The world

Our third week in paradise has begun – still only around 15C in the ocean and no summer feeling what so ever.

So we decided to do something we have never done before – blast glass. We saw an ad in the paper about a place where you can design your own glass and then blast it. It was quite difficult and tricky to put on the sticky decorations – but the result was quite amazing and we were all happy with what we had accomplished.

Right next to the glass house was a caramel factory where they made their own caramels in all sorts of flavors. Yum. Of course we couldn’t resist a visit.. They also served coffee so we all sat down for a bit and enjoyed a coffee or a hot chocolate before it was time to head back.

A very windy Sunday with 13m/s (29miles/hour). The waves are very high but it is only 15C so it’s not great to go and have fun in the waves anyway. 

My brother-in-law is on the bus back to the city and the other half of this summer vacation has officially started.

We have had a great vacation so far in the sense that we have accomplished what we had planned and everyone is healthy and we are relaxing, eating good food and enjoying each others company. The one thing that we are not thrilled about is the lack of summer warmth, the amount of rain and wind and the cold temperature in the ocean. But, we are in paradise and days like this are spectacular and gorgeous.

A very rainy Saturday – no fun at all. It started out pretty nice and we all took our morning swim in the ocean, but after breakfast it started to rain.

Since it was our last day together (my brother-in-law has to get back to work) we went into town (Borgholm) for dinner. My sister wanted to go to a specific restaurant which has great food but when we got there the place was already full and they didn’t take any more guests. Typical. We called them yesterday to make a reservation but they said they didn’t take reservations during the summer.

So, we went to another restaurant instead, but the food was not as good as on the one we didn’t get in to unfortunately. But we had a great time anyway. A quiet evening in the house with an old movie and a glas of rosé ended a very rainy Saturday.

Today it is the Kristina names-day and since both me and my grandmother was named Kristina we have always celebrated this day on Öland with a strawberry cake. Now we don’t have my grandmother around anymore but my oldest niece is also named Kristina so we still have more than one reason to make a cake and raise the Swedish flag.

Tonight we have had a crayfish party with my uncle and his family. It got quite chilly outdoors after a while but we had a great evening together. Then my sister arrived here with the last bus for another couple of weeks in paradise. The whole family finally gathered together again for a few days. Lovely!

A very windy day in paradise (9m/s) but the sun has been shining most of the day and no rain. We decided to give ourselves a real treat for dinner – and called our local fisherman to see if he had any fishing luck today. Fortunately for us he did! So we asked him to hold on to 15 flounders and we went to pick them up.

Then my parents drove back home but me and my oldest niece walked back. 8,5k in 90 min. We did good!

Tonight we have enjoyed my mothers cooking – fresh flounders with new potatoes from our own garden. Can it get any better? I seriously doubt it.

Tomorrow my sister will be back with us here in paradise! A great weekend to look forward to with the whole family in one place.

A local speciality – kroppkakor – a favorite we can’t resist! My grandmother made her own and we have tried too with good result. But, this time we bought them already made. Usually we buy them at Eva’s but today we decided to try another place – Ninni’s – and they were quite tasty too!

If you want to make these kroppkakor – potato dumplings – you make a dough made of boiled potatoes and wheat flour. Then you fill your dumplings with smoked pork belly, onions and allspice. After you have boiled them, you serve them with lingon berry jam and clarified butter for those who wants. Mmmm..

A visit to the city this morning for groceries and more material for our house. Even managed to get my oldest to accompany me for a 3k walk this afternoon. A good but still very cold day has come to an end.

What to do when it is really windy, cold, a bit rainy and grey.. homemade crumble with freshly picked gooseberries. Yum. And a thick layer of vanilla sauce on top.

Since it’s such a tiring day and not really inviting to get us going in the building project since we can’t work outdoors and we need to cut the plaster boards outdoors we ended up infront of a movie instead.

In a bit we will start dinner – “isterband” (smoked pork sausage) with stewed potatoes and chives. Not too bad on a Tuesday!

Today it has been sunny and raining off and on. It is still around 17C in the ocean so the water temperature definitely has potential to improve.

I painted the last parts of green on our house towards the ocean and M, F & S painted the parts facing the main house. Only the parts over the shower left – we might do them tomorrow. It looks so much better with the white boards painted green. Not so shiny and unfinished-looking anymore.
 
Tonight grandpa and grandma treated us a great dinner at the local fish restaurant in Sandvik. I had deep fried cod with fries and remoulade sauce and it was really good. Apparently our king and queen are guests at this restaurant every now and then and last week they had been there together with prince Carl Philip and princess Sofia. Not tonight though, that would have been fun!

Celebration time in the family – my youngest niece has her names-day today. So, grandpa put up the Swedish flag this morning and then me and Sara went to get strawberries and then we baked a heart-shaped chocolate cake covered with ganache and strawberries. Yum.

They guys have been busy bees all day and made great progress in the construction. Almost all the walls are done now with the first couple of layers – plastic film, glass wool and boards. Only the plasterboards left before it’s time to start with the ceiling. Not sure we will do that this vacation though. We’ll see.

A crazy day. 17.6C in the ocean this morning – still quite cold but bath-able. When we were having breakfast it started to rain and we all tucked up in our corners and just relaxed for a bit.

After lunch the sun came out and it became quite nice for a bit so we decided to give ourselves a Saturday treat and went to the go-cart place and went for a drive. Well, I was designated to mind the mobiles and take photos which I was happy to do. Grandma came along too!

When we got back there was a big thunderstorm and it was quite fascinating to enjoy the lightning show outside our big windows. My youngest son and oldest niece made a great lasagna for dinner (with a little help).

Now in the evening we have been out for a 2.2k walk and the evening is lovely. A lot of different kinds of weather in a day.