Category: Sunrise.

Misty morning and spider webs.

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We had a wonderful morning here, just below 10C (50F), morning mist and a sun slowly rising. If I hadn’t just woken up I would have taken our morning walk there and then. however newly awake, quite tired and both I and the animals needed some food before we went out. So by the time we were ready the mist was gone but it was still sunny and cool.

We walked the same way we’ve done lately since the grass is way too high in the forest since it’s only us walking there and we haven’t been there for a while now. Plus the grass was really wet after the rain we had during the night so it would also most likely be full of ticks. Only two flies were out to pester us but as soon as we walked in to shadow it was a bit too cool for them to follow 🙂 🙂 We did however see two Roe deer on our walk and we haven’t seen any when we’ve been out walking in all summer I think.

We actually had several showers today, not heavy and not long lived but if we’ll get more as they are guessing we will the ground is now a bit softer so that the water has a chance on sinking down into the ground instead of just running down through the garden and down to the bog that starts more or less behind the old garage and dog yard.

No need to mow the lawn yet so instead I dug out some space to plant the rhubarb seedlings I sowed in spring. The sand beneath the grass was so dry that one c an find more water in a desert 🙂 🙂 I also mixed in some compost from my smallest compost, a black one that stands n legs and can be rotated and should be rotated once a day I think. The fun thing is that since one is rotating it the compost becomes sort of round and to be honest all those round pieces looked like dog poo 🙂 🙂 🙂 I need to empty at least two of the three other composts I have, the third one I think still has a family of mice living in it 🙂 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day, I’ve already eaten so I won’t have anything with it. The summer apples are now falling of the tree so tomorrow I’ll buy things I need to make an apple pie 🙂

I have two small Ginkgo trees growing in my garden, this one has huge leafs and the other one quite small.

Have a great day!

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So I’m again unemployed and since I can’t write anything about what happened since I signed the paper that says I’m not allowed to write anything about the company that can show it in a bad way all I can say is that it wasn’t any fault from my side. I really liked all the employees and will miss them. I feel fine about it all though so now I’ll be searching for a new job, well I’ve done that for a while but now I’ll intensify the search.

I won’t be able to see the haunted tree next year when they’ll get green again.

So today was sort of my first vacation day for the summer and even though it mostly has been cold and a bit warm it still has been rather nice. We’ve had thunder passing by north of us but not especially close and for a few seconds the wind grew strong and some rain fell. Not as much as they had guessed but at least something. I had been out watering an hour before it arrived so the water from the sky should at least on those places have sunken down in to the ground. We might get more rain but the odds are low that it’ll fall around here.

I went to grocery shop at the store in the village where I used to work so now I think I won’t have to do it again until late next week, it depends on how much milk I use, I hate being without any milk in my home 🙂 🙂 On my way there I saw that they had sown corn in a big field, not especially common here since it needs more warm weather for a longer period of time than what we usually have here and it also needs way too much water, so I wonder how it could look as great as it did since we have had a drought here for quite some time.

These two bumblebees were sleeping on the thistle and when Malkolm came a bit too close one of them raised a leg as to say don’t come to close 🙂

Once again I was surprised about how little flies we have here now, I could walk the entire morning walk without being annoyed by any. At the same time I heard someone say that he wondered why they suddenly had so many flies since they didn’t have any before 🙂 🙂 So I guess that all our flies must have moved to them instead 🙂 🙂 🙂 I don’t mind though 🙂 🙂

I’ve bought seeds to this flower, Lythrum salicaria or purple-loosestrife, one doesn’t want seeds from the wild because it can be really invasive I’ve heard but the garden varieties should be calmer. I’m going to have it in the root zone if I’m successful with the germination.

It’s time to go downstairs because I have a bread baking in the machine. I’m already longing for that first slice with some cheese on 🙂 The dogs can smell that it is close to be done so as soon as I move my feet they’ll run to the stairs 🙂 🙂 They know they’ll get both a piece of bread and a slice of cheese like they always do and it is a good thing I already have a pot of tea waiting 🙂

My little Red oak (or so I believe anyway, could be some other kind of hardy north american oak).

Have a great day!

Just as hot today but with a cool wind blowing.

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I can hear thunder in the distance but I’m not sure if it will come our way or not. I wouldn’t mind if it did. It’s just as hot here today as it was yesterday and the dogs only wants to stay outside for short moments before they give up. Today my neighbours little dog decided to take a walk by himself so I was about to go out and help searching for him but just as I was on my way out a villager had found him and called my neighbours 🙂 He had just walked the same way they always walk in the village 🙂 🙂

We were out on our morning walk the same time as we were yesterday and it was slightly cooler today, still no flies oddly enough. I don’t miss them but they are important for all the birds so I do wonder what has happened to them. I wish this was a sign of the coming maps fly season but I’m pretty sure those nasties will be as many or more than usual 🙂 🙂 🙂 It was so cool and nice but like yesterday the heat arrived before we reached the cottage, the difference today is that a cool but weak wind is blowing and it helps a lot. Even if the ground still is slightly wet after the thunder day I still watered the plants I planted this spring plus I gave a little extra to those I planted last year.  Almost all plants that were damaged by the last frost now have new leafs, all but one red mulberry tree. It’s alive and well but just refuse to grow new leafs and I have no idea why.

I’ve also started to look at seeds now for next year. Some businesses have already started with the sales but the ones selling the seeds I want haven’t 🙂 They might be offering free shipment but that isn’t much. Then again if I wait for too long the seeds I want might be sold out before I can order them 🙂 Damned if I do, damned if I don’t situation 🙂 🙂 🙂 I also picked up my first potatoes today, quite a few but mostly small, those are on the other hand the best and I like frying them hole. I had some for dinner today and the rest for dinner at work during next week.

So I’ve done the dinners and also the laundry, like always but I really should have vacuumed upstairs as well but it is so hot now that I really need to put a limit to how much I should do in the heat so I skipped the vacuuming 🙂 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!

The younglings have left the nest. I hope the doves comes back again next spring.

This time it worked.

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It was much cooler this morning when we woke up, so we had our breakfast and at 6 am we went out for our morning walk. I wore a hoodie again because flies usually fly around even in the early morning if it isn’t 10C (50F) or cooler and it wasn’t that cool unfortunately.

We walked down to the creek since the grass now is too high and still wet after the thunderstorm that it has become a tick paradise. I did rub Yarrow all over the dogs, it is said that ticks dislike the smell of yarrow, just to at least improve the odds 🙂 To my very big surprise we had almost no flies flying around us even though we walked down to their favourite spots at the creek?! I’m not sure where they were but I doubt they will be gone for long, I’m not lucky enough that they’ve all died away 🙂 🙂 plus the birds need them still.

A few birds are still singing here, normally most of them would have stopped by now because it shouldn’t be enough time left to get more babies. Things have changed though and now it’s rather warm way in to November and perhaps some birds have noticed that and try for it one more time. By the way I only found two ticks on Alma after the walk so perhaps the Yarrow really works? It had become pretty warm by the time we arrived at home and it got worse the longer the day passed. We reached 30C (86F) before it finally slowly turned towards cooler. Call it cooler feels like a joke it has only dropped down 1 degree centigrade yet 🙂 🙂 🙂

This is unfortunately one of the few Bluebells that isn’t invasive 🙂

The bread I baked yesterday should have stayed in the machine a bit longer, I guess the cheese in it was a bit too much for the machine, it tasted really good though. So to check if it was the cheese I’ve now baked a loaf again today, the loafs are rather small so I’m not drowning in bread 🙂 🙂 and this time it worked perfect! So if I want cheese in the bread from now on I’ll use a bit less and also let the loaf stay in the machine a bit longer since it takes its time to cool down.

Even though we’ve had a long nap, well all the animals have had several long naps, I feel too tired to do anything so I think I’ll make myself a cup of tea. I doubt it will keep me awake since I’m pretty sure the heat will instead 🙂 🙂 🙂

Have a great day!

The laundry dried fast today.

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Lots of sunshine, very few clouds and totally rain free today. Thankfully we have a strong wind blowing so all flies were blown away. I really should have mowed the lawn but the energy just wasn’t there in my body. For once I had problems falling asleep yesterday night, I guess because I had that long nap earlier in the day and perhaps that last cup of tea a bit late as well.

I did wake up early though, just before 5 am so not many hours of sleep to be honest. We went out on our morning walk quite early as well and walked down to the creek again. Alma was thankfully rather quiet when we passed our newest neighbours so their dogs stayed quiet as well 🙂 🙂 I think they too are morning people since they horses, dogs, cats and chickens but it is still nice that Alma could stay reasonable quiet 🙂

Nothing special happened during our walk until we were almost at home again, one of the fox cubs stood beside the gravel road and this time I could get a few photos of it. It didn’t notice us because it was looking at the other direction and we stopped rather early so we wouldn’t scare it away. Alma started to whine loudly but for once she listened to me and just looked at the fox. It still has its baby fur but has grown rather large so I guess it won’t be long before it is time for it to find its own new home.

Besides the cub the day has been rather uneventful, The food for next week at work is cooking at the moment, the laundry is done and it dried up really fast in the wind and sunshine. Also I’ve repotted my tomato plants in to bigger pots, one has flower so with a bit of luck I’ll have a tomato or two by the end of next month 🙂

I think it is time for a bowl of cornflakes and I’ll skip that last cup of tea for the day. The dogs and I had pancakes for dinner and even if I gave them half a pancake extra I still feel a bit too full 🙂

Have a great day!

Cold when cloudy.

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We had frost again last night but just barely and nothing seems to have been damaged this time. The morning walk was really pleasant, especially since Alma had another good day. We could even pass the new neighbours without her going crazy 🙂 🙂

We had pancakes today and I did the dinner for next week at the same time but in the slow cooker. I really wanted fried potatoes this time so I had already boiled some in the early morning, I know I could have done them raw in the oven but sort of wanted some old time fried potatoes, no one seems to do that any longer. Every time I do I can see my Mormon (mothers mother) in her kitchen frying potatoes and what ever leftovers she had in the fridge 🙂

I’ve continued the war against the stinging nettles but they seem to pop up everywhere, this time I didn’t get stung by them though 🙂 The seed sown peach tree looked rather fine down in the cool cellar but died slowly now when spring arrived. It did get the leaf curl disease at the end of summer last year so I’m guessing that it killed the little tree. I had already planted it but dug it up and now one of the seed sown apricots stand there instead I’ve also planted a seed sown quince tree ( Cydonia oblonga) at the best spot, climatewise that is, just in front of the old patio.

I even managed to fall asleep in front of the tv for a while, clouds covered the sky and when the suns heat didn’t reach us it wasn’t as pleasant outside any more, so I took a break and fell asleep during that time. Now the sun reaches us again so I almost feel guilty by sitting indoors 🙂 It is a short work week again, I really started to work at that factory at the right time 🙂 Unfortunately the holiday is on Thursday so I do need to work on Friday again but then again I’ve always liked it when I have a day off in the middle of week, it sort of feels like having two short work weeks during that one week 🙂

It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and after that perhaps have a go at those nettles again 🙂

Have a great day!

Heavy frost last night.

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My blue White wood anemone.

-6C (21,2F) here this morning. One could feel it in the air already late afternoon that it would be cold but I didn’t think it would drop down that much. The morning walk was really nice though because the sun was blasting heat towards us at the same time as the ground still was so cold that it evened itself out in a way. Alma was really bad at yesterdays walks but today she behaved really well again. For some reason she behaves like crazy when we pass our new neighbours even though we’ve met them several times and she likes both the humans and the dog, Can’t say she likes they cats though even though they run away long before we come close 🙂 🙂 🙂

This morning we didn’t walk that way so she was calm all the time, she even managed to stay reasonable calm when a deer ran away from our path and even though she saw a big goose in one of the fields she still didn’t start to scream and pull the leash, I so wish that behaviour could continue from now on but I now that’s just wishful thinking 🙂 🙂 🙂 we went down to the creek and it might have been even colder there because there were ice in some places almost all the way down to the water. The plus side with that cold mornings are no ticks waiting to attack us because they have dug down into the ground so they don’t freeze to death.

Otherwise I’ve mostly done chores today, like mowing the lawn, doing most of the laundry (I still have my working clothes to do, for some reason this company doesn’t provide a laundry service for working clothes and that’s the first time that has happened to me, so I’ll do that tomorrow. I still have to bake some bread if I want a sandwich for breakfast though. I do have hard bread at home but I’ve had that for two days now and is a bit tired of it to be honest. We’re having a short work week next week again 🙂 May first is the workers day here but I’ll need to work on Friday again but that’s ok.

I guess it is time to start baking that bread, it’ll most likely be French rolls and since it is a weekend I’ll most likely will have a cup of tea even though it might keep me up all night 🙂 🙂

Some managed the frost really well.
Others not so.
I’m starting to fill up the blue barrel with stinging nettle roots, I can win the battle but not the war 🙂

Have a great day!

The last day of my seven month long vacation :-)

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The first plum flower. There are so many buds that the tree will be completely white in a couple of days.

They said it would be more cloudy today but I haven’t notice that much difference to be honest. the big difference is the strong wind and that we had frost and morning mist when I woke up. A good thing when it is this warm during the days is that the frost is pushed upwards by the warm ground so no frost damages on those plants I just planted in my garden.

It was a really nice walk early in the morning despite it being chilly. Birds sand and geese flew just a few meters (much the same in yards) above our heads. Alma behaved really well but Malkolm decided that he wouldn’t stop pulling the leash even if I got angry at him 🙂 🙂 Still he doesn’t pull that hard so I could live with it. I’ve been busy today, I’ve baked bread, dinner in the slow cooker, the ham in the oven and also boiled potatoes and done the last of the laundry.

So this is the last day of my seven month long “vacation” 🙂 I’m really glad to have a new job but I must admit that I have enjoyed every day of this involuntary vacation. I haven’t had to worry about the money and that makes the difference. For those having nothing saved this must be horrible, constantly thinking of how to pay bills and food.

It is time for a last cup of coffee since I don’t have any tea at home and refuses to drive to the store for just one thing 🙂 I could have coffee later but since I really need to fall asleep tonight so that I’m not too tried tomorrow morning when I’ll drive to my new work place I better stay on the safe side 🙂 🙂 I think I’ll also have a couple of sandwiches with some of that ham.

Have a great day!

Now I know the lawn mower works.

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I used to have a really nice woodland in my garden but then dogs used that area to play so lots of plants died. Today I found Trillium leafs so I’ve put up sticks around them so the dogs won’t kill them when they run around there 🙂

We woke up really early today, at 4:10 am. It was already quite bright outside even if the sun wouldn’t rise for another two hours. We went out for our morning walk as soon as the sun started to rise above the horizon and as soon as we stepped outside the clouds arrived and no more sunshine until we came back home when the clouds suddenly vanished 🙂 🙂 🙂

I planted three more Primulas in there as well.
Scilla sibirica is usually blue but every now and again they can give other colours like white but I’ve seen pink as well.

After that the sun has been shining almost all day with a few exceptions when clouds passed by. Still 17C (62,6F) and almost no wind made a perfect day. I sat on the kitchen stairs and had a cup of coffee and Malkolm sat beside me and it was so hot that we had to go indoors for a while 🙂 🙂 So while we were cooling down a bit I did a round of laundry. I’m still a bit behind on that but I’m starting to come closer to just have to do it once a week now. I could of course have done a couple of rounds but I’m in no hurry 🙂

I have actually been quite busy today, beside the laundry I also mowed the lawn!! Not a too tough job since the grass had grown quite unevenly 🙂 I also ripped up more stinging nettle roots, cleaned away more plastic pots and actually also planted one apricot tree and the peach tree. They have been standing in the porch for several day and since they say we won’t have any frost the coming days I just thought I better start planting those trees now or it will not be done. To be honest it is a bit much to call them trees because they are after all only one year old yet and kind of tiny 🙂

Soon all I will have left in the cool cellar will be the citrus trees and if it looks like frost will stay away I’ll bring those out to the patio as well. To my very big surprise I also found one of the petunias I thought I had killed during winter show a tiny green shoot. The soil was bone dry but still it started to grow again so when I found two more that looks totally dead I watered them too and hopes for the best 🙂

I do have some tea left so I think I’ll make that last cup of tea for the day and also go down in the cellar again to see if there’s more to bring outside.

The apricot I planted yesterday, that black lid You can see behind is the grey water filter. I need to cover iy every winter because I use too little water and then it tends to freeze in there 🙂
The lawn newly mowed.
The peach.
My Grape elder always produce leafs too early so the next frost will kill all this green and then it takes quite some time before new leafs come and it looks miserable until autumn 🙂

Have a great day!

A day outside for the monsterkitten.

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We’re having a really nice day here, a bit frosty in the morning but temperatures rose when the sun did. So today we’ve had 11C (51,8F) 🙂 There is a wind blowing but it isn’t that cold and like most days it can’t reach my garden.

We walked down to the creek and I must say that Alma is getting better and better walking well. Malkolm is just the opposite but that could be that I only notice it now when Alma has started to calm down 🙂 🙂 🙂 We could hear lots of cranes but couldn’t see any, the big migration north has just started and soon I’ll be able to see them flying over us as soon as we’re outside. The doves have arrived too, I do like their sound in the morning when we go outside.

I took a look at my small vegetable garden yesterday and since the weather is so nice I decided I would start removing all the weeds today. This early in spring I can only see the biennals and the perennial weeds and thankfully they grow big enough in autumn that they are easy to see now. It was mostly Aarons’ rod, a few dandelions and also small stinging nettles. The Aarons’rods grow so big that they need to be removed and I did remove most of the dandelions as well, left a couple since I like the leafs in a salad.

Also stinging nettles are nutritious but to be honest, they spread like wild fires and no matter what people say they do sting badly already as tiny plants. Wild raspberries is a bit of a problem here, they too spread fast but then again those berries are probably the tastiest one can find but not in my vegetable patch 🙂 🙂 I also found some carrots from last year so the dogs and I shared them 🙂 🙂 All these weeds filled up that small compost I bought last summer, the black one that one can and must spin around to make it work properly.

Where the Pawpaws grow. Doesn’t look much but they have survived the winter, all green beneath the bark 🙂

It was so so full now that I barely could spin it 🙂 🙂 It works amazingly good, it’s just made of some kind of plastic that also insulated really well. They say it works down to -11C (12,2F) and I believe them. It’s counted as a warm compost and during summer it gets really warm and I put my hands in it now when it was cold and I could still feel warmth in there. I’ll continue tomorrow with more weeding and thankfully I do have a big compost made from the same material that still has some space it it 🙂

She didn’t look too happy when she looked out the door 🙂

Malkolm never far behind.

The monsterkitten was allowed to walk out from the kitchen door by herself today. Can’t say she was especially enthusiastic in the beginning, lots of going in and out at the beginning 🙂 🙂 She did get more brave after a while but as soon as the dogs thought she had wandered a bit too far (4 meters as most wich is much the same in yards) they started to make sure she walked back to the door 🙂 🙂 🙂 We’ll have much the same temperatures the coming five days so she’ll have plsnty more times to explore the garden 🙂

Alma was also keeping an eye on her. An exciting day for the monster kitten and she’s been sleeping all afternoon 🙂

Time for dinner I think, have no clue what I’ll make but after that I’ll make a pot of tea 🙂

Have a great day!

Warmer winds.

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So today was the last day with cold weather and sunshine for quite some time it seems, I’ll miss the sunshine but not the temperatures 🙂 The low pressure is arriving with a roaring wind now and it might even be as warm as 10C (50F) already on Saturday.

This morning however was still pretty cold and the sun shone as well. Thankfully once again totally wind free (it arrived later in the day) so it was quite nice being outside walking. Alma behaved reasonable well but Malkolm pulled the leash instead. He’s not that big and strong though so that isn’t so bad to be honest but if Alma isn’t allowed to do it neither is he. I must start thinking about the possibility that the tutor on my kidney has grown and that I’ll get treatment during the summer so having dogs pulling the leash when I most likely won’t be especially strong is a bad idea. However we aren’t there yet so perhaps I can make them both calm down by then.

I’m so lucky that my neighbour works in a supermarket now when Alma is in heat and the shot Malkolm had doesn’t work properly yet because I realised that the cat litter wouldn’t last for long so she brought home a bag for me plus I suddenly had a craving for some soda, I normally don’t drink soda unless I have a head ache so it will be something with caffein in it. Today I wanted something else, so now I have pear soda at home. I didn’t think they still made that so when she said they sold it I really wanted it 🙂 🙂 🙂 I remember when being at my mormors’ (grandmother on my mothers side) I was always allowed to go downstairs to get a soda and I usually chased between raspberry soda or pear soda 🙂 I was also always allowed to take an ice cream if I wanted to 🙂

The monster kitten was allowed to be without the cone of shame for a couple of hours today and she really enjoyed it. Tomorrow it’ll be eight days after surgery so I’ll allow her to be without it even longer and on Saturday she will not have it any more. It should be totally healed already now I think but it might still be a bit fragile I guess so better be safe than sorry. The scar doesn’t seem to bother her at all though   but to be honest neither does the cone 🙂 The only thing is that the the place where the cone is tied together seems to be itching, as soon as it goes off the itching stops.

Today I won’t have that last cup of tea for the day, instead I’ll have some pear soda 🙂

Have a great day!

That made grocery shopping a bit more tricky :-)

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Last night just before I fell asleep I heard a what I think is a fox kill an animal, could have been a hare but didn’t think much about it. Hares cane make the most horrible sounds, as my mother always says, when they are killed they sound like a woman getting stabbed with a knife in her back. I would perhaps say it differently 🙂 🙂 but it’s true. It didn’t sound quite like that but I couldn’t figure out what else it could be.

-14C (6,8F) this morning but wonderful sunshine and no wind so it didn’t feel bad at all 🙂

It wasn’t until this morning when I couldn’t find the monster kitten I started to worry about it. After all she’s small and really fast when she wants to so I started to wonder if she possibly had managed to get out, I was however still pretty sure she was asleep on one of the sofas when we walked up to the bedroom. I had looked everywhere downstairs and just couldn’t find her. So I said to Alma find the kitten and it took her ten seconds by showing me that she was sleeping in my bed 🙂 🙂 :-)Alma is a natural when it comes to find missing things she knows what they are called. Every time Malkolm disappears I just tell her to get  Malkolm an a short time after she brings him home 🙂 Good thing because one of my neighbours daughters are amazingly quick to vanish from the surface of the earth, so far she’s never been really lost but if that would happen I’m sure Alma would find her quickly.

It actually looks like The monster has accepted the punishment of having a cone around her head 🙂 🙂 She isn’t stopped by it in any way, she just finds a new way to handle reality and so far it has worked great. She was of course not too happy this morning but thankfully the painkillers she’s gotten she’s up and about almost like normal. It does help a lot that they have given the pill a taste of something she really likes so she just ate it out of my hand 🙂

Alma is supposed to be in heat next month, that’s why Malkolm got his injection yesterday, it takes around a month before it is working at 100% So I wasn’t the least surprised to find out that she’s in heat now 🙂 🙂 :-)She is really good at taking care of any blood but yesterday evening I found a small drop on the floor. Thankfully he hasn’t shown too much interest in her yet and with each day it should be less and less but I once had surprise puppies after a dog was here (a brother to one of my dogs, old Erna) where he got the injection too late and my old Erna went in to heat. He never showed any interest in her until I had to go away for two hours 🙂 🙂 🙂 Even though this was anything but good those dogs were the most easygoing dogs I’ve ever had here 🙂 🙂 🙂 Orvar and Hector had two sisters as well and they were just as wonderful (yes the new owners knew about it).

Grocery shopping will be a bit difficult now though because I really can’t leave those two alone in the dog yard. So I’ll either have to bring them in the car if I just need something small and I just have to go to the small grocery store in Gudhem but I can thankfully ask my neighbour who works in a super market if she can help me if I need a bit more 🙂 I really have the best of neighbours 🙂

It is time for a last cup of tea, in fact I already have it here by the computer 🙂 and then most likely read a book because I doubt there will be anything interesting on tv.

Have a great day!