midsummer madness

Although Swedes can be seen as a quite serious breed, they do know how to partay. Midsummer is one, and maybe the main, time of year when they let their hair all the way down and enjoy themselves. Letting your hair down Swedish style more often than not involves singing, dancing and drinking. For me the midsummer tradition of dancing around a flower clad pole pretending to be either frogs or musicians never struck me as being odd. But yesterday at the celebrations in Hyde park I almost felt like an outsider looking in, and I liked what I saw! At the same time there was a sense of familiarity and childhood memories.

You can take the girl out of Sweden but you can't take the swede out of the girl sma grodorna:) ko-ack-ack-ack. ko-ack-ack-ack-ackaaaaathe miniature midsummer pole

got my plopp!:)

you almost have to see it to believe it:


Love Danelles happy face in the video above. She looks like she belongs, perhaps she was Swedish in a previous life...

proud and impressed

Today was the end of my first year at uni and the end of a very hard week or in fact hard few weeks. It was alway going to be just that as I took my last exam for this year today but it was so much more. Three weeks ago we found out that mormor had cancer. On saturday she passed away. On monday I doubted if I was going to be able to take the exam today. Just didn't think I could do it. But I started revising and with the support of my crew I did it. And i think it went well. And I am proud of myself. I would also like to think that mormor would be / is proud too.

I think people's reaction to a friend in mourning differs between individuals. And I think a persons' need for response from close ones during grief varies between individuals. The people around me have responded just in the right way. Not by leaving me alone or by trying to stifle me. Just by saying: "I am here if you need me, anytime, just call". And no, there isn't really anything anybody could do. Nobody can bring my grandmother back. Nobody was going to do my revision for me. But just knowing that they were there. If I need them. When I need them. heroes. Very impressive.

And then after the exam (followed by obligatory post exam drinks) i scooted over to Bloomsbury for a date in the park with my future husband, who has been a rock... no a mountain... in the last few weeks. Later on the way to the tube, in the evening sun in beautiful London, I realised that I had been happy again today for the first time this week.

Impossible doesn't exist.

Amazing people

We've spent the last couple of days at Scott's (a childhood friend of Harland's older brother Mark) house in the cool Nelson area. It's been so nice, Scott is one of those amazingly genuine and kind people who gives you the feeling that life really is fantastic and well worth making the most of. He's looked after us so well, fed us on venison and wild pork produced by his passion, which is hunting, he even gave us some to take with us. Hunting in this country is something different to the rest of the world, it is necessary here as animals such as deer, wild pigs, rabbits, possums, goats, etc aren't native and are ruining the bush and killing the native wildlife. It was not a good idea to bring them here, but the problem exists and needs to be taken care of.

We're now heading for Marlborough sounds to explore its beauty and as the loop of the South Island is nearly completed we're looking at returning to the North a bit earlier than planned.

Leaving party

wanted to post a picture of this lovely card from Carol. Get the feeling it's hand made and will definetely hold on to this one.

As it's time to leave scotland I thought it would be fun to get a few friends together and have a leaving bash, something we've never done before. In the past we've just slipped off into the night. I had a great time and I think the others did too... It's times like this that I regret this nomadic lifestyle. But I hope that I will get a chance to meet some of these wonderful people again, one sunny day. And until then I'll at least have Newton Falkner to remind me of the Forsyth sisters:)

the chickens made an appearance

Big Momma comes to Scotland

And of we went to the highland games to watch men in kilt throw things. It has to be said, Jodie was very excited...

smile and pretend you like the fishy fish...

confident at first

and then the fear set in....

at one point I was actually screaming "I'm going to diiiiiie" at the top of my voice which made us laugh any more and made it harder to hold on....