onsdag 31 juli 2013

Pride


In Stockholm they are celebrating the Pride festival. I have never been there during this festival but it looks like a lot of fun.
I try to have an open mind and I don´t always succeed but I am working on it. Sometimes I don´t get all the different labels people put on their own sexuality. Queer, bi, homo, lesbian, gay, trans and so forth. Does it really matter what sex you prefer or what gender you are attracted to? As long as you are happy and don´t hurt anyone you can call yourself anything as far as I am concerned.

But what I don´t understand is how homosexuality can be illegal or why some people are so afraid and angry. Why can´t people be left alone and accepted for who they are.






I read Rickard Soderberg´s blog about the situation for homosexuals in Russia. How people get tortured by homofobics. They film the torture and release the films and the police is doing nothing. Some young people have committed suicide after. It makes me want to cry. I hope the HBT people can raise their heads with pride. Not all people in the world are prejudice.
 http://rickardsoderberg.se/wp/2013/07/gor-skillnad-eller-avga/

I will put a rainbow flag on our home page so HBT people always will feel welcome at our quinta.


Thunder again-poor Herman

So it started again, the thunder and lightning. Last night when we were about to go to bed I yet again saw the lightnings. In the beginning our old dog Herman didn´t notice them and I prayed that he wouldn´t. I wanted to spare him from yet another night of fear and horror.

But after a while he woke up started to look up and listen. Then he started to shiver and pant. He then started to run around trying to get away from this horrifying experience. He is so scared of thunder so I fear he might get a heart attack or something. He is an old dog now and I don´t know how much of this he can take.

I opened the door to the boiler room because he feels more secure there. There are no windows so he can´t see the lightnings and the noise from the boiler makes the thunder go away.

We stay awake so he won´t feel alone. well it is impossible to sleep anyway. He is scratching on doors, trying to get in behind furniture, behind boards in the boiler room. Then his bladder gives in and he pees everywhere. And he is a dog who would never pee inside. Poor Herman.
Herman to right

resting in the green grass
Now it is calm and he dared to go out this on his morning walk and also ate some of his food. He is afraid for so many hours after. Now we hope there will be no more thunder for a while.

tisdag 30 juli 2013

Painting the house

The brown parts are going to be painted

My handy man Lasse painting

The result is starting to show
We have put a down payment on this beautiful vineyard in Portugal where we shall move soon, hopefully.

This means we have to sell our house in Sweden and we got a good advice to paint the dark brown parts of the house in a bit lighter colour to get a better price when selling. It was needed as well since it was very dry.

A "real" painter is going to do the parts that are real high up. The lower parts are Lasse painting.

Now there are only two weeks left until I will have to get back to work. The new semester starts August 20. It has really been a nice summer with good weather and a lot of sunshine so I can´t complain. The only bad thing is that there are no mushrooms in the woods because of the dry weather. I put my hopes to autumn.


none this summer


måndag 29 juli 2013

Stockholm










So nothing has been written for a while since we went to Stockholm for the weekend. Lasse, my wonderful husband, arranged the whole weekend and planned a lovely stay for us both. First I got this welcome note on the computer. It says "Welcome to Stockholm"


Then I got the whole program for the weekend.



Friday night Lasse had arranged for us to go to Fjäderhomarnas Krog. So we took the ferry from Slussen. It was a beautiful night, really warm and we had a wonderful ferry ride to Fjäderholmarna. The staff working there were very nice but the food was not so nice and very expensive. But all in all it was a very nice evening.

On our way from Söder to Slussen

Waiting for the ferry


Nice view from Fjäderholmarnas Krog

Waiting for the food

Munching on the bread

Evening view

The program was loosely planned and since it was really hot we decided to for a swim on Saturday. We saw that there were several places you could swim in the very heart of Stockholm. Since we stayed on Söder we went to Långholmens strandbad. It was very special to be able to swim so central in a capital. We also went for a nice walk from Söder to Långholmen and around Långholmen as well.



Långholmens strandbad

On Sunday it was still very warm so we went to Stendörren nature reserve in Linköping. It was on our way back home and we didn´t know about this hidden gem. We brought a pick nick and spent a couple of hours there.

boats everywhere

handsome hubbie
Stendörren
Heading back to Lerum we stopped in Gränna for lunch. The weather had turned nasty so we had to sit indoors but we bought some polkagrisar.

baking polkagrisar

yummie
             No you know why I haven´t had the time to write anything this weekend but I make it up to you.  

torsdag 25 juli 2013

God kväll

Hej
Nu är det daxs att lägga sig, otroligt skönt, idag är jag trött. Det är den gamle som skriver så att ni vet det. Ikväll var vi och badade med djuren, vi har hittat ett nytt sätt att surfa på som är riktigt roligt. Vi tar med oss de två svarta djuren ut,  den gråa vill bara bada magen. När vattnet blir lite väl högt för våra två svarta pojkar vill de tillbaka in till stranden, då gäller det att lägga sig ner och glida med på magen, detta är den ultimata "dogsurfen"

Imorgon bär det av till den kungliga huvudstaden för äventyr. Först skall jag gå igenom ett affärsupplägg avseende Karlstad kommun, kanske inte så sexigt kan tyckas men jag tycker det kan vara ganska kul. Efter detta möte kommer jag och min kära hustru att besöka Fjäderholmarnas krog. Vi kommer att vara kvar i Stockholm hela helgen.

Ha en riktigt trevig helg när det är dax

Kram Lasse

way to go Mc Donald´s Portugal

On our last journey to Portugal in June we had to grab a lunch quickly. On this occasion we went to Mc Donald´s, an establishment we seldom enter.

There weren´t that many people there. Something I have noticed in Greece for instance as well. In many Mediterranian countries lunch is kind of sacred and isn´t anything they think of lightly. Lunch can be a 2-3 hours business and is normally the largest meal of the day. In Spain and Portugal you can get a 3-course meal with wine and coffee for 8-10 euros. In Greece fast food chains have tried to establish many times but when you have your own fast food in form of pita gyros (meat, tomatoes, onions in a pita bread with tzatziki and chips) for about 2 euros why go to some other American fast food chain?



gyro pita

But if to return to Mc donald´s this specific lunch in Portugal. I ordered a hamburger, a salad and mineral water. I was very surprised when I got a small bottle of extra virgin olive oli for my salad.Even the Mc Donald´s restaurant met its customers´demand and provided them with high quality salad oil. No mysterious dressings here.



onsdag 24 juli 2013

Att misslyckas är ok....

Hej
Nu är det den gamle som skriver igen, det är halvtid i matchen Sverige - Tyskland 0-1 (EM fotboll för er som inte vet), men det är ju 45 kvar så än finns det hopp.

Läste idag att Pia Sundhage är idag Sveriges mest lysande stjärna, fler tittare följer Pias kommentarer än Zlatan, tycker detta är skit kul. Pia Sundhage är och har alltid varit en person som brinner på ett äkta sett. Hon tar utmaningar och ser alltid både utmaningingen och möjligheten.

Ett moto för Pia är att det inte finns något som är omöjligt. Misslyckas man är det inte hela världen, men att inte försöka är inte ok. Detta är något som jag uppriktigt ser upp till. Jag hoppas att vårt nya projekt lockar fram nya tankar hos er alla som följer bloggen. Den dag du möter sankte Per i änglaporten hoppas jag att ni alla har gjort allt som står i er makt att förverkliga Era drömmar. Jag tror inte att den som har mest pengar på "boken" vinner. För min del gäller det att ha ett bra liv och att sova gott om natten. Snart är det natt och då får jag sova bredvid min kära Åse, kan man ha det bättre

Stora kramar från
/Lasse

I hate snakes

We found this sucker in the road VERY close to our farm. I don´t know what kind it is but it was quite big. Whenever I see one by legs start to shake and I feel really dizzy. It doesn´t matter if they aren´t poisonous I still feel disgusted.

If you look into the snake fauna of Portugal you can read that there are several species in Portugal but only one poisonous (?). This one is what I believe a false smooth snake, and they are nor poisonous if I understood everything correctly. But I still don´t like them.

tisdag 23 juli 2013

sun, swimming and beer

Today we have been utterly lazy and forgetful. First we decided to go and buy paint for the house and some window hooks. Lasse are painting the windows and replacing the old hooks. First we forgot the hooks so we had to get back to fetch them so we would get the right size. Then we forgot the code on the paint can that shows which colour we had chosen. We decided not to get back again but went to the store anyway.

Then we went home to grab some lunch and make some coffee to bring to the beach. Two wonderful hours were spent on the beach swimming and soaking up the sun. You never how long this good weather will last so you better make the most of it.

Now we are preparing to go out for dinner in Gothenburg at Ölrepubliken or The Beer Republic if you translate it. Hopefully it will be fun.

I had my first request of a booking at the vineyard for May next year. It wasn´t an actual booking just a request but it made my day. Unfortunately we will not open until the end of June but maybe the next one will lead to a booking.

Got to dash, the shower awaits me.

Åse

måndag 22 juli 2013

Óbidos

Only about 10 kilometers from the farm is the medieval town of Óbidos. Apparantly it is very old but it was captured from the Moors in 1148. It is a beautiful small village inside the fortified walls. They have a lot of festivals here  and the most famous is the Medieval Festival. If you visit Óbidos you must try the local speciality ginja, which is a cherry liqueur that you get in a chocolate cup.
ginja in a chocolate cup

Óbidos Medieval Market[edit]

Each July Óbidos castle hosts a traditional 'Medieval Market'. For two weeks the castle and the surrounding town recreate the spirit of medieval Europe.
Flowing banners and heraldic flags set the mood together with hundreds of entertainers and stall holders dressed as merchants, jugglersjesters, wandering minstrels, soldiers and more. Visitors can shop at the traditional handcrafts fair or watch medieval shows, horse displays and a costumed parade that winds its way through the streets. There are also displays ofjousting knights and armed combat.
Spit roasted hog, hearty soups, rabbit, lamb, cod, quail, sausages and other grilled meats are just some of the many medieval style meals on offer from dozens of "taverns" and stalls spread throughout the market. Drinking from pewter tankards and eating from wooden trencher all adds to the experience.

We haven´t been there during this festival, only in April. But it´s certainly something we like to visit. In February they are hosting a chocolate festival. That is something I definitely would like to visit yummie.
Every year over 200 000 people visit the chocolate festival.How many that visit the medieval festival I don´t know but it must be many many more than 200 000.

If you come to stay in our quinta next summer this is a must visit.

Åse