Geetings from the other side.
This feels like a strange blog-entry to write. I've wanted to write another one for a few days now, but then the attack in Stockholm happened and...well, my focus went elsewhere for a while. Which is understandable. Even though I now live in Finland, I am still a Swedish citizen. It is still the country where I grew up and where my heart lives. When a tragedy like that happens, it affects me. I am thankful that my brother and his girlfriend, and other friends and relatives I have down there in Stockholm, all seem to be ok. But my heart also goes out to all those who were there on that tragic day, and especially to the friends and families of those who lost their lives on that day.
In other news...
Last weekend my fiancee and I went over to Sweden to celebrate a relative of mine's 90th birthday. It was a calm, but very nice, celebration together with him, his wife, and some of their closest relatives and friends. We all met up at my parent's place for a while, then we went to dinner, and then it continued at my parent's place until the evening. One of my most vivid memories from the day was another relative holding a short speech in the restaurant and then getting the entire restaurant to stand up and sing for the 90-year-old birthday-boy. All in all it was a memorable day, and one which I think was greatly appreciated by my 90-year-old relative.
My one regret was finding out that Sabaton was playing in Umeå at the same time as I was home, the day before my relative's 90'th birthday celebrations. I had missed that completely. Would have loved to go see hem play. Oh well, maybe some other time. I only have myself to blame for that, really.
Spring is really here now. Even though we saw snow falling as late as Tuesday last week. Still, there is that sense in the air that spring is finally here. :) It's a good feeling. Everything is starting to come to life again.
We're still finding carpenter ants in the house, although in smaller quantities than before and mostly around the bathroom. We're going to give it some time still, to let the poison work and see what happens. Hopefully we won't see any more of them soon.
That's all from me for this time.
See you all on the other side!
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söndag 9 april 2017
lördag 25 februari 2017
A beautiful winter's day
Greetings from the other side.
Today is an incredibly beautiful day outside. The ground is covered in snow, the sky is blue and it is essentially a very beautiful painting as you look out over the landscape. Each season is beautiful in its own way, but I think that a really clear winter's day with blue sky and lots of white snow is among the most beautiful. We had guests over today and I spent a good chunk of that time looking out the window at the beautiful wintry painting that nature had painted outside.
This winter has been very mild, and so we haven't really had the amount of snow outside that I had wish we'd have. I guess that is why you notice a day like today even more. I've been spending some time outside, shoveling snow, bringing in fire wood, etc. It's a pleasure working outside in beautiful weather like this. :)
In other news my future father-in-law celebrated his 70th birthday last weekend. It was a very fun event, with lots of good people and good food. :) His children, grandchildren and sons-in-law and me sang a song for him as well.
It was less fun to come home and find about 30 carpenter ants over the following 2 hours crawling around our living room and hall. We've had a guy over to look at the issue and take care of the problem. Unfortunately we don't know yet where they have their nest in the house, so we need to wait until we can find it. There is a problem with that though, and that is that it has been too cold so they haven't been very active since last weekend. So we'll have to wait until warmer weather comes along and they become active again before we can start locating their nest. We're hoping that will come soon.
As we understand it the nest in our house is probably a satellite-nest, with the main nest is located somewhere else in the vicinity. This means that unless we can find the main nest this spring/summer they might return. Wish us luck!
In more positive news, my fiancee and I are going away together with her sister and her husband this week on a bit of a skiing holiday. It's also to give my fiancee a chance to get away for a bit and rest up.
I think that'll be all for today. Feeling a bit tired so going to go rest my head a bit.
See you all on the other side!
Today is an incredibly beautiful day outside. The ground is covered in snow, the sky is blue and it is essentially a very beautiful painting as you look out over the landscape. Each season is beautiful in its own way, but I think that a really clear winter's day with blue sky and lots of white snow is among the most beautiful. We had guests over today and I spent a good chunk of that time looking out the window at the beautiful wintry painting that nature had painted outside.
This winter has been very mild, and so we haven't really had the amount of snow outside that I had wish we'd have. I guess that is why you notice a day like today even more. I've been spending some time outside, shoveling snow, bringing in fire wood, etc. It's a pleasure working outside in beautiful weather like this. :)
In other news my future father-in-law celebrated his 70th birthday last weekend. It was a very fun event, with lots of good people and good food. :) His children, grandchildren and sons-in-law and me sang a song for him as well.
It was less fun to come home and find about 30 carpenter ants over the following 2 hours crawling around our living room and hall. We've had a guy over to look at the issue and take care of the problem. Unfortunately we don't know yet where they have their nest in the house, so we need to wait until we can find it. There is a problem with that though, and that is that it has been too cold so they haven't been very active since last weekend. So we'll have to wait until warmer weather comes along and they become active again before we can start locating their nest. We're hoping that will come soon.
As we understand it the nest in our house is probably a satellite-nest, with the main nest is located somewhere else in the vicinity. This means that unless we can find the main nest this spring/summer they might return. Wish us luck!
In more positive news, my fiancee and I are going away together with her sister and her husband this week on a bit of a skiing holiday. It's also to give my fiancee a chance to get away for a bit and rest up.
I think that'll be all for today. Feeling a bit tired so going to go rest my head a bit.
See you all on the other side!
lördag 18 februari 2017
Finding the rhythm
Greetings from the other side.
Getting back into the regular blogging thing has been a bit more difficult than I envisioned when I decided to slow down my blogging output over the holiday season. There are many times when I have thought I should write something, but then something else comes up and I end up postponing writing a new blog entry for another time. Oh well, such is the way of life I guess, and I will have to see where it takes me. The blog is still there though, so maybe I can get into a better writing rhythm with it again, eventually.
Last weekend we had a visit from two good friends from Sweden. It was the first time they were here since my move, and it was a real pleasure to have them here for a visit over the weekend. Having friends or family over to visit is always a good feeling. Even though I like it here in Finland, and I am very happy here, there is always that part of me that misses my friends and family back in Sweden. So whenever people have a chance to come over here for a visit, or I get a chance to go over there to visit, it is always a good feeling.
Tomorrow we are going to celebrate my fiancee's father's 70th birthday. His actual birthday is on Monday, but for convenience sake the celebrations are being held on Sunday instead. It should be a good time, and my future father-in-law has made the food and cakes himself, so you know it will be really good. Being that he is a chef and all.
In a couple of weeks time my fiancee and I are also going away for a few days together with her sister and her husband. It will be nice to get away for a little bit and see something else. There might be some skiing involved as well, if there is enough snow. Either way, I am really looking forward to it. It will be nice to get away and see a different part of Finland as well. :) Hopefully I can remember to take some pictures while I am there and possibly post some of them on the blog.
That will have to round off a relatively short blog. Before I sat down to write it I thought I had a ton to write about, but when I actually started writing most of those things just disappeared. Oh well, maybe for the next blog post. :)
See you all on the other side!
Getting back into the regular blogging thing has been a bit more difficult than I envisioned when I decided to slow down my blogging output over the holiday season. There are many times when I have thought I should write something, but then something else comes up and I end up postponing writing a new blog entry for another time. Oh well, such is the way of life I guess, and I will have to see where it takes me. The blog is still there though, so maybe I can get into a better writing rhythm with it again, eventually.
Last weekend we had a visit from two good friends from Sweden. It was the first time they were here since my move, and it was a real pleasure to have them here for a visit over the weekend. Having friends or family over to visit is always a good feeling. Even though I like it here in Finland, and I am very happy here, there is always that part of me that misses my friends and family back in Sweden. So whenever people have a chance to come over here for a visit, or I get a chance to go over there to visit, it is always a good feeling.
Tomorrow we are going to celebrate my fiancee's father's 70th birthday. His actual birthday is on Monday, but for convenience sake the celebrations are being held on Sunday instead. It should be a good time, and my future father-in-law has made the food and cakes himself, so you know it will be really good. Being that he is a chef and all.
In a couple of weeks time my fiancee and I are also going away for a few days together with her sister and her husband. It will be nice to get away for a little bit and see something else. There might be some skiing involved as well, if there is enough snow. Either way, I am really looking forward to it. It will be nice to get away and see a different part of Finland as well. :) Hopefully I can remember to take some pictures while I am there and possibly post some of them on the blog.
That will have to round off a relatively short blog. Before I sat down to write it I thought I had a ton to write about, but when I actually started writing most of those things just disappeared. Oh well, maybe for the next blog post. :)
See you all on the other side!
tisdag 6 december 2016
Advent time
Greetings from the other side.
It's been a week or so since my last update here. Though I suppose due to the season I've had other things occupying my mind.
With the help of my father-in-law I have gotten 3 Christmas trees for my employer, and decorated two of them with lights. The third one is going inside the church, and it isn't my job to decorate that one. The two that I HAVE put lights on though, have been fighting me a bit. After some issues we finally got the one outside the church to light up, which was a good feeling. The one at the cemetery still hasn't managed to light up though, and I am not sure what the issue is. We have tried the lamps and they all light up individually, but when we connect the whole thing it doesn't light up at all. Only thing we can think of right now is that one of the lamps isn't of the correct type, so it works individually but not together with the others. I will try out that theory as soon as possible.
Last Saturday we went to celebrate my fiancee's brother-in-law on his birthday. It was enjoyable and the food was great! :) I think someone mentioned there were something like 80 people there to congratulate him on his day. Good to see so many people come to celebrate a really good man. He had made his own birthday cake as well, and salmon soup, for all the guests.
Today is Finlands independence day. It marks 99 years since they became an independent nation, having belonged to Russia before that, and Sweden before that. Technically you have a day off from work today, but I went in to work this morning to raise the flag. I'll be going back later to bring it down again at sundown. Next year will mark the centennial of Finland's independence, and I expect there to be massive celebrations going on. It is a big deal after all. :)
We have snow on the ground, albeit not a lot. While there is a white blanket on the ground, you can still see tall grass sticking through in places. The last couple of days there has also been ice under the snow, making things a bit more 'interesting'.
In a way it feels like there has been a lot going on, but at the moment I can't think of anything else. That is kind of a strange feeling, I have to admit. Oh well, I am sure if I think of anything else, I can always write about it later instead. :)
I hope that you all are having a wonderful Advent, and that the Christmas preparations are going well. My thoughts also go out to all those who are alone this holiday season, and to those who try to do something for these people. I wish you all the best.
Until next time my friends.
See you all on the other side!
It's been a week or so since my last update here. Though I suppose due to the season I've had other things occupying my mind.
With the help of my father-in-law I have gotten 3 Christmas trees for my employer, and decorated two of them with lights. The third one is going inside the church, and it isn't my job to decorate that one. The two that I HAVE put lights on though, have been fighting me a bit. After some issues we finally got the one outside the church to light up, which was a good feeling. The one at the cemetery still hasn't managed to light up though, and I am not sure what the issue is. We have tried the lamps and they all light up individually, but when we connect the whole thing it doesn't light up at all. Only thing we can think of right now is that one of the lamps isn't of the correct type, so it works individually but not together with the others. I will try out that theory as soon as possible.
Last Saturday we went to celebrate my fiancee's brother-in-law on his birthday. It was enjoyable and the food was great! :) I think someone mentioned there were something like 80 people there to congratulate him on his day. Good to see so many people come to celebrate a really good man. He had made his own birthday cake as well, and salmon soup, for all the guests.
Today is Finlands independence day. It marks 99 years since they became an independent nation, having belonged to Russia before that, and Sweden before that. Technically you have a day off from work today, but I went in to work this morning to raise the flag. I'll be going back later to bring it down again at sundown. Next year will mark the centennial of Finland's independence, and I expect there to be massive celebrations going on. It is a big deal after all. :)
We have snow on the ground, albeit not a lot. While there is a white blanket on the ground, you can still see tall grass sticking through in places. The last couple of days there has also been ice under the snow, making things a bit more 'interesting'.
In a way it feels like there has been a lot going on, but at the moment I can't think of anything else. That is kind of a strange feeling, I have to admit. Oh well, I am sure if I think of anything else, I can always write about it later instead. :)
I hope that you all are having a wonderful Advent, and that the Christmas preparations are going well. My thoughts also go out to all those who are alone this holiday season, and to those who try to do something for these people. I wish you all the best.
Until next time my friends.
See you all on the other side!
söndag 20 november 2016
A look in the rear-view mirror
Greetings from the other side.
A few days have passed since my last entry into this blog. It has generally been a calm few days, so I think this will end up being a fairly short entry, but it is an entry none-the-less.
On Thursday we went to celebrate one of my fiancee's nephews on his 20th birthday. It was a bit of a drive to get there, but nothing too big. We went there together with my fiancee's parents. It was a good evening, I thought. Good company, good food at a restaurant, and then we rounded off the evening with some coffee/tea at the birthday-boy's apartment. One of the things I love about my fiancee's family is that they are all so friendly and nice people. It has definitely helped my settling in here in Finland after my move.
I have to say, sitting in the car as it drives through the country-side over here, you could see patches of light on the thick cloud-covered sky. This light came from greenhouses on the ground below which were using what appeared to be pretty high-powered lamps to simulate sunshine for their plants in order to grow them all year around. It was interesting seeing that light reflected on the cloud-cover above though. You could definitely tell exactly where all the greenhouses were.
Went grocery shopping, and ran some errands, on Friday. It was a bit of a rainy day, but not too bad.
With Advent Sunday closing in, but my fiancee and I are eagerly awaiting the time when we can start 'officially' listening to Christmas-related music again, and plans are being made for decorations, etc. She's started baking in preparation for Christmas as well. Sadly, there is no snow on the ground anymore, but we are quietly hoping it will return at least in time for Christmas.
Yesterday was a pretty quiet day in this household. I got around to start listening to an audio book by Brandon Sanderson called "The Last Empire". I've heard from friends that the Mistborn series, the series of which "The Last Empire" is part of, is really good, but I haven't had the chance to get around to it until now. I have to say that so far I am really enjoying it. It feels a bit strange listening to it as an audio book though, as I am generally a person who prefers to hold a book in my hands when I read. It's ok though. I might get the actual physical copies of the books later, rather than just have them as audio books.
I think that will be enough for now.
See you all on the other side!
A few days have passed since my last entry into this blog. It has generally been a calm few days, so I think this will end up being a fairly short entry, but it is an entry none-the-less.
On Thursday we went to celebrate one of my fiancee's nephews on his 20th birthday. It was a bit of a drive to get there, but nothing too big. We went there together with my fiancee's parents. It was a good evening, I thought. Good company, good food at a restaurant, and then we rounded off the evening with some coffee/tea at the birthday-boy's apartment. One of the things I love about my fiancee's family is that they are all so friendly and nice people. It has definitely helped my settling in here in Finland after my move.
I have to say, sitting in the car as it drives through the country-side over here, you could see patches of light on the thick cloud-covered sky. This light came from greenhouses on the ground below which were using what appeared to be pretty high-powered lamps to simulate sunshine for their plants in order to grow them all year around. It was interesting seeing that light reflected on the cloud-cover above though. You could definitely tell exactly where all the greenhouses were.
Went grocery shopping, and ran some errands, on Friday. It was a bit of a rainy day, but not too bad.
With Advent Sunday closing in, but my fiancee and I are eagerly awaiting the time when we can start 'officially' listening to Christmas-related music again, and plans are being made for decorations, etc. She's started baking in preparation for Christmas as well. Sadly, there is no snow on the ground anymore, but we are quietly hoping it will return at least in time for Christmas.
Yesterday was a pretty quiet day in this household. I got around to start listening to an audio book by Brandon Sanderson called "The Last Empire". I've heard from friends that the Mistborn series, the series of which "The Last Empire" is part of, is really good, but I haven't had the chance to get around to it until now. I have to say that so far I am really enjoying it. It feels a bit strange listening to it as an audio book though, as I am generally a person who prefers to hold a book in my hands when I read. It's ok though. I might get the actual physical copies of the books later, rather than just have them as audio books.
I think that will be enough for now.
See you all on the other side!
måndag 17 oktober 2016
A special day
Greetings from the other side.
This will be a fairly short post. It has been a wonderful day, but also a long day, so I'm a bit tired.
Today has been a busy day for me, but also a day filled with good feelings.
It was the first day back at work having been on sick-leave last week due to my knee. Lots of things to do this week, but got off to a good start. The weather didn't quite cooperate, being a bit windy and chilly with cloud cover so you didn't really see the sun or the sky much, but it was ok anyway. It felt good being back, and good to be working and doing something again. I think this past week of immobility made it a pure joy to be able to do stuff again. I've really missed it. The knee still feels a bit tender and stiff, but I am able to work and do all that stuff as long as I am a bit careful. It hasn't gotten worse from working today, which is positive. Today went fine, so now I am resting my leg for another day of work tomorrow.
Today is also my birthday, and we've had guests over for dinner and coffee. It was really nice and everyone was in good spirits. It is always a pleasure spending time with my girlfriend's parents and siblings and their families. They are all so easy to get along with, honest and really good people. My girlfriend had made a ham and cheese pie for dinner, and then a healthy version (raw food) of a mars-bar cake, which was delicious. :) I am blessed to have her in my life, and she truly helped make this day a special one.
See you all on the other side!
This will be a fairly short post. It has been a wonderful day, but also a long day, so I'm a bit tired.
Today has been a busy day for me, but also a day filled with good feelings.
It was the first day back at work having been on sick-leave last week due to my knee. Lots of things to do this week, but got off to a good start. The weather didn't quite cooperate, being a bit windy and chilly with cloud cover so you didn't really see the sun or the sky much, but it was ok anyway. It felt good being back, and good to be working and doing something again. I think this past week of immobility made it a pure joy to be able to do stuff again. I've really missed it. The knee still feels a bit tender and stiff, but I am able to work and do all that stuff as long as I am a bit careful. It hasn't gotten worse from working today, which is positive. Today went fine, so now I am resting my leg for another day of work tomorrow.
Today is also my birthday, and we've had guests over for dinner and coffee. It was really nice and everyone was in good spirits. It is always a pleasure spending time with my girlfriend's parents and siblings and their families. They are all so easy to get along with, honest and really good people. My girlfriend had made a ham and cheese pie for dinner, and then a healthy version (raw food) of a mars-bar cake, which was delicious. :) I am blessed to have her in my life, and she truly helped make this day a special one.
See you all on the other side!
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