Ulrica & Magnus - in London and Elsewhere

New Years in Cotswolds

2011-12-31T20:24:00.009Z

Ceylon - Tea Hills and Coast

2011-11-19T18:24:00.014Z

We have spent 2 weeks on that little teardrop hanging off the south coast of India used to be called Ceylon.

Weekend on lovely Bredvik

2011-06-11T20:12:00.005+01:00

A sunny gorgeous weekend in Sweden. Arriving late Thursday night, breakfast in Kungsträdgården and then working in our respective Stockholm offices. Ferry out to Ahlsvik on Friday night to be met by dad. Lovely, sunny and warm. Felt like August even if it was just mid June. Swimming in the sea, BBQ, fishing and just hanging out with Ulrica's mum and dad.

Easter in Aletejo Portugal

2011-04-22T20:01:00.003+01:00

We have spent 10 days in Rural Portugal, Alentejo. Staying at 3 different Pousadas. Alentejo is pretty in the spring with all the wildflowers in the Cork Forest.

April in Sweden

2011-04-09T19:27:00.000+01:00

A lovely weekend spent in Stockholm. A great bbq with old friends and colleagues from OMX, a very long lunch at Grand's Veranda (a restaurant with one of Stockholm's best views)with Jenny.

Magnus was also in Sweden but spent the weekend in Jönköping visiting sister Amanda.

New Forest

2011-04-03T19:28:00.039+01:00

After work on a sunny Friday we met at Paul's at London Waterloo to catch the train down to New Forest. One and a half hours on the train made more enjoyably by a Fortnum & Mason train snack courtesy of Magnus. We were picked up by taxi at Ashurst, New Forest, for a 5 min transfer to Hotel TerraVina. This is a great hotel at the edge of the forest. The major attraction at this hotel is the wines - as the owner Gerard apparently is the best Sommelier in the world. So a lot of good food with great wines selected by Gerard. Including a good crisp and dry Cornwall!
Returning back at the hotel after a long forest walks looking at the New Forest ponies on Saturday. I had both champagne and a nice bouquet of flowers waiting in the room. Lovely!

Photos by M - with the one obvious exception. You guess....

Skiing in Obergurgl

2011-03-05T20:09:00.002Z

This year with the not too impressive snow record in the Alps, we waited until the very last minute (5 days before departure) to book a ski holiday. We settled on Obergurgl a high altitude resort i Austria. The village is at 2,000m and you ski up to 3,000m so you do feel the altitude. The availability of hotels were not great this late but we ended up at Hotel Alpina and it was really nice. Especially the spa was great with several pools and many different kinds of saunas. The service was also excellent and they had a very swanky ski and boots room, inclusive of practical heated rails for boots, spa music and marble benches.
We were really lucky with the weather as we had a big powder dump the first day. Real fluffy champagne powder. Needles to say Magnus was happy as a kid about the snow - "I have not ever seen snow like this except in Canada" and "this kind of dry snow is a once in 30 year event here in the Alps". After this we had gorgeous sunshine. Days on the slopes, lazy lunches finishing with a soak in the spa.

Most photos by M

Winter weekend in Stockholm

2011-02-06T21:18:00.021Z

I had a lovely weekend back home in Sweden with mum and dad. During final approach in to Arlanda airport at midnight on Friday night I had a great welcome. A spectacular Northern Light dancing across the sky.

Catching up with Jenny for some lunch and shopping on Saturday followed by Pitepalt for dinner. Stockholm was beautiful on Sunday - sunny and bright. I went for a walk on Djurgården followed by lunch at Ulla Winblad with mum and dad before catching the evening flight back to London.

Goodbye 2010 and Hello 2011

2010-12-31T12:06:00.007Z

New Years Eve in East Dulwich at the Barbers. Very nice as always.

Christmas in Sweden

2010-12-24T19:58:00.017Z

We have spent Christmas in Sweden against all odds. Some sort of travel misery is now to be considered a seasonal tradition. It was not the fog but rather some sort of snow chaos at Heathrow that did it this year. We were due to fly out with BA on the evening of the 22nd, so all day the 21st we kept an eye on the status of the five daily BA flights to Stockholm. Watching them all getting cancelled one after another. When the turn finally came to cancel our flight, we checked every available option in terms of flights and dates (within reason) to find an alternative way of getting to Sweden. Every airline was solidly booked out until the 27th at least. But then… one last check on the SAS website…. and all of a sudden a Stockholm ticket via Oslo (for the 22nd!) show up on the screen. It must have been either a miracle or a serious bug in their booking system as SAS had about 5,000 customers stranded in London waiting to get home. Anyway, we snapped that ticket as quick as lightning and managed to get to Sweden in time for Christmas.

Photo by M

It was -24oC at Arlanda when we touched down on Wednesday evening. We spent 3 nights in Stockholm with Ulrica’s family. Eating plenty of Christmas food and getting to see a large chunk of the extended family on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day we took the train trough a very wintery and white Sweden to see Magnus’ family at his sister’s in Gothenburg for 2 days. We also got to celebrate Magnus’s 40th birthday on Boxing Day.

We have a lot of very pretty and snowy photos from our Christmas trip to Arctic Sweden.

Photo by M

Photo by M

Snow in London

2010-12-18T19:29:00.000Z

Photo by M
We had a bout 10 cm of snow today in central London. A walk on Hampstead Heath in order to justify drinking hot chocolate and sloe gin under a blanket in the sofa and watch "the day after tomorrow".

Photo by M

Scottish Highlands

2010-11-26T18:36:00.057Z

Photo by M
We have spend a long weekend in the Scottish Highlands, in Wester Ross - very cold and very pretty. Taking the Caledonian sleeper train up from London to Inverness and driving across to the west coast and lovely little hotel Pool-house. Easily the largest suit we ever stayed in (85 sqm). Snuggle up by the fire with some good wine or look out over the sea and watch out for seals. We had one day of proper hiking in the mountains before the snow hit. It was very pretty with all the snow and we also got to see the North Atlantic at its very angriest.

More pictures here.

Photo by M

Photo by M

Photo by M

Photo by M

Photo by M

Photo by M

Train journey pictures here.

Photo by M

Niagara

2010-11-06T15:31:00.005Z

A few photos by Magnus from his day out after a business trip in Toronto. Road trip to see the great falls, buy some Canadian wine and have lunch in pretty Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Winter in Stockholm

2010-10-22T14:05:00.011+01:00

Magnus spent the early part of the week in Stockholm for work and Ulrica went over for the following weekend.

On Friday we actually had snow in Stockholm! It melted away pretty quick but it was all white early morning!

Nice to spend time with family and friends! Saturday night enjoying great food and outstanding wine courtesy of Jenny, and meeting up with Lasse, Lena and Matilda to have a look at Elisabet and Purres' very nice house on Sunday. And of course spending time with my mum and dad.

Autumn Walk on the Chiltern Downs

2010-10-10T16:14:00.018+01:00

Photo by M
A day out hiking on the Chiltern Downs. Beautiful October day with a very cool date 10-10-10. We usually do a pub lunch on our walks but today we had bought our stove so we could make some soup to go with our egg-sandwiches.

Photo by M

Photo by M

Photo by M

Costa Smeralda - Sardinia

2010-10-01T13:55:00.046+01:00

Photo by M

We have spend a long weekend in the very northeast corner of the second larges Island in the Mediterranean with it's emerald sea and rocky mountain.

Staying at lovely Petra Segreta (again - tanks "Mr and Mrs Smith")

Photo by M
We think those lanterns are IKEA - feeling right at home.

The food was fantastic! Pasta with Bottarga and a great Agriturisimo that served more food than anyone would possible be expected to finish.

The sea was crystal clear and warm enough even for Magnus to swim in.

Photo by M
Very nice evening walk that sort of almost turned in to bouldering behind the hotel.

Klangs in London

2010-09-12T15:48:00.011+01:00

Marianne, Jonas, Ebba and Emil came all the way to London to spend a day with us. We had a sunny brunch on the roof terrace followed by a long walk on Hampstead Heath were Ebba and Emil thoroughly enjoyed climbing twisted century old English oaks. An early dinner at the Holly Bush before they caught the train down to Kent again.

Kids always seem to like the fact that our place is split over several levels so offer ample of climbing opportunities.

A day out in London with the Barbers

2010-08-30T15:32:00.013+01:00

A day out in London with the Barbers. Stroll trough the city, lunch in Chinatown and tea at Portrait Gallery.

All photos by M

Eddie loves drinking milk with tea - and he has a new haircut today. What we in Swedish call "pottfrisyr".

He is so tiny it is almost scary to hold him.

Brand new Barber boy

2010-08-15T15:15:00.004+01:00

Eddie has a baby brother now. John Magnus was born on the 9th of August. Magnus will of course not listen to any nonsense about Magnus being an old family name. He is certain that baby Barber is named after him!

All photos by M

Big brother now.

Summer in Sweden

2010-08-11T14:08:00.002+01:00

Bredvik and Öland

A view across the water from Karlshem dock in Stockholm archipelago.

Photo by M
The northwest cost on the island of Öland is wild, rugged and by far the most beautiful.

Almqvist family portrait on Öland

Athens

2010-07-27T17:09:00.011+01:00

A few photos Magnus took while in Athens on business.

Endsleigh Weekend

2010-07-18T20:07:00.023+01:00

Photo by M
A weekend spent in Devon at beautiful Endsleigh house from the as ever very reliable Mr and Mrs Smith. Enjoying the grounds of this magnificent old building and one excursion on Dartmoor with all the ponies.

Dating from 1810, Endsleigh was built by Georgina, Duchess of Bedford and her sons as a shooting and fishing lodge. The family owned a third of Devon at the time and decided this was the prettiest place in the county to build. We could not agree more!
Photo by M

Photo by M

Photo by M

First weekend in July

2010-07-04T14:23:00.005+01:00

Not a very glamorous and exciting weekend but still nice in all simplicity. Lovely summer weather in the UK, but we have stayed put preparing for what we hope to be tail end of build project. We have spent Saturday at Homebase and Farrow & Ball buying paint and wall paper for when decorating is supposedly starting week of the 12th of July. Also bought bits and bobs for the roof terrace on-line, such as parasol and furniture cover - so we are ready when the terrace is. Thank good for internet shopping. Remember when you had to travel around to different stores if you wanted to check out a wider selection of something?

We made a trip to our newly opened local butcher. Very nice! We will be regular customers when we have our BBQ set up. They have a deli, a cheese shop and a god wine selection as well. Since before we have quality neighborhood greengrocer and wine store. We wish someone would open a fishmonger.

First guests on the roof

2010-06-26T12:31:00.013+01:00

Shaun and Ainhoa was given the honor of being our first guests on the roof.
Shaun och Ainhoa fick äran att vara våra första gäster på taket.

I am going to sit at the table sulking until they get here because I am so hungry I am close to fainting.
Jag tänker sitta vid bordet och sura tills de kommer för jag är så hungrig att jag håller på att bryta ihop.

Railing is for sissies! / Räcke är för mesar!

Finally Cheers! / Äntligen Skål!

Strawberry Cake

2010-06-26T08:12:00.008+01:00

This is how tired Magnus gets... / Såhär trött blir Magnus..

... after making a Strawberry Cake like this! / .... efter att ha bakat den här jordgubbstårtan.

Midsommarafton - Midsummer's eve

2010-06-25T12:02:00.011+01:00

We always said that we were going to celebrate Midsummer's eve on the roof terrace. So we did! Magnus biked via the Swedish Store, in Marylebone, on his way home from work.

Vi firade midsommarafton på takterrassen som vi sa att vi skulle göra. Magnus cyklade förbi Svenska Affären i Marylebone på väg hem från jobbet för att införskaffa den nödvändiga rekvisitan för ett traditionellt firande.

Missan

2010-06-20T11:41:00.011+01:00

This is where Missan, our little cat with the very long and elegant tail, now rests. Behind the cottage where she loved stalking mice.

Här ligger askan efter lilla Missan begravd. I backen ovanför huset där hon brukade smyga på möss.

Weekend on Bredvik

2010-06-20T11:10:00.022+01:00

After work I take the tube to Embankment, where I change to Bakerloo line for Paddington. Heathrow express to the airport and a late BA flight to Stockholm. Midnight taxi from Arlanda airport to my parents flat. In the morning I catch the tube to Kungsträdgården for the 3 hr ferry ride to Hjälmö where Dad will pick me up with the boat. Too soon - the reverse trek back to London and the office on Monday morning.

Efter jobbet tar jag tunnelbanan till Embankment, där byter jag till Bakerloo linjen mot Paddington. Heathrow express till flygplatesen och ett sent BA flyg till Stockholm. Taxi vid midnatt från Arlanda till föräldrarnas lägenhet. Följande morgon, tunnelbana till Kungsträdgården och en 3 timmar lång tur med Waxholmsbolaget. Vid Hjälmö-brygga möts jag av Pappa i lilla båten med snurran. Alldeles för snart är det dags för den omvända färden tillbaks till London och jobbet på måndagmorgon.

The cottage - objectively speaking paradise on earth.
Rent objektivt så är det här paradiset!

Barbecue at night. / Grilla på bastustranden.

Apparently this pine was obscuring mum's view of the dock across the water so it had to come down.
Den stackars tallen skymde visst mammas utsikt över Hjälmö-brygga när hon dricker morgonkaffe.

Waiting for the ferry back to Stockholm and onwards travel to London.
Väntar på båten vid Karlshems brygga.

Welcome Jonah!

2010-06-13T11:05:00.009+01:00

Suzanne and her beautiful baby boy!

Oooops not quick enough with the camera. A faceplant instead of a portrait.

Helping our builders

2010-06-12T20:10:00.001+01:00

Since our builders seem incapable of making progress - Magnus is spending Saturday doing some of the work for them.

Eftersom våra byggare inte verkar klara av att få särskilt mycket gjort, ägnar Magnus denna lördag åt att göra lite arbete åt dem.

Linköping - girly weekend

2010-06-06T10:26:00.052+01:00

Off to Stockholm after work on Friday - driving down to Linköping on Saturday morning together with Elisabeth and Lena. We met up with Marianne in central Linköping for some lunch and shopping. Quite a bit like Sex and the City actually, but set in Linköping instead of Manhattan and Lindex instead of 5th Ave boutiques. We spent the afternoon and evening at Marianne's with a lot of good food and good wine. On Sunday we just hung out in the sun and went for a walk and some lunch around the locks where Götakanal meets lake Roxen. Sunny, warm, lilacs and lupines in blossom, light evenings and generally as pretty as Sweden will ever get. I did not fancy getting on a plane back to London at all in the evening.

Stina and David in London

2010-05-30T17:22:00.001+01:00

Stina and David are in London for a few days. Great to meet up for a day out in the English countryside. We took the train to the town of Marlow and had a great lunch in a cosy pub. After lunch we followed the river Thames downstream for 7 km to Cookham and caught the train back to London. Today we met up with them for some Dim Sum at Hakkasan.

Stina och David är i London några dagar. Vi har tagit tåget till Marlow och ätit lunch på en mysig liten pub, följt av en 7 km promenad genom kohagar medströms längs Themsen. Idag träffades vi för Dim Sum lunch på Hakkasan.

Sunglasses in the kitchen

2010-05-22T17:34:00.001+01:00

I have honestly no idea why he is wearing sunglasses when baking bread? I did ask but he did not really respond to my question. I can only speculate.

Jag har ingen aning om varför han har solbrillorna på när han bakar bröd? Jag frågade, men han svarade aldrig riktigt. Man får nöja sig med att spekulera....

Building site

2010-05-21T21:22:00.002+01:00

We are now in May and still have a building site rather than a roof-terrace. Various excuses such as; roof need to be re-done first, large crane can only be booked for next week, other build is running late, builder have stomach bug..... and so on... But hey! This is not stopping us from having dinner enjoying the evening sun as we now have a scaffold to get up on the roof.

Det är redan maj och vi har fortfarande ingen takterass utan en byggarbetsplats istället. Vi har hört många ursäkter för att det är på detta vis - taket måste läggas om först, den stor lyftkranen kan inte bokas förrens nästa vecka, ett annat bygge är sent (så dom måste vara där), byggare som är magsjuka... osv. Men det stoppar inte oss från att äta middag på taket och njuta av kvälls-solen nu när vi har en byggnadsställning att klättra upp på.

The “Beast”

2010-05-08T12:25:00.003+01:00

We now have scaffold circumventing our entire house. When we moved in, we thought it would be brilliant to have some outdoor space and applied for planning permission to build a roof terrace - we had no idea what a monstrous task this would be. It took 2 years to get the plans approved. At this point we thought it was all a done deal - how wrong we were. We have had to face (and pay for) what feels like countless surveys and a lengthy process to change the freehold and file the correct paperwork to the land registry etc.
To complicate matters even further, the home owners association in the block of flats at the rear of our property, have decided that they will refuse to grant access to use their tarmac road for us to unload materials on to our back garden. So we have had to resort to building a large scaffold at the front over the house and down the back to bring in material from the front road.

To put this in perspective this is only a 12 sq meter (130 sq foot) size roof terrace on an already existing flat roof. So nothing too complicated.... or so one would have assumed.

Mamma - du ville se bilder på byggnadställningen:

Framsidan av huset

Brygga över nocken

Del av ställning på baksidan (det är vardagsrumsfönste mot baksidan som man ser).

Baksidan av huset.

Framsidan ovanifrån

Champagne

2010-05-03T21:03:00.017+01:00

A long weekend spent in Champagne. The train London - Lille is 1h 20 min and then 2h drive to Reims with our rented little Fiat 500 cabriolet. We stayed in the center of Reims for the first 2 nights but made excursions down towards Epernay to visit champagne houses. We visited Tarlant where Magnus insisted on getting their very oaky champagne to keep for Christmases, strolled down the Avenue the Champagne in Epernay, went on a guided tour of Tattinger's massive chalk cellars and bought some champagne at G.H. Martel just because it was next door. It was easy to get at little carried away and we filled up the tiny boot of our Fiat in no time.

A bit uncharacteristic for our holidays we had actually not planned everything beforehand so had no hotel booked for the last night. We wanted to stay somewhere pretty on a vineyard where we could also have a nice dinner that evening. Due to lack of time and/or motivation we decided to sort that issue on location. Then we got a surprise call from Ainhoa and Shaun on Saturday as they had apparently made the same plans for the bank holiday weekend and was heading to Champagne as well together with two friends. They were staying at the lovely vineyard Ployez-Jacquemart (to make this coincident even stranger - this was the only place where we had actually check for availability but they were fully booked). A&S plus friends were booked for a large dinner accompanied by a variety of the house champagne at Ployez-Jacquemart on Sunday night and they booked us in as well. And then it turns out that A&S was staying in the “family room” - two rooms joined by a connected bathroom and very kindly asked us to stay in that extra room. So we got all that we had wished for, a lovely place to stay including a tour of the wine production, a great dinner and as an extra bonus to spend time with very good friends. All in all, not a bad weekend.

Nice view from the hotel room over the vineyard.

Borough Green to Sveneoaks

2010-04-24T19:48:00.033+01:00

A Saturday spring walk from Borough Green to Sveneoaks in Kent.
Söndagspromenad i Kent.

Wood Anemones (Vitsippsbacke)

Ightham Mote

What to do if you find yourself chased by cattle.
Om en kossa jagar dig och din hund - utsätt inte dig själv för fara genom att försöka skydda hunden.
Very nice lunch at The Snail - it would have been easy to spend the rest of the day in their garden.

Mycket trevlig lunch på "Snigeln".

Back on British soil

2010-04-18T21:23:00.007+01:00

This is the train journey Magnus made today to get home from Zurich - who needs planes anyway?

That would be 130 Swedish mil (1,300 km). For you people out there from the Northern part of Europe that are used to long, straight and empty roads through pine-forests and reindeer-hears. Driving from Malmö in the south of Sweden you would get to about Umeå driving 130 Swedish mil north. You would still have about 60 mil (600 km) to go, before you would get to Kiruna - the end of the road.
That is how small distances are in Europe!

Extended business trip

2010-04-17T19:28:00.002+01:00

Since Magnus' return flight from Zurich on Thursday, was canceled due to an erupting volcano (this is a line you do not get to write every day) we had a brainstorm around the options. Ranging from applying for Swiss citizenship, improve his German, find a job and just stay put - to making his way by any means of transportation to a ferry crossing port on the European mainland to try to get across the channel.

He eventually opted for the not quite so adventurous alternative of staying in Zurich until he could get his hands on a Eurostar ticket through the tunnel. The first available ticket (first class) turned out to be a late Sunday evening service from Brussels to London St Pancras. This will of course involve a connecting service from Zurich to Brussels first - so 9 hrs on the train. No one will make the wait pleasant for you - unless you do it yourself. Magnus has bought hiking shoes, a pair of jeans and a fleece jacket and spent Saturday hiking some sort of small alp outside Zurich. Not a bad Saturday considering.

Summer at last

2010-04-17T18:39:00.003+01:00

This winter has been way too long! Today feels like the first day of summer. Finally! Temperatures well above 20oC (at least in the sun) and people milling about in T-shirts and shorts. Every outdoor cafe is absolutely packed.

I took these flower pictures on my way home from work on Thursday this week. The English sure do love their gardens. I especially appreciate the abundance of the forget-me-nots (förgätmigej) both blue and pink and I really love the Magnolias. We have a Magnolia outside our bedroom window with huge pale pink flowers.

The daffs ar almost all finished by now.

Best ever excuse?

2010-04-15T21:27:00.000+01:00

Magnus is not going to make it home in time for dinner today. “Well there is this ongoing volcanic eruption in Iceland that is causing total closure of the airspace over most of northern Europe, so…. my flight home from Zurich is cancelled”. Yeah right? Or wait a minute. This is too bizarre to be made up!

In Stockholm

2010-04-11T21:23:00.002+01:00

I have spent a weekend in Stockholm. The usual setup – in late Friday and back again Sunday evening. The only difference was the mix and match of carrier for this trip (end of Easter holidays) that gave me the opportunity to pass through 4 different airports for just this one Stockholm visit. Great to spend time with the parents and mum made Palt (sort of a potato/flour dumpling with minced meet inside). On Sunday I hade a late but quite long lunch with Jenny before heading out to the airport. Did not have time to see much of Stockholm but noticed that they are doing something (that seem to involve rail) on Hamngatan.

It is still rather wintry in Stockholm – no greenery and still ice on lakes. In London Magnus had made rhubarb compote (rabarberkräm) from the lovely tender new rhubarbs that are in season here.

Poaching Quail Eggs

2010-04-04T10:41:00.007+01:00

Poaching tiny little quail eggs for Easter Dinner. Very fiddly but they turned out adorable cute!

Pocherar vaktelägg till påskmiddag. Pilligt men dom blev hemskt söta.

Hot Cross Buns

2010-04-02T18:50:00.002+01:00

Magnus have made Easter Hot Cross Buns today. Very English.

Nästan engelska sjukan?

2010-03-30T18:04:00.001+01:00

För att vara helt ärlig så var det inte bara den dåliga snökvaliten som gjorde att det inte blev så mycket skidåkning. Jag orkade bara inte. Har varit sjuk massor efter jul och vi tänkte nästan inte åka på skidresa alls ett tag för jag blev aldrig frisk. Visade sig vid ett blodprov att jag hade mindre än 20% av det D-vitamin man ska ha. Det räknas väl nästan som engelska sjukan va? :-). Så jag har en bra ursäkt att jag var tvungen att stanna 10 ggr för att vila i varje backe. Nu har jag fått en jättestor spruta D-vitamin och förväntar mig att jag snarast kommer att sprudla av energi.

Skiing in Lech

2010-03-27T16:18:00.046Z

We have spent a week in the gorgeous little Austrian tow Lech. Very nice but pretty poor skiing. This was not due to lack of high mountains and plenty of pistes but rather the extremely warm weather. But 15oC and bright sun made for very nice long lunches. This turned out to be more of a gourmet holiday than a sport holiday to be honest. They really have excellent restaurants in Lech and we will never again say a bad word about Central European Alp food.

Favorite lunch hang out in Oberlech.

More pictures here.

In Sweden and not in Sweden at all

2010-03-12T19:34:00.003Z

We were supposed to be in Sweden this weekend, but since I have had a cold for about 4 weeks I reluctantly decided it would be better to stay at home to rest instead. I have been to work the last two days and on Friday evening I had a message from Magnus just as he was boarding his BA flight for Arlanda, that I needed to call the builders working on the flat below since water was coming from the ceiling.

So I had to run home from work and let them in to smash a hole in our kitchen wall to fix a leaking main.

Oh brilliant!

Long time no blogging

2010-03-04T10:21:00.006Z

I have not posted much lately - nothing much to report I suppose.

We have snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils. Birds chirping away and much longer days. But one key element of spring is still missing. The higher temperatures! It is absolutely freezing still. Around 0oC most night and maybe 7-8 degrees during the day. This is the coldest winter we have experienced since moving to London and we are fully expecting the gas bill to be astronomical from heating our not so well insulated loft conversion through this winter.

We met up with Lena, Lasse and Matilda for a lunch in Chinatown last Sunday. As always very nice to see them. We have also seen a Lisa Ekdahl concert at South Bank. Magnus is very proud of his Semla pastries this year as he, besides from roasting and grounding the cardamom seeds, also made the almond paste from very nice Spanish almonds.

We are still waiting to start the roof terrace build. We need scaffolding to go up before anything else can progress, and the scaffolding company have delayed for over a week now, citing various excuses such as rain (on a clear sunny day!) and a broken down truck (slightly more plausibly or at least harder for us to call their bluff). Once we have scaffolding, we can take delivery of the material and then the actual build can commence. We have been told to expect a duration of approximately 6 weeks. However the railing on the terrace can only be ordered after completion of the wooden deck (don't ask - yes they are building to exact dimensions according to drawings/specifications so we are not quite sure why we can not just order according to those measurements) so that will add some extra time. With a bit of luck we will be able to eat our midsummer herring on the terrace.

Perhaps

2010-02-20T20:50:00.003Z

A walk around Hampstead Heath today. Perhaps there will be a spring, even followed by a summer, this year.

Valentine tradition

2010-02-14T21:39:00.004Z

We had Eva, Nick and Eddie over for brunch today. Egg Benedict and the first Semla of the year for dessert. We realized that this is the second time running Magnus "celebrated" Valentine's with them. Last year on this date he was over at their place for dinner (Ulrica was in Sweden that weekend). So this is now officially a tradition.

Magnus' Dammsugare

2010-01-30T20:13:00.001Z

Lazy Saturday

2010-01-30T18:11:00.005Z

Sunshine in London at last - but cold, and it was a dust of snow on the ground in the morning. Had a bit of a Swedish-theme day. Herring (matjesill) and boiled potato for lunch followed by a sunny walk over Primrose Hill and through Regent's park to Marylebone with a stop in the Swedish store (smågodis, dillchips, kaviar, filmjölk och rårörda lingon). And right now Magnus is making dammsugare.

Pappa 70

2010-01-09T18:08:00.012Z

For the third time in a month we traveled to Sweden again. This time to celebrate dad's 70th birthday on the 9th of Jan! I am not going to bore anyone with stories about how Heathrow is coping with the coldest January in 30 years - we both got to Stockholm eventually in time for the big party.

Stockholm was still full of snow and ice and very pretty.

We had a great party at Ulla Winblad, lovely food and lovely company!

Tack Lasse för ett jättetrevligt kalas och för att du är och alltid har varit världens bästa pappa!

Vad hände 1940 förutom att min far föddes?

Sovjetiskt flyg bombar av misstag Pajala kyrkby.
I Sverige införs så kallat "kokslov" i skolorna för att spara på eldningen av klassrummen.
Kaffe och te ransoneras, vilket blir de första svenska ransoneringarna under andra världskriget.
Winston Churchill efterträder Neville Chamberlain som brittisk premiärminister.
Norge kapitulerar till Tyskland.
Andrakammarvalet resulterar i socialdemokratisk majoritet, varvid Bondeförbundet vill gå ur den svenska regeringen, men samlingsregeringen bibehålls.
All privat användning av bensin i Sverige stoppas. Bilarna får drivas med gengas.
Den svenska filmen Swing it magistern med Alice Babs i huvudrollen har premiär och bidrar till swingdansens storhetstid
Karolinska sjukhuset i Stockholm invigs.

La bohème at the Royal Opera

2010-01-05T21:44:00.001Z

We have seen a very good performance of one of Puccini’s best-loved work at the Royal Opera in London. First time at the Royal Opera and I think I prefer it over Royal Albert Hall. We also had dinner at J Sheekey - another London favorite.

Goodbye Noughties

2009-12-31T10:42:00.002Z

The turn of a decade. On new years eve at Eva and Nick's we remembered what we did at the turn of the last decade (that was also turn of a millennium!). We both seem to have hosted a big party at our respective homes (Styrmansgatan and Bastugatan in Stockholm) So much have happened since!

We had a good evening with our friends. They had held Eddie awake until we got there so we could say hi and happy new year to him. And also, so that he could show off his latest skill - walking.

Beautiful Winter Stockholm

2009-12-22T13:02:00.007Z

Today we took a walk along the water from Rålambshovsparken along lake Mälaren past the City Hall and the sluice to the Baltic Sea ending up at Nybroviken with all the boats moored for the winter. Snow squeaking under our shoes and Stockholm stunningly beautiful dressed in white snow and frost.

Afternoon movie and dinner with Jenny and Martin finished off a great day.
More photos here.

In Stockholm and Julbord

2009-12-20T21:17:00.006Z

We were probably lucky to make it to Stockholm on Friday evening/ Saturday morning. A lot of flights were canceled at LHR and the chaos seem to have continued. We landed in Stockholm at 3.00 am in the morning. Stockholm is absolutely gorgeous! I have not seen this much snow in Stockholm for years. We had dinner at Ulriksdals Wärdshus Christmas smorgasbord (Julbord) tonight. The best to be had in Stockholm and definitely one of the prettiest settings.

Ulrica, Magnus and Magnus' very stylish hat beside the Christmas tree

Someone skiing over the road behind the bus. You do not see this every day!

Lucia in St Paul's Cathedral

2009-12-11T20:11:00.001Z

Lovely Lucia concert in St Paul's Cathedral and dinner at Paternoster Chop House after. We have been to plenty of Lucia celebrations in London now.

Msex 40 years

2009-12-05T11:39:00.008Z

Msex is a sorority I was a member of at university. We had a lot of fun during those years and a I consider some of the girls from back then my very closest and best friends today. This year this sorority celebrate their 40th anniversary and this of course called for a celebration party and dinner. 40 years might not seem much, but I went to university at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and the number of women studying for a Master of Science have increased a lot in those years (some things are actually better now than what they used to be). We flew to Stockholm for the weekend to attend this event and it was heaps of fun! The girls active in the sorority today had organized a great party and over 100 people attended. The oldest members attending had left university before the girls active today was born! To spend a night again with all the people I used to party with and friends I do not see frequent enough was well worth the trip. Although flying home on Sunday was tough.

Uncharacteristically we did not take any pictures from the evening. I suppose we were to busy singing, eating, talking, drinking and dancing!

However I have dug up some pictures from the 30th year anniversary.... I say we look just the same !!! :-)

Magnus took a last minute decision to actually stay in Stockholm after the weekend as he had a work commitment in Stockholm on Tuesday and then on to Milan on Wednesday. It saved him quite a lot of travel not having to go back and forth to London an extra time. Only a guy can pack a bag for a weekend and then decide he will be fine for almost a week instead. I suppose this type of events is what you have credit cards for!?

Long weekend in Wales

2009-11-30T21:22:00.004Z

We have spent a long weekend in Wales. Three nights at The Drawing Room just north of the Brecon Beacons. We spent two days hiking the Beacons. On day an aborted attempt to reach top of Corn Du, second highest peak at 873 m, due to rain/hail, strong gusts and very low clouds/fog. On Monday we were more lucky and could enjoy the first clear day they have had in weeks in Wales. We hiked up to both Cord Du and the highest peak in the Beacons, Pen y Fan (886 m). It was actually snow on top. The hills are not very high at all but it feel like a proper mountain somehow.

This is on Saturday when the weather was still "good". Before the fog and strong winds.

The first day in the area we explored the Elan Valley with its reservoirs constructed in 1893-1904. With all the rain this autumn the dams was absolutely full.

Jenny på besök

2009-11-15T20:25:00.002Z

Vi har haft Jenny på besök i helgen. Trevligt som alltid! Vi åt middag på Nahm i fredags. En Thai-krog med Guide Michelin stjärna. Maten var god men vi var nog överens om att servicen och miljön inte riktigt levde upp till stjärnstatusen. På lördag var det kuling och tokigt intensiva regnskurar. Vi åt frukost till det var dags för lunch sen gick vi på bio och såg 2012. Personligen tycker jag inte att det finns mycket som livar up en regnig dag som att se jorden gå under medan man äter popcorn. På kvällen provade vi en flaska av vinet som Magnus beställt nu senast - supergott men de resterande flaskorna ska få ligga på hyllan sisådär två eller tre år. Söndag bjöd på fint soligt väder igen så vi promenerade genom Regent's park till Marylebone, åt lunch och köpte tomater på the Farmer's Market.

Glögg

2009-11-01T22:10:00.003Z

Magnus have made Glögg this weekend. He had to substitute quite a lot of things we could not source in the UK. Malt extract added to water instead of svagdricka for example. Now we just have to let it sit for 3 weeks and hope all goes well.

We also managed a lunch in Covent Garden with Eva, Nick and Eddie.

Surrey and West Sussex walk

2009-10-31T15:10:00.002Z

This Saturday we headed down for an autumn walk around the border of Surrey and West Sussex. Train from Waterloo to Liphook and a 15 km walk to Haslemere for the train back to London. A lovely warm day starting off with a very scenic mist in the morning. After lunch, when the sun burned off the mist it was hard to believe that tomorrow we are already in November.

The walk is almost entirely through woods (oak, beech, and chestnut). Passing Shuldbery Priory dating from about 1200. Very nice lunch at the Red Lion pub by the village green in Fernhurst.

In the evening we enjoyed a proper American Halloween part at Candace's place in South Kensington. Scary and orange food and all the decorations.

October Weekend in Sweden

2009-10-25T19:13:00.003Z

We are in Sweden for the weekend. Arrived late Thursday evening for Magnus' grandmothers funeral on Friday. Magnus came back with the parents and two sisters to Örebro for Friday night and took the train up to Stockholm again on Saturday evening. We have spent quality time with a lot of family and friends.

A rather "autumny" walk in Dalarö.

Namibia: Okonjima

2009-10-04T13:24:00.010+01:00

The last two nights were spent at Okonjima and the AfriCat foundation. AfriCat is a non-profit organisation set up to conserve and protect threatened cheetah, leopard, and other wild cats of Namibia. We went out on both their spotted hyena tracking on foot and leopard tracking. Very exiting. The animals are in large enclosures and fitted with radio collars so you try to pick up a signal and follow that. There is no guarantee that you will see them. The radio signal work on line-of-sight so the animal might be in radio shadow or up in the mountains where you can not follow. But we were quite lucky to get to see both a leopard using a tree as a lookout for prey and two of their spotted hyenas. We also visited the enclosure where they keep a bunch of Cheetahs waiting to be reintroduced to the wild. In the mean time they are fed iams - cat food! Presumably bought in very big bulks.
At night they give the dinner leftovers to the Porcupine and honeybadgers.

More pictures here.

Radio tracking of spotted hyena

Namibia: Etosha

2009-10-01T13:23:00.009+01:00

Etosha was declared a National Park in 1907 and cover an area of 22 270 square km, it is home to 114 mammal species, 340 bird species, 110 reptile species, 16 amphibian species and, surprisingly, one species of fish.

Etosha, meaning "Great White Place", is dominated by a massive mineral pan. The pan is part of the Kalahari Basin, the floor of which was formed around 1000 million years ago. The Pan covers around 25% of the National Park and was originally a lake fed by the Kunene River. However the course of the river changed thousands of years ago and the lake dried up. Today the is a large dusty depression of salt and clay which fills only if the rains are heavy and even then only holds water for a short time. The perennial springs along the edges of the Etosha Pan draw large concentrations of wildlife and birds.

We spent 2 nights camping inside the park (both in Okaukuejo and Halali) and two nights at Onguma, a lodge just outside the eastern entrance, Von Lindequist Gate. We have done the whole safari thing before, but with guides. This time we drove around ourselves. It was great to park by a waterhole and sit there for a few hours and watch animals come and go and how they interact. We had really good game viewing some of the highlights was two black rhinos fighting in a waterhole, a large elephant bull chasing off a lion, almost parking on top of a well camouflaged leopard (windows down!), cheetah posing nicely on a mound with the salt pan in the backdrop (and her two cubs) and 4 spotted hyenas out on an early morning hunting party.

In Etosha you camp within well fenced areas in the park and are only allowed outside those gates between sunrise and sunset. You are not allowed to leave your car outside of designated areas in the park. The first morning we woke before sunrise to the sound of lions roaring and left the camp by sunrise. After driving for a half hour we had a puncture. A proper one! The tyre was totally flat. We were in an area with high shrub so not ideal if you want to see if something is stalking you. Magnus was sent out to inflate the tyre while Ulrica was looking out for large cats. Luckily the tyre held the air pretty good so we could drive to an area 30 km away where it felt more safe to change to the spare.

More pictures here.

O for Namibia

2009-09-29T09:26:00.004+01:00

We have slept in Okaukuejo, Onguma and Okonjima. Had hamburger for lunch and filled up with diesel in Outjo. Driven through the villages of Otavi, Okomukandi, Otjikango, Otjiwarongo, Okahandja, Otjitambi and Otjikondo. Crossed the (this time of the year dry) riverbeds of the rivers Omaruru, Orawab, Omakato and Okakongo. In Etosha we visited the waterholes Ombika, Ondongab, Okerfontein and Okevi.

If the person reading the map, asks the person driving “did you see/remember what it said on that road sign?”, and the answer is “not really, but it was something starting with o”. This is really not that helpful!

They have very funny road sign warnings in Namibia.

Namibia: Grootberg

2009-09-28T13:21:00.004+01:00

We spent two days at Grootberg lodge. Perched on the edge of the Grootberg Plateau, it has the most spectacular views. The lodge has been built in conjunction with the local # Khoadi //Hoas community. It is 100% owned by the community. A big donation by the European Union, through the Development Progamme of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, funded the building of the lodge. Local staff (and members of the local community) is being trained to run and manage the lodge by Dominic, and his wife Simonetta. The aim is for the lodge to be completely run by the local people within the next ten years.

We had by now seen a lot of Namibia and it was great to have a day just to relax without any driving. We went walking on the plateau, admired the view from the pool and spent the afternoon on horseback.

More pictures here.

Namibia: Brandberg

2009-09-26T13:20:00.004+01:00

Two nights in Brandberg Mountains, Namibias highet mountain with its highest point, the Königstein, standing at 2573m above sea level, where we saw the "White Lady" and the Desert Elephant. The White Lady is a rock painting, located on a panel, also depicting other art work, on a small rock overhang, deep within Brandberg Mountain. This was a very hot hike but well worth it. We also got to see the Desert Elephant up close as they roamed the dry riverbed very close to the camp (sometimes in the camp).

More pictures here.

They are watching the sunset just like we are!

Namibia: Spitzkoppe Mountain

2009-09-24T13:18:00.004+01:00

We spent one day at Spitzkoppe and this is the place where we would most wish we could have spent some more time. Extraordinarily beautiful.

The Spitzkoppe (also referred to as the "Matterhorn of Namibia"), is a group of bald granite peaks located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert. The granite is more than 700 million years old and the highest outcrop rises about 1784 meters above sea level. The peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains. The granite rock polished smooth and round by the wind over many many years.

We spent considerable time just clambering around the rock formations and also discovering bushman rock paintings. The camping was properly wild and no other humans around. Just Africa.

More pictures here.

Namibia: Skeleton Coast

2009-09-23T13:11:00.007+01:00

We spent one night in the town of Swakopmund on the coast before heading up north along the coast. Swakopmund, Namibia's second biggest town and traditional "summer capital", is a sort of central Europe meets the African desert next to the ocean kind of place. We went to a really nice restaurant in Swakop called the Thug and had fantastic seafood, including Walvis Bay oyster.

The Skeleton Coast is the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia. The Bushmen of the Namibian interior called the region "The Land God Made in Anger", while Portuguese sailors once referred to it as "The Gates of Hell". On the coast the upwelling of the cold Benguela current gives rise to dense ocean fogs for much of the year. The winds blow from land to sea, rain fall rarely exceeds 10mm annually and the climate is inhospitable. There is a constant, heavy surf on the beaches and plenty of sharks.

Remind me again - why did we decide to spend time on this coast?

Anyway, we did, and the pictures should speak for themselves. Our next stop was Cape Cross where we also spent a night before heading inland.

More pictures of the Skeleton Coast and of Wlotzkasbaken.

Namibia: Desert to Coast

2009-09-21T13:09:00.005+01:00

After our morning clambering around the sand dunes of Sossusvlei we had a short drive to Agama River where we would spend our second night of camping. The day after we had again a long drive trough the desert all the way out to the coast. We are by now starting to realise that 270 km on the map is not like the tar roads of home. It takes a bit of time to cover. Rolling yellow grass plains giving way to the canyons of the Nakluft and the last hours stretch of gravel desert before you reach the Atlantic. On the way we stopped several times to take in the scenery (and to take pictures).

Very straight and very flat. If you meet another car you will have seen the dust cloud in the distance for the last half hour or so, slowly getting closer. Plenty of time to make your way over to your side of the road for when you eventually meet.

We also crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.

More pictures here.

And finally the large Atlantic Ocean.

Namibia: Sossusvlei

2009-09-19T10:23:00.004+01:00

We left London a Friday evening, after work, for an 11 hr BA flight to Jo’burg. A very full flight, thankfully we got upgraded to business so a comfortable start to the holiday with a good night sleep in flatbeds. In Jo’burg we had enough time to stock up on a few bottles of good South African wine for the holiday before the final 2 hr leg to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. The Saturday was spent in Windhoek getting organised with the car and stocking up on fresh food for the first few days camping.

On Sunday we set out early heading south from Windhoek, for a 340 km drive to Sesriem. The first 90 km of road was tarred but after that it was gravel all the way. For the rest of the trip we would only encounter tar occasionally. We stopped to cook lunch in Spreetshoote Pass with the first spectacular view over the vast Namib Desert.
Arriving in Sesriem late afternoon leaving time for a quick excursion to go and see the Sesriem Canyon before setting up camp for the first time. The tent on top of the car was extremely easy to open (5 min) and comfortable with proper bedding. Cooking food over open fire and eating under the spectacular African starry sky, London felt very far away.

The next morning we broke camp 1 hr before sunrise for the drive in to Sossusvlei, an area in the Namib Desert with spectacular 300m high sand dunes. Watching the sunrise over the red sand dunes can only be described as magic. The rest of the morning was spent clambering around exploring sand dunes and the beautiful Dead Vlei.

More pictures here.

Mer svensk mat - saffranspannkaka

2009-09-05T19:37:00.002+01:00

När Lena och Lasse var här så hade de med sig godsaker från Gotland. The, kryddblandning, ramslök och salmbärssylt.

Magnus gjorde en saffranspannkaka att äta med salmbärssylten. Det var hur gott som helst och smakade både svenskt och .....lite jul. Antar att det var en kombination av risgrynen och saffranet.

Dewberry-jam (imported from Gotland, Sweden) and Saffron pancake

Hampstead Heath Rowan jelly

2009-08-23T17:05:00.003+01:00

Yet another addition to our string of foodstuff from Hampstead Heath, our closest park. Now the Elderflower cordial (flädersaft) and Nettle soup (nässelsoppa) have been followed by rowan jelly (rönnbärsgele). Magnus made enough jelly to fill nine 55 ml jars. Now we just need a good moose steak to go with the jelly.

Soon off to Namibia

2009-08-22T16:40:00.003+01:00

Soon we will be off on our long awaited Namibia adventure.

Wedged between the Kalahari and the South Atlantic, Namibia is one of the youngest countries in Africa and offers nearly unlimited elbowroom with only 2,1 milj people on 825 000 sq km (compare with 9,2 milj on 450 000 sq km in Sweden and 58,8 milj on 245 000 sq km in the crowded UK). After Mongolia, Namibia is the least densely populated country in the world. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east.

The two of us will be driving around in an expedition equipped Land Rover Defender with a rig on the roof for the tent (see the picture). The current plan is to start with a drive through the high pass down to the Namib Desert to take in the massive red sand dunes in Sossusvlei and explore the wilderness of the Namib-Naukluft Park. After a short stop in the little costal town of Swakopmund, often described as being more German than Germany, we are off up along the famous Skeleton Coast. Heading inland and spending a few days in Damaraland camping by The Spitzkoppe (referred to as the “Matterhorn of Namibia" – we will see about that!) and Brandenberg where we hope to see some of the famous old rock paintings and the elusive desert Elephant. We will stay 2 night at a community run lodge perched on the edge of the Grootberg Plateau, doing some black rhino tracking and horseback-riding. A few days are dedicated to Etosha. Etosha, meaning "Great White Place". The National Park protects a vast shallow bowl of silvery sand the size of Holland – and its surrounding bush. During the dry season, tens of thousands of animals converge to drink at the waterholes beside this pan. It is home to 114 mammal species, 340 bird species, 110 reptile species, 16 amphibian species and, surprisingly, one species of fish. Ending with two days at Okonjima where the big attraction is large cats.

At least this is the current plan!

5th and Crayfish

2009-08-16T22:02:00.008+01:00

This Friday we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. Can’t believe it has been so long at the same time cannot believe it ever was any way different.

We had a crayfish party at Eva’s and Nick’s on Saturday. Unfortunately the party was somewhat lacking in the crayfish department. The stall-owner at Billingsgate fish market that Eva had arranged to pick up the crayfish from at 6.30 am Saturday morning had sold them by that time. Bastard! He did not even seem embarrassed about it. We still had a really good party and got two packs of frozen crayfish from the Swedish store on Crawford Street to at least have as a taster for starter. Magnus made a really good chocolate cake (Gateau recipe) with 6 very stylish home made marzipan crayfish.

On the bus

M: You are not working are you?

U: Mmmmmmmm what? No.

M: Put away that Blackberry then!

Sea Kayaking Stockholm Archipelago

2009-07-31T21:51:00.001+01:00

Sea kayaking for a few days in the Stockholm archipelago. We rented kayaks in Berg (Kyrkviken) on the island of Möja. Packed two kayaks full of tent, sleeping bags, food and good wine (wine - courtesy of Jenny since we forgot that you can not buy wine in Sweden after 3 PM on Saturdays… bizarre) and headed east out from Möja and then southeast to Guldön and Ankön where Ulrica spent a lot of time as a child.

It was really a new and exiting way of exploring the archipelago. Mostly fine weather. A bit too windy for being really ideal, but as long as you are somewhat sheltered from the wind by islands or at least have the wind in your back it was ok. You easily manage much longer distances than we had anticipated. We will do this again.

More pictures here.

Missan on Bredvik

2009-07-28T20:29:00.001+01:00

Missan is really enjoying her summers on Bredvik.

Here she is stalking a seagull just in front of us when we are having coffee. Then the bird turned its head and she ran it to the cottage in panic. You can't believe she has had her 20th birthday!

Bredvik

2009-07-28T19:13:00.003+01:00

Lovely days spend on tiny island of Bredvik in the Stockholm archipelago with Ulrica's mum and dad in the cottage. We brought 3kg of crayfish to enjoy from Stockholm and had a few BBQs. Blueberries in plenty this year so we (at least mum) picked every day. We had yogurt and blueberries, pancake and blueberries, blueberry pie made in the wood burning stow and just plain blueberries. So stocked up on vitamin C for at least a year to come!

One evening we went for a walk on Lådna island and came across a really large and beautiful badger. We have been swimming in the sea and mum and dad had a big fire going in the sauna the evening we got back from kayaking. Much appreciated!

More pictures here.

Summer Stockholm and Swedish Crayfish

2009-07-25T19:11:00.003+01:00

A late start to the day as the flight in from London on Friday night was 3 hours delayed so the sun was already coming up over arctic Stockholm by the time we made it to bed. We also waited for ages for a taxi since it was "lönehelg" the taxi warden explained (that roughly translates in to pay-day weekend and apparently people spend their pay when they get it on taxis??). We discovered that they just had the first crayfish delivered for the season at Östermalmshallen so decided to get some to bring with us out in to the archipelago. However we could not help ourselves and had to try a few as a starter for lunch.
In the evening we had dinner with Jenny at Tranan, Odengatan and continuing with drinks on Rörstrandsgatan. It is fun to "re-discover" areas and places in Stockholm that we have not visited for a very long time.

Feline predator

2009-07-19T18:43:00.005+01:00

This cat lives on our street. I had to take a picture of him/her since he/she is so very pretty. A true little feline predator with very green eyes. Chasing doves and other prey all day long.

Saturday Walk

2009-07-18T18:45:00.003+01:00

Suzanne invited us to join her and a group of friends for a Saturday walk and a pub-lunch by a canal. Train for 30 min from Marylebone station gets you out to almost the countryside (or at least the edge of London by M25). We picked wild, tiny but tasty plums.

Älvesands in London

2009-07-17T18:11:00.007+01:00

The Älvesands made a two day stop in London before their onward journey to the Cornwall coast. They have turned out to be quite frequent visitors from Sweden and we always enjoy seeing them.

When we arrived home from work on Friday afternoon, dinner preparations was in full swing. Just sit down, letting oneself being served a glass of good wine and wait for dinner to be served.
You can come back any time!

Amanda wearing Magnus' glasses.

Matilda is running a fever and is feeling a bit under the weather.

Linnea pouring the wine and Amanda returning Magnus' glasses.

Three very sweet, well behaved and adorable girls.

More pictures here.

Swedish wild Bluberries

2009-07-12T17:41:00.009+01:00

The wild blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) we are used to in Sweden are not very similar to the farmed ones you can by in supermarkets in the UK (sometimes referred to as American Blueberries). Our berry seem to be a different species altogether, sometimes called bilberry or European-blueberry we discovered. We are always a bit disappointed when buying blueberries in London since the farmed variety does not have that same intense flavor. Swedish blueberries grow on short shrub and can be found in abundance pretty much all over Sweden (actually covering 17% of the land!). The fruit is smaller than that of the farmed blueberry and usually darker in colour. While the farmed blueberry's fruit pulp is light green, the wild berry's is red or purple, heavily staining the fingers and lips of consumers eating the raw fruit.

Weekend in Örebro

2009-07-12T17:40:00.009+01:00

We have spent a weekend with Magnus' parents and sister Camilla, in the town of Örebro. Had a lovely drive from the airport very late on Friday evening. Oh how I miss the beautiful late evening Nordic light. It was quite a safari drive as we saw moose (not on the road thankfully), badger (grävling), rabbit and plenty of roe deer. We had a lot of fresh seasonal Swedish food including lamb, perch and of course zander (gös) from lake Hjälmaren.

On Sunday we went for a walk in Skärmarbodabergen (Skärmarboda-hills). A forest landscape dotted with large boulders brought there by the large ice sheets moving across the area around 10,000 years ago.

Ulrica was picking moss for her Christmas adventsljusstake (advent wreath). The old batch from Småländskahöglandet is running out.

More pictures here.

Babysitting our godson

2009-07-05T20:16:00.002+01:00

We had Sunday BBQ lunch at the Barber's down in East Dulwich. After lunch Ulrica did a stint of 30 min very brave babysitting while the rest of the gang was moving furnitures down from the attic.

Weekend on the Jurassic Coast

2009-06-21T21:48:00.009+01:00

We have spent a weekend on the Jurassic Coast on the border between Dorset and Devon. The Jurassic Coast is an UNESCO World Heritage site. The coastal exposures within the site provide an almost continuous sequence of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous rock formations spanning the Mesozoic Era and document approximately 185 million years of Earth history. Apparently it is very good for fossil hunting and we did actually see some fossil hunters on the beach.

We caught a train from Paddington to Taunton around lunchtime and after a 45 km further drive down to the south coast we arrived just in time for an evening stroll on the beach before dinner.

We were staying in the charming little Abbots House Hotel. Only 4 rooms and it had taken the owners 2 years to renovate this 16th century guest house and turn it in to a boutique hotel. Hiking along the coast from the little seaside village of Beer to very picturesque Branscombe, and the back again over the green hills on Saturday. We had local mussels for lunch at the pub in Branscombe and finally cream tea in Beer before driving back to the hotel. Late on Saturday evening we had dinner at stylish Hix Oyster & Fish House in Lyme Regis. Sunday was spent just pottering around, exploring the area further and going for some nice walks. Ulrica braved the cold water temperature and went for a short but refreshing swim.

Taking the train in and out of London and getting a rental car locally is by far the most convenient way of escaping the city. It is much more relaxing, spending 2 hrs reading a book and the paper on a train taking you in to London, than battling Sunday evening traffic in to the city.

More pictures here.

Planning permission granted

2009-06-13T09:01:00.008+01:00

Finally we have received planning permission to build a roof terrace! It has only taken 2,5 years to convince the council that we should be allowed to build one even if we live in a conservation area.

Äntligen har vi fått bygglov för vår takterass! Det har tagit 2,5 år att övertyga vårat council (och en granne som har varit väldigt oroad över att vi kanske kommer att stå och stirra ner i hennes trädgård) att vi ska få lova att bygga fast vi bor i ett kulturmärkt område.

Ulla and Lasse in London

2009-06-09T21:39:00.003+01:00

Ulrica's parents have made a visit in London again. Always very nice to have them here! We have been down to the Bluebell Steam Engine museum, picked Elder flowers on Hampstead Heat for Magnus to make a very nice cordial and generally potter around town. They were sent off to City Airport 3 hrs before departure since this was the first day of yet another Tube strike.

Balcombe to East Grinstead

2009-05-30T12:14:00.004+01:00

This walk in West Sussex starts at the old village of Balcombe and then goes through the woods and by the lake of Balcombe, to reach the National Trust Gardens and Tudor Mansion at Wakehurst Palace. After lunch at the pub in Weast Hoatly through Giffard Woods and past the sandstone rocks used as shelters in mesolithic and neolithic time leading to the shorline of Weir Wood Reservoir. Lovely warm and sunny day.

More pictures here.

Angry Squirrel

2009-05-28T13:31:00.002+01:00

This Squirrel was sitting in the birch tree outside our bedroom window and he was very angry with Charlie, the cat, who was trying to climb the tree. The squirrel sounded just like a magpie (skata).

Tube sign

2009-05-25T20:32:00.005+01:00

We ventured down to south London for a BBQ at Eva's and Nick's on Bank Holiday Monday. Saying goodbye to the Reinfeldt family who are now moving back to Stockholm after 2.5 years in London. Very nice afternoon with good friends, good wine and good food. On the way back on the Northern line tube we noticed this sign:

The Chilterns

2009-05-24T19:31:00.004+01:00

The Chiltern Hills are a chalk escarpment north-west of London. A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965. The gently rolling hills are swathed in beech woodland and chalk downland dotted with pretty little villages. We spent the Sunday hiking this area. This was so far the warmest day in 2009. Less than an hour with train from Marelybone station, not far from us. We also saw a really large bird of prey close up in the forest.

More pictures here.

We made it

2009-05-23T21:07:00.005+01:00

Phew we made it! We will not have to move. Charlie was still a very healthy cat when his owner, our neighbor, arrived back from holiday. However, he was also a very angry cat. His master got a very cold reception to say the least. Charlie was thoroughly pissed off about having been left alone for a week and just, very deliberately, walked past and sat with his back turned as a welcome. Cats have feelings, that can get hurt, as well!

Let the guest cook the dinner

2009-05-23T20:39:00.007+01:00

Stina and Magnus preparing a very summery dinner with English new asparagus, hollandaise, smoked salmon, quail eggs and salads.

It really is very convenient to let your guests do the cooking. Magnus and Stina made a great team in the kitchen.

A New Years Eve, a long time ago, at a ski resort in Sweden (Åre), springs to mind. Stina was project managing the dinner preparations, allocating different tasks to each one in the group of university friends. She then turns to Ulrica and utter the now famous question/order: "And Ulrica, do you think that you can look after yourself for an hour or two?". Apparently nothing much has changed since then!

Stina in London

2009-05-23T08:01:00.001+01:00

Stina is visiting in London. Great to have her here again! Alva and Kerstin is at home in Småland with David. Yesterday we visited Terence Conran's Boundary restaurant in trendy Hoxton. They have a really fantastic terrace with 360o view of the city, large fireplace, lovely greenery and comfy white sofas. Perfect for pre-dinner drinks. We will surely come there again this summer. Today Stina is at the Chelsea flower show and we are very envious of her ticket. But it is 22oC and sunny so we will have to enjoy the flowers in a park instead.

Champagne Charlie

2009-05-16T21:16:00.005+01:00

His name is Charlie after Champagne Charlie since he is apparently "Champagne colored". He is our neighbors new cat and we are looking after him for a week starting today. We let him come up to our flat for an hour this evening so that he would not feel too lonely. We really hope this is going to be a smooth cat-sitting stint. The predecessor cat sadly and quite unexpectedly died.... on our watch, earlier this year. Young apparently healthy cat. He was very dead when we came down to feed him in the morning. For no apparent reason. Please please Charlie, stay healthy until Jeremy is back (and obviously after that as well)! Or we will have to move.

The old cat, Barnum here.

Hiking Boxhill

2009-05-15T21:45:00.009+01:00

This Sunday we decided on a hike over England's green hills. We had found a nice hike in a book and checked the train timetables online. Arriving at Victoria station, roughly 2 hrs earlier than Ulrica normally wakes up on weekends we discover when trying to buy tickets that there were no train service to those station on this particular Sunday! The saying that England is a “first world country with a third world infrastructure” springs to mind again and rings very true. Well you just have to improvise, so we caught the train to Dorking instead and walked over Boxhill up to Leatherhead where we caught the train back up to London in the afternoon.

We had a lovely walk up on Boxhill, down again and over and along river Mole. The carpets of bluebell are almost finished but lots and lots of other flowers.

We stopped for lunch in Mickleham on the way. It is so nice that on a day out like this you also have the perk of a really excellent top class lunch. Well we suppose that Boxhill sits squarely in what is referred to as the Broker-belt around London.

More pictures here.

Let the Right One In

2009-05-03T21:32:00.003+01:00

Nice to see a Swedish film in London - "Let the Right One In" (Låt den rätte komma in). Romantic vampire film directed by Tomas Alfredson, from the novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Oskar, a meek 12-year-old boy, lives in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in the early 1980s. He is regularly bullied by his classmates, and spends his evenings imagining revenge. One night, he meets Eli, who appears to be a pale, androgynous girl his own age.