Today is the start of a new life for me. Yes, that's another new life. I must admit that I'm not sure how many I can take, but am working on the cat theory at the moment.
Today is the day when the Tattooed Elk, my little company, takes its first step into the real world. I'm going to convert the old mission hall here, in the hamlet, to a cafe and art gallery to open next year, but in the meanwhile, I've had the opportunity to run a summer cafe in the old spinnery in Habo, starting today and finishing 11th August.
Consequently I've been baking and have run out of freezer space! I'm hoping I'll have time to get something baked fresh every day as it opens at 11am and I get up at 6am. After 2 years of not working it's a bit daunting to say the least, which is why I'm writing this at 3:45 in the morning instead of getting a good night's sleep. Still, we'll see how it goes and if all else fails, I can always go and buy loads of doughnuts and flog them for sixpence.
The tax office here has a somewhat different attitude to the one in the UK, where they are just basically interested in taking your money. Here you are categorised, percentaged and they want to see things like contracts and know about your experience before they give you permission to start a business.
If you're wondering about my experience, I helped out at a cafe when I was a student.....it was a long time ago. Not sure that getting your bottom pinched as a silver service waitress counts, but hey, it was a hospital cafe! Strange how life turns out.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Midsummer Madness
Well, it's now Midsummer. Gosh, Karin, you say, I think you'll find there are a couple of days to go yet! Technically, you'd be right. The Public Holiday is on Saturday (for you UK lot; in Sweden, the Bank Holidays are on the day they fall on, not Mondays. If the holiday is on a Sunday and you work in a normal office, tough, you've missed it) and today is Thursday. However, all the best parties are on Midsummer Eve so everyone, absolutely everyone - even the big supermarkets, take MSE off, or at the very least the afternoon, if you happen to be a profit driven retail giant. In fact, unless you are a capitalist, money driven b%*, you take the afternoon off the day before in order to prepare the herring, cream cakes, strawberries and schnapps that are eaten in totally ginormous amounts, whilst dancing round the midsummer pole singing about green frogs. We all know what folk songs are really about, but that one, in particular, frankly, has me worried. The actual Midsummer Day is celebrated by recovering, generally in a swimming costume, by a lake with more strawberries.
Consequently, today, Thursday had me driving around like a mad woman to get everything in before everything shuts in the afternoon. There can be no more baking, because there is no more freezer space, so I'll just have to crochet, sew, organise lists, my head, the office and the paperwork in prep for the big day on Tuesday.
What? what? What about Tuesday?? More on that tomorrow!!!
Consequently, today, Thursday had me driving around like a mad woman to get everything in before everything shuts in the afternoon. There can be no more baking, because there is no more freezer space, so I'll just have to crochet, sew, organise lists, my head, the office and the paperwork in prep for the big day on Tuesday.
What? what? What about Tuesday?? More on that tomorrow!!!
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| Haymeadows at Midsummer |
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Growing things
Spring was so late this year that everything started growing like there was no tomorrow as soon as the soil thawed and the night temperatures got above +2C. In the UK, we are used to say 'OK, that needs doing/pulling up/cutting down/layering etc, I'll do it at the weekend'. Here, honey, if you do that, say on Tues, you won't see whatever it is for the other plants or because it's grown 10m and you have no idea how to use a chainsaw. So the lesson I've learnt from this year is 'do it NOW'. Probably not a bad lesson all round actually, and would cut down the number of piles of stuff dotted around, especially in the office - just saying.
I've cut out 4 diamond shaped veg beds in the bottom lawn. Well, I say 'I'.. bless Graham's little cotton socks... Each took 4 bags of soil, the compost bin not being far enough advanced yet, so I've only got 3 earthed up (ran out of money!). I've planted peas and beans in one, broccoli and cabbage in the other and spinach and parsnips in the third. And I fuss over them like a hen over her chicks. After one leaf of a broccoli seedling was nibbled, there were no longer any snails in the garden and the ground is now not brown, but blue (slug pellets for you non-gardening types). I'm just waiting for the hares to discover the plants!
Graham built me a greencottage (too small for a green house) and I've got 5 tomato plants in that, there are 4 chilli plants on the window sill and I've cleared around the wild strawberries, so not doing too bad for a first year, so far. This afternoon, I'll have to go out and get some birch branches for the peas. There was a frost last night, so excuse me, whilst I take the blankets off the beds....
I've cut out 4 diamond shaped veg beds in the bottom lawn. Well, I say 'I'.. bless Graham's little cotton socks... Each took 4 bags of soil, the compost bin not being far enough advanced yet, so I've only got 3 earthed up (ran out of money!). I've planted peas and beans in one, broccoli and cabbage in the other and spinach and parsnips in the third. And I fuss over them like a hen over her chicks. After one leaf of a broccoli seedling was nibbled, there were no longer any snails in the garden and the ground is now not brown, but blue (slug pellets for you non-gardening types). I'm just waiting for the hares to discover the plants!
Graham built me a greencottage (too small for a green house) and I've got 5 tomato plants in that, there are 4 chilli plants on the window sill and I've cleared around the wild strawberries, so not doing too bad for a first year, so far. This afternoon, I'll have to go out and get some birch branches for the peas. There was a frost last night, so excuse me, whilst I take the blankets off the beds....
Friday, May 24, 2013
Mad dandelions
At this time of the year the dandelions come into bloom. Every field and roadside is a mass of small, burning golden suns, replacing the silver starlight of the wood anenomes. So with all these wild flowers, I thought I'd give making a dandelion hanging crown wreath thing a go. I haven't make one for years and years and years, so it was all a bit new again.
I went out with my basket and cut dandelion heads, thus having a lovely time and giving the neighbours conversational topic of interest as to what the mad english woman was up to now. Then I spent a happy couple of hours in the sun with a cup of tea binding an old embroidery frame and threading dandelions. It's now hanging up in the library and the idea is that it will turn into dandelion clocks. We will see....
I went out with my basket and cut dandelion heads, thus having a lovely time and giving the neighbours conversational topic of interest as to what the mad english woman was up to now. Then I spent a happy couple of hours in the sun with a cup of tea binding an old embroidery frame and threading dandelions. It's now hanging up in the library and the idea is that it will turn into dandelion clocks. We will see....
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Spring is sprung
Though the grass isn't really riz yet. Having said that, I have started to pull up sprouting crouch grass from the beds and dandelions! The beds are almost full of crocuses and other spring bulbs, which was such a nice surprise last week, when they started sprouting.
Spring this year is really late, not all the snow is gone yet, and we've only had the last 2 nights without frost, but I'm already thinking of when to have my "taking down the secondary glazing and washing it" party. Possibly calling it something snappier.
The broccoli has sprouted in the cut down milk cartons on the kitchen window sills and I think I'll have to repot them tomorrow! So I'd better start doing something about the 4 raised bed sidings that are sitting outside on the lawn. And the tomato plants are coming Sunday. Fortunately Graham has already made a lean-to green house, I just need to buy the growbags. It's all starting to take off at jet speed.
Unlike me. About 5 weeks ago Graham and I had a slight cold, three days after that we felt like we had got the after effects of the flu and they haven't worn off yet. It's jolly inconvenient, so I'm off to the docs tomorrow to see if I can get an appointment and something more specific than "it's a virus".
Still, sitting on the decking today, listening to the birds singing in a huge choir, watching the white clouds fluff overhead and the raptor wheeling over the forest, in a balmy 16C, and that gorgeous all-embracing smell of spring filling my lungs, it's a good life, and you don't need health to enjoy it.
Spring this year is really late, not all the snow is gone yet, and we've only had the last 2 nights without frost, but I'm already thinking of when to have my "taking down the secondary glazing and washing it" party. Possibly calling it something snappier.
The broccoli has sprouted in the cut down milk cartons on the kitchen window sills and I think I'll have to repot them tomorrow! So I'd better start doing something about the 4 raised bed sidings that are sitting outside on the lawn. And the tomato plants are coming Sunday. Fortunately Graham has already made a lean-to green house, I just need to buy the growbags. It's all starting to take off at jet speed.
Unlike me. About 5 weeks ago Graham and I had a slight cold, three days after that we felt like we had got the after effects of the flu and they haven't worn off yet. It's jolly inconvenient, so I'm off to the docs tomorrow to see if I can get an appointment and something more specific than "it's a virus".
Still, sitting on the decking today, listening to the birds singing in a huge choir, watching the white clouds fluff overhead and the raptor wheeling over the forest, in a balmy 16C, and that gorgeous all-embracing smell of spring filling my lungs, it's a good life, and you don't need health to enjoy it.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Saker och ting
Everytime I go and see my grandmother, she asks me what I do with my time. I have to admit I'm a bit hard pressed to answer as it seems to take such a long time to do anything, let alone anything constructive. Someone asked me to show them a picture of a lampshade I'd made (on the phone of course!). I'd forgotten my phone anyway, but I also didn't have pics. So I've decided to take some of the things I've done. Not everything is here, as natch, I didn't think of it at the time, mainly, but also cos I've got some on my phone and I don't seem to be able to get the phone and PC to talk. Anyway!
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| Easter card lino prints |
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| Lace lampshade |
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| Felt flower wreath |
Friday, March 8, 2013
More things your driving instructor never told you.
It's coming up to spring and the snow and ice are starting to melt. Hurrah, I hear you shout, no more slippy slidiness. Hummmm...................
1) the country roads have, by the end of January, assumed a corrugateness that you could use in a skiffle group. It's very good for the massage and saves a fortune on the Vibroboard gym classes. Not so fab if you have a bad back, when the alternative would be snowshoeing through the snowy forest, with all the shopping on your back. Know which one I'd choose...
2) Snow and ice on the roads starts to melt. Just not in the shady bits and only a bit on the semi-shady bits. So you scream down the tarmac at 90km/hr, rally turning round the corner through the slush defined deeeeeppppp ruts, skating over the sheer ice, before revving up again when you hit a new bit of tarmac. I do this to pounding guitars and screaming drums, the Swedes don't seem to need a sound track.
Alternatively, you drive at 60, then 40, then 20, keeping well to the side and practicing your gentle braking techniques using gears. The untarmaced roads will turn to mud in a couple of weeks with potholes the size of a small town, so you need the practice.
3) The sun comes out. Eerhhh yes??? Well, let me tell you! When that sun peeps above the top of the trees and the angle of the rays is just right to bounce off the road into the windscreen, all sorts of things happen. Firstly, the surface water from the melting ice gleams, then the light magnifies, then you go blind, your sight lost in screaming pain as the fireball fills every part of your face. You can't see a %**!& thing, even squinting and with sunglasses on. That shape coming out of the tunnel of light is probably not a friendly Blues Brother or an angel, but a 35tonne truck heading straight towards you. At this point, it's best to pull into the side, any side, you'll know when you hit the tree, and wait for a minute until the angle of the sun's rays changes. Any bouncy light effects from then on are your own problem.
4) Elks don't run away. If you come across an elk or two standing in the middle of the road, they won't turn and run. They will turn and look at you, finish their chat, look at you again, put their cups away, get their coats and then wander off into the woods, after looking at you verrrryyy carefully. As they stand at over 6 foot at the shoulder, you are so not going to argue. Do your best to look harmless.
Nice pic of the whatsit...
1) the country roads have, by the end of January, assumed a corrugateness that you could use in a skiffle group. It's very good for the massage and saves a fortune on the Vibroboard gym classes. Not so fab if you have a bad back, when the alternative would be snowshoeing through the snowy forest, with all the shopping on your back. Know which one I'd choose...
2) Snow and ice on the roads starts to melt. Just not in the shady bits and only a bit on the semi-shady bits. So you scream down the tarmac at 90km/hr, rally turning round the corner through the slush defined deeeeeppppp ruts, skating over the sheer ice, before revving up again when you hit a new bit of tarmac. I do this to pounding guitars and screaming drums, the Swedes don't seem to need a sound track.
Alternatively, you drive at 60, then 40, then 20, keeping well to the side and practicing your gentle braking techniques using gears. The untarmaced roads will turn to mud in a couple of weeks with potholes the size of a small town, so you need the practice.
3) The sun comes out. Eerhhh yes??? Well, let me tell you! When that sun peeps above the top of the trees and the angle of the rays is just right to bounce off the road into the windscreen, all sorts of things happen. Firstly, the surface water from the melting ice gleams, then the light magnifies, then you go blind, your sight lost in screaming pain as the fireball fills every part of your face. You can't see a %**!& thing, even squinting and with sunglasses on. That shape coming out of the tunnel of light is probably not a friendly Blues Brother or an angel, but a 35tonne truck heading straight towards you. At this point, it's best to pull into the side, any side, you'll know when you hit the tree, and wait for a minute until the angle of the sun's rays changes. Any bouncy light effects from then on are your own problem.
4) Elks don't run away. If you come across an elk or two standing in the middle of the road, they won't turn and run. They will turn and look at you, finish their chat, look at you again, put their cups away, get their coats and then wander off into the woods, after looking at you verrrryyy carefully. As they stand at over 6 foot at the shoulder, you are so not going to argue. Do your best to look harmless.
Nice pic of the whatsit...
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