It's snowing again after a few days of semi-spring weather. I knew it was too early for spring, even if it was the official start on Saturday. Spring plays a crazy hide-and-seek game here in Sweden until it suddenly bursts out full force in late May. Not withstanding the white carpet outside, there are hard-working buds and green leaves pushing their sturdy little selves on up out of the ground.

I'm never really at my best in the cold, especially the cold days you get here in the spring when a piercing March wind sweeps down straight from the North Pole, finding its way inside clothing, nipping at my nose and ears. And the fog doesn't help. It snowed overnight, then a real "pea-souper" rolled in making visibility zero and creating a rather cheerless scene. When I went out with Lambi it was quite eerie - the air was cold and damp, I couldn't see even a few inches in front of me and a curlew crying broke the enveloping silence and nearly made me jump out of my skin.

I just don't know how the local bird life can stand it!



I've been rather sick over the last week with some kind of flu bug. So I've been on a book a day diet. But now I'm slogging my way through the same book, five pages at a time, with no promise of coming to the end anytime soon. It's just The Last Camel Died at Noon, but it's starting to feel like Proust. Written in a Victorian style, it features a fairly strong female protagonist narrator, with an equally strong husband and a far too precocious child. Within these pages are more euphemisms for sex than I thought I'd ever know. But I honestly think it's the precocious child character that I find most offputting, as I probably visibly cringe when he comes on the scene; children who know more than adults in any given situation is the bane of good fiction, I think.

I'd have given up on it by now, except that it's about Egyptian archaeology, which has always been very interesting to me, but I'm having a hard time finding the will to continue with it.

Anyway. We did manage to move the boat around to her new berth on the one fine day we had last week. She looks rather lonely out there, doesn't she?



It look idyllic - blue skies and water, calm, peaceful. But don't be fooled. It's still freezing cold and the following day that scene had turned into this:



And it's much the same today, just add a liberal sprinkling of snow. :(

On Sunday night I watched an excellent program on SVT2 about Mikael Andersson.

What an inspirational story of courage and determination. Mikael was born without arms or legs and has struggled all of his life to do simple things that we take for granted. But rather than be bitter about the circumstances, he exudes positive vibes, love for himself and those around him and a zest for living that took my breath away. The show was not sentimental and nor was he - he is far too busy enjoying and experiencing all that the world has to offer to feel sorry for himself. What a sobering lesson.

The documentary was called Armlös, benlös, makalös. Scroll down the link to the box that says "Se klipp med Mikael" and click on the links to see short videos of how he gets on in daily life. "Det ringer" really blew me away.

Laugh of the Day: What About Bones. Some of the pictures were hilarious!

And as I know you love these quizzes, try this one:


You are a frying pan. You have a lot going on in
your life, but you just let it all settle. You
take your time in life and concern yourself
with ONLY what really matters. You are fun-
loving and considerate. You make friends easily
and deal with hardships well. You love to be
occupied and enjoy a good laugh.


What Kitchen Utensil Are You?
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