It took two full weeks..

..for me to renovate my future little cosy bedroom on the loft of the house. This time I did most of the work myself (and was hit with some neck pain I can tell you!) The worst part was to get the tarnished celing in order! (See last pic below). I found two high class beds on sale. Everything here is on sale for the moment - people have no money left and if you are lucky to still have some pennies in your pocket, you can make bargains! I did, with these comfy beds! The night tables I bought on the internet, secondhand. The wallpapers are faded sand as is the celing paintwork.

Curtains, bedspread, chair and table etc are from my former home and fitted in quite well in this little cosy parlour!

This is what the room looked like before I bought the house! Please note the celing! I am never ever going through this again! My head and neck are still aching after full three days turned in an angel not meant for anyone! But I am happy and quite satisfied at the result and am presently purring like a cat!

"Dålig dag" säljes på The Best of Blocket. :-)

Flower time..

Yesterday it was high time for adding some flowers to my new living room..
In spite of the fact that Gotland now had turned quite green again after the snow melted and went away to leave the fields quite greenish again one longs for signs of spring..I went with my sister to Linds´ greenhouse outside Visby to look for geraniums - trying to find the loveley "Mårbacka pelargoner" - which we did - and bought all of them! This is a beloved kind of geraniums which the Swedish authour of "Nils Holgersson" , Selma Lagerlöf, made famous through using an abundance of these pale pink flowers in her mansion at Mårbacka.
I found an old rusty chandelier in one of my moving crates and attached it to the celing above the dining table.
I lit the candles and sat back for a moment and enjoyed the light of the new living room at dusk taking in the subtle smells of the flowers.
Then, switching on my computer, I found this old photo of Rune, the former owner of my house, sitting in the very same living room as you see above. Another time, another person, and a different room ecoing the 70´s. I walk around in his former house taking in heaps of his "heritage" everyday. Small and big things of his that he added to the house. Handcrafted and still very useful to me.( Apart from the row of hooks in the cellar on which he used to hang the rabbits or deer he used to shoot - I am not going to use them for sure!) I sincerely hope that he approves of my alterations - made with a "loving hand" - up there in heaven where he now is. I feel his gentle presence everyday in this house that is now gradually turning into mine..
"And so it goes" as Kurt Vonnegut used to write. On and on, generations after generations. And the old house will probably still be there for a long, long time to come, with all of its history buried deeply into its walls..

Getting there..

Yesterday, Palle finished my livingroom. He painted the celing and skillfully mounted my favourite wallpaper from Duro - the same kind I have in the Sandhamn house. Now it really starts to feel like my house with my personal imprint. I found some old linen curtains in my moving crates and got the curtain rods up this morning. The room grow lighter and larger and the stripes of the wallpaper actually rendered the living room some hight..
(In the back is a painting I made called: "On top of things.." - Yes,that´s a good illustration on how I feel in this surroundings!)

I moved in some temporary furniture for the moment and realised quickly that I have to be careful not to overdo and cram the relatively small room with too many or too large pieces of furniture..But now I have to settle for which sofas to buy..hmmm, difficult..

The international press..

..is kept away from Gaza. (Except from the so called "embedded" journalists who are allowed to travel with the Israeli troups and will thus deliver subejective reporting). However, there are still the blogs - the internet bloggers inside the Gaza strip who are making their angry and desparing voices heard to the outside world.

Eye witness - Oxfam Advocate blogs from inside Gaza:
"At least if I die, I will die with a little hope..This morning I heard people chanting outside, I wondered what it was, and then, the lights came on – the electricity had come back on, hurrah! I immediately turned on the television, charged my phone, checked emails. For a moment, I felt somewhat liberated. These things that we often take for granted have become so precious of late.. " More..

Thalia goes shopping..

..and the guys can´t take their eyes off her..In a few weeks I will be able to hold her too. My little grandchild is now 4,5 months old. Time runs quickly.. I am soon off for Washington once more. Just can´t stay away..
Would you?

Smile..

A grey a rainy January Tuesday in Sweden. Brr. BRRRRR! Moods are low all around and we long for spring. My daughter Lina sent me this smiling cat. I put on a great cup of coffee brought all the way from Nicaragua by my friend Eva and mused at this kitten and felt a lot better! I can´t share the coffee with you all but I can share this lovely smile to compensate for the lack of sunshine and decent daylight in the Swedish winter! Thank you Lina! And have a great day!

Embarking on the restoration..

..of the old house I am now too busy to even open my computer. Or to blog, for that matter.. I fall asleep in front of the telly by the 8 o´clock news, totally exausted. What have I done? Buying this loveley but quite rundown house?
This (photo above ) is what the future upstairs bedroom looked like before I bought this house ( which was built in various stages starting 1880..) I plan to make this room my future upstairs bedroom..
(My sister is critically observing above..)

It took three days - and a severe neck pain - to restore the run down celing and to paint it in mild sand color. Meanwhile the entire oldfashioned eletricity system of the house got an enitre makeover. Not by me though..

Here, however, I am putting up the wallpapers myself with a little help from my friends. And me, who have sworn never to expose me to this wallpaper glueing hassle to myself ever again! The wallpaper - also in mild sand color - twist and stick and bubble..And I hate it!
So for tomorrow I have booked a professional painter to do my livingroom - celing AND walls. Phuii.. Relief. But at a cost however..I will show results as we go along..

This is the livingroom with its old medallion green/brownish wallpapers (from the -70´ies?) as it looks today. Tomorrow we will see some changes here! I am so exited! Good night for now!

Six Gotland pictures in the New Year

The first snow - and my new house with some of the barns to the left..

The New Year´s moon

The small fishing port of Nyhamn on the 1:st of January

And the first snow fell - view from the kitchen window

The boats in Nyhamn on a windy day..

The snow clad garden looks quite beautiful from the living room window..

I can think of lesser reasons to choke on my lobster tonight!

Great pasta recipe (cost 2 billion Zim dollars!)

Esther (not her real name), 28, a professional living and working in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, has been writing a diary throughout the year, describing her struggle to survive in a country with an economy in freefall.

LIVING IN LIMBO

"The other day I saw this simple pasta recipe and thought I would buy the ingredients and try it out:
500 g pasta 750,000,000.00 Zimbabwe dollar
500 g minced beef 560,000,000.00
200 g cheddar cheese 120,000,000.00
Bag of mushrooms 480,000,000.00
So that is almost 2 billion for just to put one simple supper together!"

(Text & picture: BBC. Read more from her diary about the ups and downs of living in Harare over the past year: Zimbabwe diary