smörgåsblogg
And we had a lovely hike with the Johansson family.
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*Click here for more pictures!*
Did you know these things still existed? We didn't. Does that mean that there is actually a factory someplace, cranking them out? There it was in the electronics store, hiding among the i-pods and flat screen. It could be yours for only 399 crowns ($62). And it's got Full Auto Stop!
Staying in Sweden for christmas meant missing out on my Aunt Minna's famous grasshopper pie (made from 100% real Wisconsin grasshoppers). My family decided to rub it in by sending me the picture.
What is this?
Answer to last week: That was the middle of a jellyfish (we went to the aquarium while in Bangkok). Those four horseshoe-shaped things are the reproductive organs.
We caught Santa (well, 3 Santas actually) scaling the wall of Hotel Örgryte on Danska vägan. In broad daylight no less.
We prepared for the Christmas festivities by making the gingerbread cookies today. I think we cooked at least as much dough as we ate, even if my stomach is telling me otherwise.
"For safety's sake. Pay with a card"
The Swedish banks are currently running an add campaign trying to convince everyone to use cards instead of cash. Of course, it's for everyone's safety; not at all in the financial interest of the banks. I think it's cool that the crook has a bag, a gun and even a hat... but no feet. He sure ain't gonna get away fast running away on those stumps.
Since we haven't gotten any snow to speak of yet, I decided I just had to make my own.
What is this?
Answer to last week: I'm really disappointed that more people didn't guess, because I actually have no idea what that was! It was at a store near Chinatown in Bangkok that mostly contained what looked like industrial-grade kitchen equipment (despite the bicyle in the background). My best guess was that this machine was used to make spun sugar.
...but she can be sneaky. Hey Ava, where did the balls go?!
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note: there is no sound, only video
Happy 1st Birthday!!
I think the tree is much more comfortable in our cozy apartment than the cold, damp forest. But it keeps eyeing the fireplace nervously; I think it knows it's fate as soon as the holidays are over.
Today we went Christmas tree hunting in the forest.
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It isn´t so easy to find the right one, but when you do, they´re pretty easy to capture.
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One for us and one for little Tim.
The sun FINALLY peeked through for a little while this afternoon for the first time in I don't even know how long. Hooray!
It has been so cold, damp, and gloomy the past few weeks, even the horses have had to bundle up.
Today we got an early morning visit from Lucia herself. She sang for us and brought us delicious pepparkakor (gingersnaps).
Then Leo stole her wig.
What is this? One hint, this picture was taken in Bangkok.
Answer to last week: #2 had the right idea--that was a sort of a Thai pancake with a kind of spun sugar in it that looked more like horse hair, but tasted really, really good. It also came in different flavors (the pink here had a slight strawberry taste).
We had the great privilage of being invited to fika on Sunday where we ate as many fresh, homebaked lussekattar as we could handle. These buns are popular this time of year, colored/flavored with saffran or cardimum. We even got to take some home for later.
The Christmas festivities are already starting in town. Saturday night we watched these guys bounce around on a trampoline. Not something I would think to do outside in 0 degree weather, but it was rather fun to watch, especially when they put on the skiing equimpent.
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We've been discussing how to handle the long winter. One idea was to put off having a fire as long as possible as part of our denial that winter was here at all. Well, now that it's dark all the time, there's no sense in hiding from the truth any longer so we went ahead and made our first fire.
This afternoon we were at a little expat Christmas party at the Gothenburg City Hall (built in the 1840's and called Börsen).
What in the world does Leo have?
Answer to last week: That was a McDonald's sign in Thailand. We saw quite a few, even one with leather chairs!
All the leaves are down now, so we're beginning to discover new stuff in our neighborhood; like this giant, chrome, eight-legged horse behind our local elementary school. I suspect the school children managed to climb up there and pull his eyes out of their sockets. For size perspective, those are park benches right next to him.
