Plus two minus one

Morning dip in the ocean with 17.5C. Quite calm though which was nice. 

My parents and our friend went for a tour of the northern part of Öland today. And my youngest niece took the bus back home around lunch time. 

Tonight two new guests arrived. We bbq salmon and zucchini and served it with two kinds of cold sauces and boiled new potatoes. Mmm. White wine with the fish! 

Now we have taken a short walk around the block – the younger ones took a longer walk along the coast. Soon we can enjoy some fresh strawberries before it is time to enjoy the sunset. Life is good. 

First week

How can time pass by so quickly? Can’t believe our first week already has come to an end. 

17.5C in the ocean this morning. Brrr. But such a nice way to start the day. It was a degree warmer during the day. 

Went grocery shopping today and went for a 3.5k walk together this afternoon. Tonight we have bbq steak and my oldest niece made delicious smashed potatoes in the oven. Mmm. 

Now we are cheering on our team on TV. They lost 0-1 unfortunately. Bummer. 

Outdoor theatre

Another windy day with some rain here and there. We had made reservations in Kalmar for an early dinner. All three cars to fit all of us – 11 now. The food was great and we were happy with our choice at “Larmgatan 10”.

After dinner it started to rain a lot as we walked over to the outdoor theatre for the second part of our family-out-time. We had rain ponchos with us so we could stay fairly dry and as the show started the rain stopped and a rainbow appeared and we could enjoy the show without rain. Perfect. 

The theatre is called Krusenstiernska Gården and the play this year was “Pappor på prov” with some of our favorit actors. A silly play but we could laugh a lot. Arrived back to our paradise around midnight. 

Sara

Today it is my youngest niece’s names day – congratulations, Sara! As our tradition we baked a heart-shaped chocolate cake to enjoy on her day. And flag up, of course!

Ran some laundry today – some things are still the same even when on vacation. It’s been another windy day with mostly sunshine but also some rain. Only 17.5C in the ocean this morning – don’t like this falling trend..

Tonight we will be another person here in our paradise – our friend L comes for a few days visit. It will be nice to see him again.

Dinner in town

Another windy day but no rain. We started the day with a dip in the ocean like we always do, but today it was a bit colder than the other days. 17.8C. 

We have found another wasp nest and this morning after breakfast the wasp exterminators returned to take care of nest number two. Great service and it is included in our property insurance. Perfect! 

This afternoon five of us went in to Borgholm to have a look around and later we met up with the other three to have our traditional dinner at “Pappa Blå”. My parents didn’t come along this time. We arrived back home in time for our “tisdagsmys” with fizz and treats while watching “Allsång på Skansen” followed by “Midsomer Murders” (last episode). A very nice Tuesday! 

One more

Monday already and our first week of vacation started. Yeah. After breakfast five of us went for an hour walk along the coast. As we were walking the clouds started to gather and during the day we received two quite heavy rainfalls, thunder and lightning. Perfect for indoor activities = playing board games. In-between the showers it has been lovely sunny weather. Strange how quickly it changes.

My sis treated us her delicious pasta bolognese for dinner. Mmm. Tonight we have picked up my youngest niece by the bus stop – she will be here all week. Lovely. All ten on us finally together! 

Sunset

Morning dip in the ocean at 08.00 AM. A very old tradition and I love it. Me, my oldest niece and my parents went together this morning at it was 18.6C in the ocean. Brrr. And rain.. Oh well. It was a great start of the day anyhow.

A nice Sunday with grocery shopping, a lovely hour-long walk, soccer game on TV and our team won 3-1. Today it was my turn to make dinner and I served schnitzel with boiled new potatoes, green peas and red wine sauce. Turned out pretty good!

Another sunset to complete our first whole day in our paradise.

Finally

Got up early and started our day. Picked up my oldest niece after we’d packed the car and then we drove down to our paradise where the rest of the family were waiting. My youngest niece will follow after the weekend and then all of us will be here together for some quality time.

We were treated a nice bbq dinner with strawberries for afters. Mmm. And a gorgeous sunset to greet us a great start of our holiday. Fingers crossed we will be able to regain some energy and relax. And that the sunny warm weather will still be here for a while longer.

Getting ready

Friday. And what a great week I’ve had. With an evening at Skansen and yesterdays dinner with a dear friend. Good for the soul. So grateful. 

I had decided to work from home today if necessary and it turned out I could take the day off. Perfect! Have spent the day wisely doing laundry, ironing, taken care of my flowers, cleaned the fridge, went over to my parents, gotten rid of garbage etc etc. A very productive day. Also sorting out what to pack and what not. Always bringing too much – lol. 

Best friends

Busy morning taking my oldest to his appointments. Then work for the rest of the day. Going to take tomorrow off since I managed to complete what I needed to and if something comes up tomorrow I can work from home. Perfect. Fingers crossed vacation has started!

Met up with one of my dearest oldest friends after work who is on a short visit in town. She lives abroad and I haven’t seen her in 5-6 years. We have been best friends since we met as exchange students back in 1986 in sunny California. We had a great catch up and it was so very good to see her again and enjoy a few hours together.

An absolutely perfect start of a hopefully great vacation!