Healthy eating habits

Something I have come to appreciate - the fruit baskets distributed here at the office.  Once or twice per week, these wonderful baskets full of fruit show up for that mid morning or mid afternoon snack.  It's such a nice alternative than vending machines with "bad for you" foods.  In fact there are not many vending machines around here at the office.

One patient dog

I was leaving the grocery store the other day and came across this very patient dog.  You see this often - dogs hanging outside waiting for their owners to run some errand. His unwavering stare at the store entrance could not be broken by me taking his photo.  Total focus.   He seemed to know what the purpose of his owner's errand was - there's a pet store inside the complex so maybe he's hoping for some dog treat or food. Anyway, it struck me that there was no fear of this dog being stolen - don't see this sort of thing much in the Dallas area.  Kind of nice.

Successful this time

Happy New Year.  A wonderful Christmas this year - saw family in Dallas and Chicago. Of course time with the grandbabies - the best!  


I wanted to share a picture of my Amaryllis this year - last year I attempted to nurture one of these babies to life and it did not go so well (as Adrian well knows).  Well this year was a different story.  Despite the lack of sun (and my lack of green thumb), the flower thrived. 

One more thing - fireworks on New Year's Eve is a big thing over here.  It was amazing to look outside your window and there close by, spectacular fireworks being launched into the air.  Anyone can launch fireworks anywhere - amazing to someone use to a very controlled firework setup and from a state experiencing extreme drought.  There were also lovely lanterns floating in the air as well.  Spectacular.  

A skill needed in this country

Maybe these exist in the US somewhere but I have not seen them.  they are tables with the necessary supplies to wrap flowers or plants to survive the temperature.  There are even instructions as to how to wrap them properly.  fortunately I was with someone skilled in the art of wrapping flowers.

(sorry for the earlier post with the picture sideways - had tried to do a blog post using my phone and well didn't quite see that it was sideways)

Christmas in the city

There is nothing like the Christmas decorations in Stockholm.  I know I have written before about Christmas here but it's worth repeating.  For the most part, Christmas decorations are not so "over the top".  The lights, greenery, amaryllis, even the milk cartons - only thing missing is the snow at this point.  Hopefully that will show up very soon.

The windows at NK are always decorated for Christmas - usually there is a ton of children clamoring for a peek at them but I happen to time it right.  

some lights around the city

 

and finally the milk carton

This bottle of contact lens cleanser had a long journey but one that hits close to home.  I bought this bottle here in Sweden but according to the label - there's some UK connection as well as it's origin - Forth Worth, Texas.  it's a small world after all.

A "flower" for the season

I love these flowers - they are named Höstljung.   When you see these start appearing in homes/shops you know the "cozy" season is coming.  Cozy as in cold, gray, dark days which here you try to counteract with cozy lights and candles.  I have three of them on my balcony.  oh and that golden light shining down in the picture - a rare day of blue skies with bright sunshine.

My middle name is official here

Never before has my middle name been used so much.  My mother would be happy about that I think.  I've had the name, well since birth yet still it seems almost "new" to see it used in everyday type of situations - in this case grocery coupons.  That's all for today - OL

A rookie when it comes to the white stuff

Being from Texas you generally don't deal with a lot of the white stuff (snow). It's interesting to learn a whole world of snow-related things that you do which people that do deal with a lot of the white stuff take for granted. Take for instance these orange poles that showed up in the courtyard one day. I noticed them right away but wasn't sure what they were for. I assumed it was to mark some sort of sprinkler system (dumb I know) or maybe some sort of marker for a fence. I was told by one (that would be Per) who takes for granted the stuff you do for snow that they were to mark the yard so that the snow plows won't ruin the yard. snow plows in the courtyard? yes I have much to learn.

You don't take the last one

It's been explained to me that Swedes do not take the "last" serving of food. Not that last piece of cake, bread or any other tasty morsel. It's considered not so nice. Here is evidence of this mannerism. This container was once full of chocolate chip cookies which I had baked and brought to the office to share. As they day went by, the cookies went slowly (more slowly than if I had brought it into the US office but that's another post). At the end of the day, this is what was left - someone had halved the very last cookie, so technically there was still one cookie left. I had to smile.