Fika med Kerstin

We had a delightful afternoon with friend Kerstin who came to have "fika" with us. 

Blueberry "bakelse" and little marzipan chickens, very yummy.

It's Easter or påsk as we say here.

 Tomorrow morning we leave for Stockholm where we have a birthday party as well as some shopping to look forward to. As I have said before, never a dull moment :-)

Hopefully we will get in to a concert in one of the churches on Saturday.

Still having fun !

Morning walk

Every morning I sit with my cup of coffee and watch as every doggie owner comes out for their morning "potty" walk. It generally starts with the young poodle and progresses to the cocker the Wheaton terrier and so on . Imagine my surprise when one of the first pairs who appeared looked like this !

Turns out the owner is not very social so my picture is taken through my window (basement apartment)

It is indeed a BMD and a PWD  . I was sure it was a border collie when I saw the white spotted leg but as it turns out it is another Clarence , a PWD with the "incorrect coat" .  She is 9 yo and the berner boy just turned one. You can set your clocks on who comes out when.....these guys are the 8:33 am team. Later we have two pointers , one German one English coming tp play ball . I'm thinking this is a lot like around your park , Marcia. Everyone "owns" a certain time slot. Anyhow , it is pretty neat to have my "own combination" walk by my window each morning.

Figges birthday , 91

Today we went to deliver a birthday box of chocolates to a friend of Kristina's . They went through school together since the very early days. It was fun and very appreciated I think.

It was fun to do something "uplifting". Today the weather outside is down right nasty. Windy and taint , yuck. But we went for our walk as usual as well as walked to the friends' house.

The birthday "boy".

Daylight savings catches up !

Tonight we move to being 8 hours ahead of you again! Try to catch me :-)

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ .........short an hour tonight , better try to sleep.

This "warm milk" and cookie should help :-)

Shop til we drop

After our yoghurt lunch and coffee we were inspired to drive "downtown" to shop. As Becky used to say , oh boy K-mart  when going in the car to special places . Did we ever find some bargains :-) I love shopping peacefully in this little town.

My dad never shopped anywhere else even though he lived in Stockholm , a Mecca for shopping !

The "Pärlan"  Kristinas car which truly is a PEARL as she is named . Every year when brought for required inspection "she " gets lots of praise . Actually they both do :-) The car and the owner are equally cute and impressive. The Pearl dates back to 1989 !

Morning wal

Today we woke up to brilliant sun and slush on the ground. Didn't stop us from taking our walk. It has already melted off since yesterday. We're told more snow tomorrow , sigh !

Stockholm Stompers

Found a way to share the picture and website. For those of you in to jazz , I thought these guys were great and the club atmosphere was something I would not have guessed I would find in little "sleepy" Härnösand. The retired folks in this town are apparently a lot like my aunt, full of fun and on the go.

Before these guys came on there was a group of young "kids" with a singer who sang Monica Zetterlund songs ( famous Swedish jazz singer ) and sounded just like her. Just amazing !

www.stockholmstompers.com

Oh no it's snowing !

Suddenly the weather has changed and I finally feel I brought the right clothes after all !

And Kristina will be happy she never got around to have her studded winter deck taken off "Pårlan". For those who don't know , Pärlan is her 25 year old cute car, a Daihatsu if you have ever heard of this brand. She may be small and somewhat old like her owner but they are both in great shape considering :-)

Here is the view out my window this morning. Good day for knitting and reading !

Jazz in Härnösand

Last night I was invited to go with my friend Annette to a jazz club . It's in a "used to be " movie theatre in "downtown " Härnösand . Very charming and cozy. You sit at tables with your beer or wine or whatever ( reminded me of going to the old movie theater with Becky in Portland ) I wish I could download a video but the blog doesn't want me to....

There should have been a picture here but has disappeared. 

Monday I was invited to a guild meeting with a bunch of ladies . At least I have a picture of that. My stupid iPad keeps telling me it can't take or save pictures even though I have dumped most of what I have hopefully they are saved on some other apparatus. Very frustrating.

The knitting guild                                                      Some of these ladies are also weavers !

A jewel in Härnösand

Today we walked in a very cold wind but that didn't slow us down. Kristina has been walking for several days now without the help of her crutch. And she says she isn't hurting "very much" except it gets a little tough going back downhill. She is a "trooper" and I think we will get around just fine in Stockholm. Kristina was in training for Spain but not going there has not slowed down the "program" .

Our treat today was a visit to a wonderful little restaurant at the top of the local ski hill. It is appropriately called the "Toppstugan" which is the Top Cottage . Anyone who comes near Härnösand , it is well worth a visit. The chef and his wife collaborate and put on an experience "in food" . The view is fantastic too by the way.

This is the welcoming entry , Swedish flags and all.

The chef Peter welcomes us personally. Getting around with Kristina is a lot of fun. Everyone is her "good friend" and smiles wherever she shows up.

The table was set with a candle and even a rose. To me this picture has two beauties !

I forgot to take a picture before starting to eat. This was a most wonderful fish dish with an unbelievably good sauce , fresh potatoes and veggies.

The dessert was a work of art called "creme de L'Orange" , basically orange flavored divine icecream !

Well now that you are up on all the goodies .......tune in for more tomorrow ! We are going to the sewing group "Synålens vänner" where we are likely to get something yummy home baked with coffee 

:-)

Härnösand first week

It's been a week already almost and we have had a great relaxing time here is a picture out my window ( I'm in a basement apartment but with lots of windows )

No new snow so far but I can see from the big piles left over that they have had their share.

Kristina and I start each day with a walk about 2km and then come back for our yoghurt . Each of us have coffe on our own in the am which we both treasure as our start up time.

Last night was especially great with a "direct streaming" from the royal opera theater in Stockholm to the very nice thater here in Härnösand of Otello. It was wonderful and something I had not seen before.

We have found something different to entertain us each day with dinner invitations etc. tomorrow I will meet with friends at the Synålens vänner , a group of "knitters and sewers" etc many of whom I have met before. 

Quiet time at the end of the day !

Taking care of Kia , a favorite activity. She comes to visit when her owners who own and run the cab company have an extra busy time. Doggie hugs ......I love it !

Safely in Härnösand

So I have arrived in Härnösand with my Aunt Kristina ! Unfortunately I do not have access to the internet in the guest apartment so I will write at night and post when I get to her apt in the morning.

Luckily I have lots of books to read and that does not require wifi once they are downloaded.

Leaving Stockholm was fine with me after seeing my friends. I was reminded that I am glad I don't live in a big city. Check out the traffic as we left ! Luckily we were going in the "right" direction !

Oops, can't download the picture of traffic from the phone.....here is the view out the window from the apt instead. We are right on the water ( Baltic Sea) . As I arrived the fog was moving in from the water ....Mists of Avalon came to mind.

It is very nice weather but judging from the piles of snow they have had their fair share.

More tomorrow !

Conversations with Kristina :

Conversations with Kristina :

Kollar om det här fungerar.

Good time , good friends

Still catching up with good friends in Stockholm. Tomorrow I'm off to the north to auntie Kristina.

Weather is fantastic,

Yesterday I also "visited " my dad in the "Minneslunden" , part of the cemetery . Couldn't help taking a picture of the " high rise bird condos" on the grounds. Papa Arne ( Morfar ) would totally approve of his neighbors ! He was so into all the birds .

I want to be laid to rest in this kind of setting some day.

My family will recognize why this picture is included ...... Pappa always looked out for the underdog like this scrawny tree. I'm hoping his ashes are helping it grow. Reminds me of some of our Christmas trees .

C-vitamins = grape juice

I look more tired than I was. Silly selfie .....the shrimp salad that came with it was DELISH !

More nutrition

Mums ! Räksallad och vin

A room with a view :-)

This hotel has crazy wall paper. Hopefully this guy doesn't stumble and land on my head in the bed......it's actually a wall paper not a real stairs ! Last year I dint have a window , just wall paper with city street scenes.

Chicago

Our plane is named Sigrid Viking.....Sigrid is my little auntie's first name and is what I used to call her before she decided to call her self Kristina . Must be a good sign for a good crossing over 

to Sweden :-)

Sweden adventure

Beautiful sunrise out the window ! We are about to fly over Norway and in to Sweden