answering machine and one of them was from a local florist, Blomster Snäckan asking when we would be in to get a delivery of a bouquet (called a bukett in Swedish!). Flowers? For us? It hardly seemed possible. Lars-Göran rang and yes, there were for us. As the delivery man had already gone home, we said we would come by and pick them up.

And this is what L-G picked up. As we had collected it rather than had it delivered, we got a few more flowers added. Isn't it beautiful? The florist told him that the requested colours were green and gold (now, there's a clue!), but she hoped it was okay that she added orange as well. Actually, it's perfect as orange is my favourite colour.

So who sent them? None other than Kate Juliff, the webmistress of this great site, Australians Abroad. What a huge surprise. All the way from New York to little Nynäshamn. Thankyou so much, even though it is ME who should send flowers to you. It really has cheered up my day and I feel really overwhelmed. Thankyou!

Yes, we did go out sailing and Lars-Göran's hands were better. Note the past tense. For some reason, the rash has started again, so it will be back to the psoriasis clinic again in the morning.

But on Thurdsay, we headed out in glorious spring sunshine.



It was cold still but look at those blue skies and the glint on the water. There could have been a touch more wind, but we were happy to be out on the water, even if we mainly confined our sailing to the local islands. There were several "teething problems" with various bits of equipment (a constant hazard on a sailing boat, I'm afraid) but we were quite satisfied with the few days out.

It wasn't all fun and games, though, as I still had to complete my homework for this week's Swedish classes. You can see that we have plenty of room inside - and even the Aussie flag above my head for inspiration.



On the Monday, L-G's 20 year old daughter, Madde, joined us for a day. As you can see, Lambi was delighted she was there!



The day had begun in warmth and sunshine, but unfortunately it clouded over during the morning and by lunchtime, it was raining steadily.



As you can see, we were not the only ones out that day. We had hoped to head down to Landsort and hike around the island to the lighthouse, but it was not really feasible in this weather.

So we went to a closer, small island called Solön. This translates as "The Sun Island", but as you can see from my full rain gear, it was hardly sunny that day! We have passed this island quite a lot while heading south. It lies on a busy fairway for pleasure boats and we have not had a chance to stop and look at it more closely. Usually it is busy when we are here and as rocks abound in the narrow channel, we usually have to concentrate on the navigation markers and depth meter rather than gaze at the surroundings.

However, it was really quiet on Monday, so we decided to see if it was deep enough to moor the boat to land and wander around for a look at what was there.

It seems that the island belongs to the local shire council's personell social club. There were several little cottages on the island that could be rented and a larger club-rooms with a great glassed-in balcony affording a view of the busy little channel as well as a glimpse of the main fjord and small archipelago there.

The small pier is quite deep and there is also a low pier for motor boats as well as several rowing boats for use by those renting the cottages. It would be a lovely place to rent for the summer.





One of the joys of being out now is that bird life is returning to the region. And as so few people are out, it is a great opportunity to watch the birds begin their nesting in peace and quiet.

The most common birds are gulls and various ducks.



Some of the ducks have chosen an "interesting" place to lay their eggs. Even those two gulls are taking a look.



I kid you not, they have nested in that big planter pot at the beginning of the pier. It really doesn't look too safe, does it?



The white swans are also busy getting their nests ready as well.



And there are also the fields of wildflowers that spring up in the lush, green grass around the island.



But there is work to do. Boats to be launched and the crane waiting for L-G's touch, so it's back to Nynäshamn, despite the mist and rain in order to get everyone else's boat season underway.