Life is good

Dear readers,

Just sitting here thinking about how good life is.

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day. Picked some zuccini from our veggie patch. I swear they grow while you are looking at them.  Also noticed that two big palm fronds had fallen down in the night and I wasn't sitting near the pool so I didn't get injured. Had a great day yesterday with friends in Bundeena over a leisurely, delicious lunch that took us well into the evening.

Visiting professor from Indonesia

The super-cute napkins

Yes, there was also a little grappa tasting

At the Bundeena ferry

Then in the evening we watched two episodes of Borgen. I had not known about this little gem before. Only discovered Season One in our local library recently and just love it. Now I just have to lay my hands on Seasons Two and Three.

Friday was good too even though it poured with rain almost all day and was very windy. I was supposed to meet a Swedish friend in the QVB and then maybe go for a drink. The Christmas decorations were already up everywhere and the Christmas tree in the QVB is decorated with 144 000 Swarovski crystals and 60 000 Christmas lights.  It took 72 people 40 hours to install it.

We made our way to the restaurant where the SIS dinner was going to be held. It was in a Greek restaurant called Aesop's and the owner seemed very pleased to have two tables full of Swedish "girls". We were given plates to throw on the floor while dancing the traditional Greek dances. The food was typical Greek and very plentiful and yummy. It's just that I am not good with eating very late. I had terrible heart burn all night and had to more or less sit up to sleep, so I paid the price.

Until next time,  take care!

Sista April and Mother's Day

Greetings all.

I was very late getting up this morning, or rather leaving the bedroom. It is the only room that can be heated by the combined a/c and heater. The temperatures drops to around 11 or 12 °C at night and the bedroom is the only place to be. We are thinking of moving the TV in here, like the tenants before us. First we thought it seemed a bit decadent when we saw it, but now it seems like the only way to go.

Last week I went to the SIS dinner to celebrate the last day of April - Sista April which is possibly linked to Walpurgis Night. It is very Swedish and if you have been a student at one of the big universities, it is a must. A fire is lit and songs are sung and hats are thrown in the air to celebrate the arrival of Spring. 

In our case it was also a wonderful sit down dinner catered by Two Swedes Cooking and it was very nice. I was very grateful that it was a sit down affair because I had been running around Sydney on foot and on busses all day together with L, a new girl friend who had spent the night at my place since she lives quite far away. One of the places we went to was the Archibald exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. As usual I didn't quite agree with the jury's choice, there being a few others that I liked better.  Anyway I was glad it was a sit down dinner since I don't think I could have managed standing up all night!

Oops, a bit blurred. Maybe this was taken after the
delicious schnaps made of Turkish pepper candy
was served.

The interiour of this warehouse was gorgeous, here
is the link.

Oh, I almost forget that there was also Mother's Day. We went out for lunch with our son. It was cleverly combined with doing laundry since his washing machine is on the blink. It was quite hard to find a place to eat since we had not booked but we found a place in Thirroul, down the coast. We actually looked for houses down that way and we really liked it, but then we found the one we have just moved to and decided on that. It has a pool and wooden floors, which were my main criteria when we were looking.

This coming weekend we are organizing a little housewarming BBQ, and hoping for nice weather. Come along, if you feel like it. We would love to see you!!

Girl's night out

I had a great evening out in Mosman with the "girls" in SIS or Svenskor i Sydney. They meet regularly at Hotel Mosman and have a bit of a fun gossip-catching up night. It is particularly nice for newcomers, and we had two last night, but equally fun for the "oldies" to see old friends.

The venue is nice too, you have plenty of space for a big group and you can have an inexpensive meal as well. People bring books or magazines or videos that they want to share or exchange.

It was a little like our Swedish group in Grenoble, where I lived before, even though there we used to meet in people's homes for coffee in the daytime and we also had a book club which was quite popular.

It is funny, the older I get the more Swedish I feel in many ways. Even though having lived away from Sweden for most of my adult life I don't know very much about social changes and politics in Sweden today. So when I say I feel Swedish I don't know quite what I mean. I guess I mean sentimental memories of my childhood, and youth, and funnily enough it is always summer.

My father on the right before leaving for the USA

My father, RIP, who went to seek his fame and fortune in America when I was five or six, was more American than anybody, but when he got older his Swedish accent became much more pronounced and he also declared that he wanted his ashes spread in the place where he was born. So Swissair let me travel with his ashes in my hand luggage! He now rests in a beautiful place near where he started his life.