We set off for Stockholm to pick up the car. There is still a ton of snow around, though the forecast is for warmer conditions, so I guess it won't hang around much longer. Still, I guess we won't be using the outdoor table for a while.



We had to pick up a few items before we left for home and still, during my fifth winter here in Sweden, I'm fascinated to see a dark sky and the moon already high in the sky at 3pm.



We had a lovely weekend away, though it was a long and tiring drive and we would not ever consider doing it again in winter. So much of the journey was spent in dark, fog, sleet and snow which wasn't funny. How much nicer it would have been on a lovely summery day. I wonder if they will consider moving Thanksgiving to summer? If you look at the map, you can see Stockholm on the east coast, and we drove from there to the southern coast near Malmö.

Our friends live in a little town just north of there. The town is very small, but still within easy commuting distance from the city. Their home is on the edge of town and the view out of the windows was of farmland - very peaceful and green. This area of Sweden is called Skåne and is quite unlike the area where we live. It is very a flat landscape and reminded me a lot of the time I spent in Holland. One thing that Lars-Göran loved was that there was no snow. It's quite a bit warmer here than in Stockholm and apparently rarely snows.

We went to take a look at the Stork Project just down the road.



Aren't they great? This scheme involves breeding of storks in order to release them into the wild to replenish the dwindling population.

I've never seen a stork before and nothing makes me feel more that I'm living in Europe than the sight of birds such as these. There is something very Hans Christian Andersen about it all. They made these funny clicking sounds with their beaks that made me laugh. And look at those dangly legs when they fly.



Lars-Göran firmly believes that the stork dropped him in the wrong place and that he really belongs in Australia. He thinks the stork was too lazy to fly that far, so he was delivered to Vasa instead. He looked very carefully at them trying to work out if one of them was responsible, but they ignored him. It was great to see the wild ones out flying about and nesting on the tops of the buildings.



These buildings are part of the royal stud breeding stables that are located nearby. The Flyinge Kungsgård are where the Swedish olympic team horses are kept, along with a huge riding school, veterinary study school and has been here since 1681. The buildings are so beautiful (complete with a stork nest, of course)



But now we have to hurry back for Thanksgiving dinner!

We spent a busy day in Stockholm today, collecting my mother-in-law's car and picking up some last minute things. At sparrow's fart in the morning, we are packing up the car with wine, goodies, dog, birds and of course us, as we are heading south to a little town called Flyinge (just north of Lund) for the weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with a lovely Swedish/American couple we have got to know. I can't wait! We first have to drop off the two girls at their friend's place in Malmö, so it will be a tiring day.

It's quite a long trip - the equivalent of an Adelaide to Melbourne run, with the added delights of snow, ice, darkness, fog and moose with no road sense to add a certain Russian roulette air to proceedings. But I have every faith in Lars-Göran's driving ability in these conditions.

For those of you who live in America or indeed Americans living anywhere in the world, today is officially Thanksgiving. I wish you all a great day - and don't eat too much turkey. See you back here next week.

This is exactly what it felt like yesterday morning when I awoke and found myself magically transported to a Narnia like landscape, completely in control of the White Witch. Do you remember those wonderful books by C.S. Lewis in the Narnia Chronicles as well as the superb adaptation of them several years ago in the British series The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe? At the time, I could not even begin to picture a landscape covered with snow and I wondered what it was like to live in a world like that. Perhaps that is the reason I have adapted to snow so well - it captures that part of me that was stirred by tales such as Narnia.

The handiwork of the White Witch was in evidence everywhere. I looked directly out of my front window and sympathised with the neighbour across the road, who was facing a long job de-icing his car and shovelling the driveway before work.



I was very glad to live in an apartment with no car when I saw that sight. This entry will be mostly pictorial as I went a bit crazy photographing the white stuff. Out on the balcony, looking to the right up the street, I saw how much it had snowed overnight as well as seeing that the ploughs had been out early clearing the streets.



The yellow building on the corner houses a popular local pub on the ground floor (I pity the poor people who have to live above it!). We get to hear the music on Saturday nights and have come to dread Karaoke nights. Why do people bother? Moving right along, we turn to the left on the balcony and see down the street towards centrum.



See what I mean about a look of magic? It is so very pretty. I do realise that it's not all fun. While eating breakfast, I got to watch someone shovelling the driveway of an elderly neighbour. The poor woman was dressed for work in a skirt, stockings, court shoes and a rather nice coat. I don't think it was an ideal outfit for the work she was doing.



Yes, apartment living is looking better and better! I went out for some grocery shopping and really savoured the beauty of the snow piled up on the bushes.



It was not completely white, though. Those rowan berries were still around and covered in ice, ensuring they will be nice and sweet for the birds that are still trying to live here over winter. They provided a welcome splash of colour dotted here and there in the street.



The shop was full of people today, which surprised me as it was only Wednesday and I was hoping for a little peace and quiet to think of what I needed to get. It doesn't really bother me that much, though the long queues at the checkouts are always a pain. I have no idea why they don't have things like express lanes, cash only lanes - hey even a few more cashier lanes actually open would be a good start. Still, the walk home was nice - it is great to live in a smaller place where you get to see more than row upon row of apartment blocks. Here there is a sense of space - and the chance to enjoy that particularly lovely northern light of winter.



Just an hour later, looking out at the 4pm sky, it was a very different, but spectacular picture. I couldn't get over how eerie it looked watching those indigo clouds flood past at a great speed. The temperature is falling again and that means more snow is on the way.



I'm really hoping the weather will ease later this week. Already there have been two deaths on the roads just outside of town in as many days. And as you can see from this story, more snow is predicted overnight. Luckily we did not lose power here (that must be awful for people in this weather!) but our broadband is not working properly and we are wondering if it's the sudden cold that is responsible. As an example, it took me TWO hours to log in to this site to update! It's like being back in the dark ages of dial-up all over again. It began on Saturday and after 5 days we are fed up with the frustration. I can't even accesss my usual email account for Pete's sake! We are running a broadband line diagnostic test sent to us by the broadband company later on to see if we can trace the problem.

I admit it! I'm an internet addict suffering withdrawal symptons.

What an incredible wind storm we experienced here overnight. While the temperatures have risen from -10° C to a more modest -1° C, a fierce blizzard has struck, with blinding snow and wild winds roaring through the streets. The wind chill factor alone makes going out a very uninviting thought. I’ve been watching people from my window doing quite passable Marcel Marceau impressions while trying to walk against the wind. I feel tempted to hold up a score out of 10 for their attempts, but remembering that We are in Sweden now, I wisely refrain from doing so. Who needs television?

I really love days like this (while I’m safe inside a warm, centrally-heated room, of course). I’m always reminded of that Emily Brontë poem The Night is Darkening round Me which was a poem I first read as a teenager on a stormy winter’s night in Adelaide and one that touched me so much that I recall it every time it’s Heathcliffe on the moors type of weather. I’m especially fond of wild winds when we are on the boat, as you really feel the force of nature – and let me assure you that Mother Nature is a force to be reckoned with. We used to lay by anchor on these stormy nights, cosy and safe in our warm berth and listen to the wind howl outside, shrieking through the rigging like a wild banshee. You really feel alive on a night such as that. But as poor Fiona is up on land at the moment, I’d better move right along. And anyway, this morning’s news reports bring sobering stories of a young man presumed drowned, swept from the deck of a tug boat in 60 knot winds off the east coast of Gotland, ships going aground, ferries, planes, trains and buses cancelled and chaos on the roads. It’s obviously been a tough night and I’m a little concerned as we face a long drive to Malmö (about 700km) at the end of the week and I see that the main road there is closed at Västervik because a fully laden oil tanker has overturned. I hope it eases by Friday.

But it is not all doom and gloom. The morning post brought me a wonderful surprise. A dear friend in Australia has given me a 12 month gift subscription to the fantastic Australian ABC magazine Delicious. I’ve read a copy that she kindly sent me last year and was really impressed. I love to cook and I especially look forward to discovering new, creative, innovative and delicious taste sensations. This magazine is great – it takes food seriously, but isn’t elitist and is full of the delights of Australian foods. It is crammed full of recipes, interviews with well known chefs and lots of foodie chatting. I was totally blown away by her generosity and it will be something to remember her by all year. It’s so good to have a friend who doesn’t forget that you exist, even though you are thousands of miles away.

The new Swedish Christmas stamps are now on sale and I went to Posten to stock up on what I needed. I haven’t actually written the cards yet, but having the stamps makes me feel partly organised and I can write them over the next couple of weeks while on the Stockholm-Nynäsham train commute. I saw the new stamps on a leaflet delivered by the post office and they are rather sweet – pictures of playful tomte (not Santa, but the Swedish giver of gifts – a little elf) by the well known Swedish illustrator Björn Berg. However, the leaflet only depicted the ones for domestic mail and upon reading the information, I saw that the tight arses were not issuing one for international postage. They said to use ordinary 10kr stamps.

No way! My overseas friends like to get the Swedish Christmas stamps, so I wondered if you could simply use two of the domestic stamps (they cost 5kr each) instead. I thought I should ask, as the domestic stamps are not marked with a price (a cunning device so they can raise the price without reprinting) and I didn’t want my mail returned to me. So, I went to the counter and asked for the Christmas stamps. I explained to the girl that I wanted to use them for overseas mail, too and was that possible. She said an emphatic “No, you have to use ordinary stamps”. Not to be perturbed, I did a very unSwedish thing and asked “Why? After all, it costs the same” She replied that the stamps had the word inrikes (domestic) printed on them and as such could only be used inside Sweden. I was ready for that, having carefully studied the picture in the Posten handout and seeing no inrikes on them. “No they don’t” I countered “it only says Julpost 2004”. She looked and saw I was right, so she turned over the sheet (they are sold in those self sticking packs of 10) and read the magic phrase Du kan även använda julpostfrimärkena för båda in- och utrikes brev…

Well, I was gracious in victory and simply smiled and bought what I needed. Luckily I was prepared to question it more closely. Flushed with that small success I ventured next door to a charming little shop called Jane’s Kryddbod. It is an enchanting little shop full of spices, herbs, teas, condiments, sweets and other locally produced goodies. The setting very much resembles an old fashioned grocery store and has a lovely, cosy, inviting and friendly feel to it. I told Jane that I was staying the weekend with friends near Malmö and wanted to bring something that was unique to Nynäshamn. Together we chose a selection of local produce and she made it up into a gift basket for me while we chatted. What a great little place – I’m sure I’ll be visiting there often.

I saw this quiz on a good friend’s journal and just had to post the result, because it matches me to a “t”. Isn’t that a funny saying? I must look it up and see where it came from. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I’m a word freak!


Some may call you bookish, and mean it in a bad
way.....but we know better! Delighting in
books, and very likely with more tomes than
clothes, you amaze others with your knowledge
of the obscure and the common.

Books alone cannot a life make, but you know this
as well....you love having chats with others
who love words and ideas as much as yourself!

Can I play in your library? Please??

You are The Favourite Poet by Alma~Tadema.


Which Pre~Raphaelite Painting Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I’ve always loved books, from a very early age. My mother despaired of me, as I read everything and anything I could lay my hands on. This often meant I had my nose stuck in a book while the cake that I was meant to be watching burned in the oven, or the washing got soaked by rain while I was away in fantasy land, or my younger siblings happily painted the kitchen with Vegemite while I was supposed to be babysitting. And I was one of those kids that read under the blankets by torchlight.

At university, I was in heaven! I was encouraged to read as much as I could while I completed my arts degree, a graduate diploma in library studies and then moved on to a law degree. I just couldn’t get enough to read and my research skills were unsurpassed, even turning up obscure cases that my torts tutors hadn’t found.

This continued into my working life and leisure time – it is my main form of recreation and when I lived in Australia, I spent an obscene amount on books. It was my biggest vice. This love for reading has also rubbed off onto my children, who are both avid readers. I read to them all of the time and they had an enviable range of books, plus regular library trips to keep them happy.

In Sweden, without the luxury of a large income, I haunt the second hand book shops for bargains, I hang out for the annual book sale and most of all, I am the library’s best customer. I’ve started to read some Swedish books and have pretty much read everything they have in English. I borrow on average about 15 or so books a month. Some months I borrow even more than that. I’m also lucky that Lars-Göran is a book lover (as well as an animal lover…) and we often enjoy a quiet evening with our noses in a good book. It’s been quite an exchange of ideas and information as well. I’m unfamiliar with Swedish writers, so he recommends ones that he feels I’ll enjoy. And he is not familiar with a lot of authors whose books I love, so I give him suggestions that he tries out.


To help us is the wonderful Swedish inter-library loan system. For the cost of 5kr (less than $AU1), they will get in a book from any library in Norden for you. That’s right, not just Sweden, but NORDEN! (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland) for less than a dollar! What a bargain. They will also source books from all over the world for you – at a price. I’ve used this service a number of times and ordered in a lot of books that a small community library like mine can’t afford to have on their shelves. I simply search the Stockholm library system to see if the title is available there and if not, A search of the Royal Swedish Library site will usually turn up the book I need. It’s a terrific service and ensures that I never run out of quality reading matter. This weekend, I ordered another 5 from the Nynäshamn library website and they’ll let me know when they arrive.

You can’t ask for better than that on a cold snowy day. This is today's view from the church, looking across Svandammen.



Quite a contrast to 3 weeks ago .

Sweden is certainly a land of seasonal contrasts.

Poor Lars-Göran has got his first cold for the winter season. That didn’t take long, did it? Snow one day, then a cold the next. He’s spent the last two days sprawled out on the couch, suffering in that distinct male way – sort of like lions groaning in the distance. I used to live in North Adelaide in my university days and many a summer evening we could hear those lions at the nearby Adelaide Zoo quite distinctly.

Yesterday morning, after we all had a sleepless night, I thought I’d go to the chemist and see if they had something to help relieve the symptoms. Mind you, I wasn’t too hopeful as I know that relief of symptoms is something that is frowned on here. It’s important to be stoic and suffer for some odd reason that nobody has been able to explain to me in a way that might make sense. People are fond of telling me that they never take anything for headaches, colds etc. as though it is some sort of badge of honour. "No" they proudly tell me, "we stay at home and let nature take its course. Unlike you Australians who rely on drugs for every little ache and pain." Yes, you read that right – they stay at home! Ummm… what about if you work or have school? Easy. You take time off. It’s quite accepted here that you don’t come in to work when you are sick. And that is the fundamental difference, I think. In Australia we take the cold remedies to relieve those symptoms and enable us to function at our jobs. You would not dream of taking time off for some minor cold or headache. Here in Sweden on the other hand, they take a day off (paid or unpaid) – it’s the normal practice.

Now, I’m not advocating the wholesale filling of our bodies with chemicals for no reason, but I really can’t see the point of feeling lousy with headache, swollen eyes, running nose and sore throat for days when you can easily prevent it. So I headed off to the chemist on my way to do the shopping.



Note the granny trolley! My friends back home who are used to seeing me swing into the Burnside Village car park in the little silver Porsche Boxster would be aghast to see me head out like this. I never thought I’d have one of these either, but I don’t fancy walking a kilometer through the snow with heavy grocery bags and now I use it, I would never be without it! I even take it to the library, so I can borrow a huge quantity of books at a time. The town was it’s usual packed, busy Saturday morning scene *grin*



I ventured into Apoteket (the chemist) and surveyed the over-the-counter shelves marked for cold remedies. There I found some analgesics, some throat pastilles and a few types of nose spray. That’s it. No cough syrups, no cough and flu capsules, no night-and-day tablets – nothing like that at all. I ended up getting him some Bafucin pastilles for his throat. If you want something stronger than Butter Menthols, you need a doctor’s prescription. And don’t get me started on how long THAT would take.

I shouldn’t be surprised, really. When I first came to Sweden, Lars-Göran had a cold and so in an effort to help him, I gave him some of my Codral, so he could "soldier on". He thought they were a miracle drug and was astounded that one could simply walk into the chemist and buy them. I felt sure that something similar would be available here and with that in mind, I went to the chemist with the packet to enquire. After all, this is not a third world backwater, but a civilized, advanced country.

Maybe. But obviously the people running the state-owned and controlled chemist system still live in the 12th century. When I showed my humble packet of Codral, I was met with a frosty stare of disapproval, a tut-tutting about drug-crazed nations and a lecture on how unnecessary the drug was, when I could simply go to the supermarket and buy six oranges that I could eat over the next 24 hours and that would give me the same outcome. I don’t think so! A similar story when I tried to buy Naprogesic – though this time I was advised to stay home with a hot water bottle on my tummy for 2 days. Very practical! So now, when people come from Australia and ask “What can I bring?”, I ask for those two items (as well as Tim-Tams, Chicken Crimpies, Twisties, Cherry Ripes, Violet Crumbles, Caramello Koalas…)

In fact, you can’t buy things like panadol or Dettol etc at the supermarket or petrol stations as you can in Australia – you must get those only from Apoteket (between the hours of 10am and 6pm weekdays, 10am and 1pm Saturday). Too bad if you need them urgently outside of those hours. But then, like the boy scouts, Swedes always like to Be Prepared.

Still, there are delights to enjoy here, not the least the walk home from shopping through this lovely landscape, with icicles glistening from the rooftops, snowflakes falling all around and the snow glistening in the sun like tiny diamonds.



I like to walk
on fresh fallen snow
The kind that whispers
and speaks.
It sings a song
as I walk along
With crackles and
scrunches and squeaks.

So until next time, I'll enjoy the snowy scene outside and make sure my poor guy is filled with tea, honey and tender loving care.

Oh yes, I better get those six oranges as well!

Do you all want some snow? I have plenty to spare, so help yourselves from the box on the left. It's absolutely magical outside - as though someone has been along the street spraying marshmallow everywhere. It snowed steadily all night, then the temperature dropped to -8C and now the snow is crunchy and glittery in the brilliant sunshine.



Last night when I took the dog out, the sky was so clear that you could make out the Milky Way splashed across the sky. It's still somewhat disorientating for me to look up at the stars as it seems all wrong somehow. Where is The Southern Cross for example? That first winter here, I looked up on a clear winter night and really felt alone in this strange place. After nearly four years, I'm still not quite adjusted to the absence of that constellation. Yes, yes, I know we have polaris, but it's still not the same.

Wandering down towards the harbour, you can see a fine powdering over all of the buildings, contrasting starkly with the brilliant blue sky.



The other great thing about the falling temperature was to watch my breath hanging in icy, smoky clouds before me. Not to mention my nose hairs freezing in my nostrils :) To those who live further north, this temperature is a balmy day. When I mentioned putting on long johns and fur lined leather gloves and hats, they scoff at me. One person wrote Forget -10. -20 is when the long johns come on. -35 is when you start to wear double gloves... Btw, a bike creaks in amazing ways at -35 ;) Can you believe even contemplating a ride on a bike at that temperature?

From the church, you can see the harbour in winter dress



Quite a change from the summerscene full of boats, colours and crowds.

As snow is an inevitable feature of winter here, you'd think they would take it all in their stride. But that is never the case. The first snowfall is always described in terms of Cold Chaos. Why? Surely, you know it's going to snow - it has been forecast and people ought to be prepared, but they never are. The news service reported a spate of ice related accidents, trucks and cars abandoned, power lines felled by branches, flights cancelled and trains delayed. It was the same last year as well, though the snow hit earlier then. The year before, snow arrived in the last week before Christmas, throwing people's shopping trips into disarray. They simply never learn.

Still, things seem under control here in our little town. The streets are ploughed, the footpaths swept and sand covered and the view from Fagerviken through the snow drenched trees out to sea is the stuff of picture postcards.



And just to spoil the mood, I'll leave you with a link for the ultimate office revenge. I'd love to be able to do this to someone - When your co-worker is away.

It's come at last!



That picture was taken from our balcony at just after midnight. I was doing a happy dance in the background, while my unhappy Swede was muttering "bugger! bugger! bugger!".

There is nothing I love better than looking out onto a snowy landscape - everything blanketed in white, soft powder. Maybe it's still exotic for me after having only rain and puddles as a winter landscape for so many years. And I love being outside, too. As long as I am warmly wrapped up, I really enjoy the crisp air and the wonderful muffled silence of the landscape. It's so beautiful.

However, this is not the nice freezing crisp snow that I love. The temperature is hovering around 0C, so the snow is soft and slushy even though it's been snowing like crazy all day. We also have powerful winds that are forcing the snow in horizontally against the window. So it's nicer to be indoors.

A friend in Egypt sent me this link for a great timewaster - it's called Artpad and you can paint your own painting. It was such a lot of fun that I had to share it - check out my Marie, Lars-Göran and Lambi effort. What do you think? Should I enter it for the Archibald Prize?

Well, I'm in a baking mood and I just might try out a new cardamom coffee cake recipe that I've been sent. I love the smell of baking on a winter's day.

Stay warm wherever you are.

I am anxiously waiting for the first snowfall of the season to reach here. A big snow storm has swept across the North Sea from Iceland and is bearing down on Norway and Sweden as I type. The temperature has dropped dramatically and the sky is looking threatening. Sure signs that snow is on the way.

I wonder how that will affect the Santa Olympics which begin on Friday. But I guess it's already been snowing for at least the last month in Gällivare.

From the title of the post, you'd correctly guess that I'm thinking about Christmas. No, it's not too early to think about it, because living thousands of kilometers from family and friends I have to think about the cut off date for international postage. In Sweden, they are slowly getting around to putting out Christmas things in the shop, but for the most part the real goodies won't be around for a couple of weeks yet.

Still, I need to get cards written and packets posted, so I have been making up a list of people to whom I'll be sending cards. It's not easy at all. I've always been really conscientious about keeping in touch, but am finding increasingly that it's a bit of a one way street. I vowed after last year to cut down on my list as several people never respond, either to the cards or letters I wrote during the year. I choose cards carefully - ones with a Swedish scene that I believe they will like as well as taking the time to write a Christmas letter. International postage is very expensive and if people can't even be bothered to acknowledge me once a year, what's the point? Sometimes it feels like just because I left Australia, that some people literally think I dropped off the face of the earth and they don't need any communication with me any longer.

But I do have a group of lovely friends both here in Sweden and in other parts of the world that are great at keeping in touch, so I'll be expending my time and energy on those friendships.

As the cold weather closes in, I'm thinking that I'll have to get back into knitting. How great is this? I could use it on my bad hair days. Kate could possibly dispense with those weird Manhattan hairdressers if she had one of these.

Of course, mine would have to be in orange or maybe purple. Or I could do the patriotic Aussie green and gold look. Much more stylish than a hair wig, don't you think? I could even use it instead of my hat in the cold weather - start a new trend (probably all the way to the loony bin quipped my ever reliable Swede).

And because I'm a nice, sharing person, I'll give you the link to the pattern.

And in keeping with the snowy theme, I have to direct you to the charming Frosty Welcome site. Do you remember making up messages from magnetic letters on fridge doors? This is the electronic version and is a perfect timewaster for a a chilly Wednesday afternoon.

After several days of temperatures hovering around the zero mark, the weather gods have blessed us with a balmy 11C today. Almost time to break out the bathers. Well, maybe not as the forecast for Thursday is SNOW!!!! I can't wait! The first snow of the season always excites me, even though this is my fifth winter in Sweden. Maybe I have a sentimental attachment to this time of year as it was the time I first arrived in Sweden and my first impressions and experiences in my new land were played out under the backdrop of snow.

As I said, the last few days have been really cold, but blindingly sunny. Take a look at this photo of the church that we took yesterday afternoon.



It looks so warm and cosy, doesn't it? Well the sun was lovely and perfectly created this image of warmth and colour, but it was 3C and I was decked out in many layers of clothes. The only hint that this is a winter shot is the lack of foilage on the trees. Still, I love the rich colours they use on buildings here - they look so elegant and classy.

The other night, Lars-Göran was walking down at the harbour. It was around 11.00pm and the night was still and quiet, even at the harbour. Those tugs we saw earlier were quietly sleeping at the fishing pier.



While heading back towards home, he heard the unmistakable sound of what he thought was one of the local hoons tearing around town in his car. We have several of this species living here. Kids in the country seem to drive at an earlier age and as all of the roads outside of the town limits have a higher speed limit, they tend to drive fast as well. Add to that the combination of no police in town, powerful cars, testosterone and peer pressure and you get a core group who treat the town as their private racetrack.

As he neared the main shopping area, he saw the car - a powerful V8 Audi, fairly new, bright red. It made it's way towards the mall area, mounting the curb and scraping the under chassis, before executing a screeching u-turn and heading away. As it was so still and quiet, he heard the car as it roared through the town at high speed. The echo seemed to follow him as he walked along. Then suddenly from a distance he heard the screech of tyres, followed by a distinct thwack, then silence.

He came in and told me about it and we speculated about whether it was a kid taking dad's car out for a joy-ride, a stolen car or perhaps a leased car that the driver didn't give a damn about. We wondered what had happened to it, as it obviously had come to grief somewhere. As Lars-Göran said, it was hard to tell where the sound came from nor indeed how far away it was.

As we walked along past Nynäshavsbad train station on our way towards the boat club, we spotted this in the front garden of a house on the corner of Strandvägen just by the station.



Oops...

We examined the scene and could see that it failed to take the bend, possibly skidding on some wet leaves on the road. It then hit the kerb with the front passenger wheel, that snapped off at the axel, mounted the kerb at about the point where you see the white car in the picture, then flew through the hedge, breaking the top section, narrowly missing the tree and rock and came to rest. That should be an interesting story for the insurance company :) We saw from the numberplate holder that it was a locally purchased car, so we are waiting for tomorrow's local paper to see if there is any hot gossip about it.

As we head for our coldest darkest season, those of you in Australia are readying yourselves for summer. I just had to share this picture that a fellow Adelaidian sent me, that pretty much sums up our view of Melbourne weather. Don't try and deny it! I can see my friend Pauline already heading over to the phone to let me know how wrong I am.

And me, being so perfect? Don't believe me? Well, just take a look at what Marie means. You can check your own name here, but I bet it's not as good as mine.

Till next time - and hopefully from a snowdrenched country - take care!

Well, I'm not exactly sure this was quite what Paul Anka had in mind when he wrote Puppy Love, but then again, it IS father's day here in Sweden.





I'm wondering if I should really leave these two home alone together quite so much. *grin*

It's also occurred to me that Paul Anka's name is a bit funny in Swedish - anka being the Swedish word for duck. Not as funny as Brad Pitt's name... but I better not go there....

Today, as well as it being Father's Day, it is also a special day for this blog....

Drum roll..... hold the crowds back.....

Yes, it's hard to believe that twelve months ago today, I started this blog. Thankyou so much to Kate for helping and encouraging me to start this up. I'd also like to say a really big thankyou to all of you who have come here to read, clicked on links, enjoyed the photographs and written to me over the last year. Believe it or not, it really means a lot to me.

I have received a few letters asking me why I don't blog about work or family and other more personal aspects of my life. I'm here to tell you that that's not ever going to happen. Why? A lot of people writing weblogs seem to be doing so because they believe they have something important or special to say. I don't believe that I'm particularly special and I also don't really want to share the details of my personal life with the whole world.

There is also the ticklish issue of litigation. I've seen several cases where people have been sacked for example for blogging about work. A couple of high profile cases that immediately spring to mind is the recent sacking of an airline attendant, known to the blogging world as Queen of the Sky and also dooce, sacked after writing about someone in her office. Not this little black duck.

On a more personal level, I've seen friendships shattered and families torn apart after reading something written about them in an online blog. In most cases, it was someone just sounding off a frustration, but once it's out on the internet, it's public property. Some of these things written "in the heat of the moment" would be best left in a private place, not published in a public place where who knows will read it. My private life is just that - Private. It's just not worth hurting people just to provide entertainment for the unseen masses. I read a few blogs and journals - some amuse me, others are really interesting, others infuriate me, but hey, everyone is different and the internet would be a boring place if we all wrote the same way. It's the variety of outlook that keeps me coming back for more.

The main purpose of this blog was simply to provide a view of life here in Sweden from an Aussie perspective - more specifically this Aussie's perspective. I view it like small snapshots of my surroundings and life, rather than a complete no-holds-barred picture of ME.

So sit back and enjoy what is here.

Now I'm off for a gin and tonic and start preparing dinner for my man.

Today it is a glorious autumn day - the sky a piercing blue with the sun shining so bright that, in the words of Timbuk 3, I gotta wear shades. The last few days have been dull and grey, so this unexpected bonus day of sun is greatly appreciated and people have flocked into town to take advantage of it, despite the temperature of 3C.

We went down to the local art gallery in the town square to the opening of an exhibition of paintings by a local artist, Åke Magnusson. We know Åke personally as he used to live in the same apartment building as us. He paints scenes of Nynäshamn from the 1930s or so in a naive style. The vernissage (opening day) was really busy - the gallery was packed with people and we enjoyed sipping cider, nibbling on goodies, chatting to Åke as well as having a look at his art work and marvelling over pictures of the town as it was back then. The old world charm and the cute little wooden houses were beautiful. I particularly want to cry when I see the old Konsum supermarket site. It was a gracious, beautiful building that was torn down in the 1960's and replaced by an excruciatingly ugly grey box.

We also spent some time in the front part of the gallery/shop which features handmade craft work, mostly local. We spotted a ceramic model of our beloved Landsort Lighthouse which houses a tealight candle. We both coveted it, so we intend to return next week when it is less hectic and give it a home. I also have to buy a thankyou gift for a friend who has invited us to stay for Thanksgiving weekend. I'm sure I'll find something lovely in this shop or perhaps next weekend when we go down to Blomsterhuset to watch a demonstration of making old fashioned paper Christmas decorations.

Then we came out into the main town square and saw it was taken over by bikers. No, not the Hell's Angels, but more like the Hell's grannies.



As it was so sunny and lovely, we naturally gravitated down to the harbour - such a focal point of this town. It's great here all year round as it is so alive with activity. On the fishing pier we found several tugboats from Röda Bolaget tied up. We see their icebreakers here quite a bit in winter as well as the tugs. But the one that really caught our eye was an oldfashioned tug, Anny from Stockholm:



From here, looking across to the ferry terminal, you can see the trucks ready to be loaded aboard the Gotland ferry and in the distance, the tankers tied up to the industrial oil terminal.



We then walked along the guest harbour and checked out the building of what looks like it might be a new café on Frejas Holme near the minigolf place. It was quiet and peaceful here, with the only sound being the murmur of the ducks.



Then it was fika (coffee and cake) time. We pondered where to go and finally settled on a charming little café just near the tourist bureau - Café Snäckan. It was warm and cosy inside and very busy. We decided to try their freshly baked saffron cake to go with our drink. It was scrumptious. We hardly ever go out to cafés because it is quite expensive in Sweden and also because we often have the dog with us (but not today!). So we had a chat about lifestyles and our priorities as far as how we spend our money.

It's interesting to note that while I am nowhere near as well off financially as I was in Australia, I'm still so much happier here in Sweden. We talked about how different my lifestyle was and what we felt was important to us. I also thought about just how well off we are compared to others in the world. While it's easy to bitch and moan about being poor, are we really poor? Do we sometimes need a reality check? Certainly, Rebecca's article about a trip to an Indian village that I read yesterday was an eye opener. The other thing was seeing How rich are you? Take a look for a little perspective on your own life. It's quite a sobering thought.

This picture is quite a relevant one at this time of year. Moose accidents are unfortunately common in Sweden and when you look at this safety poster, you get quite a good idea of the relative size of one of these 500kg, long legged animals as compared to the family car.

The moose are particularly unsteady on their legs around autumn. They are already a little jittery anyway as it's hunting season, but it is made worse by the large number of fermenting apples lying on the ground which the moose feed on and then proceed to get plastered. It even made news in the Aussie papers: Don't mess with a drunk moose.

I'm rather fond of moose, though Lars-Göran has a hard time understanding why. I think Swedes in general are rather bemused by foreigner's love for this ungainly animal. My friend Liz also has something of a moose fetish and even a small collection of moose objects. I need something like that. Last year I saw some lovely wrought iron moose candle holders that I fell in love with, but Lars-Göran just rolled his eyes, as did the few Swedes that I showed them to in the shop window. And no - he didn't get them for me. *sigh*

A friend who knows about my liking moose sent me this cute slideshow about moose courtship. How can you resist them? We are heading down south in a couple of weeks and I showed Lars-Göran that we could possibly stop and see Grönåsen's Moose-Park on the way. He looks most unenthusiastic, but we'll see if I can get him to change his mind.

It seems that I may have been a bit hasty in my prediction that ABBA were about to take over from Yasser Arafat in my last post. Despite the fact that it might be the best thing to happen in the region and, as an expat friend of mine living in Cairo quipped "They're at least a leader you can dance to", I read today in the Radio Sweden site that there was to be no ABBA reunion.

I guess that leaves Suha Arafat as the Dancing Queen.





Yesterday, all over the southern areas of Sweden, in the provinces of Skåne and Småland, people enjoyed Mårten Gås. As usual, the Swedes are out of synch with every other nation that celebrates this day on November 11th. But hey, it's not the first time they choose to stand out on their own. Known in other parts of Europe as St Martin's Day, it was originally in memory of St. Martin of Tours (ca 316–397). He was a French bishop, who rather than be made bishop, gave away all of his money to the poor and hid in a goosehouse. The geese's cackling gave him away and he was so angered by this that he decided they should be slaughtered annually on his name's day.

The festival has also come to be associated with Martin Luther, whose feast day is on the 10th. For centuries this date was important in farmers' calendars. Traditionally, the day marks the end of the autumn work and the beginning of winter activities. So, really it's the very last autumn celebration. And this is the time of year that the geese are at their fattest, so it's an ideal time for a goose feast (if you like that sort of thing).

In Skåne in particular, goose banquets are served in both homes and at restaurants. Such meals traditionally begin with a bowl of svartsoppa ("blacksoup"), which they describe as "a mellow bisque made of goose-blood and spices". Excuse me while I get a bucket. Honestly, the Swedes have some strange ideas about taste. I could only find an English version of the recipe on a Polish website and it didn't sound all that nice. But, you decide for yourself. I think Mother Goose would turn in her grave.

Me? No way! We are having vegetarian pizza for dinner.

I don't normally talk about local politics in this blog, but the latest actions of our mayor and deputy mayor are worth a mention. The characters you see pictured to the left are Swedish television's classic children's "stars" Humle and Dumle. They were two not so bright friends who lived in the cupboard. They are figures of fun and to call someone Humle or Dumle these days is a way of saying they are stupid beyond words.

And that is exactly what our local leaders are called here colloquially. No-one in Nynäshamn calls them by their names and is it any wonder. I sometimes think that B1 and B2 would do a better job. I won't bore you with the litany of reduced services and higher rates we experience while they vote themselves increases and luxury holidays. That's boring and all too common elsewhere.

But what floored me has been the ongoing dog's breakfast about the reward for information about the train vandals I talked about last month. The local authorities and the train company had announced a reward of $A10,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the damage. Well, two 13 year old boys came forward to the police and their statements led directly to those vandals being caught.

Of course, now that it's time to actually cough up the reward money, Humle and Dumle are suddenly putting conditions on it. They said that it wasn't meant as an the only reason to come forward. It seemed to them that if these kids knew who the vandals were, they should have told the police without needing a reward. WTF? When there was a community uproar over that, they then said that it was too much money to give a kid. Excuse me? You offered a reward to anybody with information, not "anybody who we think is old enough to get the money". People feel they are picking on the childen just because they're childen. I personally don't care how long they knew who the kids were - they came forward and now those vandals are being dealt with. Pay up!

This has been going on for weeks now. The latest version they are offering is that as the kids heard about it at school, they will give the reward money to the school! So, if they heard it at the local hamburger bar would you give the reward to the hamburger bar? Where is the logic in that? Humle and Dumle argue that then all the children would get a benefit - yeah, including those who did the vandalism in the first place!

The sad thing is that people will now be less likely to come forward again after seeing how this whole thing has been mishandled. The community leaders had a chance to reward a couple of local childen for doing something to help out their community. Now they are trying to make them sound as bad as the vandals. It is still being furiously debated around the town with most people being of the opinion that the childen should get this reward money - no strings attached. Whatever they do, it will be a lost opportunity. If they pay out, it will look like they bowed to public pressure. If they don't it will only confirm the town's opinion of them as deserving the title Humle och Dumle

And keeping on the politics, but this time a very lighthearted picture I was sent by a friend, along with the caption Abbas eyed as possible Arafat successor



I've circulated the picture to a few expat friends here in Sweden and we've had a good laugh at the thought of Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Annifrid in charge of the PLO. It has resulted in a few terrible puns from a couple of my friends who wondered if that meant the winner takes it all or hoped that it wasn't going to be their Waterloo after they said I do, I do, I do, I do, I do. I have some very strange friends!

Another sent me this picture as a suggestion for a winter coat for Lambi. I thought it was quite cute - well at least on those dogs. She could be our own little hot dog. But Lars-Göran was less enthusiastic. He figures that I already stand out in Nynäshamn and we don't need to do anything else to add to that.

I wonder what he means?

We are about to watch a program on Discovery called City Taxis - we read the blurb that went with the program which said that the presenter was travelling to Stockholm - a beautiful and well organised city in a wonderful country. Lars-Göran has just quipped that he didn't recognise that description - maybe the word Stockholm was a misprint. Not very patriotic, is he?

Till next time

The first Saturday in November in Sweden is Alla helgons dag or All Saint's Day. In fact, the day is more like a combination of the two days - All Saints and All Souls that many Catholic countries celebrate on November 1st and 2nd.

It is one of the most beautiful memorial days I've ever experienced. The Swedes remember their dead family members, by placing candles and fir wreaths on their graves. As darkness comes very early this time of year, the glimmering candles create a moving and sombre sight in the cemetery.

There is something very peaceful and serene about cemeteries in Sweden. I recall those I visited in Australia. They were well kept, with manicured lawns and gardens but somehow still a bit depressing with the row upon row of gravestones. I always felt very exposed when I went there and there seemed little incentive to linger or contemplate in such surroundings. By contrast, those in Sweden are kept very natural and set out like a woodland.



We took this photo earlier in the year when we visited the Skogskyrkogården, an enormous, world famous cemetery just south of Stockholm and burial place of Greta Garbo. It was like an oasis of tranquility and very representative of the feel of others in Sweden.

One of the nicest features is what they call a minneslunden (a memorial grove). These vary, but in general consist of a circular grove of trees enclosing a small pool of water, usually surrounded with rocks, moss and small plants. A place to sit, think and feel.

We visited the small local cemetary yesterday to see what it was like on Alla helgons dag. We had observed in the days preceding it, that several places around town were doing a brisk trade in wreaths, candles and lanterns.



This is a fairly representative example of the sort of things people use in Sweden to decorate graves. It is quite a contrast to the floral wreaths and sheaths that are commonly used in Australia. While the wreaths have been used for centuries, the idea of using candles is a very recent custom, dating back to the mid 1950's and borrowed from the Spanish and Italian traditions.

It was only 4.30pm when we came to the cemetery, but it was already quite dark and looking across the field of lights it was hard to pick out the people, even though there was a huge crowd there.



It was so beautiful, that I was quite speechless. It is really hard to capture the mood and the sight of the place. It was literally a sea of candlelight - there were hundreds of pools of light glowing as far as the eye could see. Every grave had at least one and more often several candles burning in the late afternoon gloom. We did get a more close up view of one grave to give you a little more detail.



We visited the little chapel there and walked along the paths feeling our way carefully. The sky was dark, the moon hidden by clouds and the only light available was the candles. Add to that, the rising mist and creeping cold and you can see that it is a surreal and touching scene.



You can see why in medieval times, this day was considered the first day of winter. The darkness seems to have a personality of its own and its influence will now dictate our lives for the next few months. I know my husband is dearly waiting for the first sign of spring already! I feel that it's going to be a LONG winter.

A friend posted this today and it perfectly describes the mood of this month in northern Europe:

No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon -
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member –

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! -
November!

by Thomas Hood

Many Swedes try and escape to warmer climates for November. Several of our friends have already left for places like the Canary Islands and Thailand to escape the gloom. I, on the other hand, would love to travel further north, to see the späckhuggare. And who or what are they? Well, you've all seen the movie Free Willy, now I'd like to travel to Björkliden to see these killer whales in the wild. I've seen posters advertising these safaris while I was wandering through Stockholm's central railway station. I think it would be a wonderful experience to see these magnificent animals up really close. But I doubt I'll ever get to do it. Apart from the cost, I'm sure Lars-Göran would thoroughly disapprove of it as something "touristy" and trite. And he HATES the cold. I've been trying to convince him to take me far enough north to see the aurora, but he says it's far more comfortable to look at pictures of them on the internet. Somehow, I think the whales will have to do without me.

Today was something of a poet's day, where you can slink off work early as tomorrow is a holiday. This often happens here in Sweden, where they not only take off the actual holiday, but also shut up shop early the day before as well. As it was also a reasonable day, Lars-Göran decided to leave off the sanding and instead we went to Södertälje for a post-lunch stroll. This town is easily reached from Stockholm by suburban train and as luck would have it, by bus from Nynäshamn.

As it was Friday, the market was in full swing in the town square. The most popular stalls seemed to be those selling pine wreaths, as tomorrow is the day that Swedes traditionally visit the graves of loved ones.



Most of the stalls were pretty uninteresting - cheap, nasty clothing like the rubbish you buy at Asian markets back home and a few selling costume jewellery. We did find a bakery stall and I bought some blåbärsknyten to have with our afternoon coffee.

We then wandered down the main mall and my eyes caught sight of another shop with a strange name:



I mean where did that name come from? It's a clothing shop not a shop full of wacko stuff. Although the tasty guy out the front looks like a bit of a wacko. Some of his mates were nearby, sitting on benches drinking vodka from bottles while the cops, wearing their cute little thunderbird hats were writing them out tickets (it's illegal to drink in some designated public places here). So maybe the name just reflects the potential pool of local customers.

After that bit of entertainment, we made our way to the beautiful medieval church of St Ragnhild.



It sits in the central part of the old town, opposite the town hall. The oldest parts of the building pre-dare the Norman conquest of Britain. Now that's what I call history. The interior of the church is also quite impressive.



We were lucky in that they had an art exhibition on there today, consisting of twenty three Orthodox Byzantine Icons. You can read about exactly what icons are here. It was really interesting to see them close up and there were explanations about why certain colours and figures were used and what they represented. This exhibition will be on here until November 14th and features the work of Bishop Johannes Makarioupolis, Stefan Jaerpenberg and Gabriel Briones.

Later we wandered along the canal area that is looking quite forlorn and empty this time of the year.



The sky gradually darkened, so we made our way back to centrum and home to Nynäshamn. I see the forecast is for clouds, rain and wind tomorrow. A perfect excuse to veg out on the couch.

I was thinking this when Lars-Göran showed me this picture that he had snapped earlier today. I mean where is the common sense? Surely there must come a time when you pack away the paddle for winter. I'm just freezing looking at her!



That's very shallow water she is in, going under the bridge to Trehörningen in Nynäshamn. Brrr....

Even the ducks at the park are feeling the effects of the autumn chill as they huddle together.



As you can guess, the gorgeous weather of Tuesday was short-lived and we are back to the usual northern European autumn weather - cold and damp. There is a mist hanging low to the ground outside and frost covers the grass.

I forgot to post the funniest picture we took in Stockholm on Tuesday. We had left Gallerian and were heading down to central station along Klara Tvärgränd and I insisted on taking a photo of this restaurant:



Lars-Göran had no idea why I found the name so funny and why I said it wasn't an incentive for me to eat there. He thought Pong was an okay name. So I had to enlighten him, didn't I? As soon as I showed him the dictionary meaning of pong, he could only agree that it would be the source of much amusement in Australia. It's funny how a word in one language can mean something totally different in another language. Now I just have to remember where in Stockholm I saw the Phucken Chinese restaurant...

I joked with my Canadian friends here that I'd been to Kanada (no, it's not a typo. It IS spelt with a K here) for the day yesterday. Well, it WAS true - but there was not a mountie or maple leaf in sight. It was in fact Kanada on the island of Muskö, just north of Nynäshamn. It was a sunny day and I was home and not busy, so we thought a day out walking would be nice. It clouded over later and became very chilly, but we had a fun day regardless of the vagaries of the weather.

Muskö is where we saw that James Bond type of submarine base when we were sailing here in the summer. That base, home of the Swedish fleet since 1969, is due to close and the subbies are being relocated to Karlskrona next year. This will have a drastic effect on the local area. About 1500 local people stand to lose their jobs due to that closure. And that is something a regional community like ours can ill afford. I know several people employed by the naval base at Muskö - in the kitchens, workshops and offices and they are really concerned for their future.

When you visit the island, you can see that it is still very rural and possibilities for re-employment in another industry is hard to imagine.

The view from Kanada across the waters is beautiful.



Soon after we took this picture, the clouds moved in and the wind picked up. It was decidedly chilly, but we still walked along the shore-line for another hour before sitting down on a winch platform to have a snack.



I love the dog's body language. She looks like she's smiling, but in fact her food radar has just detected dog goodies in my hand and she's pretty keen to relieve me of them. We sat in the wind shelter and looked across the piers towards the distant island of Utö.



We also had a "discussion" about the name of the island closest to us. No doubt when he reads this he'll be reminded and haul out the charts to try and prove he was right. But I'm feeling confident that he'll be wrong. Again.

Afterwards we wandered back to pick up the bus back to Nynäshamn. As you can see, it's not exactly a booming metropolis here, is it?



I was scanning the news and came across the startling fact that we are hosting our very own Olympics here in Sweden this month. See, Sue, it's not just Greece who can host an Olympic spectacle. So if any of you are hanging around in Gällivare, you can go along to the Santa Olympics!

Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
Through the fields we go
Laughing all the way.

Ho Ho Ho!

Well, at least my guy. He looks like something from another planet or an extra from the X-Files. No, it's not his Halloween costume, though I bet people would be too scared not to hand over the goodies. In fact, he's working at sanding the hull of the boat. The epoxi filler comes off as a fine powder that gets in everywhere, so protective clothing and mask is essential.

It's quite a slow, laborious job, made worse by the fact that his hands have still not recovered fully, so he can only work in short stints of a day or two. Added to that is the shorter hours of daylight and the rapidly sinking temperatures, so it's harder and harder to motivate himself to go out and work at it. However, he's been fantastic - spurred on by the thought that if the hull dries out quicker, we can maybe have her in the water in spring.

And I did finally find an link in English at The Local to the story I mentioned last time about a guy who baked a dope cake for his workmates. My favourite quote from the whole story was:

Of the thirteen who were taken to Danderyd and Karolinska hospitals on Friday, seven were released after a few hours including one who apparently didn't eat any cake but felt a bit odd nevertheless.

It reminded me of a case in Adelaide in 1999, when an employee of The Cheesecake Shop, baked a special Mudcake at work, laced with dope for his birthday. Unfortunately, someone accidentally sold the cake to an elderly customer and she and her friends had an "interesting" afternoon. Well, I didn't have too much sympathy as I think mudcakes are revolting and I can't imagine why anyone would willingly eat one.

Moving right along....

On Tuesday, it was a beautiful, crisp and sunny autumn day so Lars-Göran decided to forget about sanding and instead headed into Stockholm to take a lunchtime stroll with me along the banks of Djurgårdsbrunnsviken. It was the perfect day to be out and about there.



The colours were amazing and the whole area was full of people taking advantage of the sunshine - office workers on their lunch break, pensioners out for a stroll, mums with babies in prams, joggers, fishermen, tourists and lots of dogs. I was amazed to see so many of them being walked without a leash. Bear in mind that this was in the same area that Prince Carl Philip was caught with his unleashed dog. I think that must have been a set up as only our dog had a leash (I don't really trust her not to run off). All the other dogs were running free.

We started our walk at Nobelparken, just across the water from that fairy-tale looking palace that houses Nordiska Museet. It is one of my favourite buildings in Stockholm and houses a wonderful collection of Nordic cultural objects.



It was such a lovely day and we felt in a touristy mood, so we decided to make our way along the canal area and head towards the open spaces of Ladugårdsgärdet with the 155m "Cookie Isthmus Tower" as our goal. I've never been up there and feel that today might just be the day to try it out. As you can see, it towers above the surroundings and I'm sure the views are panoramic.



So, with that as our destination, we set off. The sky was bright blue and the gentle breeze was just enough to make the leaves on the trees shudder. This alder tree was particularly lovely. The leaves were a dark green on one side and a silvery grey on the underside. When they moved, it looked as though it was a canopy of silver pieces shimmering in the sunshine.



We were also rather intrigued by the traditional red house just beyond the tree. We could see what appeared to be a sculpture of seagulls peeping just above the hedge, so of course we had to detour and have a sticky beak. We were not really expecting to see this:



It was K/O Nacka Strand, one of the exhibits in the recent Cow Parade. It was quite striking to view what looked like a flock of squabbling seagulls from a distance, then realise it was a sculpture, then be tempted to take a closer look.

We stopped by Djurgårdsbrunnsbron for a quick coffee and to enjoy watching the fishermen and to take in the crisp, fresh air - yes, despite the subshine, you will note the heavy winter jackets we are both wearing. It is hard to believe that we are in the middle of a large city here, as the area has a real countryside feel to it.



We then turned off the pathway and headed up Mörka Kroken (literally the dark bend - who thinks of these street names?) to Kaknästornet. It is not unlike those other telecommunication towers in other cities (eg Sydney Tower). You get to pay a fee (here it was only $A5.50 rather than the staggering $A22 I had to pay in Sydney) and go up 30 levels at lightning speed to the viewing platform. There was one level with glassed in viewing windows, then a staircase to the outside area (well fenced in to stop those with a death wish). There is also a restaurant on the level below, but as we had Lambi with us, we had to forego that today.

The views were great. It's so unusual to get such a bird's eye view of the city. My favourite views were these:



This view is looking across to Gamla Stan (the old town). The waterfront buildings in the lower right foreground are mostly embassies and across the water in the centre of the picture is the royal palace. When you see it from this height, you can see why Stockholm is often compared to Venice. Water is such a feature of the whole place - after all, it is built on 14 islands, connected by a series of bridges and tunnels.

The next view I liked was looking in the opposite direction:



Yes, this is still Stockholm - but much less built up. This area of Lilla Värten is salt water and stretches out all of the way to the archipelago. There are suburbs dotted everywhere and plenty of green space, which is one feature of Swedish town planning that I really like. They cluster communities together, each with its own green belt, making it most unlike the miles and miles of sprawling suburbia that you see in other countries.

And for something completely different:



This is the ferry terminal at Frihamnen, with the bridge over to the island of Lidingö in the background and beyond to Vaxholm. It shows a more industrial side to the city, contrasting with the historic inner town but still with water, greenery and space as a feature.

Is it any wonder that a friend recently wrote and said I think Sweden is one of the most beautifully picturesque places I have ever seen, what a wonderful place to live.

I can't help but agree.

No, I'm not having a Fats Domino moment. My posts about blueberries from summer and the other day must be high on some search engines as I've received several requests for recipes to blueberry pie and blueberry cake. So I thought I might oblige.

The very best blueberry pie I've ever eaten was made by our friend Lennart. He made it one night when we shared guard duty at our old boat club and the three of us had a midnight feast of it. This pie is best made in a ceramic flan dish, as it is shallower than a traditional pie dish. I guess it's more like a tart than a pie. People sometimes put a lattice work of pastry strips on the top, but I prefer to use it as an edging to keep the very runny filling inside.

Blueberry Pie

Pastry
100g cold butter
100g (about 1 cup) plain flour
200g (about 1 cup) sugar
1 egg, beaten
6-7 tbsp milk

Filling
2 cups fresh blueberries
7-8 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp cinnamon
juice of half an orange

Extras
a little milk or cream for glazing
1 tbsp sugar mixed with 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
whipped cream or icecream (or both!) to serve

Pre-heat oven to 200C and grease a flan dish.

Mix flour and sugar together, then rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix egg and milk in a small bowl, then add and combine quickly until it forms a ball. You may need to add a little more flour. The dough should be sticky and damp, but should not cling to your hands. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for one hour.

Meanwhile, put all the filling ingredients in a bowl and carefully fold them together. Set aside.

Remove the dough from the fridge and the dough set aside about a quatrter of it for the top edge. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface then press into the well buttered dish. Trim the edges, prick the bottom with a fork, then bake for about fifteen minutes.

Remove pie shell from the oven, spread with filling and add the pinches of the remainder of the dough around the edge, pressing it carefully into the edge. Sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar mixture and brush with milk. Bake for a further fifteen minutes. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Blueberry Cake

Ingredients

40 g brown sugar
200 g (about 2 cups) plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
115 g butter, at room temperature
200 g (about 1 cup) sugar
3 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
3 to 4 cups fresh blueberries

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a 9 inch cake tin.

Cream the butter and white sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well between each. Stir in the yogurt and vanilla, then mix again. Combine the flour and baking powser and fold into the mix.

Pour half of the cake batter into the cake tin. Spoon half the blueberries over the surface. Cover with the rest of the batter, top with the remaining blueberries, and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar.

Bake for an hour, or until the top is golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for ten minutes, then turn out on a rack to cool completely.

Happy cooking!

Dark! Dark! Dark!

Well, the clocks were turned back yesterday and while it was nice to wake up to daylight streaming in the window, coming home from work in darkness is surely going to suck. This was yesterday at 5pm:



I saw an interesting story tday at the BBC site about seasonal affective disorder or SAD. It's certainly something to be aware of during these darker months in the northern hemisphere. I am rarely affected, though my poor man suffers terribly, so I know it's imoportant to do as much as you can to nip it in the bud before it takes hold.

The leaves are mostly on the ground now, with a brisk wind acting like a giant gardener collecting them into huge piles. Yesterday, they were piled up on the right hand footpath, while today they are now on the left hand footpath. And as it rained overnight, they are soggy and I think will stay put here.



Speaking of gardeners, on Friday, 13 gardening staff from the lovely Bergianska Gardens in Stockholm were rushed to hospital after one of their workmates served them a cheesecake doped with cannibis. Apparently it was meant as a bit of a joke, but it seems to have gone horribly wrong for him.

And another story I came across that made me smile was in The Local, about the prince getting into hot water over letting his dog run without a leash (shades of Princess Anne and her doggy). It wasn't the actual story that made me laugh, but the name of the investigating police officer - Anders Krook. What a classic name for a cop! Though of course, it's not funny in Swedish....

Remember the market we went to on Saturday, where the street looked like this? Well, the following day it was "business as usual"



Manhattan, eat your heart out!