From the family album..

Washington DC, May 2009. Grandpa Dag and Thalia.

Thalia 8 months old..

Thalia, Hinda and Pontus after marathon in Alexandria

Dad and Thalia after dad´s marathon race..

La Familia on the Washington terrace..

Auntie Lina and Thalia. All photos by Lina Ehrenpreis

The trickle..

..of guests to view my new home has now started with the coming of spring. The Swedes are known to be more outgoing with the arrival of the warmer season (surprise, surprise!) and the social life takes off with new intensity.. Today my old friend Captain from Sandhamn, arrived. He had been spending his first retirement winter in Malaga, Spain in a cosy mobile home he bought last fall. He has solemnly made a promise never to spend a winter in Sweden again in his life. His mobile home is now conveniently parked and plugged in, in the back of the garden.

Here we are, sister Nena, Captain and Mats with a sundowner Saturday afternoon in my garden. There was a lot of catching up to do after the long winter with only sporadic phone contacts. And thus we consequently finished the bottle brought in from Malaga! (surprise, surprise!)

May 1:st in Gotland..

Carpe diem!

..and a "Crudité de saison" of a different and brutal kind..

..here is the link to the video on the improved map on the H1N1 swine flu current and future evolution..

Crudités de saisons..

Guess what I had for dinner this splendid summerday? Yes! They are now here, the very first asparagues of the season grown on this island of Gotland with its marvellous climate..
Sun sets at 8.15 PM as seen from my bedroom window..

Done!

The roof job is now done! This is what it looked like yesterday! Neatly finished and too shiny and too reddish - but this is a standard color that will soon turn to a milder terra cotta in the Gotland sun! Anyway, it will last for a long time and looks a lot better than before! See below..

The house the day before yesterday: the roof with a grey primer..

The guys in priming action..

The worn roof coating of the house as looked like when I bought it! This photo is from last summer when I passed the house and fell in love with it - before I know it would be up for sale!

The cuddling..

.. horse (video below) and Sunday coffee
in the meadows of the nearby church with Mats who arrived in his golf car, Nena who rode in barebacked on Shanghai from their neighbouring farm "Lugnet" and Paivi who came in the day before from the mainland by plane. The 12 year old gelding Shanghai participated eagerly in the party. My barns can bee sigted in the background. This large meadow will be full of rare orchids in a few weeks and I am priviledged to be its next door - and only - neighbour..

The yellow garden..

I woke up this morning and my garden had turned yellow by a carpet of Lesser Celandines! It a feast for the eye and a great setting for breakfast in the warming spring sun. The present weather in southern Sweden is way above normal and is there the enjoy! We are slowly acquiring a healthy looking tan after the dark winter and no one likes to stay indoors if they can help it..

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, celandine comes from the Latin chelidonia, meaning swallow: it was said that the flowers bloomed when the swallows returned and faded when they left. It has also been known to be called the spring messenger

As time goes by..

When I spotted Knut´s pics on Facebook this morning I got a breeze of nostalgia..

..remembering when I was babysitting for him and his brother in Arusha, Tanzania. It must have been around 1975. He was a very sweet and polite rather chubby kid..

Today, himself a father of three, he presents these pics and others on FB under "Old sins" (he once was a great model!) and surely needs no babysitter any longer.
As time goes by..

Från riskkapital till riskakor..

I prognosen för världens lågkonjunktur
Ligger helt visst ännu större svackor på lur;
Och i Sverige står en säker inflationsbrasa på tur.
En minskande efterfrågan på kapital för seriösa projekt
ger priset på kulor en realisationsmässig effekt.
Fiffigt kamouflerat med sänkning av priset på prylar vi inte behöver
Medan bankerna överskrider sina befogenheter vad det gäller våra klöver
Och Riksbankens enda uppgift är ju att hålla inflationen nere,
men så här kan ju en annan se re:
"Nu slänger dom alltså in den allra sista indränkta trasan..
Ska vi nu stillatigande kolla in vad som händer med själva brasan?
Man önskar numer allt oftare att bonusmaffian skulle få smaka
på sin egen hopbakade riskkaka..

PE