I grew up with a mother who loved to swim. As a young girl she’d swum competitively, and like most good Swedish swimmers, she had a collection of swim badges. Some of those badges merely required swimming a specific distance—200 metres or 1 000 metres or 3 000 metres. Others were more of a combo:
Like riding a bike – a reflection on swimming and age Read More »
When Sweden offers up days so warm you actually want to sit in the shade, it is a crime to spend time indoors. At most, we get like five or six such days a summer which is why I am sitting on our back porch tapping away (while glancing at the view) Tapping away .
Looking for the sloth within – my July newsletter Read More »
One of our great Swedish poets once wrote “Ingen maj en dager sprider som den klarnande april” which loosely translates as “no May day ever shines as brightly as the returning light in April”. I totally agree: April is the month of LIGHT up here in the north. We write the 6th of April today,
I have decided to steal a page from Helen Hollick‘s book and not only send out my newsletter to subscribers, but also share it here on my blog. I must admit I am somewhat irregular with my newsletters – I am hoping this decision will force me to be more disciplined. Not that I necessarily
My newsletter – March 2025, times of turmoil indeed Read More »
We are mere days from Christmas. Hubby and I have just taken the first of many Christmas saunas, 45 minutes spent in a warm enclosed space while outside the winter night deepens into hues of dark blue and an owl hoots in the distance. A much-needed break in these last few days leading up to
Seasons Greeting – a reflection on hope and peace Read More »
I had the pleasure of visiting a magnificent renaissance palace earlier this year, the Casa de Pilatos in Sevilla. There, on a wall, I found the quartered royal arms of France and Castile. As you all know by now, I am something of a history nerd, so I immediately started casting my mind back to
This spring, our country house has been something of a construction site. First, hubby decided to build a greenhouse. “I want to grow my own veggies,” he said, but if we’re going to be honest, it’s mostly tomatoes and cucumber he wants to grow. And aubergines. And chillies. And have a home for his citrus
Finding peace in the heat – a reflection on saunas Read More »
Some years ago, I got a very official looking letter from a lawyer in a small town in Sweden. I had no business in said town, had at most driven through it, so I was rather curious as to what the letter might contain. Very formally, the letter informed me that I was a potential
Just another mother – homage to a woman without whom I wouldn’t exist Read More »
Last week, I undertook one of the few challenges I dread: I migrated from one laptop to the other. Now, all those Apple users out there will probably leap forward to tell me it is easy-peasy with a Mac, but I am not an Apple person. I am an android/Windows person. Mostly, I am happy
Living in the age of tech – or fighting the digital windmills of laptop upgrades Read More »
Now and then, I choose to write a somewhat more personal post on this blog, and for some obscure reason I woke today with this huge urge to do just that. Those of you who have followed my blog for some time know I am the proud mother of four—now very grown-up—children. Personally, I’d have
His competitive streak – a personal reflection on reinvention Read More »