Why did I tempt fate yesterday by mentioning summer holidays? This morning when I got up at 6.30a.m., my world was white again. At first I thought I must be dreaming, but no, it was snowing heavily and the ground was covered in white! Just when I thought it was safe to pack away the long thermal undies....

Fortunately because of the "high" temperature (+7C), it was a shortlived, Mt Lofty kind of snow that quickly melted as the falling snow transformed itself into heavy rain and by 8a.m. it was as though it had never been. I guess today will be one of spring rains ahead of the nice sunny weekend they are forecasting. We have friends from Södertälje coming over on Saturday, so I hope it's nice enough to go out on the boat for a spin with them.

I can't believe that it's almost the weekend again already. I feel a bit out of rhythmn this week after the extra long weekend. All day Tuesday it felt like Monday and even today, I still act as though I've misplaced a weekday somewhere. It's a strange and slightly confusing feeling. Lars-Göran thinks it's a sign of my creeping old age.

At breakfast this morning, I looked out my kitchen window and spotted this cute little guy:




This is a sädesärla or pied wagtail, one of the bird species that winters in the Middle East and North Africa, returning to Sweden in the spring (which is apparently now, despite the morning's snow). A little later the female appeared and they busied themselves grubbing around in the grass for insects and calling out in their high, distinctive voices. They are such cute little birds and really remind me of the busy, cheeky little willy wagtails that we had in our suburban Adelaide garden. One of my aunties had one of these birds nesting in her letterbox once and she had to put in a second letterbox so they would not be disturbed!

Our seagull pair are back again as well. I've talked about them in past years as well as it is so unusual to see a nesting pair of gulls in a suburban garden. These guys have been coming to the house across the road for several years and while eating dinner yesterday evening, we watched them pulling out worms in the front lawn and strutting about as though they owned the place, which I guess in their world, they do. It is far more common to see them nesting out on exposed rocks in the archipelago and while it provides protection from some predators like domestic cats and foxes, it never seems a comfortable way to raise a family.




Yesterday was a warm, sunny spring day and an ideal one to check out the quiet woodland along the beach road, especially now that we are blessed with long hours of dayliht extending into the late evening. The light yesterday was really special and a taste of the next few months to come.




There is no doubt that I live in a beautiful area - this is but a short walk from our home. I like to gaze out across the glittering water towards the distant horizon and listen to the gentle lapping of the sea on the rocks below. There are no tides here in the Baltic, so the noise is nearly always a gentle, soft sound which is so unlike the crashing of surf that we associate with the sea in southern Australia.

One feels a sense of contentment as you stand here with the sea before you and the quiet forest behind. The only sounds that break the rhythm of the water are the hunting cries of a gryfalcon circling overhead, the reverberating echoes of a woodpecker hammering on a birch tree nearby and the sharp clear song of an osprey over the bay. I really love how dappled the floor of the forest is in this light and what a splendid spicy fragrance wafts up as you walk through these woods.




These are not earth shattering experiences by any means, but coming after a long cold winter, they made me feel like dancing, and delighting in the light and the patterns everywhere.

Then it was home for fika and this too was something special. Sandy, a friend of mine living in the west of Sweden posted a recipe some time ago for a Mexican Fruitcake. I emailed her to ask if she had forgotten to put in the butter (all cakes seem to start with the instructions, cream butter and sugar...), but she assured me that the recipe was correct so I went ahead and baked it. What can I say? I thoroughly recommend that you try the cake. It was so quick and easy to make and the cake itself was moist, substantial and delicious, especially iced with the cream-cheese icing - a perfect ending to a perfect day.