Poor Lambi has got her first tick for the year. I think she picked it up at the boat club when she was rolling around in the long grass. Ticks (fästingar) are very common in the Stockholm archipelago and cause problems every year over summer with both animals and humans. Lambi usually gets one or two ticks a year and we are really careful to check her thoroughly when she has been out in the countryside. Fortunately she has pale pink skin and white, fluffy fur so we can usually see the little black buggers while they are still crawling along trying to find a place to bite her. It is quite early in the season, so I was very surprised to see one. Something else to watch out for in my spare time.

I'm absolutely knackered and I think posting will be sparse for the next week or two. It is now the time to apply the layers of epoxy resin to the hull of the boat. This is an awful job to do and I have forced Lars-Göran to let me do my share of it. It took me a long time to convince him. You'd think he'd jump at the chance to halve the workload, but he didn't want me to be tired and sore. I think the martyr gene runs through his blood. I had to absolutely and stubbornly INSIST and now I'm paying the price with sore muscles etc, but at least we are sharing the pain of getting her seaworthy. As I get to share the pleasure and joy of sailing in her in the summer, it's only fair that I help out with the preparation as well.

Many boats have already been launched and it is looking more clear around Fiona and thus easier to work.



She is the boat covered by the white tarpaulin. We have to apply eight layers of epoxy resin to the hull, allowing at least 12 hours between the layers. It is also important that the temperature during the drying time is above zero, so this means a morning job, every morning for eight days. We began yesterday with the first layer and it was a pain. Poor Lars-Göran already has a slight allergy to epoxy, so he has to dress in a lot of safety equipment to even get near the stuff.



I feel so sorry for him dressed in masks, overalls, head protection etc. The sun was shining down and he quickly became very hot and bothered. It was at this point that he could see how good it was that we were both there. While he applied the stuff with a roller, I was hand painting some tricky areas, then we swapped for a while so we had a break from the backbreaking work. It is a two-component product, so we had to fiddle around measuring out base, hardener and thinner and mixing it all up. It is also the consistency of golden syrup (ljussirap), so damn hard to apply with a roller, plus there was the time factor of getting it finished before it became too hard to work with.



You can see that it is easier for me as I only need to wear ordinary overalls and disposable plastic gloves for protection. We also were smart and bought the epoxy in two different colours (grey and white) so we can apply a different colour each day and easily see that we cover the boat properly each time. This preparation is highly toxic, so care must be taken not to inhale it or get it on your skin as it causes a rash not unlike poison-ivy. It is not easy as the hull is big, curved and you have to bend all of the time. Except for the times you must reach over-head! *gnäll, gnäll*

It is times like this that I wonder why we sold our small boat and bought this monster. I was trying to squeeze out sympathy from our friend Randall who we went to see to do a book/video swap and he laughed heartily as his little baby, Inshallah, is tiny and as he told us, it only took him an hour to paint his hull. You can compare the size difference in our boats in this picture taken last July.



It would be so nice to have a boat his size at the moment. Though I know that come summer, we would be longing for the comfort, luxury and speed of our bigger boat, so we have to put up with bigger problems just for that convenience. *sigh*

I was also longing to have our old boat back when our friends Lennart and Anna launched their boat last weekend at our old boat club.



Isn't it a cute boat? She is identical to the boat we used to have. Small, inexpensive and easy to sail. None of this "eight layers of epoxy resin" nonsense. Just paint her, launch her, rigg her then set sail. Compared to that, we have a full circus program going here. After we finish the eight layers, we immediately have to paint the anti-fouling paint (within two hours or we have to sand the whole hull!). Can you tell how enthusiastic I am for day eight? Then we leave that bit to dry for two weeks while we do a Katate Kid on the fibreglass parts (ie "Wax on, wax off") and to sand and apply seven layers of varnish to the wooden areas of the deck. We also have to start bringing down all of the equipment currently stored at home and think about uncovering the monster mast and setting it up ready to launch in the third week of May (we hope).....

And keep going to visit Lars-Göran's mother in hospital every second day....

Hmmm, I think we need a few more hours in the day so we can get a chance to sleep!

Learning a new language can be both an interesting and frustrating experience. I still remember the early days here when I didn't have a clue what anyone around me was saying. It was such an isolating feeling, that I was determined to learn Swedish quickly in order to participate in life here fully. I am always amazed by people who live in a country for many years and never learn the language. How do they survive without the luxury of understanding the society they are living in?

Of course, I made many errors, confused English and Swedish words etc producing some funny moments that had my husband either rolling around with laughter or looking at me like I had three heads. Generally speaking, those days are behind me. Or so I thought.....

This week, we have been very busy with my mother-in-law who has undergone another bout of surgery associated with her paralysis, this time plastic surgery and skin grafts to repair a very deep pressure wound in her lower back. She was discharged from Karolinska hospital and sent to Rehab Station in Frösundavik (just north of Stockholm) for a month to convalesce. For us it is a 120km round trip every second day to see her and bring various things that she needs from her home.

When she was moved there, she rang us immediately sounding quite distressed and depressed about her room. We tried to reassure her and said we'd come and see her asap. We were sure she was exaggerating about how ghastly it was, but in fact, she was right. It is a very modern facility, constructed from a renovated barracks or stable area that belonged to a large eighteenth century military training grounds. I can sort of see what the architects were trying to achieve in keeping with the theme of stables, but honestly, her room is exactly like a packing crate. Horizontal, unplaned, unpainted wooden plank walls. Wooden floors stained to look very old and absolutely nothing on the walls at all. Minimalism gone crazy. While it probably looked wonderful on the drawing board, in reality it is totally inappropriate for a bedridden, paralysed patient. Can you imagine lying in bed for a month looking at four identical grey wooden walls?

The first day we brought photographs of her six grandchildren and talked about what else we could do to brighten up the place. I told her that I was so surprised there was not even a painting on the walls and she said that she'd like us to get a fish for the wall. Well that's what I THOUGHT she said. It's not as crazy as it sounds. You can buy fish plaques for the wall. But I quickly recalled that we were speaking Swedish, so it could not have been "a fish". I should have left it at that and looked it up in the dictionary, but I made the mistake of asking Lars-Göran.

Exactly! He is still laughing 24 hours later and making the most appalling fish jokes and puns. It seems that mother wanted us to buy an affisch (in other words a poster) that we could hang up with thumbtacks. I have never heard it called that before. I always use the word "poster". Never again!

So today we went to Gallerix in Huddinge Centrum and bought two lovely posters featuring paintings of beautiful Swedish summer motifs - a coastal, archipelago scene and a summer garden scene. We also bought her some flowering plants from the stall in the square to brighten her room. It certainly made a huge difference to the room and she is much happier.

Now I just have to live down the fish remark.

ANZAC Day, April 25, is Australia's most important national event and one that most Australians identify with and come together for wherever they are in the world. It is the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand soldiers during the First World War, when soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, as part of a British Empire and French force trying to capture the Dardanelles Strait from Turkey. The pride that the soldiers took in that name of ANZAC endures to this day.

It is not a glorification or celebration of war, but the day on which Australians remember the sacrifice of those who died in the wars. And a day to recall just how young those men were who fought these battles and gave up their tomorrows so people like us could have our todays. I still get a shiver down my spine when I hear the line from Redgum's song about the Vietnam War - God help me, I was only nineteen.

It is a day when I will wear my red poppy with pride.

In case you non-Aussies are scratching your head at the title of this post, I'll be kind and tell you that it refers to the classic anthem Up There Cazaly which is considered by many to be the Bohemian Rhapsody of footy songs. And the greatest game on earth was part of the reason that over 100 Aussies (and one American - sorry Randall, we can't all be perfect!) came together today for the annual ANZAC Day picnic in Stockholm. And what a wonderful day we had.

We were among the early birds to arrive on the beautiful, warm sunny spring day.



It was perfect weather for a barbeque. The sun was shining, a few fluffy clouds in the sky and a gentle breeze was wafting across Gärdet sportsfields. We said hello to several friends and set ourselves down while Lambi set off on the all important task of sussing out what was in all the eskies.



While the adults busied themselves setting up barbeques, preparing salads and chatting to friends, the kids got together and arranged a cricket game. We may have a future Bradman amongst these little guys.



After a while, more and more people arrived and set up their barbies, picnic blankets and the air buzzed with laughter and conversation. I cooked our lunch, while Lars-Göran and Randall caught up on sailing tips, then we all sat together with several friends and talked. A few people from SCC circulated selling raffle tickets for a basket of Aussie goodies (no, I didn't win, unfortunately!) and others sold packs of ANZAC biccies. It was a nice, relaxed and friendly atmosphere.



Once lunch was digested, it was time to see what we were made of, when the boys from the footy club helped organise a long kick competition. Many people lined up for a shot at the longest kick, with several of the women outkicking the guys!



Kick of the day came from a Swedish girl who was playing volleyball at the courts nearby and came over to see what we were all doing. She was invited to have a go and she kicked a monster shot that would do any leading AFL side proud. There were a few red-faced guys around after that. People enjoyed the spectacle and lazed around in the warmth and sunshine.



We had one hairy moment, reminiscent of the run in we had with Mr Busy-body at the Australia Day function. This time it was Mrs Busy-Body and her daschund that looked like a loaf of bread with legs. I guess she was in her late 60s and seemed to hate the fact that we were all enjoying ourselves. She demanded to know if we had a permit to barbeque, a permit to drink beer in the park, a permit to have a flag other than Swedish flying, a permit to have the cars on the grass and when we ignored her, she angrily marched off to call the police. We were pretty sure the police would not be interested in our small gathering and sure enough no cops turned up.




I simply don't understand people like her. We were in the middle of a public park, surrounded by open space and commercial offices, nowhere near a residential area that we could possibly disturb. We were quiet, there was no loud music, just a few people playing cricket and having a barbeque. What is it to her? As she marched off, she called us ignorant foreigners, so perhaps THAT was the main problem - we weren't Swedes. Several other curious people stopped by and asked what the occasion was and most were really nice about it and wished us a happy day. But there always has to be one spoil-sport.

Anyway, by now it was getting on for 4pm, so the boys began to change into their footy gear.



There was a team line up, then Phil made a short speech about ANZAC Day and we all stood, listened to the haunting sound of The Last Post and observed a minute's silence to remember the fallen before the opening bounce of the spirited game.



Post match discussions at the local Australian pub finished off a relaxed, easy-going day among friends. Though the intricacies of the football game still escape my darling Swede who confessed to not having a clue what was going on or why we were cheering. I think I have some homework to do on him before next year. I did, however, notice that he had no trouble understanding what to do with the ANZAC biscuits!

I already knew I was an individual, one of a kind and now I have proof!

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I can't believe that it snowed again yesterday. It's the end of April, for pete's sake. Nu räcker det! (Enough, already!) It was a sunny, if cold morning, but around lunchtime a black cloud appeared in the west and soon the snow was pelting down. I admit to being quite shocked as I have been mentally preparing myself for summer, so snow was not featuring highly in my thoughts. I was out when it began to snow, but fortunately I was well rugged up in a winter coat, hat and gloves as it had turned icy overnight. Luckily the temperature was slightly above zero, so the snow did not stay around too long - only long enough to remind us that we are not over winter just yet.

Last night I spent ages on the phone chatting to our friend Randall who has returned briefly to Stockholm from Morocco. He is playing a couple of gigs before heading south to pick up his boat and continue sailing her to the Med. We have arranged to meet up with him on Sunday in Stockholm and another day down here to discuss his route, talk about the proof-reading of his book and catch up on news.

Today, I baked all afternoon and now have a huge pile of ANZAC biscuits bagged up and ready to be sold at the weekend picnic. These biscuits were invented during the First World War, by Australian women who wanted to send a tasty treat to the soldiers fighting overseas. Because everything went via sea (and this in the days before refrigeration), it took a couple of months to reach the soldiers, so a biscuit was required that would keep fresh for the long trip.

An adaptation of an old Scottish recipe was selected as being appropriate. Eggs, which act to bind the biscuit ingredients together could not be used as they would spoil, so golden syrup was chosen instead. These biscuits, made from rolled oats, sugar, flour, coconut, butter, golden syrup, baking soda and boiling water were called Soldiers' Biscuits, but after the ANZAC legend was born in the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915, they became known as ANZAC biscuits.

I used a traditional recipe for my biscuits:

1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
2 tbsp boiling water
125g butter
2 tbsp golden syrup

Combine rolled oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl. Mix the butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan, stirring over a gentle heat until melted. Mix bicarb soda with boiling water, add to melted butter mixture, then stir into dry ingredients.

Spoon heaped teaspoonfuls of mixture onto greased oven trays (or line with baking paper), allowing room for spreading.

Bake at 150C for about 20 minutes (or until golden brown). Loosen on trays while still warm, then cool on trays.

Makes about 35 biscuits



Of course, what you can see above represents five batches of biscuits....

I didn't have golden syrup, but substituted a mixture of ljussirap and mörksirap and this worked perfectly. I've put them in bags and tied a little green and gold ribbon on them to make them a bit more festive. I hope the people who buy them enjoy eating them as much as I enjoyed making them.

We also bought two great books today to help us with our summer sailing. They are Arholma - Landsort and Landsort - Skanör. These books have guides to islands, guest harbours, natural harbours as well as information about local features, detailed maps of the areas and magnificent photographs, many of them aerial shots of the towns and harbours. These two books cover an area from the south west tip of Sweden to a point just above the Stockholm archipelago, which is the most common areas we sail. What useful, beautiful books and a great addition to our onboard library. I really want to get Skanör - Strömstad (dealing with the west coast) as well while the special price of 340kr lasts. I'll have to see how the budget stretches this month.

Now off to add the finishing touches to the Thai chicken we are having for dinner.

Today has now been officially declared a complete disaster and I've already submitted my request to have it permanently erased from history.

Do you ever have those days when it was a bad idea to even contemplate getting out of bed? When everything that can possibly go wrong, does go wrong? Well that sums up today perfectly. The plan was that we would go down together to the boat club. Lars-Göran would launch one sailing boat, just to test the crane out before next week's official start of launching, then we would work together on our own boat. His estimate was that it would take 45 minutes for the boat launch (and I could be there to assist), then we'd have 5-6 hours to work on the boat. I had hoped to finish hand sanding the wooden rail in the cockpit and perhaps apply the first coat of varnish.

What actually happened?

Well, we got to the boat club okay, and the maintenance man asked if Lars-Göran could use the crane to move a heavy container before he did the launch. We were early, so that was no problem. I decided to wait in the clubhouse with Lambi while he cranked up the crane to do this small job, figuring I'd go out when Kjell arrived with his tractor and wagon.

The crane can best be described as a cantankerous, bloody-minded, rusting, ancient pile of shuddering bolts held together by blind faith (and chewing gum). After a short time, I realised I couldn't hear any noise, so I went outside to see that the damn thing wouldn't start - AGAIN.



That's my guy clambering over it like a monkey, watched anxiously by the owner of the boat we were supposed to launch in 15 minutes. Lars-Göran tried everything he could think of. Later, Kjell arrived and took a look as well. He's a qualified mechanic and even he couldn't get it to spring into life, despite the application of a couple of swift hits with an enormous wrench. Meanwhile time was ticking on and the boat owner was getting nervous. The regular crane driver was summoned and he arrived with a sledge hammer and pounded the starter motor which miraculously fired up. Not a very comforting thought is it? It reminded me of my father bashing on the television hoping to get better reception!

Well, it looked like the boat launch was back on. But this boat was behind several others, so Kjell used his tractor to shift three of the boats out of the way. When they got to the second boat, there was another problem. This boat was on its own trailer and the tyres were flat. Another delay, while Lars-Göran got out a second tractor, went around to the cellar garage and hauled out a large industrial compressor so they could inflate the tyres.

When that was done, Kjell went to move it and part of the way through the process, the front tyre exploded as the rim it was attached to completely rusted through and collapsed. This sent eight tons of boat leaning and I had an awful vision of a domino effect as this boat fell, knocking over a dozen boats nearby. God must have been smiling, though, because everyone sprang into action and managed to set up enough timber to keep the boat steady and prevent it tilting over. But meanwhile, it was not able to be moved from it's spot right in the middle of the main gateway to the wharf.



You couldn't pick a more inconvenient spot to break down if you tried. This is the main gate and there is no way a car can get in or out. Fortunately, there is another gate so people will have to use that until the owner of this boat can come and jack it up and get a new rim and tyre. I'm sure he'll be delighted when he's told the news!

By this time, several hours had gone by. Kjell had another appointment elsewhere, so Lars-Göran said to go and he'd use the club's other tractor and trailer to launch Voyager alone. Again, all of this takes time to set up. But at least the equipment was available and working. He then lifted the boat from it's winter frame and onto the boat trailer.



I always find this utterly nerve-racking. You hear the creaks and strains of the straps as they tighten around the hull, then the shudder as she is lifted up out of her frame. They start to swing, so they must be held steady with ropes and guided onto the trailer so that the keel rests firmly. She is then locked into place with a series of straps and struts and hauled by tractor down to the water. All of the time, you are only too aware that this is many tons of weight and expense and that you are responsible for getting her safely in the water.

Once down at the water, Lars-Göran then heads back to the upper wharf to collect the crane. The straps are attached again and then he lifts the boat from the trailer and gently lowers her into the water.



It is such a relief when the boat is safely launched. While the owner moves her along to the mast crane to set up the rigging, all the equipment must be returned to their parking places.

And this "small job" took five and a half hours! We decided that it was better to head off home at this stage and write the whole day off as a disaster. Luckily mother nature came to the rescue and salvaged the day for me. There are the first daffodils at the wharf, huddled up near a wall:



Then over in another sunny spot, poking up through the gravel in a most inhospitable place with no shelter is the first of the spring tulips. So beautiful and delicate and adding a splash of colour to the grey landscape around it.



And out on the water, I spotted the return of the first alfågel. I had never seen these birds in Australia (I think they are only found in the northern hemisphere), so I had to look up the English translation of that word. It seems they are long-tailed ducks.



Aren't they beautiful? I had no idea there were so many varieties of ducks until I came to Sweden. I thought there were maybe a few, but had never thought about it. But living in a coastal town where they come and go with a regular pattern at different times, you can see what an enormous variety of them exist.

The other welcome sight was the first few terns for the season.



I think this may be a common tern or fisktärn, but I'm not sure. Again there are different ones of these and perhaps as the others return, I'll be able to distinguish which ones are which.

Today, I wished I could be free as these birds.

Yes, it's a beautiful morning! The last two days have been perfect, glorious, spring weather. While sitting out in the sunshine with my cup of green tea this morning, I watched a beautifully-marked glossy-feathered svartmes or coal tit with a beak full of leaf litter hopping around the garden, then fly up to the roof of the apartment block to deliver its load of nesting materials to its waiting mate. If you click on the speaker icon above the picture in the link, you can hear their beautiful call. I am getting much better at distinguishing bird calls now and have my bird book with me to try and identify which one it is. The variety of tiny birds is staggering and they really are quite charming to watch.



I've had a busy weekend and next weekend is also looking equally as busy as is the weekend after. How does this happen so often? Still it won't be long before we can set off for summer sailing and then we are free of schedules for a while. I don't mind socialising with family and friends but we also look forward to quiet times together out enjoying life on the water. But first we have to get the boat in the water and so the work on her continues.

The walk down to the boat club is always a joy at this time of the year as there is a real sense of life returning to the town, with birds everywhere, plants regenerating and new flowers springing up continually. On the corner just a few metres from home, the first patch of lovely minature vårstjärna (known as glory-of-the-snow) has appeared literally overnight.



This is simply on a nature strip outside of the fence of a corner property and makes a beautiful display every spring, with the deep blue star shaped flowers with tiny white hearts contrasting with the grey of the footpath. In the sunshine, it looks like a bright blue carpet. Other bulbs are growing at a fast rate and I expect that the daffodils will be the next plants to flower all over town.

Before he could work on our boat though, Lars-Göran launched the first boat for the season, driving the mobile crane and hoisting our friend Björn's Hallberg-Rassy 352 into the water. You get the sense that summer is about to be here as you see the boats being returned to the water. The official launching season begins next week, but Lars-Göran is doing a few early ones for those whose boats are ready and who are eager to be in the water.



While he had the crane down on the wharf, the club also asked him to help install the renovated sliding mechanism that is used by some of the boats to launch. So the straps were attached to the huge galvanised steel piece and he swung it over to the ramp so that it could be affixed to the rails and ready to be used later this week. As you can see, whenever you start to work on something like this, "the panel" always arrives to stand around with their hands in their pockets, offering their advice.



It's funny that the minute the crane is out, suddenly there is an audience, so poor Lars-Göran always works with people watching him. I think big machines fascinate people and I know that even after nearly five years here, I still love watching him swing these big boats into the water. Except when it is OUR boat and then I feel very nervous and pray that the straps hold, the crane works etc. In other words, I'm a worry-wart. But Lars-Göran knows that each boat is special to the owner, so he treats them all carefully, as though it was his own boat.

And as another, more unexpected sign of spring.....



I really had to laugh at this decorated bike. And here I was thinking Swedes were always purveyors of bland, minimalist decoration in the very best possible taste.

Well, I guess the owner will have no trouble picking it out from the other monochrome bikes on the local railway station bike rack! :)

Today we had vårstädning or spring cleaning in the garden of our apartment block. When Lars-Göran came back from the board meeting earlier in the week, he told me that they had decided to have the spring cleaning day NEXT weekend. But he had told them to change it to this weekend as we would not be able to go next weekend because it was the ANZAC Day picnic. I looked at him and said "Are you crazy?" and after a few moments silence, he looked a bit sheepish and admitted that maybe that wasn't his smartest moment! How can you not love a man that has no guile or dishonesty about him.



Mind you, he was sorely regretting it when I roused him out of dreamland at 8am this morning. This is really early for us on a Saturday morning. We usually like to start our Saturday slowly, with a leisurely waking up and a read in bed for a while. I know that it takes at least two hours and three cups of coffee before Lars-Göran is even vaguely ready to face the day, so the early start was essential for him to be ready by 10am, the official starting time.

The usual band of apartment owners turned up for the work - ten people, representing only 6 of the 35 apartments here. I am always surprised by the consistently poor turn-out, especially as we have a lot of apartments owned by people in their early thirties who are quite capable of spending two hours on a mild, sunny spring day helping out.

We spent the morning raking, sweeping and generally tidying up. I was raking up small sticks, twigs and leaves when I spotted a pair of magpies busy building a nest in one of the trees here. I watched while the male flew down near where I was, sorted through the undergrowth and selected a stick. He then flew up and showed it to the female who carefully scrutinised it and then placed it where she wanted it. I felt bad cleaning up all this potential nest building material, so I left quite a bit in that area and moved to another spot to clean.



Afterwards, there was a barbeque and general social get together in the garden. This is something I always enjoy as it gives us all a chance to chat about all kinds of things and get to know each other better. The group that lives here is really nice and despite the age range from late 20s to late 70s, they all get on really well.



You can see that despite it being spring, there is very little growth on the trees yet and the lawn is still in the process of reviving itself after the winter snows. In a few weeks it will all be green and lush again. Lambi had a ball running all over the garden with a few of her animal friends. At one stage there were four dogs and two cats racing around like crazy idiots. The cats get on really well with the dogs and you can see Lambi and her feline friend Skrållan checking out the bbq area hopefully.



Later in the day when we were resting back in our apartment, some children came to the door selling may flowers or Majblomman. This is the first children I've seen selling them this year, though I did see a story about Queen Silvia buying them last week. Children sell these flower pins in the early spring each year. The organisation behind this was started in 1907, with the aim of helping needy children in Sweden who suffer from illness, physical handicap or social problems. Today, the little girl only had one pin left, which we bought. I'm sure I'll buy a few more of the pretty yellow pins over the next few weeks. I like the idea of children selling them with the aim of helping other children who are not as fortunate as they are. And at only 10kr each, it is a very small price to pay.

Now bedtime, I think. I'm tired after working in the garden today and we have a family birthday party tomorrow.

I so have to get one of these t-shirts! Despite the appalling spelling on the site (which is somehow fitting) the sentiment behind the words is priceless. And they even chose the patriotic Swedish colours of yellow and blue. They are a Canadian company, so I'm surprised at the poor English, so of course, I'll have to give my Canadian friends here a hard time when they try and tell me that they are native English speakers.

I was thinking today that I have no clothing that is "patriotic" stuff - either Swedish nor Australian. I'm meeting some Aussie friends for coffee in Stockholm tomorrow afternoon and one of them quipped that she'll be wearing her Oz t-shirt. Or did I think she ought to save it for the ANZAC Day picnic? And I thought to myself that I had not one item to wear that is vaguely Aussie. I don't want to look completely naff like some of the expats here who turn up in their arkubra, drizabone and RM Williams stuff, looking like a caricature of The Man from Snowy River, even though we all know that back home they never set foot outside the Melbourne CBD and wouldn't have been seen dead in such an outfit. But I would like to own something like this, so I'll have to look around and see what I can find. After all, we like to still fly the flag.

And speaking of flying the flag, my dear friends Ian and Jenny in Adelaide sent us a small, marine quality flag for the boat. If you have superb eyesight or a magnifying glass, you can see that we have a small Aussie flag in the stays - in the top right of the picture.

This poor little flag (also given to us by Ian and Jenny) died last year. The marine environment is tough on flags and we find that we have to replace the main Swedish flag we fly from the aft almost every year. Anyway, the small Australian flag signifies that a crewmember from that particular country is on board.

It has caused some confusion as this particular area of boat flag etiquette is slowly dying. Boats should fly the National Flag of the country where the boat is registered. So we are okay on that score, with our large Swedish flag. This is still a widely followed and understood international custom. Then on the starboard rigging, you can see that we fly the Nynäshamn sailing club burgee and that of the OE Yacht Club of Scandinavia. This is because the starboard rigging is a position of honour (when you visit a foreign port, that's where one would fly the host country's flag).

Now when a crew member or guest on board is of a different nationality from the flag displayed on the aft, it was customary to raise their flag on the port side rigging. But this is rarely done these days. Thus we get endless questions about whether we have either just arrived here from New Zealand (wtf????) or are we going there and already flying the guest flag (a little early wouldn't you say?). And what's with the damn New Zealand bit? As if anyone has ever heard of New Zealand?

Check out these flags? Nothing like each other. What are they thinking?

Lars-Göran is currently at a board meeting for the association that runs our apartment block. They usually discuss finances, repairs and any other planning or maintenance that is needed. I am keen to know when the proposed bathroom and kitchen renovations begin, as that will give us a date to work towards regarding when we will launch the boat this spring, as we have no intentions of living in the apartment while all that is going on. So please pray for a warm summer.

We are really lucky in that our association is very well run and the board members are both hard working and friendly towards one another. This is not always the case in Sweden and recently a friend of mine was telling me about an association in her town that made the headlines in their local paper. It should firmly dispel any notions that you may have about the stereo-typed Swedes being cool, unemotional and essentially peace-loving people.

The particular association was one that ran the local pet cemetery. Presumably it was made up of the owners of the pets buried there. You have to understand that Swedes like to have formal associations or föreningar so that everyone gets a say in a very democratic way and knows where they stand. All very civilised.

So, apparently they all got together for an AGM the other day to discuss something vitally important. Exactly what that was, nobody is saying, even though there was a riot at the meeting and the cops were called. When the police arrived at the scene, no-one would disclose what it was about on the grounds that it was "private association business." This, despite the report that people were being shoved and a lady had been "beaten to the ground".

What made me laugh was that the main perpetrators in this affair were two women, aged 50 and 70! No arrests were made, but there was apparently discussion by some members that "certain" dogs should now be disinterred from their last resting place and that they and their owners should go elsewhere.

Sheesh! People can be so strange.

I got a very funny request in the mail today. I really laughed for a long time over this one. I have been contacted to see if I would write an article for an Adelaide weekend newspaper about Sweden. I have spoken on the phone to my contact and submitted an article that is being edited at the moment.

Today came a suggestion that I might also like to write an additional piece about a quirky Swedish institution like the wonderful systembaguette thingy. Systembaguette???? It took me a little while to realise that what she was referring to was the alcohol monopoly shops Systembolaget - a very dour and sensible name for a booze chain. "The System Company". Whatever that is supposed to mean. I think I prefer the Finnish name for their monopoly - Alko.

So once I stopped laughing I got to work and started to think about our dear "systembaguette thingy". I'll never be able to keep a straight face in there again.

The crocus are showing their yellow and purple blossoms, pushing away the gloom of the long winter days. They are running rampant everywhere as an early harbinger of spring and it is still a surprise to me to find them in patches on people's lawns, on nature verges and popping up in the woodland glades. This is typical of the little groups of them you find in the woods.



They make a bright, beautiful show while it is warmish and the sun shines, but the minute it begins to cloud over, they close up again and await the sun's warming rays. When we came closer to the flowers, we spotted a beautiful humla or bumble-bee busy collecting pollen and nectar. I'm not sure whether we have them in Australia but they are very different from the normal honeybees I remember. These ones are much larger, slower and generally seem friendlier than the busy little bees who I used to see scurrying around the gum trees. These bumblebees take life at a much more leisurely pace - my sort of creature.



I wanted to reach down and give it a big hug, but then guessed that it wouldn't be such a smart idea. I always come home happy after a walk through the woods or park or along the shoreline as there is so much to see and savour. Our most common walk takes us around the edge of town, through the main park and around the shore facing the island of Trehörningen and along Strandvägen at least as far as the boat club. On more energetic days we continue on to Lövhagen, a pretty camping place and youth hostel a little further along the road. That is at least a 10km walk and certainly gets your heart pumping. But with the sea and granite cliffs on one side and the forest on the other it is the very best environment to take a wander in any season. There is always something new to experience.

In the local park, we came across Lambi's "big sister" - a beautiful standard poodle (though I think matte wasn't too keen on us taking a photo)



See, despite the blue skies and sunshine you still need to keep rugged up in spring. I do wear my inbetween jacket if I'm simply going out for a short trip, but the winter jacket if we are out longer or I'd freeze! And while we were out walking I also discovered a new restaurant in town. Over in the eastern part at Estö, there has been a vacant kiosk site for several years. I saw that it is now a Thai and sushi take-away restaurant. I was curious as I haven't had decent sushi for ages and wondered at the fact that it was both Japanese and Thai.

It seems that it was started up by Samruay Kudan, a Thai man who has lived in Sweden for sixteen years. He has been working in the very swish and highly regarded sushi restaurant Miyako in Östermalm, but longed to own his own place. What luck for us that he came on a visit to Nynäshamn last summer and thought it would be a perfect place for a restaurant. I really hope it is a success for him and I intend to frequent it for some sumo sushi or a plate of gai met muang or paneng gai. My mouth is watering as I type. Yum!

Your Inner European is Swedish!

Relaxed and peaceful. You like to kick back and enjoy life.

This result was so funny that I just HAD to post it. What a laugh. The forecast snow didn't arrive, instead it was a lovely, sunny weekend, though the wind was very cold. Our weekends are spent on getting the boat ready and so today, we went down early to the club. Most of the reason for that was so that Lars-Göran could check out the stuff for sale at prylbytardagen. This is a day when people offer their unwated boat goods for sale. Most years we have picked up some good buys and this year was no exception. He found some special blocks that sell for 700kr offrered for 100kr, so he bought a couple and was well pleased. Then it was off to the boat itself.



We have forest directly behind us and the morning was filled with the sounds of spring birds calling out and nest building. I watched a woodpecker as well. My first sight of one in the wild. It really is a lovely environment. I felt sorry for Lars-Göran today as the work he did involved squeezing into tight spaces and threading cables through a conduit pipe. It is work that will help keep order in the electric cabling, but is mostly hidden behind the cupboards. Still, little by little it is starting to regain some sense of order.

I was discussing life in Sweden with a friend who lives in Darlana and we agreed that one of the sheer joys of living here is the proximity to nature and all it has to offer. Every town and suburb has abundant green space and we both see an assortment of wild animals in the woods near where we live. Being close to the sea, we get the additional bonus of watching the plethora of sea birds and my very favourite (though quite rare) sightings of these gentle creatures



When I look at them, with those big puppy eyes, I wonder how people could be so heartless as to club them to death. I'm so pleased that has stopped in Sweden and now they are returning to the Stockholm archipelago. Nynäshamn is one of the places where you can go on organised seal tours to the outer islands where these shy mammals live. Several island groups are no go zones when the seals are mating and pups are born and still other islands are protected for nesting sea birds.



Signs such as these dot the coastal areas and are strictly enforced. All areas are clearly marked on sea charts as well and I can remember several evenings when we were tired and looking for a bay to moor in for the night we had to sail on a little longer to find an unprotected island, especially a little further south of here in the St Anna Skärgård.

Lars-Göran has been asked to do another delivery of a boat from Kiel to Sweden in late May or early June. It is a brand new Bavaria 33 and while it is not my choice as a beautiful boat (I don't like the modern shaped fore nor the bulb keel) it will still be a wonderful opportunity for Lars-Göran to go to Germany and get in some great sailing in the open water. Let's hope there are no hitches and that it all goes smoothly as the time factor is a little tight if we want to head off northwards in good time. I'd like to spend Midsommar in Höga Kusten.

April is made of such wonderful things
Sunbeams and tulips and butterfly wings.

These are among the most common images of a northern hemisphere April and this week has been a combination of sunshine, new life and rain. Today, the mists rolled in from the sea, temperatures plummeted and it was grey and drizzly. Still, there is no mistaking the increasing light and the birdlife streaming in from the south.

On Tuesday, I discovered this in the back garden:



It is a nässelfjäril or small tortoise-shell butterfly. I thought it might be a small monarch butterly that I used to see in my Adelaide garden, but these are a different species. I think they are so cute, with their beautiful patterning and looking like they are wearing little fur coats.

I also heard the unmistakable yodelling song of the trädlärka or woodlark.



They are not the prettiest of the spring birds, but they have a beautiful voice that is far more melodic than the incessant twittering of the sparrows and tits busy making nests in the bush outside our bedroom window. We also have skata or magpies busy building nests. I particularly like these handsome birds that are nothing like the magpies we get in Australia. The skata looks like this ( a bit like a giant willy-wagtail), while the magpies that used to swoop down on me around Victoria Park looked like this. I love the warble of the Australian magpie early in the morning, but I don't miss their spring dive-bombing raids!

The other unwelcome returning visitors are the canadian geese. They are becoming pests here (as do a lot of introduced species) so I wasn't overjoyed to see them back.



There were six of the messy little buggers at the park, though they wouldn't stand close enough for a group shot so you have to be content with these four. And take note of the colour of the grass. Yes, these are the spring colours in Sweden. I still can't get used to dead looking, yellowing grass and leafless trees as spring. Where I am from, early spring is bright green and lush after mild weather and plentiful rains. The yellowed grass is more a late summer look. However after many months of little daylight and being covered by snow, the grass emerges and tries to regenerate.

The other site you don't see too often in Australia is this:



Here it is very common to see dad or several dads out with their baby prams catching some fresh air. You even see dads pusing the prams while the mums walk on 10 paces ahead of them chatting. When I told Lars-Göran that it was the reverse in Australia, he thought that was odd. His reasoning was that Sweden is very hilly, uneven and snowy in winter and it is easier for a man to take charge of the pram as he is often physically stronger. Now why didn't WE think of that?

And before I forget, my Mock arrived from Melbourne! My mobile phone now has its own sock to keep it warm and I'll get my boat mascots to pose with my dressed phone.



Captain Moose is holding the phone while the kangaroos, koalas and sheep look on. The mocks come in a range of patterns, but I couldn't go past the Aussie flag. Thankyou, Sandy for sending it. I now have the best dressed phone in Sweden! And I've changed my ring signal to Waltzing Matilda to celebrate. It was nice to get the mock as I have just changed mobile company and had spent a ridiculously long time transferring all of my numbers to the new SIM card. Who are all these people? At least I remembered to do it BEFORE I had destroyed my old card, unlike someone else I live with who shall remain anonymous. LOL!

I see the weather service is forecasting snow for Saturday again. I feel sorry for the people who have already planted out their spring shoots. And I feel sorry for the boys from the local Aussie rules footy team who are playing a visiting team from London that day. Still, the after party should warm everybody up nicely.

There has been an ongoing discussion at the expat forum I belong to about Australians really overdoing the slang when they get overseas. Opinions of course vary, but most people really dislike hearing others around them carry on with full on slang expressions or ockerisms that they would never been caught dead saying in Australia. I personally don't even like hearing G'day, Mate! as I have never heard anyone apart from people in the tourist industry ever say it! But the biggest peeve seemed to be that by deliberately choosing an expression like dunny (rather than toilet or bathroom) was a way of excluding the other person because no foreigner would know what it meant. It would also draw attention to themselves and a discussion would ensue about what it meant etc. Yes, it seems to me to be both very smug and rude.

Of course, there are expressions that I use not realising that they are exclusive to Australia. When talking with Americans over here, I've had to explain things I thought were universal English like sunnies (sunglasses), wagging school (taking the day off) and even capsicum (a bell pepper). But I would never dream of becoming an atrocious parody of Australia, by stringing a lot of slang and a broad accent together like Steve Iwrin does.

I was speaking about accents with friends the other day and they thought I spoke very much like the characters on an Australian television series being broadcast here at the moment - McLeod's Daughters. Having seen about five minutes of this program, described to me as a "show about these Australian women running a ranch, with a lot of barely dressed Aussie men", I cringed at the thought of how broad the accent was. "Do I really sound like that?" I asked in disbelief and they answered "Yes, pretty much". I don't know whether it is because I don't hear English every day, but the accent sounds so much stronger than I remember it. So I wonder if I sound the same as I used to when I lived in Adelaide, or has my ear become desensitised to the accent.

The spring weather continues to warm us all up. For several days I've been able to have windows and the balcony door open to let in the warm, welcome breeze. Having spent a few years here now, I can really appreciate it when the light and warmth returns and can understand why the Swedes head out of doors and sit facing the sun like sunflowers as soon as it makes an appearance. Everything seems brighter and cheerful when the sun shines.

Lars-Göran went down and set up the infra-red lamps yesterday, beginning with the rudder and trim rudder area.



When he said he was going to use these warming lamps, I had no idea they would be this big. I asked him what one would normally use them for and he looked at me as though I had three heads and said "Well, to warm up the deck! We are in Sweden you know". It never is really warm outside in the evenings and even in summer, people use these lamps on the patio to keep the chill off the air. Something I could never have imagined. Anyway, I'm glad that Ulf had these to spare and was able to loan them to us. I only hope it works out and that Fiona will then be ready to paint and launch. The Baltic beckons and it has been far too long on land for our liking.

Now to study the charts and work out where to go. I'm angling to go up the coast a bit to drop in on some friends along the way, then strike out across to Malax in Finland where his aunts and cousins live. I'm really curious about where he was born and he speaks with such fondness of the place that I want to go and see it for myself.

Now I hope the sun and the lamps will dry the hull quickly.

Today the world mourns the death of Pope John Paul II, who died in Rome last night after a long illness. John Paul II was the first non-Italian Pope in four-and-a-half centuries, and the first from eastern Europe. Born Karol Wojtyla in humble conditions in Poland, he became the head of the Church in October 1978 at age 58 and imprinted his papacy with his own agenda and warm, communicative style, winning over crowds and statesmen alike with his commitment to peace and human rights.

Here in Sweden, the catholic cathederal in Söder was packed today for mass, and I expect it will also be full on Tuesday for the Requiem Mass at 6.30pm. Anyone who wants to write in the condolence book can do so at the site for the Swedish Catholic Church. Tributes have been pouring in, along with the inevitable criticisms of his reign. The King of Sweden released a lovely statement where he remembered him as “A charismatic person whose eyes radiated human warmth and goodness”.



This picture shows some of the thousands of mourners who came to St. Eugenia Cathedral in Stockholm today to light a candle and pay their respects.

I'll try to remember him as a staunch defender of human dignity and for his contribution in helping end to end the hold of communism in the Eastern bloc. I am old enough to remember the last three popes. Paul VI was pope while I attended several catholic schools in Adelaide and I remember his picture being at the front of the classroom. And I recall his death in 1978, followed by the election of Pope John Paul I who only reigned for a month before dying and the current pope being elected. After a reign of 27 years, it is the end of an era. Let us hope that it will also be the start of a new, bright era under a new pope who will be elected in two weeks.

Requiescat in Pace, Karol Wojtyla.

Today, poor Lars-Göran had a blonde moment on the train. He was sitting next to a young girl reading a Robert Cormier book. He glanced at the title Anklagad (translates as "Accused", but the english title is different) and frowned. He later admitted that he failed to recognise the Swedish word at all and instead split it into two words and came up with Ank lagad, which translates as "Made by a duck". No wonder he looked so confused. I laughed when he told me, and it was also somewhat reassuring as I find I am losing my English skills and I think it only fair that my presence has some impact on his native language as well.

Yesterday it was April 1st and I saw a couple of stories in the local papers to mark the occasion. The main morning daily Dagens Nyheter printed a story about the people in the southern part of the country being hit with an extra 1,000kr a year energy tax (sorry, it's in Swedish only) because they are undermining the Swedish alcohol monopoly by slipping over to Denmark to buy their beer and spirits. You could of course register as a non-drinker, but then you'd be subject to random breath tests. The English paper, The Local printed a story about the government proposing moving Christmas to February in Sweden so there would be a bigger chance of deep snow and we'd not be competing with the rest of the world for Christmas tourists. Not to mention that you could buy your pressies in the January sales! Of course, the strange thing is that I could imagine both of those being seriously proposed, which is scary unto itself.

Today marks the anniversary of 200 years since the birth of Hans Christian Andersen and neighbouring Denmark is hosting a huge celebration to honour one of their most famous citizens. I avidly read his stories as a child and I still think of him whenever I see the wild swans fly overhead in formation. I also loved Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea and The Ugly Duckling. And many more....

And who can forget the movie from the 1950's starring the wonderful Danny Kaye as Hans Christian Andersen? I know that it is mostly fictional as the man himself was depressive and morose a lot of the time, but the film did make me really want to go out and read his stories. And skip around the house singing

Thumbelina, Thumbelina, tiny little thing
Thumbelina dance, Thumbelina sing,
Thumbelina, what's the difference if you're very small?
When your heart is full of love, you're nine feet tall!

Better stop that as Lars-Göran is looking at me like I'm nuts. (Quiet there in the back row!)

Today has been a day of mixed emotions. We finally had someone down to measure the dampness in Fiona's hull. Our friend Bosse had organised this for us and we were very confident that she was completely dry and we worried that this poor guy was making the trip from Tyresö to Nynäshamn unnecessarily. They picked up Lars-Göran this morning and all went off loaded with a picnic basket to the boat club. As this is Sweden, you must begin first with a coffee break - including buns and biscuits. Now I know this was early morning, but did Bosse really need to come in his pyjama top?



Peter then measured the hull with his dampness meter and discovered that she was still soaking wet in patches. Poor Lars-Göran was so depressed when he came home, especially as Peter had told him that it would take many more months to dry out if we left her to dry naturally. This is a huge blow as it would mean no summer sailing, keeping the boat on land (and paying for a summer land as well as pier space) and being homeless as we relied on living on the boat while our bathroom and kitchen are being renovated.



But once we talked about options, we decided to take Peter's advice and to get special infra-red heating lamps to run 24 hours a day for two weeks to dry her out properly, then re-measure and hopefully be able to apply the epoxy after that if we get the all clear. It's just a delay, but we will get her in the water. I guess we were in a bit of denial about the extent of the problem and also keyed up to finish the work and go sailing again. A couple of phone calls to friends and we located two heaters that we can borrow and we got permission from the wharf supervisor to use the electricity. Tomorrow we plug her in and continue with our plans to sail in the summer!

I had to share this lovely photo that Lars-Göran took on Wednesday when we went to Waldermarsudde.



I love it! It's like a work of art itself, almost "set up" but he assures me it was a random shot he took as one of the big ferries was passing by and he thought it looked great gliding past the window. At the last minute, a woman came to the window and stood there looking out, which annoyed him slightly at the time. I hate it when people see you are taking a photo but "get in the way" anyway. However, in this case, her presence adds to the picture, as does the vase of daffodils and the gorgeous sunshine.

On Thursday we were back in Stockholm wandering around in the spring sunshine. With summer time (or as we say in Oz daylight saving - what a strange notion!) having started here on Easter Sunday, the days are stretching out and even though the following pictures were taken in the early evening, it is still clearly daylight.



I noticed a lot of police around, especially near the National Museum and along Skeppsholmen, so we pulled over and asked a very friendly policewoman what was going on. She said that the Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga was in Stockholm on a state visit and accompanied by the Swedish king and queen, she was exploring the sights. It was lucky that we stopped and asked, because they were about to shut off Skeppsholmsbron and I would have been stranded there and late for my dinner with friends.

So it was a quick backtrack and off to Djurgården instead, where you can look back across the water to the very posh residential area around Strandvägen.



Apartments in those buildings will set you back several million dollars, but you do get the luxury of a wonderful waterview across the bay to where we were standing. I never, ever get sick of looking at these beautiful, historical buildings. They are elegant without being boring like a lot of the stark minimalist stuff that is popular today. There is a grandeur and old world charm about them that is infectious. The rounded shapes and tall spires remind me so much of fairy tales and castles.



And if you look along the length of this road (Strandvägen or Esplanade), in the distance you can see the beginning of the very exclusive area which houses many of the foreign embassies (but not the Aussie Embassy that is conveniently located in the centre of town) and diplomatic residences as well as the telecommunications tower rising up out of Ladugårdsgärdet.



What a wonderful view to wake up to every morning. No wonder these apartments are so expensive. But you do have to admit that they are beautiful buildings and the picture they present is almost magical. The history of the city really comes alive when you can wander through the area where it all happened. It really is a spectacular city and one that many people outside of Sweden are unaware of. I would imagine that many Australians have no idea how stunning Stockholm can be - this incredible city of islands surrounded by water and so much history.

But enough rambling. So what do the residents of Strandvägen see when they look across the body of water outside their front door? This:



It is two of the major museum attractions in Stockholm - on the right hand side with the distinctive three masts is The Vasa Museum and on the left, inside the castle, Nordiska Museum. Nordiska Museum always fascinates me - it is a repository of all things Scandinavian. "Know thy roots" was the motto of the founder Hazelius, who decided in 1872 that it was high time to start preserving something of Swedish heritage for future generations. They even have a huge chocolate festival there every October. I'll have to go and report on that one :) The building itself is beautiful.



It looks like sandstone, especially in the warm, afternoon light but it is in fact constructed of bricks, with very intricate detailing.



It really is an impressive, gothic looking site.



But time was running short, so I made my way back into town and past the beautiful old eighteenth century Dramaten theatre you see pictured here on the left and up into Östermalm to meet up with some friends for dinner.



Just after 6pm I met up with some great girls for a big gossip and eating session. We all "met" online here in Sweden as love immigrants and as two of them live in the far north of Sweden, this was the first opportunity for all of us to get together. So we gathered at TGIFridays for dinner - from left to right is Erika (from New Brunswick now living in Stockholm, Tjej (from New Jersey also living in Stockholm), Debbie (from Hawaii living in Skellefteå Hamn), Helena (from Ohio now living in Skellefteå Hamn) and me.



I was not familiar with the restaurant, which I gather is a worldwide chain. I thought the food was ghastly - overpriced (my plate of pasta cost $AU30), badly cooked (they didn't drain it properly, so it was swimming in water) and tasting of nothing. But the cocktail I had, full of Midori, coconut rum, banana liqueur and pineapple juice was fabulous as was the company, so I won't complain, just make a mental note to avoid this restaurant chain in future. The other peculiar thing was that the waiter was positively terrified of us - even to the point of visibly shaking, so that was a bit off-putting.

However, it was a fun evening full of laughter and chatting and promises of getting together again this summer. I presented Helena with a jar of Vegemite as she had made disparaging remarks about it. Now I'm waiting to hear if she and her Swede tried it and if they lived to tell the tale. I do enjoy spending time with people like this - it is a chance to talk English exclusively for a night and these girls are positive, upbeat and determined to get the most out of Sweden, unlike some expats here who remain determined to hate Sweden and anything about it.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Stockholm.



This is a view of the AF Chapman, now used as a hostel, with views across the water to the city lights. I think it's so cool to have a boat for accommodation, especially in this city of water.